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[As usual, two weeks lag here, if you aren’t reading this on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/blazeward). If you’d like your news fresher, and the monthly Anti-Stodgy/Redneck Chef newsletter, all I ask is a buck to help keep the lights on around here.]
If you’ve been paying attention, I wrote the first nine stories in nine days. Averaging about 4500 words each. Flipping back and forth between two main characters who won’t meet until possibly the last paragraph of book one, or at least the last chapter.
Friday, the streak broke, but that was because I had other things to do. Got about 2700 words of it done. Wrote the other 2000 this morning (I always take weekends off writing these days for other tasks.)
That’s ten stories. Quick eyeball says 48k words. Maybe a third done. Epic Space Fantasy, so it’s going to be kinda big. Swords and Sorcery on starships, ya know? Rich and deep and a little crazy, because honestly, this is a new thing for me to write. And I’m leaning in on all the tropes I usually avoid. Because why the hell not? (Kinky Friedman used that as the basis of an entire campaign to be Governor of Texas, once upon a time.)
Y’all will get the first story later this week. I’m done with 10 and looking at 11.
My plan right now is that they have stopped being pure short stories welded randomly together, and have become somewhat serialized chunks of something much larger. The eventual novel from this will be assembled from these chunks, so a bunch of short parts, or possibly long chapters. Dunno.
It will be different from what you are used to, because why the hell not?
MIGHT be calling this series The Scattered Tribes Chronicle. And book one MIGHT be Warlock At Large. Don’t quote me, as there’re a lot of miles between here and there.
Didn’t go out this morning. Holiday in the States, so lots of folks would be off work and both the restaurant and the range will be zoos. (At least I remembered this year.) Also, I have an early D&D game today. (Start at 4 instead of 6pm, play late.) I am not the GM anymore, because three of the group decided to blow up my game last week, leading to several character deaths and everyone else arrested and thrown in jail prior to being hung as cattle thieves.
I closed up all my books, packed them up, and told the group that someone else was in charge. And I don’t honestly expect to GM for these players again. Hell, I’m not sure if this group still exists, after some things that got said to me over the weekend. Figure I’ll show up tonight and smile, because these are not my monkeys and this is no longer my circus.
And if they have reached the point of not wanting to be a group anymore, I’ll go find others to play with. Not like I don’t have a lot of friends out there I could contact.
Rest of the week will be weird, writing-wise. Keeping at Warlock At Large. World-building something entirely new for the next story I need to write for Boundary Shock Quarterly (“Gulliver’s Other Travels” due out in the fall). Might pivot over and write the rest of Marrakesh 4 while it’s fresh in my head. Dunno. Will update y’all as we go.
Also, the shop: Starting on July 1st, we’ll start releasing my books there on the first, and not everywhere else until the 10th. Get yours early if you’d like. I could use the extra buck or two as well, since I don’t have to pay the distributors that 30% of cover price as a fee.
Also working towards doing coupons for folks going forward. Haven’t worked out all the details yet, so keeping it vague, but watch here and the newsletter for updates.
Not much past that. Kinda monday. Gray and drizzly out there. House is set to cool rather than heat, so its currently about 65F in here and I’m wearing a sweatshirt, but expecting it to warm up later. (Or I’ll kick the heat on when I get home from game.)
Around Seattle, we frequently call it June-uary, when things get like this after heat in May. Might have come a little early this year.
Shade and sweet water,
b
West of the Mountains, WA
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