pretty shinies

HELL’S ACRE, In June

It’s June, and you know what that means–Hell’s Acre is now underway! An all-new serial adventure, delivered weekly, and full of stuff Bannon & Clare fans might like–carriages, dresses, a London where the Roman Empire never fell, rooftop battles, assassinations, and the like. There won’t be any magic, per se, but a great deal of semi-combat sorcery Mikal might approve of.

If you’re interested, you can get the first three chapters for free here.

It’s a holiday Monday, so I’m off to walk the dogs before it gets too warm. They’re saying 90F or near it for the next couple days, and I am a pale Pacific Northwest mushroom who shrivels in such temperatures. I plan to work only a half-day today and then retire to the couch to knock off the rest of a book on the Ancient Rome and the silk trade. (It’s all Rome, all the time in here lately.)

I wish you a blessed Memorial Day, my friends. I woke up with Dolly Parton playing inside my head, so I’m hopeful for a good day.

Over and out!

Hello, Cabbage

Cabbage and fennel in the foreground, blurry nasturtiums in the back. I am unsure if the cabbage seeds have actually sprouted, and I’m sure the fennel is going to do better because cabbage is surprisingly picky. It wants Very Good Soil, but these fellows are going to get what they get.

I mean, yes, I have a compost pile and I spread the resultant black gold every year, but reading the instructions on the free packet of cabbage seeds convinced me that they are finicky bastards who will probably not like anything I do for them.

And yet sauerkraut is so good for one, and if I manage to get a single head of cabbage out of the deal I will consider myself on the path to mastery.

Anyway, I am pleased as punch. I mean to spend the weekend off, probably finishing garden-bed preparation. But what I plan and what happens ain’t exactly ever been similar (even if I’m wearing a cunning hat).

And when I come back after Memorial Day, there will be a new serial premiering. Holy wow. Already halfway through the year. Maybe I’ll just spend the weekend not trying to think about that.

Over and out…

Not Quite Vacay

It’s raining, and I woke up with Rain’s Sad Tango playing in my head. Which isn’t bad on either count. I get to run while water is falling from the sky, and there’s also a catchy groove to do it to.

I meant to take this week as a vacation, at least from serial writing. Unfortunately life has other ideas. Cold North is still going great guns; the elementalist has left that world’s variation on Nargothrond and is heading for a hill topped with red foliage. (Turin Turambar fans are going to get a kick out of this part of the tale.) I’m also getting plenty of progress in on Hell’s Acre, which has a scaffolding somewhat resembling an outline–though anything approaching an outline gets thrown out about two-thirds of the way through any work.

I just can’t stick to directions when it comes to a story. It has to take its own organic shape, and though I can often predict said shape, the execution is always much different than the projection.

…I just took the first gulp of today’s coffee, and my gods is it ever welcome.

I’m having to switch back to tea in the afternoons, since sleeping is becoming difficult again. On the one hand, I could just get up and work when insomnia strikes. On the other, I’m getting older (surprise, surprise) and the very thought of pulling all-nighters the way I used to makes me even more tired. I might as well give my body all the help I can. Besides, tea is stuffed full of anti-depressive chemicals, and that’s always a bonus.

I’m also ready to open up my Discord server for a new round of members, so come on in, the water’s fine! The invite link will last for a week, unless we get an influx of bad actors. (Which sometimes happens, this being the internet and all.) Patreon and Gumroad folks get special access on the server, and I’m kicking around the idea of doing some voice chats with subscribers–an AMA or two sounds like a good time, especially with a cuppa. The server has a living room, a place to discuss the books of Yours Truly, a place to discuss other authors’ books, a hellhole where politics are discussed, and more.

I’m slowly working my way through coffee. It’s a nice quiet grey morning, and after listening to Sad Tango on repeat I figure I’ll shift to the Kingdom of Heaven soundtrack, look over the day’s work, and finish said java before taking the dogs on walkies. Boxnoggin will be extremely put out that it’s damp, but B will be just the same–she’s all-weather, all the time.

OH! I almost forgot. The Princess informed me yesterday that the Yankee Squirrel Flipper is doing its duty, and a squirrel has been flung at least once into the Venerable Fir. Sadly, I did not get to witness the occasion, but I have to admit to a bit of evil laughter, especially since the damn arboreal rodents have been digging up my seedling trays to bury their bloody peanuts.

Yes, someone in the neighborhood is still feeding them. I don’t even know.

That’s the news that’s fit to print, I suppose. There are rumbles in the distance, both concerning Cold North and Moon’s Knight, but nothing definitive yet. And come June 1, not only will Hell’s Acre be live, but I’ll have to shift engines to do revisions on Sons of Ymre, which should be out later this year (but will probably be retitled, so stay tuned).

