Wags, Woofs, and Wonders Cover Reveal & Other Exciting News

 Hello all! No Friday 5s today, sorry — travel, family stuff, and needing to prioritize other projects have left me without enough time to put something together. However, I do have some exciting news from this week that I wanted to make sure y'all heard.

First, of course, is the cover reveal for Wags, Woofs, and Wonders, the upcoming anthology from Fellowship of Fantasy and Uncommon Universes Press. If you follow me on other social media, you saw this earlier this week, but for everyone else, BEHOLD!

 

Every dog has its day.

Is there anything as faithful or loyal as a dog? Always ready to lend a paw, cuddle up next to you, or chase away foes (because their noses know!).

This feel-good collection features eight magical stories of whimsical, true-hearted, and rascally hounds. From a blind dog with surprising gifts to a watery pup with a winsome secret to a fiery hound, ready to test his new dog-sitter to his limits. Danger may lurk, but don’t worry! Every story is guaranteed a heartwarming, happy ending.

This sixth anthology from the Fellowship of Fantasy and Uncommon Universes Press showcases incredible authors dedicated to telling doggone good fantasy fiction that will make you laugh, sigh, and cuddle your own furry friend.

Releasing July 6, 2023

Preorder the ebook on Amazon | Preorder the paperback | Add on Goodreads

This anthology includes my short story, "Grim Guardian," a slightly spooky Southern mystery that I had a lot of fun writing and I think y'all will really enjoy reading. Also, can we all just take a minute to appreciate that cover? That is a very magical Good Boy right there, and some absolutely lovely colors as well.

Again, if you follow me on social media, you're probably already aware of this, but Through a Shattered Glass, my remix of The Snow Queen and the Alice books, was selected as a finalist in the Novella category of the Realm Awards! I'm both thrilled and honored that Through a Shattered Glass made the list, especially considering how many other amazing books and authors I know were in the running. The winners in each category will be announced at the Awards Banquet during the Realm Makers conference, and I look forward to being there and finding out who won, whether or not that list includes my book. (Also, just saying . . . if you haven't yet read Through a Shattered Glass, now is an excellent time to do so.)

Order TaSG on Amazon || Add to your Goodreads shelf || View the full finalists list

So, yes! Between all this and my sister's graduation, this has been a very exciting week. (Also stressful, for other reasons, but that's beside the point.) Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to vote for the Realm Makers Readers' Choice Award — while my books aren't in the running, a lot of other excellent books are.

Have a lovely day!

 

 

 

December 2022 Doings!

Hello all! It's the last Doings! post of 2022, with only two days left in the year — or one day, depending on whether or not you count today, a question that might depend on when in the day you're reading this. It's been a busy month, as one might expect given that it involved both a book release and the biggest holiday of the year. Hopefully January will be a little more peaceful . . . but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's wrap up December before we move on to the new year, shall we?

Writing!

• Through a Shattered Glass is officially out! And, judging from what I've seen people posting, y'all seem to like it just as much as I do, so THANK YOU. If you haven't already picked up a copy, you can order it in ebook or paperback from Amazon — and if you've already ordered it and read it, would you mind taking a minute to leave a review either there or on Goodreads? Reviews are a big factor in helping authors get more visibility and convincing others to read a particular book. It doesn't even have to be long — just a rating and a sentence or two will do if that's what you have time for, and you'll earn yourself the heartfelt appreciation of this author.
• (That doesn't just apply to my book, by the way. That applies to all the Broken Mirrors and also whatever books you may or may not have gotten for Christmas.)
• Aside from Through a Shattered Glass, work on Bastian Dennel book 4 is coming along slowly, but progress is progress. I finished Chapter 22 this week, which means on one hand that I only wrote about two and a half chapters this month, but . . . y'know. Release month. And Christmas. I do think I'm getting close to the end of the book, and my writing speed always picks up around the climax, so there is that.
• And on the D&D front, we basically had one session and that was all. On the upside, that meant I didn't have to do additional prep, which left me free to focus on other things . . . like my family's Christmas letter, a task that fell to me several years ago and which I always manage to get more stressed about than is really necessary. I always have high hopes of getting it written and finished early, and that absolutely never works out. Alas. But the important thing is that it did get finished before Christmas.

Reading!

• This month has been a mix of Christmas reads and ARCs/new releases, with a couple mood reads and unsuccessful attempts to finish various series before the year ends mixed in.
• I've already posted about all my ARCs — Snowfield Palace, Shattered Reflection, Of Ice and Roses, and Christmas Games. The other two new releases this month were Between Friends, a collection of City Between short stories by W.R. Gingell, and Illuminare, a heist-adjacent novella set in a sort of fantasy-Venice. Both were very good, but I don't think it'll take a genius to guess which one I loved more. Between Friends contained several short storied I'd read before and loved, as well as some new stories that were absolutely lovely and gave us a look at characters' lives after the series ended. In this category, I particularly loved "Pins and Needles" . . . but you'll have to read it yourself to find out why.
• Christmas reads were A Christmas Carol, Hogfather, The Villain Who Saved Christmas, and The Enchanted Sonata. All of those are (I believe) rereads, so I don't have much to say about most of them other than that they're all as good as ever. A Christmas Carol is the one I do have a comment on — I read this via email subscription (Dickens December, to be precise) and highly recommend that reading method. The compiler sent out a short scene or two per day, timing it so the Christmas Day and day-after-Christmas bits would fall on the appropriate days, and it was just quite a fun experience.
• And finally, we have the miscellaneous other reads: Artificial Condition and Rogue Protocol, which are books 2 and 3 in the Murderbot series of sci-fi mysteries, and Power Play, book 2 in H.L. Burke's Supervillain Rescue Project series. I enjoyed all three of these, but especially Power Play. The plot is essentially "teenage superheroes get trapped in a D&D game while their guardians try to get them out), and it was just really fun.
• As for the last few days of December not included? I'll probably be reading a mix of short stories, poetry, and possibly more Fullmetal Alchemist, since I have the next several volumes out from the library. We'll see what happens.

Watching!

• As I'm sure you would expect, most of what I've watched have been Christmas movies. We hit all the usual favorites — White Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph, Charlie Brown Christmas — plus Home Alone, which isn't quite a favorite but is fun. I also watched The Man Who Invented Christmas, which was very good. I enjoyed both the exploration of Dickens's personal character and life and the way the movie showed the writing and inspiration process, though I'm glad that my characters don't behave quite as badly as his did, ha! I also didn't know before watching the movie that Dickens basically self-published A Christmas Carol, so that was cool to learn.
• The only non-Christmas thing I watched was more Fairy Tale rewatching. I should probably get back to new-to-me shows at some point, but for now, revisiting these stories and characters is pretty relaxing, and I have needed that this month.

Life!

