[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.]

Got up this morning and took Fabulous Publisher Babe™ into town for breakfast. And errands first thing. Raining and still recovering from whatever I did to injure my shoulder. It only hurts when I try to lift something heavy with an outward motion, like a bird flapping. And only some of the time.

I’ll get a spot about 2cm on a side, where someone is driving a 30-penny nail into the joint. Someone suggested that my shoulder is slightly out of joint, and suggested some changes.

Step one was to buy an external monitor for my laptop, and put it on a shelf so that instead of looking down at the table when I type (like the last 15 years) I am leaned slightly back and looking straight across.

Upper back and shoulder blades hurt today, so probably a good idea. Nothing like teaching yourself an entirely new way to stand.

Past that, I took the entire weekend kinda off. As in, didn’t turn on my computer except to configure the monitor. No social media. No nothing, except what I could handle via my phone.

Kung Fu for several hours Saturday morning. Then a shower and up north to watch Bubba Ho-tep with a group of friends that do a monthly movie and themed meal event.

Long day out. Then as we’re close to home, a good friend calls and is having a really bad day, so I dropped the Babe off and kept driving south to meet him for an unplanned dinner in Enumclaw.

Except that I didn’t realize that “Witch’s Night Out” was going on, so 16-50 year old witches everywhere. All the restaurants and bars were basically packed, which is a good thing for the town but lousy when I need some quiet to get him back on an even keel.

Eventually, we ate and drank, then walked around the various stalls selling crap, before I headed home. Slept on the couch, because utterly wound up, ate crap, and exhausted, so I needed to be upright. Painful way to sleep, but it let my wife actually sleep, and I knew ahead of time that Sunday would suck.

Brainless. But able to take some more of Pastor Mike’s books to a friend of his and invite the guy to maybe play with my group sometime if he’s interested. Mike had tried to get me with that group, but my Sunday afternoons tend to be the only recovery time I have, so I couldn’t add ONE MORE THING and stay sane.

Then I went by and got more stuff from his youngest daughter to sort out for recycling. And give her money from the most recent batch. My job is helping that household unpack from all the crap they had accumulated. (Mike was a pack rat in many ways. Gonna take a lot of trips, but needs doing and I’m about the only person in a position to do it right now. More emotional work, but I’ll survive.)

On the writing side, the second Heather Lau book is underway. #1 was “Warlord of Yaumgan.” #2 is tentatively called “Ground Control” for now. Already setting up 3 and 4. Probably run about 6 by the time it’s done.

At that point (Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise), I think I am done with the Republic of Aquitaine books as you would understand them. One of the main characters in Heather is the granddaughter of Tomas Provt. Veronika. I’m kinda interested in who she will be when she’s forty (23-25 now) and what Casey and Vo’s kids will be line grown up.

Got notes. And all the things Denis Jež has warned everybody about for a long time. (Hint: Auberon opens June 26, 392 and Heather #2 opens January 11, 417. Lot of time has passed.)

And, one of these days, I still want to write about Suvi and John Pierre Orfèvre, which will take place some 1500 years after Jessica dies.

Not like I’m going to run out of story. Plus, with the exception of Jessica (her story is complete), I’ll listen if enough people demand more stories about other characters, beyond what you’ve got coming.

And Monday. Got several other novels to write yet this year. Corsac Fox 5. Science Officer 14. Some thriller stuff for next summer. The usual.

What are you up to this week?

shade and sweet water,

blaze

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 two 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.

[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.]

It’s a Monday. Hardly slept last night, but dealing with some physical issues that had ground me down. Took stock and realized that basically starting Memorial Day, so four months of hell. Gonna take some time to recover. Brain’s back. Body to follow.

Just really having a hard time winding it up this morning. On the brighter side, I finished Marrakesh #5 last week. Fabulous Publisher Babe™ has done five covers now and will be putting things up for pre-order in the near future.

