Tag: blog update

Song of the Week

Sinéad O’Connor, “Jackie”

Happy Monday.

I am hard at work on rewrites for The Book of the New Moon Door. I was originally trying to keep up with Journey to the Water as well, but I think at this point I need to concede and put Journey on hiatus until New Moon Door is done. Since I have plenty of chapters of New Moon Door, I can post one a week (first on Patreon and then here) for the next month or so.

This is for a number of reasons:

First, rewrites are going to take a lot of my time. The original draft of The Book of the New Moon Door is over 170,000 words long. In order to achieve an October release date, I’ll need to finish the new draft ideally by the end of August.

Second, I’m not going to lie to you: Baldur’s Gate III came out. I’m a fairly disciplined writer, but I’m not that disciplined.

Third is below the cut for medical stuff and complaining about the US healthcare system:

Continue reading “Song of the Week” →

Song of the Week

Orville Peck, “Big Sky”

Good morning!

Firstly, I am happy to announce that The Book of the New Moon Door is complete! I am the proverbial day late and a dollar short, of course, but it’s done. Final word count for all three parts, including chapter headings, is 170,764. This will probably change significantly as I go through the editing process this summer. New Moon Door has been the least structured of my serial novels (which is a gentle way of saying “I was definitely making this up as I went”), and I’m looking forward to pruning it into shape.

This week, I’ll have a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of New Moon Door will be up here on the blog Wednesday.

As of right now, here’s the plan for all my projects going forward: Journey and New Moon Door will continue their biweekly schedule while I’m editing New Moon Door. I’m aiming to publish New Moon Door this year and Journey next year. In between those, I want to revisit The Well Below the Valley and The Tarot of the Gates, possibly rewriting and reformatting the former before writing some new content for it.

I’ll keep you updated as things progress! Thanks for being here, and have an excellent week.

Song of the Week

Dirtwire, “The Well” (featuring Rising Appalachia)

Good morning!

I was sick all last week (picked up a virus from my baby niece, who is the most adorable and needed extra cuddles. I washed my hands so much, but I still caught it). I think I’m reaching the end of it, so my plan is to post the Patreon chapter of Journey to the Water later this week (instead of the customary Tuesday). The most recent chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be up here on Wednesday.

As I get back to the minor blog redecorating that I was intending to do last week, please let me know if there’s anything I can do to make my website more accessible! I’ve chosen the font and color combination to be easy on the eyes, and all images should have alt text. Please feel free to leave me a comment if I can make reading a better experience for you.

Have an excellent week, and be sure to stop by again soon.

(Another) Minor Scheduling Delay

Hi everyone. I made a note about it at the end of the last chapter I posted, but I was very sick for about three days this week because my insurance made me wait to fill a prescription. I’ve got it now, and I am back to normal! It was just a dumb thing that happened because we can’t have nice things in this country, on account of the horrible old white men who can’t stand the thought of people of color occasionally receiving said nice things. (As a side note, SNRI withdrawal is no joke, and please don’t ever quit your meds cold turkey. I love you and don’t want you to experience it.)

Currently, I’m working on several things:

  • Episode 7 of The Well Below the Valley
  • The newsletter, finally
  • Alternating chapters of Journey to the Water and The Book of the New Moon Door.

Since The Well was already delayed, I want to be sure to get that out on time; the newsletter has been a long time coming as well. Those will both still be done by November 1st. Regular chapters of Journey and New Moon Door will experience a slight hiccup next week, but be back to normal within a week or two. I also plan to use NaNoWriMo to knock out a bunch of chapters and build myself a little backlog.

I’m so sorry this month has been disrupted so many times! Thank you for being patient. I appreciate you.

Song of the Week

Florence + the Machine, “Cassandra”

Happy Monday!

You may have noticed the new banner above. I’m working on my social media presence. The most work right now is going into Instagram, so if you’re on there, you can find me here.

This week, I’ll have a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door up on Patreon, and the latest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up here on Wednesday. The plot is thickening in both, so I’m excited for you to read them! The next episode of The Well Below the Valley will also be on Patreon soon, either late this week or early next week.

If you haven’t voted in the newsletter poll, go do that! Cross it off your to-do list and feel accomplished, and then have a great start to the week. I’ll see you back here later.