• Most of this month was super busy with a combination of book release stuff and Christmas stuff. On the upside, I did get to take a bunch of time off work because I had use-or-lose leave, which helped cut down on a little of the stress. The fact that I had two cheese Advent calendars (wherein you open the window to reveal a little piece of cheese in various fun varieties) also helped; cheese makes many, many things better. I had one last year, which I enjoyed, and this year two stores offered them, so I bought one and received the other for my birthday. Both were, as you can imagine, delicious. The best cheeses were probably the Double Gloucester and the smoked paprika gouda, but there were a lot of good ones.
• Christmas, of course, means that my sister came home on break! She got back a little later than usual, due partially to her class schedule and partially to the fact that she had to attend a friend's wedding before she could come home. But it's been nice to have her back.
• One new adventure this year was attending the Lessons and Carols service at the church where I work. I always hear a lot of wonderful things about this service, which is a blend of hymns and carols with Scripture readings and features the full choir and bell choir and guest musicians, so I wanted to experience it myself. And it really was lovely! The church I attend has a very modern worship setup, so the traditional choir and all that was a nice change of pace, and the whole service was just lovely.
• Christmas baking this year was all very last minute, but I did make three different types of Christmas cookies, one and a half of which were new. Naturally, I made my favorite gingersnaps (as usual). My half-new recipe was chocolate-mint pinwheel cookies, which are like the mint checkerboard cookies I've made the last couple years, but have the different doughs rolled up instead of assembled in squares. The general consensus was that, taste-wise, both were about equal, but the pinwheels were prettier. Of course, they're also more frustrating to roll up, so . . . we'll see what happens next year. The other difference was that we dipped these cookies (instead of just saying how good they would be dipped), which we are definitely going to do again next year because that was delicious. The final cookie I made was cranberry orange icebox cookies, which are almost shortbread-like and very tasty. In other cookie highlights, my mom made both ladylocks and peanut butter balls (like buckeyes, but fully chocolate-covered), both of which were absolutely wonderful.
• As per the usual, I also spent a good bit of time stressing about what to get people. About half of my gifts for my family didn't even get ordered/purchased until Christmas week because I couldn't figure out what to get. On the upside, everyone seemed to like what I got them, and I did manage a few surprises (always a struggle). I hoped that this would be the year that I finally didn't have a craft-based gift that I was working on up to the very last minute, but . . . nope. I crocheted my sister a little stuffed mole (because it's cute and also it's a chemistry joke), which I was still finishing up Christmas morning. Whoops. It did get under the tree before she woke up, though, so there's that.
• Getting to the actual Christmas Eve/Christmas Day: things this year ended up a little . . . weird. My grandpa came down to spend the holiday with us, but because of the winter storm and cold front and all, he decided to drive down on Christmas Eve instead of the day before that. That meant that we ended up doing about sixty percent of our normal Christmas Eve stuff on the day before Christmas Eve so we wouldn't be at church or getting pizza when he arrived. And that did work out fine (even if I was a bit disappointed at the switch), but it did mean that the actual Christmas Eve felt weird and unmoored from time. Not that weird, though; we were too busy to feel terribly adrift. And it was a lot of fun to see my grandpa again.
• Christmas Day was pretty chill, on the whole. We ended up taking so long to get breakfast cleared up, get dressed, take pictures, and get everything set up that we had to take a cookie break before we even started opening presents . . . not that I'm complaining. (I never complain about cookie breaks.) As I said, people seemed to like the things I got them, and I was quite pleased with my gifts, including my own copies of some of my favorite books from this past year and a couple new planners (one for work, one for home). My former roommate actually got me another gift I was pretty excited about: little silicon creatures that perch on the rim of your mug and keep your teabag in place! They're both cute and a clever solution to an overlooked problem, which is delightful. I've also been contemplating the fact that, at some point in most people's lives, the much-maligned gift of socks actually becomes rather exciting . . . though I suspect that depends somewhat on whether you're getting nice, soft, cozy, colorful socks (which I did) or boring, uncomfy ones.
• On the non-Christmas side of things: my family has been attending the Saturday night service at our church for the last several years, but the church recently decided to stop offering that service to reduce the strain on their pastors and staff. So, we've been trying out the other service times to try to figure out which new one works for us. Of course, with the holidays, things have been irregular enough that I don't think we've made a final decision.
• We finish out the month with a fairly chill week between Christmas and New Year's — well, chill except for the fact that my workplace decided to switch a bunch of systems over to work with the cloud and that was unexpectedly stressful and frustrating (and means I'm going to have to work with OneDrive on a daily basis, ugh — I recognize that it has its good points, but it's caused me enough trouble that I had to factory-reset a laptop to get rid of it). But New Year's Eve means Bible Study celebration, which is always a fun time.
• All in all . . . it's been a good month. A crazy month, yes, but still good, and a solid end to 2022.

January Plans

• I would like this month to be chill, in the relaxing sense and not the temperature sense. Unfortunately, I suspect I will get the latter, if either.
• I have several writing projects lined up: continuing work on BDPI #4 and my D&D campaign, a short story or two, possibly poking at a novella/novelette concept that I recently came up with. We'll see which ones end up taking precedence; some of these have firmer deadlines than others, and deadlines for a few are . . . weird.
• At work, at least, January tends to be a somewhat calmer month, so that's a relief. Most of the excitement the last couple years has come from people retiring, which no one is doing this year. I'm hoping to finish up several projects that've been in a holding pattern for a while, though, and that will keep me busy if it works out.
• On the reading front, I have several 2022 releases out from the library that I want to read (particularly Moira's Pen and The Lost Metal), and I have some ARCs to catch up on. I also want to finish up some of the series that I'm in the middle of either reading or rereading . . . of course, it's equally likely that I'll be in the mood for something else and end up distracted and read half of another series instead.
• Otherwise? Like I said, I'm hoping for chill, ideally enough so that I can take some evenings to watch shows or movies or do some gaming. Of course, realistically speaking, if I have that much time off in the evenings, I should be using it to exercise  . . .
• I think that about covers it . . . Technically, I have another thing that I could talk about that starts in January, but I'm going to hold off on saying too much about that in case something goes wrong and it doesn't work out.

How was your December? Any exciting plans for January? Did you get or give any especially fun Christmas gifts? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

Through a Shattered Glass Release Day & Broken Mirrors Release Party: A Meeting of Mirrors

You know what today is? It's RELEASE DAY for Through a Shattered Glass! HUZZAH! I'm so excited that y'all can finally read this book — it's honestly one of my favorite things I've written. If you preordered the ebook, it should be showing up in your Kindle, and if you've been holding out for the paperback, you can go forth and purchase that now! As a reminder, if you order the paperback today, you can still request your set of character art stickers. (Or, if you preordered the ebook but haven't requested your stickers, you can still do that through the 26th.) And if you still need to know why you should buy the book . . . well, I have a list of five reasons for you over on Light and Shadows.

Now, this might be my past as a fanfic writer and forum roleplayer talking, but one of my favorite character development experiments is thinking about how characters from different stories and storyworlds might interact: which characters get along like a house on fire, which ones hate each other on sight, and everything in between. And today, I wanted to celebrate all the Broken Mirror stories by sharing my thoughts on how Alys and Kai, the main characters of Through a Shattered Glass, might react if they met their counterparts (and the rest of the casts) from the other books in this release. As a side note, I'll be referring to Alys and Kai at different points in their respective timelines throughout the post, since I'm looking for the most interesting results. If you read the book, you'll understand why.

About . . .

Through a Shattered Glass

 

Drop the mirror and you break the world in two.  

Alys hasn’t set foot in Wonderland in years. Not since the White Queen’s mirror shattered; not since her best friend, Kai Hatter, was killed; not since Alys fled back to her own world with a shard of enchanted mirror in her eye. She’s done her best to set aside the past and move on — until a red-painted rose appears in her room, and the portal opens once more. 

Simultaneously desperate for hope and terrified of what she might find — or cause — Alys ventures back through the mirror. But the Wonderland she finds is not the same one she left behind, and though Kai is less dead than she thought, he still might be past saving. To make matters worse, the mirror shard is still in Alys’s eye, and Wonderland is all too susceptible to its corrupting power.  

Only Alys can save the land and friend she loves — but if she’s not careful, she might be their doom instead.  

A dark portal fantasy remix of The Snow Queen and Lewis Carroll’s Alice duology.  

Find it on: Amazon || Goodreads

A Meeting of Mirrors

Snowfield Palace

I'll tell you up front: this is the hardest of the books to talk about without giving away spoilers. What can I say? If Alys ended up in Snowfields during the actual plot of the book, she would probably make things go very sideways very quickly — though she might manage to prevent quite a bit of pain in the process, as her particular abilities would mean she'd spot the villain's true nature long before things came to a head. On the other hand, the Bethims and their household — with the exceptions of Ginny and Kaimund — are such a mess that Alys would probably end up overwhelmed. As for specific counterpart pairings, well . . . I don't think Alys and Ginny would dislike each other, but I suspect Alys would end up avoiding Ginny for her own protection, because while Ginny is an absolute sweetheart, she does not have good self-esteem, and Alys's abilities mean she is not particularly healthy for people with those types of problems to be around. On the upside, Kai would probably get along very well with his counterpart — they can bond over roses and disaster families and generally have a nice time.