Last Stand does not END at twelve, but Season One does. I have other stories I want to tell at some point, but as with The Science Officer, I needed to take a long emotional break first. And have a bunch of other stories I want to tell at some point. (Plus a list of open series you’ve never read because I want to write them all before putting them out.)

After Marrakesh, I wrote another Reilly episode of Scattered Tribes, and just finished another Holden episode this morning. (5 and 7 respectively, so 13 done at present.)

Taking a break to write this because I am not sure what comes next. Got lots, but maybe need more coffee after this.

Musically, I got the first backing tracks from English Paul for the next song. I’ve wanted to do a version of the Skye Boat song for a while.

Some background: In junior high, some forty years ago, I did the Skye Boat song as a vocal performance. Last year, about this time, the whole thing surfaced in my mind one morning.

For those of you who don’t know, my internal monologue usually has a soundtrack playing. Literally, some song going in the background while I work, think, do. That Monday, that was what was playing.

I did a lot of research and found all the versions folks have done, from the Baron who wrote the original poem in the 19^th Century, to Robert Louis Stevenson’s version. Much more recently, Outlander used a different version as their theme music.

At the time, Paul was packing furiously to move to Los Angeles when his missus got a great new job, so we worked on Time To Say Goodbye with the time we had, laying down my vocal tracks, then waiting while he moved, rebuilt his studio, then got his life more or less together.

I work in Musescore when composing. Write the lyrics, plink away at an electronic keyboard until I have the melody, then write it down on the computer. In this case, once I was generally happy, I recorded a set of demo vocals and sent everything to him, along with a list of instruments I wanted on the track.

He’s been at that off and on for a few months, but has stuff for me to work with. My job this week is to go through the music section by section and offer modifications. Then rerecord my vocals twelve or fifteen times so he has tapes to work from to mix and produce a final cut.

At the same time, I’m slowly teaching myself how to use Garageband for the mac to create a full demo myself, mostly to better understand instruments. The only musical instrument I ever really learned was the human voice, which doesn’t do chords. And my time with the bass guitar never really went that far.

Starting kinda cold, and I have to do everything, so progress is slow. On the other hand, I came across “That Old Flame” by Don Henley off the Cass County album and really liked the way the backbeat drives, so I’d working on doing something with some rock and roll. (Paul does not do rock and roll, regardless of what he might tell you.)

Past that, I’m creating maps and history for the fantasy rpg, after losing so much brain space over the summer. And watching the leaves in front of me turn yellow and brown as October progresses.

It brings me a certain peace. That and the other trees. I need some mental down time. I’ve been upholding everyone else for several months that I’m running on fumes a lot of the time. All in the name of a good cause. And good fiction.

Draining nonetheless.

Hopefully, everyone else is holding things together nicely and we can all progress along on our monday.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

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 two 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.

[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.]

OCTOBER!

Newsletter went out this morning because I’m being a little lazy. Story will go out tomorrow, because I got a D&D game tonight and don’t feel like cramming it all in this afternoon.

I’m hoping that summer is officially over. From basically Memorial Day on I have been going like hell constantly. Grinding in a bad way. Plus a dry cough only slowly fading from that damned head cold. Been running on about 8 spoons per day, instead of my usual 10.

Yuck.

However…

Brain kinda woke up on the table-top rpg I’ve been working on, with a whole slew of new ideas, clarifications, etc. Feel like I’m getting close in my head to being able to explain it to someone and maybe start some rough engine testing to make sure it all works. I mean, the concepts are based on things I’ve done. Games I’ve played. Shit should work, but I have to get it all out of my head and onto paper then get someone else to read it.

Engine is solid. Context is Fantasy. Setting is a place I’m calling The Five Duchies. Working out a lot of history of an area. Maps. Monsters. Peoples.

