Author Archives: Blaze

20240902

Leave a reply

[As usual, three 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.]

Stupid freaking bear. Keeps getting into the wife’s birdfeeders and destroying them. Turned out she’d moved away from using the cayenne suet. Birds don’t care. Squirrels and other critters won’t eat.

Had a bear twice now in a week. Transient male I assume, presumably fattening up for winter, and I’m on a wildlife corridor so everybody wanders through at one time or another. Cost of doing business out here.

Got the walls of the barn interior sanded. The inner wall is covered over with 5mm plywood from ceiling to about five feet up. Haven’t gone lower because I need to build a floor once I get the gravel (waiting to hear from him on delivery), then go up with a 4×8 sheet of plywood as the lower level all the way around.

Hit the hardware stores over the weekend and picked up a light fixture and what we needed to run wiring and such. Probably have power partially installed by Friday. Getting there. Not close to done, but closer. A lot of fiddly bits to do, wrapped around a couple of big things. Still hoping to have it done in six weeks. Or at least soft open. Y’all are invited to visit and see.

Writing: wrote the B4B last week. It’ll drop in October, I think. Then a short for BSQ and another short for TRM. Will write some more shorts soon, but Scattered Tribes will keep you busy a bit longer.

Started the second A’Zedi Survey Corp novel yesterday. This is the series where everyone is tuckerized (like 20+ people). And writer-brain handed me a plot for the next Marrakesh novel, so that might be coming. Marrakesh I can just tack on the end, as it is an ongoing series built that way deliberately. Same with Survey Corps, but I have to write 3+ of those before I start dropping them, so I don’t get yelled at.

Heard back from one of my First Readers on Red Branch, and he’s really enjoying that series, so it gives me hope to move forward with those as we go. First part of the year utterly sucked for writing, but I managed to hold pace. Planning to push a little this fall as things [hopefully] settle some.

Made some drastic changes, but none of them were more than extending existing themes out to more logical conclusions. And most of them reduce my stress, which is better.

Got a Monday ahead. Drizzly (good) but humidly muggy (ick). Gonna go write, then work on technical stuff for Author Nation and such. Will send out your story later today or tomorrow, depending. Coming down close to the end of Book One, and still not sure how to do book two yet, so your thoughts are welcome.

Y’all enjoy.

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

24240826

Leave a reply

[As usual, three 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.]

Ow.

The barn remodel is coming along nicely, but ow. Up and down ladders. Impact hammer to drive 3” screws into old wood that has dried and hardened to something like concrete. Chop saw. Table saw. Jig saw.

Ow.

I did buy and install a pair of windows. One a transom over the front door, about 8 feet up. The other taking up the back where a horse would come and go. That latter had been covered by a green tarp for as long as I’ve owned the property. (Michael died in late 2006 and I bought the place in 2010. Probably 25 years old at this point.)

Sometime in the next week or two, got a friend hauling a couple yards of gravel as part of a much larger load that he’ll drop here and I’ll put it under the floor to keep critters out. Then build up a floor.

Not sure on the artistic side of things. After emptying out the bay initially, and collecting some stuff from Middle Step Daughter, I have a good deal of hardwood flooring in three different colors, widths, and thicknesses. And woods. Seven long tiles (9”x38” in some metric value I haven’t converted.) Seventy-some 1sqft white tiles.

Next stage is finishing off the Inside Wall™. Inside (touching bay 2), Outside, Front, Back. Inside is made up of raw cut 2x14s that are 12 feet long, stacked against a structural 4×4 and running up. Gaps at the top I’m filling in and then covering this week.

We wandered around the hardware store yesterday, looking at wood, tile, and lights, mostly because wiring and then lights are coming up soon. (Inside wall pretty, then floor, then power, I think.)

At some point, I’ll blackmail my artist friends. Inside wall is probably an art project with leftover hardwood flooring. Other three walls might need art. And I’ll need a hanging sign outside for the whole pub thing.