Shattered Reflection

One thing's certain here: Alys and Kai would both sympathize heavily with Princess Nordica. Having your mind and heart twisted against you? Being used as a tool to cause pain to those you're meant to care about? They understand her plight all too well, and they'd probably be more than willing to do what they could to help her, though Alys would be very concerned about just making everything worse. When it comes to counterpart relationships, Alys would probably be more than a little envious of Layree's faith — it's been a long time since Alys felt she could believe in anything. She'd probably relate much more strongly to Breac, whose struggle is a little bit closer to hers. Kai and Loren would probably be friendly, but I doubt they'd end up close friends; aside from their shared role in the fairy tale, they don't have a ton in common.

Of Ice and Roses

Oh dear. I do not think Alys and Gemma would get along at all. It's no fault of Gemma's — she's a sweet girl — but I suspect her personality and situation are just such as to rub Alys in the worst way. On the other hand, Kai would sympathize a great deal with his counterpart in much the same way he would with Princess Nordica. Other than that, I don't think they'd have strong feelings on the rest of the cast.

Christmas Games

First things first: Alys, who grew up in our world and knows about technology and video games and VR, would find the world of this story fascinating. However, she has also absorbed enough second-hand knowledge of shows where people get stuck in VR worlds that she would want no part of the actual plot, even if she was invited. Kai, for his part, grew up in Wonderland, so everything here is new to him. I think he and Alys would both get along reasonably well with their counterparts (as well as Alys gets along with anyone these days), but since the story is so short and I haven't read the main series it's attached to, I'm not really sure what else I can say about them.

Are you excited for Through a Shattered Glass? And, if you're a writer, how do you think your characters might get along with some of the Broken Mirror characters? Please tell me in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Winter 2022–2023 Reads

Oh, look, a seasonal post is going up on time! In fact, it's going up early! Though not as early as it would have had I not realized that last Friday was, in fact, December 9, not December 16. (This is what they don't tell you about working at a church, y'all! You kind of end up living in two weeks at once, especially around the holidays.) Anyway. This winter has some releases I am immensely excited about — but before I get into that, don't forget that there's still time to preorder Through a Shattered Glass (and the rest of the Broken Mirrors releases) and request your set of character art stickers! Ok, advertising aside, let's get on with this season's most exciting (to me) releases.

Friday 5s: Winter 2022–2023 Reads

1. Illuminare by Bryn Shutt (December 9). I've actually already read this one — I did so within a few days of its release — and quite enjoyed it. The author promotes it as a readalike for Discworld and Six of Crows, and I could definitely pick up the influence of both of those series. Also, I vibed quite a lot with Desmond Edenry, arguably the main main character. Definitely a book I'd recommend.

2. Snowfield Palace by Kendra E. Ardnek (December 19). The first of the Broken Mirrors releases and another book I've actually read before writing this post! You'll get my full thoughts come Monday, but suffice it to say that if you liked the rest of the Austen Fairy Tales, you'll love this one — a blend of The Snow Queen with Mansfield Park — just as much.

3. Shattered Reflection by Madisyn Carlin (December 21). The second Broken Mirrors book! I'm probably in the middle of reading this book by the time you read this post — but as of writing, I'm still waiting on my ARC. In any case, I will say that this story sounds fascinating. It sounds like Madisyn will be making the Snow Queen more of a sympathetic character, and I'm excited to see how that works out. I'm also predicting now that Breac is going to end up my favorite character, but we'll see what happens.

4. Of Ice and Roses by Heather M. Elliot (December 22). Another Broken Mirrors release! Again, I'm excited to see what Heather does with the fairy tale. It sounds like we're getting intrigue, prophecies, a quest, and a heroine who starts the book married, all of which hold quite a lot of promise.

5. Through a Shattered Glass by Sarah Pennington (December 23). It's me! And my book! I'm super excited to share Through a Shattered Glass with y'all. I honestly think it's some of my best work . . . and I'm not just saying that because it's essentially an after-the-portal-fantasy story (which I really enjoy) or because I loved getting to revisit Wonderland and give it my own spin (which I did) or because it involves a magical cat in the form of my version of the Cheshire Cat (which it does). Again, there's still time to preorder if you haven't already!

6. Christmas Games by Erudessa Gentian (December 24). This is the final Broken Mirror releasing next week, and while I haven't read the series that this short story is part of, I'm excited to venture into a new world — and a new genre. I tried to write my own trapped-in-a-game story years ago (and failed), so I'm excited to see what Erudessa does with it and how she'll use the Snow Queen elements in a more sci-fi setting.

7. Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (January 1). Like every other Sanderfan on the planet, I was SO HYPED when Brandon Sanderson announced his Secret Projects. (The man wrote FOUR WHOLE BOOKS without telling us, WHILE working on Stormlight and Mistborn and everything else. HOW.) Tress of the Emerald Sea is probably the installment in the series that I'm most interested in, so I am, of course, very much looking forward to my copy arriving in January. (If you missed the Kickstarter, though, I have heard that the books will be available to buy at some point.)

8. The White Queen's Spell by Wyn Estelle Owens (January 19). This was meant to be the second Broken Mirrors release and the sequel to The Dark King's Curse, but Wyn had to push it back (alas!) due to timing concerns. Granted, I'm an alpha reader on this one, so it's not like I have to wait any longer to read the story than I otherwise would have to . . . but also, what I have read of the story is so good, and I want to talk about it so storming much. Help.

9. The Dragon's Princess by Kendra E. Ardnek (January 19). Kendra keeps sneaking out these short fairy tale retellings that swap the hero and villain. This is actually the third in the series, and it's based on St. George and the Dragon, which is not a legend I see many people retelling. I have a good guess about how Kendra is going to approach this one, but I'm excited to see if I'm right or not.

10. On Earth as It Is in Hell by Bryan Davis (February 3/15). This is the final book in Bryan Davis's Oculus Gate series, which should be exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing these characters one more time and finding out how they're going to get themselves out of the mess we last saw them in — which, if you'd forgotten, had several of the characters plunging into hell, either captured by or in pursuit of a thoroughly evil villain. Fun stuff. Anyway, this is coming in February; release dates are weird because the paperback and the ebook become available on different days. Keep an eye out for my review sometime in that span!

11. A Whisker Behind by W.R. Gingell (February 15). CITY BETWEEN SPINOFF. Not only that, a City Between spinoff focused on Athelas, everyone's favorite twisty lavender-grey fae! Athelas is absolutely my favorite character from the original series, so I cannot begin to express how much I'm looking forward to this. This spinoff also shifts settings from Australia to South Korea, which I think will be cool. But mostly I'm just looking forward to spending more time in the world of Between and Behind.

What book releases are you excited for this winter? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

 

WE HAVE STICKERS!

Hey'a everyone! No Friday 5s today because I've been busy with work and getting ready for the tour, but I did want to make sure y'all didn't miss the announcement I made earlier this week, which is that WE HAVE STICKERS!

These stickers portray Alys Gerda and Kai Hatter, the main characters in Through a Shattered Glass, and feature art by the lovely Chloe Grace (@chloegraceartist on Instagram). Want to know how to get one? All you have to do is preorder an ebook of Through a Shattered Glass or order the paperback on release day and submit a proof of purchase by clicking here. I'll send you your stickers after release day, and you can stick them wherever your heart desires. I put mine on my sketchbook with the rest of my character art, and I must say that they look very nice . . .

Supplies are limited, so make sure you submit your preorder soon. Also, I can only provide one set of stickers per person . . . but if you're buying an extra copy as a gift for someone, let me know in the form, and I'll see what I can do.

Preorder TaSG on Amazon || Add to your Goodreads shelf || Request your sticker

By the way, there is still a little bit of time in which to sign up for the Broken Mirrors release tour, so if you're interested, make sure to do that soon! All of the Broken Mirrors authors, myself included, would really appreciate the support.

Ok, I think that about covers it. How excited are you for these stickers? Have you preordered Through a Shattered Glass yet? Please tell me in the comments!

November 2022 Doings!

Hello all! December is here, which means CHRISTMAS — but that is not the point of this post. The point of this post is November's doings. And last month was, in fact, pretty busy and pretty productive, especially on the writing front. So, let's get to it!