I will go on record as saying I dislike level based games with a fire bordering on loathing. I understand and appreciate that they make it easy for new players to learn and understand, but they limit the ability to really create interesting concepts. There are only about 6-8 paths for each of ten or so classes, so you can actually build every possible combination. It’s like chess that way. Or go. I prefer wider-open table top games, like Warhammer 40k or Flames of War. You have a million times more possible combinations, because its about points.

This game will be about points. Spend them as you see fit to build the character you want to play. If you ever played the Hero/Champion system in the wayback, not that messy, but still open to your creativity.

So getting there.

On the writing side, I’ve gotten really close to finishing the fifth Marrakesh novel. Right at 37,000 this morning. Probably 42-45,000 when done. Maybe a bit more, depending, but done this week easily.

Reread the 11 Scattered Tribes stories I have written so far, and am getting ready to push forward with some more. I’ve got around 55k words here, and Book One feels like it should be around 150k, if I want to be in the realm of Epic [SPACE] Fantasy. Because swords, sorcery, and starships. Why the hell not?

And it gives me a lot of space to wander with, and new ways to tell story. Hopefully, you’ve been enjoying what you’ve seen so far. If you have questions, please ask, because you are the only people who have seen any of this to date.

After I write several more stories of Holden and Reilly, I’ll circle back maybe to some Beckett. Maybe Corsac Fox #5. Heather #2 also, but that will require a bit of planning, because again, huge, and I have to center it all in my head before picking that thread up.

Autumn is upon us. (I’d say the fall, but then I have to specify that I’m not talking about the end of human civilization as we know it. At least as yet.) Weather had turned cool drizzly this morning.

Fabulous Publisher Babe™ made a fantastic brisket yesterday. Just sliced it up a few minutes ago. She has a pork roast going today. Her diet has transitioned to 99% meat, so we’re using the new pellet grill to make big things, then munching on them for days at a time. I have more flexibility, so I keep frozen chimichangas, salad, and ramen handy to go beyond just MEAT! as a lifestyle.

Pushed publish yesterday on Boundary Shock Quarterly #24 (Science Fiction Holidays) and Blaze Ward Presents #7 (Every Tomorrow Worse?). I’ll update both websites as soon as the distributors get back to me with confirmations. Links next week.

Past that, more reading for BSQ 025 (Gulliver’s Other Travels) and more writing. More musical work. More rpg work. More Kung Fu. Keeps the body and mind sharp, and that’s really want I ask for as I get older.

Hope your Monday isn’t gnawing too badly on your leg.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

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 two 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.

[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.]

So the head cold has mostly gone away, but I’m still hacking crap up out of my lungs a week later. Not bad, but just generally ick. The last two weeks haven’t helped.

Best friend’s divorce was finalized on Friday. He discovered he was getting divorced in early August.

Then Saturday, we held the service for Pastor Mike, another of my dear friends. When you meet Brother Cormac in a couple of months, you’ll meet Pastor Mike, because I wrote every word he said as though it came from Mike’s mouth. And Mike really was like that. Sorry for those of you who never got a chance to meet him.

Service went well. Two of his daughters were there, with the oldest and his son not. (Not that anyone was surprised.) Saw a couple of folks that I haven’t in years. Parts of various old and no longer functioning gaming groups, because those things evolve over time. Personalities clash. Priorities change. Life happens.

Afterwards, the current gaming group moved to a nearby restaurant and had our own semi-private wake. The old farts. Mike’s gaming group.

Both of his daughters went out of their ways to let me know how much I and the others had meant in his life. And my wife points out that we kept him mentally sharp, at a time when his health was in decline and it might have been easier to slide with it.

He was an amazing man, and I’ll miss him. September officially sucks.

August was supposed to be the low point. Fabulous Publisher Babe™ points out that Piper and I will both probably have our low points this last weekend, and aim for bouncing more or less back by October 1. Worthy goal. We’ll see when I get there.

About 35k on Gator’s story. Major firefight at the end going on. Full automatic and lots of explosions, so it’s going to be a bloody mess when I finish it. Lots of corpses, which is unlike what I normally write, but more appropriate for thriller, which this is. Will finish it this week and move on.