Still rude to replace an Irish Bar with an English Pub, so we alternatively have called it a Cidery, a Meadery, and a Longhall (9×12’ is long enough for my needs.)

Going to have apples soon, so planning to make cider. Then make hard cider. Then probably applejack, because why the hell not? Same with some mead.

If you wanna contribute art or labor and live close enough, gimme a yell. Battle of Hastings was 14 October, so I’m hoping to at least soft open by then. 6-7 weeks, give or take, so I ought to have most of it done.

I am, however, out of shape, and this will get me back. But ow.

Doesn’t help that I started studying Goju-ryu karate in my spare time. It is also using new muscles and my legs hurt, but I’m enjoying it and moving forward slowly. The goal is always to be able to move and do kata when I’m 90, still flexible in body and mind.

Because once you settle, you’ll start to decompose.

Writing: Wrote most of the B4B draft last week. Got a few holes. Got a few places where the Fabulous Publisher Babe™ is going to write chunks because she’s the expert there. Got too much material, but this will be the basis for a talk I’m supposed to give at Author-Nation in November in Vegas on Breaking Discoverability. 30 minutes plus Q&A. I’m figuring the final manuscript comes up at 30-35k words. Way too much, but space to cover a lot of ground.

After I post this blog, I’ll figure out which of 4-5 short stories I need to write next. Got open slots for BSQ, TRM, and Patreon, so always have something to write. Just in a little pain today and distracted.

Some of you might remember Nissa and the Minefield. That’s going to be extended at some point. Might be next. Would go into BSQ in a year or so. (I forget how far ahead I am right now and am too lazy to go look it up as I type.)

Got two Boston stories done. Figure on two more for Thrill Ride. Maybe more. Maybe Chace.

Got other stuff. Editing Corsac Fox #5 (Lost Tribe) right now. March 2025 release. Then I might write #7 shortly and close off block one.

It’s a Monday, and I don’t have to have all the answers. How’s yours going?

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20240819

Leave a reply

[As usual, three 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.]

Coming up on the end of summer. Got a lot going on. Got more fires in the iron.

Got confirmation last week that I have been invited to give a talk at Author Nation in November in Vegas. Convention for both writers and fans, so if you are in the neighborhood, come see. There will even be a signing room if you have books. And, (I have not figured out details yet) you can order some books, get them delivered to the con, and have me sign them.

A-N replaces the 20-to-50 convention. Last year was the last year. Joe Solari is creating something new, and I’ve been kind of associated via Matt, who is elbows deep right now. They want to make this a major annual thing, so you’ll hear me talk about it a lot between now and then. Can’t be helped.

I finished the third Red Branch novel yesterday. Red Branch Command. Got plans for #4, but not immediately.

Instead, I started a new B4B this morning on “Breaking Discoverability.” That’s the talk I’ll be giving at Author Nation, and I figures that A) I should organize my notes on the topic, and B) the best way to do that was to write a book.

Looks and feels longer than previous ones. My usual goal is 12-15,000 words of non-fiction. Bite-sized, as it were.

This one already feels like 25-30, and I’m only starting to sketch out my chapter titles. For you writers, it will come out Nov 1 and the 10th, like usual, so that folks at the con can buy it if they like my talk. I’ll only be talking for 30 minutes or so, so I won’t cover it all. All the more reason to buy it.

Hell, I’d settle for being famous, if there was good money in it. Doubt that there is, but they’re spotting me the hotel and con ticket, so that’s a bonus, because I was already going.

Past Red Branch, I need to write a bunch of short fiction over the next month or so. More Boston stories for Thrill Ride. Got one published and a second written. Two more coming.

Scattered Tribes Book One ends at 16, so I need to decide if I write a full novel next time or stay with the format.

[[What do you think on that, those of you that have read Holden and Reilly?]]