Writing!

• Good news! Through a Shattered Glass is formatted and will be ready to send off for ARCs and my author proof copy (which I'll use to do one of two final proofreads) this weekend! That doesn't mean that ARC readers will receive their copies this weekend, as it's typically Kendra who handles those . . . but it does mean a better chance they'll be out soon.
• On a related note: have you preordered yet? Requested an ARC or joined the release tour? Added it to your Goodreads TBR? We're almost to release week, and it's very exciting!
• In some additional good news, Bastian Dennel, PI #4 is also coming along, still at a nice slow-and-steady pace. Is it where I hoped it would be at this point in the year? No. But I'm about 20 chapters in, and the pieces are starting to come together for the characters, and I'm figuring out ways to make the story better than originally planned, so we're all good.
• And in still more good news, I finally figured out how to manage something in my D&D campaign that I'd been uncertain of for quite some time. And we're almost done with combat-heavy sessions for a bit, thank goodness. I like planning them, but they are not my favorite sessions to run.

Reading!

• The biggest reading event of the month happened at the start of the month: the end of Dracula Daily on November 6. It was a very good ending, but I was also so sad that it was over! I was quite attached to the whole cast by the end, and I enjoyed receiving my semi-daily updates from them in my inbox. At some point, I'll read the book in the traditional fashion, but I do think this was the best way to experience it. (I was also amused to realize that Bram Stoker is just as allergic to falling action as I am, if not more so.)
• Aside from finishing Dracula, I finished rereading the League of Princes series, which was fun. I also continued my Goldstone Wood reread with Starflower and Dragonwitch. And I have to say, I had forgotten just how good Dragonwitch is. Or I didn't appreciate it as much when I first read it. Something. It's so good. And Alistair is such an underrated character. Dear goodness.
• My two new reads this month were Dana Illwind and Growing Shadows by Arthur Daigle and Relapsed by H.L. Burke. Both were quite good. I enjoyed the Dana Illwind stories in the Fellowship of Fantasy anthologies, and the book was more of the same. I'll have to get my hands on the sequel sometime. And Relapsed was a prequel to the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project series, so it was fun to see Fade when he was younger and going through the program the first time.

Watching!

• November and December tend to be the months in which I watch the most movies and shows, and this year looks like it'll follow that pattern.
• I finished Over the Garden Wall towards the start of the month. I thought it was a good show overall, one I'll probably rewatch if I have time. It is, of course, a story about brotherhood, and a story about stories, and a story about not being destroyed by despair, all of which I can appreciate. I think the fact that I'd seen so much analysis and meta-analysis and so forth before watching it meant I enjoyed it more, since I was able to watch for and pick up on themes that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Of course, I also liked that it was . . . y'know. It's a silly, slightly spooky show meant to be enjoyable for all ages and aimed a lot at kids.
• Skipping to the end of the month, we have Christmas movies! I fully admit that I'm a bit weird and picky with what Christmas movies I like (and dislike), but there are some that I generally want to watch ever year. We squeezed in two movies while my sister was home for Thanksgiving: Shop Around the Corner (which is not explicitly a Christmas movie, but does take place at Christmas, so . . . it counts) and The Lemon-Drop Kid (which is one of my favorites). I was hoping we'd get to watch White Christmas then, but oh well.
• Other than that, I ended up rewatching some of the early Fairy Tail episodes midway through the month (because I was too tired for new stuff and also sometimes I miss the characters — by which I mostly mean that I miss Erza). I had forgotten how long the power sequences are at the start of the show, so that was an adjustment. And I was also a bit amused to realize that the characters start doing their whole "defeat the villains the the power of friendship by befriending at least one villain" so early. I had forgotten that, but it does explain why I like the show so much.
• One last movie I almost forgot — I ended up with an unoccupied evening around the start of the month and rewatched Where Eagles Dare with my family. It's a good movie, and it's much better when you've seen it once before and therefore have an easier time telling people apart.

Life!

• I FINISHED MY SCARF.
• That was, obviously, not the most important thing that happened this month . . . but it is a thing that happened and was quite exciting. I also learned how to do a Russian yarn join when my yarn broke in the middle of a row, so that was cool.
• In terms of big events: my birthday was midway through the month, so that was fun. One of my coworkers made me cheesecake, and my mom made an utterly delicious caramel apple cheesecake pie.
• And, of course, we had Thanksgiving! My sister was able to come home for the weekend with one of her friends, thankfully. I've missed her quite a lot. Sadly, we didn't get to play Sentinels, but it was still good to see her. As per the usual, our Bible study had Thanksgiving together. It was a smaller group than we typically have, but still fun. I made rolls (non-sourdough), and my family also brought pie and sweet potato casserole.
• And in accordance with tradition, we put up the Christmas tree and decorated the day after Thanksgiving! I've been working on Christmas-related stuff pretty much all month at work, so I was READY for the season to start, if for no other reason than so I can finally listen to Christmas music.
• Speaking of work, it's been every bit as busy as I expected, but it's been generally good. Christmas and Advent is my favorite season to design for because the colors are just so lovely — deep blues and rich reds and bright golds and forest greens and snowy whites, my beloveds! And motifs of candles and stars and shimmering lights and occasionally snowflakes — it's lovely, ok? It makes me very happy.
• And . . . yeah. I think that about covers everything. It was a busy month, but not an eventful month.

December Plans

• CHRISTMAS.
• Also, THROUGH A SHATTERED GLASS RELEASE MONTH!
• Um, yeah. That pretty much sums it up. I will be spending most of the month, both at work and at home, gearing up for one or both of those and also praying for good weather around Christmas so my grandpa can come down and visit.
• I'd also like to finish Bastian Dennel, PI #4 by the end of the year, but given that December is usually really busy . . . we'll see. I'll do my best, but I'm also not holding my breath.
• And, of course, Christmas season means crafting, though not on the scale that I've done the last couple years. My biggest gift crafts are already finished and wrapped, so from here it'll just be one or two small, hopefully quick things. I do still need to figure out what I'm getting some people, though that's not exactly unexpected.

How was your November? Any exciting plans for December? Are you ready for the holidays? What season's colors are your favorites? What's your favorite Christmas movie? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

On the Taleweaver's Desk Issue 6: Novmeber 2022

 

Hello, everyone! Once again, my Taleweaver's Desk update is coming out a month after I originally intended it to; if this happens a third time, I'm going to have to think about permanently adjusting the schedule. In any case, the post is here now, and that's the important thing. As a reminder, On the Taleweaver's Desk is my quarterly broad-view update on my writing projects. If you want to know more about any project in this post, you can ask me in comments or take a look at my Works in Progress page. Also, you may notice that a couple projects have been removed from the list. This doesn't mean I've abandoned them entirely; it just means that they're not currently a significant enough consideration to include.

On the Taleweaver's Desk Issue 6: November 2022

On the Desktop

These are the projects you might find open on my laptop or desk if you took a peek at it during a normal day. They're currently in progress and at the top of the priority chart.

Through a Shattered Glass

What is it? A dark-ish portal fantasy remix of Lewis Carroll's Alice books combined with The Snow Queen.

Status: Almost fully edited and in the process of being formatted! Anyone want to sign up for the release tour?

I'm really pleased with how Through a Shattered Glass came out after my beta feedback, and I can hardly believe that there's only a month left before it releases into the world! I'm currently working on getting it formatted so I can send out ARCs and upload it to Amazon well in advance of the release date. Speaking of which, don't forget to preorder it on Amazon so you can get it as soon as it comes out — or, if you want it even sooner and you have a place to review it, request an ARC! And, of course, we're currently taking signups for the release tour; if you have any form of social media, blog, or newsletter, you can help — there are options for any level of commitment. 

Bastian Dennel, PI #4

What is it? Book 4 in my Bastian Dennel, PI series and my first murder mystery.

Status: Seventeen chapters drafted and counting.