Next up is the fifth Marrakesh novel. Having fun with this one.

For the Cole Braddock “Commander Machesky” stories, I sat down with TOS and mined it for story ideas. For Marrakesh, I started off with Star Fleet Battles (the old table top tactical simulator) and then dug pretty deep into TNG. One thing that struck me was how much Star Trek is Space Fantasy, with magic, gods, time travel, and whatever other silliness comes up.

I try to write a more sober and less-fantasy space adventure. Marrakesh has no aliens, no gods, and no time travel. No Q-level beings wandering around like Gandalf handing out quests. No ancient evil prophesied to be defeated by whoever.

Just exploration and adventure.

But I sat down with the episode list of TNG’s middle seasons (once they had found their footing) and started looking for ideas that would be fun. Found several, but only writing one immediately. Maybe I’ll write several more as I go. Actually, I’m planning that, but everything slots into a writing schedule somewhere. More Corsac Fox. More Chace Haig. More Gator. More Beckett Fernsby.

Busy time. Good busy. Not depressed so much as mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted by it all and ready to move forward. 11 hours of sleep two nights in a row have helped. Fall slowly arriving around here (rained like hell last night) also improves things.

And I started fulfillment of the Kickstarter campaign for Corsac Fox #2: Mistaken Identity. Look in your bookfunnel library if you backed it. Postcards and paper going out soon, too.

Not much past that. Writing. Planning. Publishing. Will finish off Season One of Last Stand in December, along with Science Officer #13. Marrakesh will fill the first chunk of 2024, then more Corsac, then Air Pirates of Cyrenaica.

Hope your Monday is good. Mine is moving along nice enough.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

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 two 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.

[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.]

Ugh. Had a headcold last week (presumably con crud, but only in the head). Sneezing Wednesday. Coughing it up Thursday. Basically just weak and listless on Friday. Then I gave it to Fabulous Publisher Babe™. She’s almost over it, but a couple days behind me.

Sitting to write the last few days. Not caught up, but kept up and chipped away a bit as I went. The Light Thriller is about 20k done. Got inspired by reading the first Gray Man novel. Not by the Gray Man himself, who is an unkillable ubermenshen death machine that makes Batman look like an emo teen by comparison.

Instead, at Bouchercon, Matt and I talked about the first group of profession ex-special-forces killers that the Gray Man annihilates. They were the guys in the transport aircraft.

Apparently, Exfiltration is one of the best kept secrets in SOCOM. And anywhere else.

But I got to thinking. Everybody is writing about that superguy assassin, who gets in and gets out. I wanted to create the team that you hire to get in there and rescue/evacuate the hero from the situation, when he’s being chased by a convoy of angry arabs with machine guns, or whoever your villains are this week.

Got a team built. Got a novel going. No idea what I’ll call either, but the main guy is called Gator, because he runs mostly submerged. And he was born Cajun, but raised in Los Angeles. Exotic cars. Lots of guns. An all-female sniper team. Gomez Addams emotional descendant.

I’ve tried to make this one rich with personalities. And fun. Much more violent than some of the things I write, but the genre measures blood by the bucket, and I have to appeal to those folks.

So gun porn. And aircraft porn. Both things I can do well, with a little research.

In the background, I’m also working on building a caper team. Somewhere between Parker and Dortmunder, two of my favorite characters, but it is utterly amazing how dated the books are.

We don’t take into account what cell phones, laptops, and the internet have done to fundamentally alter the shape of our civilization. In one of the Parker books, he robs a movie theater late on a Sunday night, when they will have the whole weekend’s box office in the safe.

Cash.

When was the last time you paid cash for a movie ticket? Or at a grocery store? Or most other places?

And everybody carried a camera and video camera with them at all times these days, too. You’ll notice how few UFO sightings there have been recently.