More generic stuff. Got edits on Corsac 5 that I need to finalize. Then send 6 out to folks to read and prep to write 7. Science Officer 14 comes out in December and I promised a trilogy there, so I need to write 15 and 16 soon.

And more Heather.

Don’t think I’ll ever run out of ideas. What I run out of is time to write them all down. And First Readers. I need folks to read the Action-Thriller stuff. Want to put down a second leg and make some money over there, since the erotica hardly sold anything. Enjoyed writing it. The work made me a better writer. Didn’t make much $$.

It all comes back to money. Gotta make money to survive, or I have to go back to a day job, at which point the output of books would drop PRECIPITOUSLY ( blackmail is such an ugly term, but tell your friends about me, okay?)

Past that, Monday. Pretty good one. Working on a barn remodel that’s making progress towards a goal of being complete by mid-October (8 weeks from start). Headed into town shortly to shop for windows for the back wall and the transom. And maybe a new side sliding door for the horse stall. Will post pictures when it’s pretty, but right now it is a lot of raw wood and a bit ugly, because all the work this past week has been reinforcing and repairing things.

Still, gonna be nice. Next summer, we’ll have the bbq in front of it as a way to show off.

Not a lot, otherwise. Summer ending. World getting better. Making some changes in things, but good ones, intended to keep my humor good going into the fall.

What are you doing to get ready for autumn?

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20240812

Leave a reply

20240805

[As usual, three 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.]

Over the weekend, Flight of the Cerberus came out wide. Been out in the store since the 1st.

Not military space opera. Not as many people pre-ordered. First review was a three-star, probably for that reason. Folks probably want to demand that I write nothing but that, which is a shame. I gotta write other things than giant space battles killing thousands of nameless npcs.

And Air Pirates is a lot of fun. I certain enjoyed writing it. And exploring all sorts of things.

Hopefully, some of you will meander over and buy a copy and say nice things about it.

It’s Monday and I’m hard at work on more Action-Thriller stuff. Third Red Branch, which I have no doubts will also cause certain readers indigestion. Usually, the ones who have somehow missed the entire point of my catalog for the last decade. It happens. Folks are suddenly deeply surprised and offended that both Star Trek and the X-Men are somehow “woke.”

Seriously?

I’m not in their league, but I am in their vein, and if you haven’t realized that by now, I’m not sure I can help you, bubba.

Same same, it is August of a presidential election year, and those are always terrible for sales. People start paying more attention to politics about now, and don’t read as much. Like clockwork, that way, and I’ve been through several such elections as a writer now, so we were prepared to hunker down and ride it out.

Been that kind of year, honestly. Or two, going back to when the furnace died in Jan 2023. Just gotta hold on.

I can control my writing. And lean into it to keep my sanity. Not a lot else I can control right now.

Got a second project that kind of oozed up sideways at me over the last few weeks that’s giving me some physical work to do, so it’s helping me rebuild my physical endurance.

Emotional endurance still not for shit, but it will come back too at some point. Just gotta hold on.

Red Branch #3 should be done next week. Lot of short fiction after that before the next novel, so not sure what I’m writing after this. Mostly, I want to finish off a couple of series so I can put them out and go after a couple of new ideas, rather than writing one-off book ones for you folks.

Sometime soon, the second and third Swordmistress Zhen short stories will come out, for those of you that have read Traveler From the West. Jade Tiger and Angry Ghosts.

Gonna put out a lot of Action-Thriller between now and May, to get ready for a June book show.

Also going to Author Nation in Las Vegas in November. It replaced the 20 to 50 convention, and there are suggestions that I will be giving a talk while I’m there, as well as possibly being on panels.

Film at 11, as they say.

Not a lot past that. Another week, another drachma. Or something.

Just gotta keep one foot in front of the other.

Y’all keep up.

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20240805

Leave a reply

[As usual, three 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.]