My work on this story hit a few hiccups at the start, but it's been coming along at a slow-but-steady pace since I restarted. There's lots of interesting character dynamics to work with, so that's nice. The most stressful bits have been keeping my timeline in order, balancing POVs, and making sure characters find the right information at the right time. I'm hoping I'll be able to pick up the pace on this soon, as I'd like to have it drafted by the end of the year.

D&D Campaign: Defenders of Serys

What is it? Defenders of Serys is the homebrew D&D campaign that I run for my D&D group.

Status: Still slowly writing the Middle Earth adventure, currently a session or two ahead.

My aim lately has been to write a little bit of D&D stuff each week, and that's worked out so far. I don't think that the Middle Earth adventure will be done by the end of the year unless the group decides to go home early, but that's ok. The fact that we're playing through an established story makes it easier for me to figure out things that need to happen, if nothing else. And we've been trying some new things, including some optional rules, to help keep things moving smoothly, and they've gone over well for the most part.

Stacked on the Side

These are the stories that I'm not actively working on (at least not officially), but I'm keeping close at hand because I plan to get back to them soon (or I just work on them sporadically as the urge takes me).

There are no significant changes to any of these projects since my last update, but I'll leave the list here for anyone who hasn't seen it before!

Blood in the Earth

What is it? Blood in the Earth is the sequel to Blood in the Snow and a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses crossed with the myth of Hades and Persephone.

Status: First draft finished; awaiting rewrites. I probably won't get back to it until late 2023 at this point due to all the Bastian Dennel, PI books I have planned.

Once Upon a Dream

What is it? A light steampunk (or gaslamp fantasy?) Sleeping Beauty retelling; the predecessor to The Midnight Show

Status: Edited several times over. Awaiting another round of rewrites/expansion/edits.

Shelved for Now

These are stories that are also on hold, but which I don't have specific plans to work on very soon. They're still within easy reach should I decide to return to them, but they aren't a top priority.

There are no significant changes to any of these projects since my last update, but I'll leave the list here for anyone who hasn't seen it before!

Dust of Silver

What is it? Classic-ish fantasy retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses crossed with Rapunzel, the first book in what has the potential to be a rather long series. Also, a rewrite of a book I wrote years ago that won't let go of me because CHARACTERS.

Status: Several chapters into the rewrite, though those several chapters haven't been touched in a few years.

Between Two Worlds

What is it? A portal fantasy adventure about what happens when you come home from the adventure, only to discover that the adventure isn't quite as done with you as you thought.

Status: Awaiting another round of edits/rewrites while I write other things and daydream about its sequels.

The Way of the Pen

What is it? Self-aware fantasy adventure about a girl and her author.

Status: The first draft is sitting on my shelf, patiently waiting for its turn back in the spotlight, as it has been for some time. Of everything in this section, this is the most likely book to move up to Stacked on the Side or On the Desktop, as I occasionally have wild thoughts of editing it and shopping it 'round to traditional publisher

Berstru Tales series

What is it? A classic epic fantasy series and the longest-running series I've worked on (either in the number of books written or in how long I've worked on it.

Status: Needs to be rewritten from the ground up, but the bones are good. There's a particular character who's getting a whole new arc, and I'm really excited to write it . . . when I have time.

Awaiting Delivery

These are the stories that are on their way, but haven't quite arrived yet to the point where I can write them: ideas I'm toying with but haven't even started to draft because they're still too nebulous.

Additional Bastian Dennel, PI novels

What is it? Exactly what the heading said.

Status: Books 5 and 6 have been locked in as far as plots and source stories go — barring calamity, Book 5 will be Jack and the Beanstalk, and Book 6 will be The Little Mermaid (plus a surprise non-fairytale that will be revealed at a later date). I'm hoping Book 5 will be short to make up for the fact that Book 6 will almost certainly not be. I am very excited for both stories, especially Book 6 — I've been doing a lot of planning for it via brainstorming chats with one of my author friends (hi, Wyn), and it's just going to be so good. Another reason I want to hurry up and finish Book 4, ha! Past those two, I have another three ideas that are reasonably solid in terms of what fairy tale I want to retell (The Goose Girl, The Nutcracker, and part of the story of Pwyll, Prince of Dyved) and how they'll fit into Bastian's world, though I don't know exactly what order they'll land in.

Novellas from the world of Blood in the Snow

What are they? Currently, three ideas for spinoffs, most of which are also fairy tale retellings: one Puss in Boots (no, really), one Orpheus and Eurydice (probably crossed with a similar Japanese myth, Izanagi and Izanami), and one that's not currently a fairy tale retelling but would be about Gan and Azuma before they were animal-keepers at the emperor's palace (inspired the summer I spent watching a lot of Hogan's Heroes).

Status: Won't be written until after I edit Blood in the Earth.

Unnamed Fantasy Murder Mystery

What is it? Exactly what the headline says. A prominent noble is murdered; his adoptive daughter is poised to inherit his lands and position — but some are saying her hand was behind his death.

Status: Still just an idea, but it's an idea with a really good soundtrack. Still not going to be tackled until after Blood in the Earth.

What projects (writing or otherwise) are you currently working on? Any guesses what non-fairytale I'm planning to mix with The Little Mermaid? Have you signed up for the Broken Mirrors Release Tour yet? Tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

October 2022 Doings!

Hello hello hello! You may notice that, unlike a lot of my posts lately, October Doings is going up on the early side. For one thing, today is actually closer to the end of October than next Friday will be . . . but also, next Friday is going to be taken up with a blog tour, so here we are! While we only have a few weeks to cover, they've been a busy few weeks, so let's get going.

Writing!

• So, the good news is that BDPI #4 is still coming along pretty smoothly. I'm averaging a little over a chapter a week, which is a slower pace than some of my books, but still respectable, especially considering that a lot of my weekends this month have been occupied with non-writing activities.
• The other good news is that I got to participate in a short story writing challenge on another site and got my piece in on time. It's a story that I've had in my head in various forms for a while, based on a few of my favorite Celtic songs. I misremembered the deadline as being a week later than it actually was, so the writing ended up being done in a rush, and I didn't get as much time to edit as I wanted, but it did get done, and I'm pleased with the result. I may go back and polish it and see if I can submit it somewhere at some point.
• The bad news is that Through a Shattered Glass edits and formatting are coming . . . slowly. I finished another round of edits, but still need to do a little more polishing before I can switch to a formatted document. That's another project I'd been planning to do on weekends that didn't work out. I also worked on some of the interior graphics for the book, though nothing is finalized yet.
• I've done a little bit of D&D writing, though not a ton. Nothing much to report there.

Reading!

• Another slow reading month, though I did get some good books in. I finished rereading Veiled Rose, which meant rediscovering one of my favorite Goldstone Wood quotes — I had forgotten which book it was in. That quote is, of course, this one:

"Maybe it does have a happy ending. At least, when it's actually complete. I mean, this part of it is sad. But maybe something good will come from it still? I suppose you have to read all the legends together to know for sure, but I don't know all of them. This one is sad, but there might be a story out there somewhere to make it happy."

• Very much in the vein of the "old stories" quote from The Lord of the Rings that I love so much. Anyway, after Veiled Rose moved onto Moonblood, which is one of my favorite Goldstone Wood books, so that was a delight. I did not, however, continue my reread further, as I had library books that were coming due soon.
• Those library reads that I turned to next were Delicious in Dungeon #10 and Diana Wynne Jones's The Time of the Ghost. The new installment of Delicious in Dungeon was quite good, and I liked it almost as much as I did the early books at the start of the series. We also got some backstory on the conflict, which was fun. The Time of the Ghost was rather dark (especially for a Jones book), and not my favorite of her works, but it was still a fascinating, twisty read. I also spent most of the book thinking I knew a major spoiler for it, and then discovered at the end that I had either misheard or misremembered said spoiler, so that was an interesting experience.
• My other new read of the month was an ARC of H.L. Burke's upcoming novel, A Superhero for Christmas. I'll have a Friday 5s post about it next week, so I won't go far into my thoughts, but I will say that Burke has yet to disappoint me with any of her superhero books.
• I finished out the month by jumping into another reread, this time of the League of Princes series by Christopher Healy (which is not, in fact, called the Hero's Guide series, no matter how much I try to call it that). A friend of mine on another site was reading (or rereading?) them and posting quotes, and it made me want to revisit them, which was definitely a good choice, even if getting back into the first one took a bit. I finished the first book, The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, and I'm currently reading book two.