So, the world has changed. I wrote something in 1991 that included being able to simply travel to London and vanish, because calling England from the States in those days was a complete pain in the ass.

These days, you need their number and the right calling plan.

So Caper has to look different. Think different. And I don’t want to write the low-hanging fruit crap that I keep finding when doing research. And not the “Good Guys” like Leverage (my wife’s favorite tv show), where they are getting even with somebody and righting wrongs.

Nope, stealing shit. And generally getting away with it.

In my mind, kinda the perfect inverse of a private detective novel, where someone hires the detective to see justice done.

Here, you hire a guy to see crime done. And that might be the tag line, thinking about it.

Finally, planning on the fifth Marrakesh novel. Space Adventure. Mission of the Week like ST:TOS or TNG. Character development arcs, but not long story arcs.

Currently, thinking thoughts about Exoarchaeology. Archaeology in space, but not xeno- because no aliens. Instead, several generations of human civilizations that have come and gone, leaving traces on various worlds for our heroes to uncover as they search.

What I’m hoping to do is create some Space Cryptids for color. Think Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. But in a space setting where A’Zedi spans dozens of worlds and is currently at war with Wronlori. With a few others kinda involved on the sides.

Got any fun ideas for how you might do Space Vampires? Or intergalactic Plasma Space Dragons? No idea too silly, but many of the suggestions so far have been tame. (Yes, I am aware of the New Jersey Devil. Dream bigger.)

Let me know.

And have a lovely week. I’m dealing with some things at this end, but I’m dealing.

You make sure to take care of yourself.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

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 two 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.

[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.]

Monday. Just got back last night from Bouchercon 2023 in San Diego, which is why you don’t have your story for September yet. Planning on doing all that in a few hours, but I’m still digging out and will be for a few days.

In the meantime, I gots news. Of a sort, at least.

Bouchercon is a Mystery convention for both readers and writers. And there were lots of both. Met some fantastic and fascinating people. Made some good connections I need to follow up on. Might have created at least one new magazine, but I gotta do some work on refining ideas and then recruiting players. WAY TBD.

Also got interviewed a couple of different times by Authors on the Air podcast while I was there. (https://www.youtube.com/c/Authorsontheair) All audio, and they will have to be sorted and loaded, but look for me and Bouchercon 2023 and it will get up there eventually.

And we’re still trying to break publishing, so it was more or less a four day mastermind with Matt and others as we had ideas and wrote them down.

Plus, it was a mystery convention, and they had a lot of panels. Didn’t do that many because I was so busy in hallway conversations, but I did come home with at least two new Action-Adventure series ideas I want to write. Maybe thriller, or Light Thriller, as someone called it.

Because it’s so hard coming up with new ideas to write, you know.

I’m not even going to pretend that I wrote last week, because I didn’t. Going to a con always means turning into an extrovert I call The Carnival Barker, and I have to focus everything there. It worked, but it is also exhausting. Plus, I got food poisoned twice, because they don’t mention anywhere that everything they cook is flavored with mushrooms. (Trust me, I can tell. The hard way.)

Saturday was a toxic mess as a result. Glad to be home where I don’t have to real with “Chefs” who have “Ideas” on “Cuisine” and I can eat healthy. Might even get to sleep on a regular pattern again, as I woke up at 1:30AM Sunday morning and sat quietly in a chair in the hotel room, meditating until Matt (he’s on East Coast time) woke up at 530 and went downstairs. Then I was awake with a 10-minute nap in the airport until 10pm last night when I finally crashed home and safe.

I did edit Corsac Fox #3 and #4, so those are ready for First Readers and such. I’ll be sending out surveys to kickstarter backers later this week, and expect money in a bit as well, so I can start fulfillment. Paper and Hardcover are both special editions with extra materials included that won’t be in the general release.

In fact, I intend to write a special essay for each of the Corsac Novels, but since I’m not going to do KS campaigns for them (until the last one), I’ll bundle those up and put them for sale when the last book in Block One comes out. Something to expand and explain.