Monday. Crazy Monday. Instead of heading down to Krain Corner, I had to return a bunch of tables and chairs to the rental place in Fife. We had a big BBQ yesterday. Invited a bunch of folks. Put out a sign marked “Art Colony” both at the bottom of the driveway and out on the corner.

Apparently, I was broadcasting on the right frequency, because a pair of ladies saw the sign at random, and decided to investigate. Functionally crashed the party, then discovered their tribe and stayed to be fed and meet a bunch of people.

Utter success as an event. Kinda awesome overall. Still a lot exhausted and recovering, over and above the last month. That means that I have a reminder in my phone to send out the next episode of Scattered Tribes tonight, because the last week had been “go like hell, they might be catching up…” And this week isn’t much better, in the scope of things. Fortunately, all good and fun, just a LOT of stuff to accomplish. It’s 1030 and usually I start writing around 8. Just catching up. And took several days off, so way behind on writing and won’t catch up with it. Maybe at all this month, because I’m not going to stress about it. Got the rest of the year to sustain something, and I’m ahead of where I thought I’d be when I planned 2024.

Writing proceeds. Currently working on Red Branch #3. 10k words in, having finished Heather #3 last week. Still looking for some folks who want to First Reader Thriller instead of SF, because they are different interest fields and not everyone wants to.

Goal is dropping a BUNCH of Thriller Lite next April. The first Chace collection (stories 1-4), the first Chace Novel, three Red Branch, at least one Gator (with ideas towards a second one), plus something SF. Not sure what the SF is.

Currently:

Dec: Science Officer 14

Jan: Gunderson 2

Feb: Corsac 5

Mar: Deadeye 2 (with an updated Deadeye 1 “Moscow Gold” going up shortly)

Apr: Gloryhound (Peter Najjar 1)

May: Corsac 6

Not sure past that. Got a lot of stuff in the trunk to drop out and start earning me money. And working to finish Corsac Block One (7), more Science Officer, Heather, and several others. Not enough hours in the day to write all I want to, and I knew that this year would create production problems that would show up next year in random publishing.

Can’t be helped.

Well, it could, but you need to tell all your friends to buy more of my books, so I can afford more employees around here. Get on that, okay? 🙂

More words shortly. Keep things in motion. This week won’t be all that good, so I need to hold whatever momentum I can. And write more stuff in existing series so that it all flows.

Looking forward to Heather leading to Veronika to Kati to I don’t know who, other than we’d be some thirty years after the end of Kosnett. Jessica Keller might be ancient or possibly dead of old age by then, because I’m tracking all sorts of dates in my spreadsheet as we move through time.

Hell, one of these days Jean-Pierre and Autumn, set some 1500 years after Jessica’s time.

Hope your Monday is adequate. As I told more than one person yesterday: “Your Fu is good, but still, mine is better.”

Heh

OH, AND: REMINDER: The pre-order for Warlord of the Spinward Reaches got nuked by Amazon. If you didn’t get your copy, this is your reminder to go find it.

Amazon

Knotted Road Press

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20240729

Leave a reply

[As usual, three 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.]

Woke up to drizzle this morning. Weird.

Usually, the summer rainy season is June. June-uary, we call it. Except that this year June was dry.

Usually, dry and hot starts on July 4 and runs to Oct 1. Have had a couple of wet days in the last week.

I’ll take it. We finished undoing the hydroponics yesterday. Everything is now either in the ground or in pots, depending. So rain today means I don’t have to water.

Gonna turn the shed into a combination of things, depending. Might have a friend staying with us for a bit as they arrange a divorce. Won’t likely know until Thu. My buddy the Piper is in the process of selling his old place, and I reclaimed the bar and a few things from his man cave, because he made the bar from wood recovered from my old barn. It is currently in storage, and when the shed finally gets emptied (yet another person storing things there until they move into a newer, bigger flat), the shed might turn into a combination crafting space/bar. Probably need some neon lights at some point, just for verisimilitude.