Watching!

• So, after years of seeing other people reference and obsess over it, I've finally watched Over the Garden Wall! Or, you know, I'm in the process of watching it, with the goal of finishing it by the end of October. I'm enjoying it, though so far, I don't love it to the same degree that others seem to. It's a fun show with an excellent edge of creepiness. Also, Beatrice is kind of a mood, not going to lie.
• I will note that, despite the fact that I'm not a superfan or anything, I sorta want to do a genderswapped Wirt cosplay simply because I want to have his cloak (or a real life version of it, you know) for myself. It looks so fun and comfy! Quite frankly, if I find the money for good materials, I would probably wear it for more than just cosplay.
• Otherwise, I'm still watching a little Fullmetal Alchemist here and and a little Critical Role there and a lot of short-form YouTube content and not much else. I've been tired lately, which means it takes me longer to get in the zone of writing, which means I have less time to chill afterwards . . . plus, I'm not really enjoying the current Critical Role arc, and that was the primary thing I was getting excited about watching for a long while.

Life!

• There's no doubt about the highlight of the month — it was, without a doubt, the day that Wyn Owens and I met up at the Renaissance Festival! We had a grand time wandering the village, visiting the shops, enjoying delicious food (including crepes! I love crepes so much), chatting about our writing (and getting excited when we encountered anything that reminded us of our characters), and watching three different jousting events. We even coordinated costumes so we could attend as Ailsa and Siobhra from Wyn's The Dark King's Curse! (After all, if you already have the outfits, it would be a shame not to wear them together.)
• So, yes. It was a lovely day, and I also think that particular Ren Faire is one of the better ones I've visited. It's definitely my favorite setup — quite large, and situated in an area with lots of trees — and the joust was tied with Ohio's in terms of quality. Ohio's seemed a little more authentic, but this one was more dramatic and managed to work in a storyline without it seeming terribly forced. I was sad that neither of the knights I was rooting for won, though.
• Outside of the Ren Faire, I actually had something going on almost every weekend this month aside from the first weekend (when the remnants of Hurricane Ian meant everyone was hiding inside for the most part). The weekend before the Ren Faire, my family went to a fall party held by our next-door neighbors, which was nice. I don't really know most of our neighbors aside from two couples, but the event and the food were good. And the weekend after, a couple from our Bible study had a bonfire at their house, so we went to that. It was lightly attended, but the families who were there were some of the ones we're closer to, and there was plenty of hot apple cider, so that was fun.
• (I also have an event this weekend — my church is doing Trunk or Treat, and I'm running a trunk, so the Interdimensional Curiosity Shoppe will return, with some adjustments. But that obviously hasn't happened yet, so I can't say much else about it.)
• Things at work have been picking up with fall events and the approach of Advent, specifically the Advent newsletter. It's not unmanageable, but it's definitely keeping me busy! I was pleased that people actually sent me the majority of newsletter pieces well in advance of the deadline, rather than a day or two before the deadline, so that's making things much less stressful.
• And on the food front, our Bible study is currently studying Ezekiel, so I tried my hand at making Ezekiel bread. It turned out pretty well, even if it did overflow my pans — it's a very dense, cakey bread, but it has a good taste. I don't think I'd want to eat nothing but that for a year and a half, but at the same time . . . y'know, there are worse things to have to eat for that long.
• Finally, for those curious . . . no, I still haven't finished my scarf. I'm working on it. There were just multiple weeks when I missed a time when I normally would've worked on it. At this point, I will be happy to get it done by the end of the year.

November Plans

• First and foremost: I am not doing NaNoWriMo. Besides the fact that I'm not in the place for a mad-rush writing marathon right now, I've been moving away from the NaNoWriMo organization as a whole. While it was a great help and a lot of fun during a particular season of my life, I don't care for a lot of the new aspects they've added since the site change, and more importantly, I don't agree with many of their recent policies. So, no NaNoWriMo.
• My October writing goals will carry over into November, as I continue to draft BDPI #4 and prepare Through a Shattered Glass for publication in December. My new aim is to have TaSG be ARC-ready by midway through the month, which I don't think is unreasonable, especially if I can find a good point in BDPI #4 to switch to having TaSG be my weeknight project and BDPI #4 as my weekend work.
• At work, I expect a busy month — it's the start of the holiday season, after all. I don't think it'll be too bad, though, barring calamity. And I do enjoy all the holiday design projects, especially the church Christmas card!
• Outside of writing and work, I don't have a ton of plans other than Thanksgiving, when my sister and one of her friends will be home on break. I think we'll be getting together with our Bible study for that as usual, which I'm looking forward to. (I may already be trying to decide what to make. My sister has requested pumpkin bread because I forgot to give her the extra loaf I made when I visited back in September . . . but also, pie. It's a tough decision.)
• Finally, on the reading front, I'll probably be flipping between books for review and trying to finish up at least some of my rereads and reading goals before the year ends, assuming I don't get too distracted by mood reads. We'll see what happens.

How was your October? Any exciting plans for November? Did you go to any Ren Faires this fall? Have you watched Over the Garden Wall? Are there any characters you want to cosplay just because you think their outfit looks fun? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

Through a Shattered Glass COVER REVEAL + Preorder Info!

Hello hello hello! I've been working on Through a Shattered Glass on and off for a bit, and now I have some exciting news! Which you can probably guess from the title, but in case you're the kind of person who skims past the title and just clicks the post: Through a Shattered Glass has a cover! And a release date! And, in a surprise to no one at all, it's going to be released as part of the Broken Mirrors Arista Challenge Group.

So, who's ready to see the shiny?

 

Drop the mirror and you break the world in two.

Alys hasn’t set foot in Wonderland in years. Not since the White Queen’s mirror shattered; not since her best friend, Kai Hatter, was killed; not since Alys fled back to her own world with a shard of enchanted mirror in her eye. She’s done her best to set aside the past and move on — until a red-painted rose appears in her room, and the portal opens once more.

Simultaneously desperate for hope and terrified of what she might find — or cause — Alys ventures back through the mirror. But the Wonderland she finds is not the same one she left behind, and though Kai is less dead than she thought, he still might be past saving. To make matters worse, the mirror shard is still in Alys’s eye, and Wonderland is all too susceptible to its corrupting power.

Only Alys can save the land and friend she loves — but if she’s not careful, she might be their doom instead.

A dark portal fantasy remix of The Snow Queen and Lewis Carroll’s Alice duology.

Releasing December 23, 2022

Preorder on Amazon || Add to your Goodreads shelf

 

Yes, you did read that correctly — this will be my second book released this year. And yes, it is coming out just two days before Christmas, which means I will be extra busy this holiday season. It's fine. (And yes, this means it may or may not arrive in time for Christmas gifts . . . but if it's a little late, it's fine. It spreads out the cheer, y'know?)

As I mentioned, Through a Shattered Glass is releasing alongside the rest of the Broken Mirrors collection, a group of six Snow Queen retellings, which I strongly encourage you to check out! They all sound SO GOOD. You can learn more about them by reviewing the escapades from last night's Facebook party, but I also have some links here.

Snowfield Palace (The Austen Fairy Tale Book 4)
by Kendra E. Ardnek

A young girl struggles to find her place among her betters, only to have visitors send her world spinning.

Preorder on Amazon || Add to your Goodreads shelf || Discover the Series

The White Queen's Spell (Sequel to The Dark King's Curse)
by Wyn Estelle Owens

Danger abounds when curses combine, and now it's Ailsa's turn to be saved.

Preorder on Amazon || Add to your Goodreads shelf || Check Out Book 1

Shattered Reflection (The Shattered Lands Book 1)
by Madisyn Carlin

When her brother is taken, Layree must form an uneasy alliance with an old enemy to save him.