There is, after all, a reason behind every novel I write. A Character that sounds fun. A Setting I want to explore. A Problem that will challenge folks. Something. I have to entertain myself, as well as entertain you.

But, back to Monday. Since I have been helping the folks behind Bookslup define and build their new service, I had breakfast with two of the bosses this morning. One of them also happens to be my middle Step-daughter, and she’s made a point of keeping me involved in her life.

She has two sisters. I’ve seen one a few times in the last couple of years, and the other not at all. She brought the one sister along, and apparently all three of the girls are going on a hike tomorrow as a group, so they’ll have fun. And also brought along a nephew (that sister’s youngest) who I haven’t seen or talked to in 15 years. Not since he was maybe 13, give or take.

I haven’t pressed anyone. Those that want to interact, I’m there. The others have presented me with casual indifference, and I’ve honored that as well.

As I noted several times this last week with a number of people, the ONLY thing you control in this life is your attitude. So I try to look on the bright side of things with a cynical, jaundiced eye willing to find joy in the little things and celebrate any success from anyone I meet.

Because if you can’t do that, what the hell are you doing in life?

That means I find joy with the folks who want to be around me, and ignore those that don’t. I inherited a whole passel of fun folks from Fabulous Publisher Babe™ and her nieces and nephews, all of whom are lovely, friendly people.

You deserve happiness in your life. Simple as that.

Go find it.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

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 two 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.

[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.]

Reminder: the Kickstarter Campaign for Corsac Fox #2 Mistaken Identity) is live now and runs to August 22. Then you gotta wait.

Also, more music up everywhere. Time To Say Goodbye.

I think I have mentioned that I publish two magazines in addition to all the stuff I write. Boundary Shock Quarterly is themed Science Fiction. Owen is the only other person besides me to have written into every issue to date. Just spent two hours (in my head it was supposed to be like a 20 minute call) talking to her about upcoming themes and how she might write into her ongoing Zion Station universe.

Can’t. Would like to, but she’s in that point where she needs to look at organizing the collections. #1 is out. #2 and #3 are basically ready or will be shortly. #4 is a set of stories she needs to write over the next couple of years. And then novel. Because it will take a novel to resolve. So we spent 2 hours talking about that, and what she could do with some of the other themes that would be too weird to try to wedge a Zion story into.

Hopefully, she left off with good ideas. Apparently, five pages of handwritten notes, but she has to translate those into information.

Me: the Chace Haig novel is ongoing. Just a shade under 30k words, and it feels like book one will conclude around 50, give or take. I also envision an interior trilogy of stories here, arcing across three but not concluding anything more than this piece, before going off and having other adventures closer to home.

Film at 11.

This fall, we’re talking about updating the various websites to take better control of things. I use Patreon for a monthly membership support program, but Patreon broke themselves last month doing stupid things to their technical backbone.

I’d like to not have to trust that the other guys knows how to code. There are a lot of dipshits out there. Longer term, we’re going to set something up to move people to a direct thing and not rely on a website that can’t handle it.

Related, it should be possible to set up subscriptions for Boundary Shock Quarterly and Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem, so folks can get those directly as well. Won’t know until the fall, but watch your inbox for more information about when and how.

Past that, it is supposed to get to 94F (34C) today and tomorrow, so I am hiding out inside where I have air conditioning and things are more pleasant. Been out all weekend, as one does in August at events, and I’m exhausted. Trying to get back to something like normal. Not holding my breath.

Y’all enjoying Holden and Riley? I’m looking at when I can slot in more stories, en route to a book one that brings all the epic craziness down to a single point of conflict, wherein we can start the grand civil war that’s been brewing for years (or generations, depending on how you look at it).

Not a lot of news past that. Busy morning and I need something cool to drink. Y’all stay in the shade and stay safe.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

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 two 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.