Dunno. Things I cannot control. Learning to be less of a control freak. Hard work. Hilariously, though, I am STILL the least control freak of the four guys, when you get us together. Fabulous Publisher Babe™ thinks that’s quite funny.

Health slowly recovering. Or rather, healthy, and almost zero endurance. Gotta work on that next, and it will be a slow churn to get there. Patience.

Writing is going well.

I will finish Heather #3 this week, then rotate over and start Red Branch #3. Gonna drop all of them next spring, so a huge block of thriller, all coming out at once, then start back-filling.

IF ANYONE LIKES READING THRILLER AND WANTS TO BE A FIRST READER, LEMME KNOW. MY USUAL SUSPECTS ARE LARGELY SF NERDS INSTEAD.

Past that, a Monday. Trying to have a normal one. We’ll see where it goes. Hope yours isn’t too painful.

OH, AND: REMINDER: The pre-order for Warlord of the Spinward Reaches got nuked by Amazon. If you didn’t get your copy, this is your reminder to go find it.

Amazon

Knotted Road Press

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20240722

Leave a reply

[As usual, three 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.]

Monday. It rained yesterday. Not a lot, but actual water falling from the sky. And mid-70s instead of mid-90s around here. Yay.

Today, the marine layer is still heavy at 11am, and the forecast calls for partial sun after it burns off, but only about 72F up in the mountains. I’ll take it.

I’m finally done with all the damned steroids. And physically recovering. I have zero stamina right now, having found the edges of it a few times.

Emotionally, I’m kinda a mess as well. HOWEVER, I have a reminder in my phone that tells me every August 1st to beware of rage and depression issues. I have a few theories as to why it hits when it does.

Today, (August 22) is the anniversary of when Donna died in 2008. Sixteen years. We were married for just over three weeks, because for the first 9 years we were together, she told me in no uncertain terms that if I suggested marriage, she’d toss my ass to the curb.

When she turned that around after she got sick (breast cancer, Stage 4, untreatable, Make your peace with God sort of thing), you could have knocked me over with a feather. We got married in late June. She died July 22.

Yeah.

That was a Tuesday. We did not have the wake that Saturday, because that’s a granddaughter’s birthday, so we did it a week later, which would have been Aug 2.

Hitting that reminder every year (as I’ve been processing things this summer) is probably part of it. This summer has been a trial.

I think I hit bottom last Thursday. Told the Fabulous Publisher Babe™ that August had come early, and she understood. Also told her not to let me make any important decisions.

Not because I would do things I regret. More because I would be painting in molotov cocktails when I did.

PROBABLY not the best idea. Probably.

Then a friend of mine who is an amazing baker handed me a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread, still warm from the oven last night. Just had a slice five minutes ago. Gonna ask him at some point to teach me how, because I have never made yeast bread. Quick breads, sure. Nothing that involves rising and punching, so I’ll need adult supervision.

Plus, his looks like a hydra coil of thin ropes, all twisted together. And yes, let me taunt you with how amazing it turned out. But baking is his love language.

Writing: Crossed 35k on Heather #3 this morning. Target 65k, so past halfway and setting up a series of small battles and intrigues that will culminate in something almost apocalyptic in scale.

Still expecting 5 novels in “Warlord of Yaumgan” but I could be wrong either way by one. Depends, because I’m letting this one unfold organically. Jessica was 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2 in organization, plus 2 side stories and the CS-405 trilogy. Kosnett was designed as six novels, sequentially touching each of six cultures and exploring them. Warlord is really the second part of what happened at The Passage at Loong at the end of Kosnett 6, when the Zerzan Unification decides that they cannot live in peace with the Monarchists.

Additionally, I’m doing research for the next two Red Branch novels. If you or anyone you know are experts (or knowledgeable dilettantes) on early Jet Aviation (Second Generation stuff, really, from an advanced and experimental de Havilland Venom through the never-built Lockheed XF-90) and would like to First Reader for technical issues, lemme know. I’ve done a LOT of research, and started accumulating a fun library of stuff (see attached image) for story ideas.