Preorder on Amazon || Add to your Goodreads shelf

Of Ice and Roses (A Flamesend Novel)
by Heather M. Elliott

As dangers mount, what is Gemma willing to sacrifice for the fate of two kingdoms?

Preorder on Amazon || Add to your Goodreads shelf

Christmas Games
by Erudessa Gentian

Beware the harmless Christmas Gift.

Preorder the ebook || Preorder in paperback || Add to your Goodreads shelf

 

Sound intriguing? I think so. Also, for the next week or so, you can preorder all of these in ebook form for just $0.99 each! So if any of these sound up your alley, make sure you get in soon to take advantage of this deal!

Also, if you're as excited about this reveal as I am, you're invited to help spread the word! We've put together a reveal packet with information about all six books. Feel free to share about any or all of them on your socials or blogs.

As a bonus, if you either preorder all six books OR share all six covers, you'll receive a special PDF with a sneak peek of the first chapters of each book. And if you both preorder and share, you'll also receive one of several free ebooks from the Broken Mirrors authors. Full details are available here. And if you want to request an ARC or get in on the release festivities in December, keep an eye on the main release page.

So, what do you think of the cover? How excited are you about Through a Shattered Glass? Which Broken Mirrors retelling are you most excited for? (I hope it's mine . . . but I won't be offended if it's not.) Please tell me in the comments!

August 2022 Doings!

Oof. Not going to lie; August has been a bit of a rough month. Not entirely bad, to be sure, but also far from ideal. Given that July was a high in a lot of ways, that's not entirely surprising — problems always hit harder when you're coming off something really fun and exciting — and I'm hopeful that September will swing back to a calm and cheerful equilibrium. Hopefully. It may just end up being more crazy. But before we get to that, let's take a look back at August.

Writing!

• This month was a little discouraging on the writing front. If you've been following my weekly goal posts on Facebook and Instagram or if you read my Taleweaver's Desk post a couple weeks ago, you know why: I ended up scrapping most of what I'd written and going back to scratch with an adjusted outline and a mostly-new draft. There were a few chapters that I could mostly salvage, but . . . not many. I think the new version is going to be better, but it's still frustrating. I'm currently working on the new Chapter 6, which is behind where I wanted to be, but . . . it is what it is.
• Edits on Through a Shattered Glass are also stalled because feedback from one person kept getting pushed back . . . I know she's super busy with her own writing, and the story is pretty strong already, so I'm not upset, nor am I super worried? But I would also like to get back to this so I'm not rushing at release time. (Also, I can't finish the cover design or work on formatting until I have at least one more round of edits done, and I want to work on those things!)
• On the upside, D&D writing is coming along reasonably well. Not quickly, by any means, but still well enough that I'm counting it as a win. And my group says they're enjoying it, even if it is more or less glorified communal fanfiction.

Reading!

• This month actually started really well on the reading front, as I devoured the rest of H.L. Burke's Supervillain Rehabilitation Project (excellent, particularly the last two), her Supervillain Romance Project duology (also delightful), and the first Supervillain Rescue Project book (every bit as good as the rest). I absolutely love these books, and I can't believe it took me so long to read them! I would say that Refined, Reunited, On the Run with a Supervillain, and Power On are my favorites, but they're all quite excellent.
• A couple other highlights of the month: Grave Peril and my Secrets of the Mountain reread. Grave Peril is the third Dresden Files book, and while I wasn't thrilled about a lot of the content (even more so than usual), I was pleased to meet Michael — I've heard quite a few people speak highly of him as a character, and he definitely lived up to what I've heard. And, of course, I love Secrets of the Mountain, and it was doubly fun because I know quite a few secrets behind the story now and because I got to read it in hard copy instead of on a computer.
• Then we got to about midway through the month, and I got distracted by a new book called How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North. The conceit is that it's a guide from an alternative future for stranded time travelers who get stuck in the distant past and need a shortcut to recreating a version of modern life; the actual content is a breakdown of different physical and cultural inventions and some degree of how they work and what goes into them. It's not exhaustive, but even with what it does cover . . . well, some of the chapters are fine, but there's one chapter that took me about half a week to get through because it's so. long. And while the voice is fun, and the author does a good job of not getting too technical, it still dragged a bit. I haven't finished yet, so we'll see what my final verdict is.

Watching!

• I didn't get to watch a lot this month, partially due to being busy and partially for other reasons.
• I did get to introduce my sister to Firefly, though, so that was exciting! Unfortunately, we only had time for the pilot, but she seemed interested in watching more at a later date.
• I also watched a couple episodes of The Librarians because . . . mostly because I wanted a change of pace, I guess? And because I didn't feel like watching something on a tablet/mobile device, and my other more active shows are limited in what devices I can easily watch them on.

Life!

• Why have I spent so much of this month tired? July made sense — I was running around like mad getting ready for Realm Makers and then being at Realm Makers. But this month . . . I don't know.
• The month had a very exciting start when, on the very first day of August, my car started vibrating and shaking on my way to work. I pulled off, Googled things, and did a visual inspection of the wheels in case I had a flat, but because I was still pretty close, I decided to take the car home and have my sister drive instead . . . which was very much the right decision, because when I turned the car back on, it was shaking worse than before, and I had to floor the gas pedal to get above 10 or 15 miles an hour. So, you know, that's mildly problematic. Thankfully, it kept going until we could get home and quickly leave again, and some very helpful neighbors offered advice on what was probably wrong and where to go to get it fixed. It turned out to just be an issue with the spark plugs, and I'm grateful that it wasn't worse, but it was still . . . you know. Scary and stressful. (And then I had tire trouble at the end of the month . . . yeah.)
• The rest of the month hasn't had anything quite so stressful, but it's still been a bit not-ideal, as I spent two weeks dealing with some fairly significant ear pain — not debilitating, but I couldn't use earbuds and couldn't sleep on one side, and it eventually got bad enough that I went to the doctor over it. As with the car, the problem ended up not being a serious one — just painful and unpleasant in the moment — but it did not make for a great month.
• On the upside, I finally did something I've been wanting to do for a couple years now: upgrade from a desktop to a laptop! I've been struggling with my laptop for the last couple years due to the low amount of storage space — constantly having to pare down programs and files in order to get Photoshop to work or to upgrade things, keeping ninety percent of my files on an external drive (which meant my laptop was no longer particularly mobile), and trying to figure out why two-fifths of my drive was being taken up by OneDrive stuff that I knew I'd deleted. I knew that the easiest way to resolve the issue would just be to go up to a desktop, but didn't find one within my price range until this year's back-to-school sales. As a bonus, once I had everything transferred over to the new computer, I could start over with my laptop from scratch and get rid of the OneDrive error! So now I can actually use my laptop as a laptop without constantly running out of storage space and having to decide if I want to be able to write, work on graphics stuff, or play games (because there wasn't space for all three).
• What else . . . my sister left to go back to college midway through the month. I miss having her around, but she seems to be having a good start to her semester.
• At work, I had a couple very light weeks, and then everything got thrown into overdrive this week and last week. We're gearing up for several big events in September and October and trying to update various graphics, systems, and whatnot around the church, so . . . yeah. It's been a bit stressful. We did have an indoor picnic midway through the month, though, so that was fun.
• We also went to visit my grandpa towards the beginning of the month, and it was nice to get to see him again. It wasn't an especially eventful visit, but it was enjoyable. (Also, we were celebrating his birthday, so my mom made Almond Joy cake, which was delicious.)
• Oh, and I finally finished a crafting project I've been working on most of the summer! Not the scarf I've been working on for a couple years, but still a win.