Song of the Week

Queens of the Stone Age, “I Never Came”

Happy Monday!

I’ll have a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up here on the blog on Wednesday. Later this week, I’m going to be having a new Reader Poll, so be sure to check back!

Not much else to share this week, though this weekend I am going to a talk by Neil Gaiman, who is one of my favorite authors. The event was originally in 2020 and was rescheduled at least twice. I’m very excited.

Have an excellent week!

Announcement: The Well Below the Valley

The Well Below the Valley cover image: A dead tree stands on a field of short grass, against a blank gray sky. Text reads, "Space Whales Press presents The Well Below the Valley, an audio drama."

I am starting a new project!

(“But don’t you have enough projects?” Yes. Yes, I do. Let’s not talk about that.)

On a rainy morning in 1922, an archaeologist is found dead in a London hotel room. At first, it is assumed his death was a natural one, but questions soon arise:

Who has been following the professor around Oxford?

What happened on his last field expedition, which was cut short and declared a failure?

What became of his crew?

And how did he drown, miles from the harbor and with no other sources of water nearby?

In a world still living under the shadow of the Great War, four intrepid investigators must discover the secret Professor Ragnarsson was murdered to keep, and learn that the world is darker and more terrible than they could ever have imagined–and that they are the only things standing between the earth and its total destruction.

Introduction to The Well Below the Valley
Continue reading “Announcement: The Well Below the Valley” →

Song of the Week

Howlin’ Wolf, “Smokestack Lightnin'”

It’s Monday again.

There are things happening this week! Tomorrow, the new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be available on Patreon. On Wednesday, the latest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up here on the blog. For the foreseeable future, I’ll be alternating between the two, and chapters will go up first on Patreon and then here a week later.

Have you gotten your copy of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea yet? If you haven’t, check out my fancy new sidebar over to the right (or at the bottom of the page, if you’re on mobile). If you have, and you are so inclined, I’d appreciate you leaving a review on whatever platform suits you best. It will help new readers find the book! I’ll talk more about reviews in a separate post later this week.

I think that’s all for today. Have an excellent week, and stop by again soon!

Song of the Week

Nina Simone, “Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” (Scottish-American folk song)

Happy Monday! It’s Valentine’s Day, so in honor of the beheaded performer of marriages, tell someone you love them and be sure to pick up half-priced chocolate tomorrow.

This week, the next chapter of Journey to the Water will be up on Patreon. In other news, Part Two of The Book of the New Moon Door is starting on Patreon next week and here on the blog the week after! I’ll be alternating between Journey and New Moon Door until one or both are finished. Patreon subscribers will be getting each chapter a week early, so if you haven’t yet, consider subscribing! There will also be a Patreon-exclusive project coming in March.

That’s all for now! Thanks for being here.

P.S. If you still need to catch up on Part One of The Book of the New Moon Door, you can start with the first chapter here or find all the chapters under the Stories tab above.

Song of the Week

Wendy Melvoin, “Carnivàle Main Title Theme”

It’s Monday again! Welcome.

In case you missed it, Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea released on Friday! It’s been three or four months of non-stop work, not to mention all the time I spent writing the thing, so I’m very excited to share it with you.

You can purchase it from these handy links:

Amazon (ebook and paperback)

Barnes & Noble (ebook and paperback) It says large print, but it’s the standard edition paperback. I am working on fixing it.

Kobo (ebook only)

If you want to read the first chapter before making a decision, you can do so here.

The earlier, serialized version will remain up on the blog, but I highly recommend buying the book, as it’s far more polished and of better quality, in addition to being easier to read in your preferred medium.

Other stuff happening this week:

There will be a new chapter of Journey to the Water up on Patreon! My Patreon is only $3 a month, and it gives you access to serial chapters a week early, plus Patreon livestreams and an exclusive project or two that I will be announcing in the next couple of weeks.

I’ll be on Twitch tonight and Thursday night with the Tea and Sidequests channel.

I will also be doing a minor blog remodel, so you may see some things move around. My goal is accessibility and readability, so if there’s anything I can do to make your blog experience easier, please let me know! Comments are open on almost every post.

Thanks for being here! Have an excellent week.