In Indie Publishing, EVERY time you hit publish, you might be struck by lightning, and that book becomes your entire career, so publish something you’d be okay with, if you had to write 10-20 more in that series/universe. I have no idea how folks will react to Red Branch, but I’m having way too much fun reading history and technology of the early Cold War Era. Stuff that kinda gets mentioned in passing, because most history books end in 1945 with the war. From there, they MIGHT mention a war in Korea, before everyone spending volumes on Vietnam or more recent events.

So I’ve had to rabbit-hole my library’s ebook collection in order to find stuff. Yesterday, I walked individually through all 1750 titles in the military section, because they have no filters worth a shit to let me leave off anything ancient, or anything Vietnam, or the US Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Got about a dozen titles queued up, and currently reading about what happened to everyone at Bletchly Park, after they moved GCHQ back to London in 1947.

Hope your Mondays are getting better. I’m off for a burger in a while, just because.

OH, AND: REMINDER: The pre-order for Warlord of the Spinward Reaches got nuked by Amazon. If you didn’t get your copy, this is your reminder to go find it.

Amazon

Knotted Road Press

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20240715

Leave a reply

[As usual, three 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.]

Monday. Yuck. Overrated.

Been hotter than hell around here for too long. I’ve stayed indoors anyways because of the meds, so not a lot of yardwork done and I’ll have to catch up with that, probably starting this weekend. Can’t be helped.

At least I am almost done with the steroids. Been tapering. Got one pill left to take tomorrow and that’s it. Sleeping pretty well this weekend. Still adjusting.

Hardest part is wondering if I’ve developed a new food allergy. We dropped dairy, eggs, and coffee entirely, just to clear the system. In a couple of months, I’ll add something back and see if I react, then slowly work up to the others.

This is what happened to the Fabulous Publisher Babe™ about a decade ago, when it was dairy, eggs, and nightshades, all at once. She eventually got eggs back, but dairy and nightshades still trigger headaches or migraines, so we have to be careful about what we eat. (The rhubarb bbq recipe is fantastic, by the way. Still got a little left and we made both beef and port ribs this weekend with it.)

We’ll see where it is when we get there. Eating a lot of meat and a little bit of salad at the moment. Holding off on making any other changes until I get off the meds and my system can stabilize better. Sleeping, but that’s down to one pill instead of five.

Writing: I don’t remember what I said last week and am too lazy to look it up. Still banging away on Heather #3. About 15k words as of now. At least four in this series, but probably five. Having fun.

Can’t wait to piss off a few sexist pigs when we get there, because looking at the main cast, almost ALL of the primary characters in #3 are female. And I intend to lean into that, because I have several more recurring characters to come in later, most of whom are women as well.

Somewhere, a punk is screaming that women can’t command starships. I presume because they’re icky or something. I wouldn’t have to write this stuff if everybody accepted sexual equality, but SF fans tend to hit both ends, and there are a lot of reactionary thugs out there right now who got stuck in the 1950s and can’t imagine a future like Star Trek existing.

Rant over, but you get the picture. Heather Lau. Rocket Frog. Kira Zaman. Several folks you will meet and fall in love with. Gonna be an adventure.

REMINDER: The pre-order for Warlord of the Spinward Reaches got nuked by Amazon. If you didn’t get your copy, this is your reminder to go find it.

Amazon

Knotted Road Press

I’m just about done with edits on Science Officer #14, titled Exile. It will come out in December.

Past that, having a Monday. Hope yours is better.

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20240708

Leave a reply

20240701

[As usual, three 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.]

Health getting better. Doc took a look at what they had done, and how it was working, so doubled up on the steroids.

I have never been on steroids like this. Sleeping was functionally impossible. Nurse agreed and said it was like being on crack or meth. Do not recommend.

