Song of the Week

Brody Dalle, “Don’t Mess With Me”

Good morning!

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

I’ve been thinking about getting back into streaming and/or YouTube. I need to increase my reach, and it seems like people enjoy videos. What kind of content would you like to see, dear reader? Discussion of literary devices and the fantasy genre? Reading the classics so you don’t have to (putting my English degrees to work)? Interesting historical topics (particularly ones that have influenced my work and other fantasy writers)? Live chat?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and have an excellent week! I appreciate you.

ETA: I’ve fixed the social media buttons at the bottom of the page (they had turned invisible for some reason) and added a button at the bottom right where you can sign up for the newsletter.

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!

Back on Twitch!

A screenshot from the game Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, showing low-poly wooly mammoths stomping on some noodly people colored red and blue.

Tonight I’ll be streaming Totally Accurate Battle Simulator and talking about writing and reading fight scenes! They’re a particular challenge for me, so it should be an interesting conversation.

You can find me on the Tea and Sidequests channel tonight at 6pm (US Central time). I’ll be playing until around 8.

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

The Cure, “Burn”

Hello friends! It’s May! Still pretty chilly where I am, but spring is here and soon everything will be green again.

There will be a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be up here on the blog on Wednesday.

In case you missed it, the second episode of The Well Below the Valley is available on Patreon! You can see a free preview here.

I think after this week, my life will calm down enough to start streaming on Twitch again and/or doing something else gaming-related; I should have an update on that later this week or early next week.

As always, thanks for being here. If you like what you read, tell your friends about me! And have an excellent week.

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.

Song of the Week

Laura Marling, “Night Terror”

It’s Monday again. It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, also. The wheels of history turn toward justice, but slowly, and not without great effort.

Here’s what’s happening in my world this week:

I’ll be on Twitch tonight from 6pm until 8 Central time, if you’d like to stop by and chat. [ETA: no stream Thursday. See you next week!]

On Wednesday, I’ll have the latest chapter of Journey to the Water up! If you need to catch up, all available chapters are under the Stories tab above.

I’m finishing up the final formatting of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea. I should have an update later this week, which will hopefully include information on paperback preorders.

I think that’s it! Have an excellent week.

Song of the Week

Iron & Wine, “Woman King”

Happy Monday! I hope you’re warm where you are, because the arctic wind is blowing here.

Have you read the latest chapter of Journey to the Water? I’ll have the next chapter up on Patreon this week.

Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea is getting closer to publishing! Stop back here later this week for another update.

I’ll be streaming on Twitch tonight and possibly Saturday night.

I think that’s it for this week. Stay warm!

Song of the Week

Clinton Shorter, “The Expanse”

Happy New Year!

This week, the first week of 2022, I’ll have the new chapter of Journey to the Water up on Patreon tomorrow, and here on the blog on Friday. I should have an update on Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea‘s progress by the end of the week.

I’ll also be on Twitch tonight! My husband/streaming partner wants to play Jedi: Fallen Order this evening.

If you’re interested, I’m trying to stay engaged with social media by doing a one-card tarot reading every day on Instagram.

I think that’s it for today. I’ll be back soon with more updates.

Have an excellent week.