September Plans

• Please, let September be quiet.
• Oh! But not too quiet, because September is the Silmaril Awards! The nomination posts go up Monday, and I am SUPER excited. I get to host one of my favorite categories this year; it's going to be fabulous. I also have a bunch of characters I'm excited to nominate in other categories.
• I need to make progress on Bastian Dennel, PI #4, but I also need to get at least one round of Through a Shattered Glass edits done, possibly two. And I need to get a preorder up.
• On a completely unrelated note, the cover reveal for the Arista Challenge Broken Mirrors collection is coming up on September 14! I hear there's a pretty shiny lineup of releases, so that's going to be exciting. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on that.
• I'll also be doing some traveling this month to attend a friend's wedding. I'm looking forward to celebrating with her and seeing my friend group in person again — plus, I'll probably get to visit my sister at her college during the same trip. (I may also try to hit a Ren Faire and/or one of my favorite non-VA coffee shops during said trip. We'll see how things work out.)
• I would really like to finish the scarf that I've been working on for ages this month. I don't know how successful I'll be, but . . . I'd like to get all my projects finished before I start anything new. (And I really want to start another embroidery project, but I can't decide what design I want to make — do I want to do something related to a favorite book? Something around song lyrics that I really like? Just something cute and neutral?)
• And, at work, the busy schedule will continue as those big events I've mentioned draw ever closer . . . oh well. At least this is a long weekend, so I can get a little bit of rest.

How was your August? Any exciting plans for September? Are you excited for the Silmaril Awards (and have you started thinking about who you're going to nominate)? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

Hello, everyone! Technically, this post is a bit late — they're supposed to go up the second month of each season — but around July 20, I was at Realm Makers and not in any position to write blog posts. Plus, given what happened right after Realm Makers with regard to my writing, it was probably just as well that I waited. So, here we are, in August, with a broad-view update on my writing projects! As usual, if you want more information on any project in this post, you can feel free to ask me in comments or check my Works in Progress page.

 

On the Taleweaver's Desk Issue 5: August 2022

On the Desktop

These are the projects you might find open on my laptop or desk if you took a peek at it during a normal day. They're currently in progress and at the top of the priority chart.

Bastian Dennel, PI #4

What is it? Book 4 in my Bastian Dennel, PI series and my first murder mystery.

Status: Three chapters and a bit down . . . many more to go.

I've had this idea playing in my head for a while (ever since I read a particular writing prompt in a screenshotted Tumblr post), and I'm glad I finally get to write it. It's turning out a little differently than I expected, and it had a rocky start — nine chapters in, I realized I didn't have enough tension and had to go back and start all over. But the new outline seems promising, this draft is flowing better, and I have high hopes for how it'll turn out.

Through a Shattered Glass

What is it? A dark-ish portal fantasy remix of Lewis Carroll's Alice books combined with The Snow Queen.

Status: Drafted, edited one-and-a-half times, and ready for the rest of edits.

I got some excellent feedback from my alpha and beta readers on this book — a fair number of suggested changes, but also some excellent reactions and a very definite sense that the story is doing what I intend it to do. I need to start edits soon, but I'm waiting on feedback from one more person and trying to get to a good pause point in BDPI#4 before I do. On the upside, I also have a very shiny cover finished! Keep an eye out for the reveal of that and for information on preorder and release date in a couple weeks.

D&D Campaign: Defenders of Serys

What is it? Defenders of Serys is the homebrew D&D campaign that I run for my D&D group.

Status: Still slowly writing Season 4 Module 2.

Summer is not the best time to move quickly through a D&D campaign, haha. The party is still in Middle Earth, since we're only averaging about a session a month, maybe two if we're lucky, and I'm trying not to write too far ahead — since I know what's going to happen overall, I'm writing up to decision points and then pausing so I can figure out what to prep next (as opposed to my usual method, where I try to prep a full adventure including material for the most probable paths the party will take). Even so, I'm somewhat hoping the group will be done with the Middle Earth adventure and ready to head back to their own world for a while by the end of the year.

Stacked on the Side

These are the stories that I'm not actively working on (at least not officially), but I'm keeping close at hand because I plan to get back to them soon (or I just work on them sporadically as the urge takes me).

There are no significant changes to any of these projects since my last update, but I'll leave the list here for anyone who hasn't seen it before!

Blood in the Earth

What is it? Blood in the Earth is the sequel to Blood in the Snow and a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses crossed with the myth of Hades and Persephone.

Status: First draft finished; awaiting rewrites. Definitely won't happen this year unless there's a miracle . . . but I do keep getting more and more thoughts about character dynamics and how to improve how I write my main character.

Once Upon a Dream

What is it? A light steampunk (or gaslamp fantasy?) Sleeping Beauty retelling; the predecessor to The Midnight Show

Status: Edited several times over. Awaiting another round of rewrites/expansion/edits.

Shelved for Now

These are stories that are also on hold, but which I don't have specific plans to work on very soon. They're still within easy reach should I decide to return to them, but they aren't a top priority.

There are no significant changes to any of these projects since my last update, but I'll leave the list here for anyone who hasn't seen it before!

Dust of Silver

What is it? Classic-ish fantasy retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses crossed with Rapunzel, the first book in what has the potential to be a rather long series. Also, a rewrite of a book I wrote years ago that won't let go of me because CHARACTERS.

Status: Several chapters into the rewrite, though those several chapters haven't been touched in a few years. Every so often, particular songs pop up in my playlists and give me feels about characters in these books, and I want to work on them . . . but the relevant character bits are from sequels to this rather than this particular story.

Between Two Worlds

What is it? A portal fantasy adventure about what happens when you come home from the adventure, only to discover that the adventure isn't quite as done with you as you thought.

Status: Awaiting another round of edits/rewrites while I write other things and daydream about its sequels.

The Way of the Pen

What is it? Self-aware fantasy adventure about a girl and her author.

Status: The first draft is sitting on my shelf, patiently waiting for its turn back in the spotlight, as it has been for some time. I did have some new thoughts about character dynamics and what changes I want to make in the rewrite recently, though.

Berstru Tales series

What is it? A classic epic fantasy series and the longest-running series I've worked on (either in the number of books written or in how long I've worked on it.

Status: Needs to be rewritten from the ground up, but the bones are good. There's a particular character who's getting a whole new arc, and I'm really excited to write it . . . when I have time.

A Tower of Portals Campaign

What is it? A second D&D campaign inspired by one of my favorite video games.

Status: On hold; worked on as I come up with new ideas and have time.

Awaiting Delivery

These are the stories that are on their way, but haven't quite arrived yet to the point where I can write them: ideas I'm toying with but haven't even started to draft because they're still too nebulous.

Additional Bastian Dennel, PI novels

What is it? Exactly what the heading said.

Status: I have a pretty good idea what books 5 and 6 in BDPI are going to look like, assuming I have time to write them both and release them in a timely fashion. I also have ideas for several other books in the series, though the exact order is up in the air. If anyone is curious, possible stories I want to turn into cases for Bastian include The Little Mermaid, Jack and the Beanstalk, Pwyll and Rhiannon, The Nutcracker, The Goose Girl, and maybe The Princess and the Pea. I also have another fair-folk-heavy idea that I want to write involving a minor character from Gilded in Ice, but I haven't figured out a fairy tale to center it on yet.

Novellas from the world of Blood in the Snow

What are they? Currently, three ideas for spinoffs, most of which are also fairy tale retellings: one Puss in Boots (no, really), one Orpheus and Eurydice (probably crossed with a similar Japanese myth, Izanagi and Izanami), and one that's not currently a fairy tale retelling but would be about Gan and Azuma before they were animal-keepers at the emperor's palace (inspired the summer I spent watching a lot of Hogan's Heroes.

Status: Won't be written until after I edit Blood in the Earth.

Unnamed Fantasy Murder Mystery

What is it? Exactly what the headline says. A prominent noble is murdered; his adoptive daughter is poised to inherit his lands and position — but some are saying her hand was behind his death.

Status: Still just an idea. Still not going to be tackled until after Blood in the Earth.

Worldhoppers Inc./Mythology D&D Campaign

What is it? Yet another homebrew D&D campaign. Or two. Technically it's two possible themes for series of connected one-shots and short-term adventures, with a few adventure ideas for each theme and a chance that I'll just try to combine them.

Status: Probably not going to work on this until I have a lot of spare time, need a new campaign for my D&D group, or have reason to prioritize the Welsh myth adventure. I'm also moving some of what I had planned for it into Defenders of Serys, which is going to be great.

What have you been working on of late? Which potential Bastian Dennel, PI fairy tale mystery are you most curious about? Tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!