My goodness, that’s a lot. I started this post thinking there was very little if any news, but apparently I was wrong. It’s a good thing I don’t mind being wrong. I even enjoy it, in some cases.

This vacation is turning out busier than many regular work weeks, but that’s my own fault…

…as usual. Onwards, upwards, and inwards to Thursday, beloveds.

Almost Royal

In late spring, there’s an explosion of color as the rhododendrons and azaleas flower. It’s short indeed, but very vivid, and I like this particular bush. It’s friendly all year round, being on our usual morning canine ramble route. The lithadora under it is apparently the source of many fine smells, so both Boxnoggin and Miss B halt there for a good long while.

While they busily untangle the day’s news, I often exchange pleasantries with this fine lady. She’s far taller than me, but very gracious and willing to speak at length about the weather. The dry spring is nice, most of the plants are saying, because it’s cut down on slug and snail production. Which means more vegetation.

I call this particular flower “almost royal” because it’s purple and quite majestic in its own way. There was an azalea I ran past yesterday positively loaded with white blossom, but I didn’t get to slow down long enough for a picture. That’s all right; this is just as good.

Here’s hoping for a pleasant weekend, my beloveds. I’ve lost almost a week to the immense psychological relief of being vaccinated; I need to get back to work in the worst way. But there’s always time to walk the dogs, and have a little small talk with an almost-royal almost-tree.

See you next Monday…

Good Luck

I was cleaning off the mantel (I’ve been nesting lately) and came across a whole sand dollar a very good friend gave me years ago (well before lockdown) as well as a horseshoe found I know not where. It seemed a good omen, especially after I dusted and arranged them in pleasing fashion.

Tomorrow the Prince and I go for our second vaccine jab. I’m almost beside myself with anxiety–not over the shot itself, but afraid that some-damn-thing will happen, there will be some organizational snafu, and we won’t be able to get them. The absolute lack of any competence during the previous administration left a deep mark; I’m overly nervous.

All signs are it’ll go smoothly, and I expect some short-term side effects like the first dose had. Today will be spent prepping everything in case those wipe me out for a day or two.

Still…I’ll take all the luck I can get, and share it with you. May we all be fully vaccinated soon, beloveds; and may we all have a quiet weekend.

The Pile and Piranesi

Since some energy has freed up–i.e., the relief of everyone having at least the first vaccine shot means I’m not plunged in a whirlpool of worry every time someone in the house coughs–I’ve been getting more in the way of reading done. I had a stack of manga by my bed, which has been absorbed.1 Now the stack behind it can be approached.

Clarke’s Piranesi is at the top. I read it all in one gulp on a warm night earlier in the week, and am in the same position I was when I finished Kolyma Tales. In other words, I am envious of everyone who hasn’t read it yet, because it’s just so good. In fact, I’m reading it again, but more slowly. I don’t often do a twice-in-a-row–there’s been, I think, under ten books in my life I’ve even been tempted to–but I don’t want to leave it. I want to savor every single word all over again.

After that will come Price’s The Viking Way, which I promised myself I’d move to the top of the queue when I started earnest work on The Cold North. I can’t wait to get into it, but that will have to wait until I’m finished rolling around in Piranesi once more.

If this seems a rather small pile, don’t worry. It’s only the “next in queue” next to my bed. I have many more books to read. And isn’t that the definition of luxury? Many a book to read, and a bed to read them in.

Enjoy your weekend, beloveds. I’ll probably spend mine working, as usual, but I’ll certainly be taking some time to visit flooded hallways crowded with statues.

Sunny Spring, and a New Serial

I usually do a Friday photo, but this is a special week. I just got the covers for the next serial after HOOD, along with this shiny graphic to announce its advent. Pretty neat, right? The covers are from the inimitable IndigoChick Designs; I love Skyla’s work.

HOOD1 will finish in May, and subscribers in the relevant tiers will get the unedited and edited ebooks of Season Three for free2. I’ll take the last week of May off, then Nest Egg and Serial Time subscribers will be able to automagically dive right into the first season of Hell’s Acre starting in June.

I describe Hell’s Acre as “alt-Victorian Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate mixed with The Da Vinci Code in a world where the Roman Empire didn’t fall to Christianity or the Vandals”, so there’s a whole lot I’m excited to play with. Fans of Bannon & Clare will like the return to a London of steampunk and grime, though there will be no sorceresses3.

Hell’s Acre should run in two seasons; I have (for once) something approaching an outline. Of course the tale will grow in the telling, as it always does, and I’m already finding out things I didn’t know about the characters. It’s nice to be in the joy-of-discovery phase instead of the revision phase.

And with that I’m off to spend a Friday writing, beloveds. I’m very excited for what the next few months will bring, which is a super nice change from last year. I hope you have a fine weekend; I intend to spend mine writing and watering, since we’re having a sunny spring indeed.