After three weeks, I have finally started to heal. And figured out how to get more than 2-3 hours of sleep in a 10 hour stretch.

And REALLY powerful dreams, because I’m never dropping into darkness when I sleep right now. Hopefully, in another ten days, it will be done and I can return to some normal state.

Whatever that is.

Went out to Krain for breakfast. Had to review the entire menu, because there is a chance I have developed a new food allergy and that’s what’s causing this. Per Fabulous Publisher Babe™, many people do at roughly my age. (Just turned 55 two weeks ago.)

So I have cut dairy, eggs, and coffee entirely out of my diet for the next 2-3 months. After that, I’ll add dairy back in first and see if I have a reaction. Probably coffee after that. Then finally eggs.

Got a call in to a dermatologist to get in, but I have no idea when they will get back to me. Presumably, they can run some tests, because in 2 weeks, my skin might be clear and I’ll be back to doing Tai Chi and things.

I have had to stay out of the sun for a month. Haven’t worn socks. Hardly worn shoes. Nothing but shorts. Weird diet. Weird sleep.

New me, whatever that means.

By the time some of you read this, it won’t matter, but there were issues with the Warlord of the Spinward Reaches pre-order on Amazon and they canceled it at the last minute.

Here’s the new link: https://www.amazon.com/Warlord-Spinward-Reaches-Corsac-Book-ebook/dp/B0D8ZWVJWC

It’s live, and folks have been buying it two days early. Get yours now.

WRITING: Crossed 40k on the second Red Branch novel. Silver Eagle. Planning to drop those in the spring, for a June 2025 book fair in Enumclaw, WA (The Beer Walk), along with a bunch of other thriller stuff.

Think I’ll be done this week. Target was 55k, but this feels more like 50 or so. After that, Heather #3 wants to be written. Then possibly Corsac 7, so I can drop a bunch of military space opera next fall and summer.

With the Amazon fuckups, I may lose my ability to put up pre-orders on their platform. Or rather, I have to petition to get it back, but odds are pretty good, as we’ve never done this before.

We’ll see.

Why it matters™: the four books of Air Pirates of Cyrenaica are up for pre-order, but I may not be able to load Science Officer 14/Exile until the last minute, and this might be your opportunity to start looking at one of the other distributors. I’d like Amazon to be a much smaller portion of my overall sales. That means places like Barnes and Noble, Walmart (Kobo is their library), iTunes, or directly from the KRP shop, which is where I make the most money anyway, because everyone else charges me 30-34% and I only pay 1-4% when you buy direct.

Anyway, chaos here. And ongoing. Hopefully resolved at some point, but I’m not holding my breath today.

Hope your monday has Air conditioning, or a solid roof, depending on your geography.

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20240701

Leave a reply

[As usual, three 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.]

And the steroids worked for a time, but failed and my arms are covered with rash. Trying to identify whatever I might be suddenly allergic to, and making some hefty changes in diet, just in case. At least it doesn’t itch too much. Can control. And going to the doctor again in a bit to see what they say.

Writing continues, but things have been difficult. Crossed 26k in the novel this morning. Past halfway, but not really sure where. This one might run short, but that’s fine, as it sets up the next one by exploring the why behind the actions of the various players. And where they go from here, as the scope of the Red Branch’s battles with the Werewolf Legion grow global in scale.

Plus, I have several other story ideas written down to expand into at a later date.

Hoping to finish Silver Eagle sometime next week. Then on to some space opera, but not sure which/what just yet. Got ideas for Javier. And Uly. And Heather. All of which I need to write.

Having options lets me explore instead of locking me into a spot. Sometimes you need that, especially when shit’s just not firing on all cylinders.

Like today.

Think I’ve said enough. Catch you next week.

And the next Scattered Tribes story will be going out Tuesday or Wednesday. Watch your inbox.

shade and sweet water

b

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published three weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.