Tag: music

Song of the Week

Dessa, “Children’s Work”

Good morning! It’s Monday again.

Not much out of the ordinary happening in my world this week: I’ve got a new chapter of Journey to the Water scheduled to go up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be up on the blog Wednesday. I’m also working on the next episode of The Well Below the Valley, and that should be available September 1st.

I also want to remind you that you can come see me at Bitchcraft Fair Milwaukee on October 2! Tickets are only $12 through the end of the month, and then become $15 through the day of the event. I will have limited-edition bookmarks to hand out and signed books to sell!

Thanks for being here. Have an excellent week.

Song of the Week

The Civil Wars, “Sour Times” (Portishead cover)

Hello there. I guess it’s Monday again? Time is a soup.

Let’s see. I’m back on my normal posting schedule, so tomorrow, 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. Just so you know, dear reader, you are welcome to give me feedback on either of these projects! If you like them, or if you want to yell at me about them, comments are always open. This is your chance to affect the plot or save your favorite character from doom.

In other news, my bookmarks arrived!

Five bookmarks with the title Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea. From left to right: Eske in the boat against the lind-worm, Khalim doing magic, Aysulu doing horse archery, Eske against the salamander, Eske and Khalim. The reverse side is shown below, with the text "Space Whales Press: queer fantasy & weird tales for the people. Words by Madeline Crane, art by Brooke Marie Miller."

If you want one or more of them for your very own, you’ll have to stop by our table at Bitchcraft Fair Milwaukee on October 2! I’ll update as soon as I know our booth number.

As I’m preparing for this and other, future events, streaming has been the proverbial plate that I’ve let drop. I’m hoping to either pick it back up or start a different project for YouTube (video essays?) soon. Also, I haven’t forgotten about the whole newsletter thing. I appreciate your patience.

I’m happy you’re here, and I hope you stop by again soon. Have an excellent week.

Song of the Week

Rachael Cantu, “Devil’s Thunder”

Happy Monday! This song is brought to you by one of my undergraduate literature classes. We were reading Paradise Lost and our professor was a big Grey’s Anatomy fan (or Private Practice, I guess?). It’s very 2009.

This week, here in 2022, I’ll have a new chapter of Journey to the Water up on Patreon, probably on Wednesday, because I’ll be working at a polling place for the primary election all day tomorrow. (Vote in your primaries, everyone!) I should be back on my usual posting schedule next week.

In case you missed it, I’m going to a convention in October! I’ll be signing books and handing out some gorgeous bookmarks.

I appreciate you! Have an excellent week.

Song of the Week

Dar Williams, “Comfortably Numb” (Pink Floyd cover)

Hi there. Happy Monday.

Last week was busier than I thought, so here’s the plan for this week: Episode 5 of The Well Below the Valley will release tomorrow on Patreon. Going forward, I plan to release episodes on the first of each month. On Wednesday, the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be up here on the blog.

In other news, it looks like I’m taking this show on the road in October! If you’ll be in the Milwaukee area and want a signed copy of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea (or want me to sign the copy you already have), stay tuned for more information!

I appreciate you! Thanks for being here. And you’re listening to something that makes your ears happy, leave some music recommendations in the comments! I’m open to any genre.

Song of the Week

Sting, “Fragile”

Happy Monday! Welcome back.

I didn’t end up streaming on Twitch last week. The heat has been making me sick, and all my in-laws came up to help in the garden (thanks guys!), so I was a little burnt out. I do want to get back in the habit of doing it, so I plan to do another stream on Friday. Right now, the plan is to play the indie game Heaven’s Vault and chat about constructed languages.

In addition to that, you can expect a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of Journey to the Water here on the blog on Wednesday. I’m also working on Episode 5 of The Well Below the Valley, in which our intrepid investigators finally travel to Oxford to find out what exactly happened on the late Professor Ragnarsson’s ill-fated field expedition.

If you’re enjoying what you’re reading here, please tell your friends about me! It’s the best way to support me, and it doesn’t involve spending any money. You can also leave a review for Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea wherever you purchased it (and I’m working on getting it added to Goodreads as well).

I appreciate every single one of you! Yes, you! Have an excellent week.

Song of the Week

Nina Simone, “Blackbird”

Good morning.

The new kitten, Shepard, is settling in very well! She’s out of her confinement room full-time now, with only a little scrambling around at night, and Solaire plays with her pretty regularly. He’s not ready to snuggle with her, though, and will bite her toes if she tries.

Two cats sleep back to back on a dark green couch, curled into semi-circles. On the left is a four-month-old gray tabby with orange patches, and on the right is a chunky orange and white cat, who is sleeping on a stack of notebooks because he's weird like that.
This is the closest they’ve gotten so far.

This week, I’ll have a new chapter of Journey to the Water up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be up here on the blog on Wednesday. I’ll also be on Twitch on Friday evening to play a game and chat about writing!

As always, I appreciate you. If you like what you read here, could you tell your friends about me? Word-of-mouth really helps me find more readers! And if you’ve read Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea, you can leave a review wherever you purchased it.

Have an excellent week!

Song of the Week

Cat Power, “Cross Bones Style”

Hello! I hope you’re doing well this Monday morning.

This will be a pretty normal week around here: 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 on the blog Wednesday.

I do have two news items, though! First, I’m starting Twitch streaming again with the Tea and Sidequests channel. The plan is for me to stream Fridays and talk about some aspect of fantasy writing. This week, I’ll be playing Totally Accurate Battle Simulator and discussing fight scenes. On Saturdays, my husband/streaming partner will be doing exercise challenges.

Second, we have a new kitten! Her name is Shepard and she is four months old. She’s already helping me work (when she isn’t walking across my keyboard).

Shepard, a brown-and-gray tabby kitten, lies next to a laptop with both paws draped across the keyboard.
Editor Shepard
Shepard receives belly rubs while reaching toward the camera with black toe-beans. Her eyes are brown with a little blue around the pupil.
She is very wiggly and never stops purring.

Solaire isn’t sure how to feel about her, but I think with time and patience they will become friends.

As always, thanks for being here, and have an excellent week.

Song of the Week

Susanne Sundfør, “White Foxes”

Happy Monday.

I was a child when patriotism began to mean unquestioning obedience, adherence to authoritarian religion, and the organization of the world into the deserving and the undeserving. I tend to let Independence Day pass by unobserved. If you’re celebrating, I hope you are safe and can enjoy some good food.

Nothing out of the ordinary to report this week: Journey to the Water will have a new chapter on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be up here on Wednesday. In case you missed, it, Episode 4 of The Well Below the Valley went up on Patron last week.

I’ll be back on social media tomorrow as well. I’m sure everything there has been very normal while I’ve been gone…

As always, thanks for being here, and have an excellent week.

Song of the Week

Omar Souleyman, “Mawal Jamar”

(He did not bury me, he did not bury me)

The Supreme Court decision came through while I was running errands on Friday. I still haven’t quite processed the fact that when I left the house, I had full rights to decide when and if someone else uses my body, and when I returned, that decision was taken from me and given to men I have never met, some of whom died a hundred years or more before I was born.

I’ll regain some semblance of those rights upon my death, when it will be illegal to take my organs without my prior permission.

In the meantime, there will be a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door on Patreon tomorrow, and Journey to the Water will have a chapter up here on Wednesday. I’m working on the latest episode of The Well Below the Valley, and that will be on Patreon later this week.

Take care of yourselves. I’m glad you’re here.

Song of the Week

Opeth, “Soldier of Fortune” (Deep Purple cover)

Happy Monday! Yesterday was Juneteenth! I hope you had a good day.

I am back on my usual nonsense: the newest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will make its appearance here on the website on Wednesday. I’m also working on The Well Below the Valley, and Episode 5 will be available before the end of the month!

Please pray for my lettuce as we enter another stretch of 90+ degree days here in the midwestern swamp. (This is not a euphemism–I am growing lettuce, and supposedly it prefers cooler weather).

Anyway, climate change is real, and none of us are free until all of us are free, and time creeps inexorably onward (this song was released SIXTEEN YEARS AGO??). Have a good week, and stay safe.