This post today is mainly for my fellow writers and convention vendors. I wanted to recap Vendor tips from Dragonsteel Nexus 2025. What went well, what do I wish I had done different, etc.

Check out my tips for vendors from Dragonsteel 2024 or my three biggest takeaways from Dragonsteel 2024.

Things that went well that I want to repeat:

• A cooler with snacks! We brought carrots, apples, jerky, and nuts to snack on throughout the day. These were easy to get and were light enough that you didn’t feel icky from eating something greasy, heavy, or sugary, which I feel like most convention concessions tend to be.

• Laminated cards that show how all our books intertwine in our shared world. This is helpful for explaining the unique aspect of how we as writers work together in a shared world.

• Having more than just two people run the booth. This is great if you need a break you can step away and know that the person at the booth won’t be overwhelmed because they’ll still have some backup.

• Getting an AirB&B instead of staying at a hotel. For us, this made a lot of sense because we were traveling as a group. If I were to attend a convention by myself I might still book a hotel. But in this case, having a house that we could all hang out in together, cook breakfast and sometimes dinner at was really delightful. It felt much less cramped than a hotel room and really helped us decompress in the evening. It was much quieter than a hotel as well.

• We brought plenty of business cards this year, so we didn’t run out! I think I ordered 500 for each of us, so a grand total of 1500 cards. I would say we probably gave away a bit under 750 total.

• QR Code for the email sign up list. Much better than trying to read handwriting on a paper sheet.

• Wagons, still a Godsend, highly recommend.

• Participating in the convention game, but only because we had more help at the booth this year.

Now. On to what I would have done differently.

• I would have created the text on the banners differently. They don’t actually give enough detail about what we do to be useful. I’m already in the process of revising them.

• I packed pretty much all the books in cardboard boxes. The reason being I had them on hand and in my mind I thought we would just collapse them and discard them if we sold an entire box worth of books. Yeeeeah, next time I’m putting everything in Rubbermaid containers. Which leads me to my next point.

• I’m bringing way less books next time. I’m also considering shipping most of them ahead of time.

• I need to find a way to highlight that we have original music for several of our stories. Not sure how to do this yet, but I’ve got a couple of ideas.

• I would like to have some kind of small token or thing for younger kiddos who come by the booth. I could probably do some cool wooden coins on my Glowforge as an example.

• Scheduling shifts for people to step away from the booth.

• I am going to change up how I do bade ribbons next time. At DSNX25 I had them free with purchase. I want to have some kind of a free option and a purchase option next time.

Well friends, there you have it. Some of my bigger lessons learned from Dragonsteel Nexus 2025. I’m looking forward to implementing these changes at my next convention and learning even more lessons!

Till next time, dear reader! <3 Tiff

Today I’m going to be taking you through my recap of Dragonsteel Nexus 2025.

Some notable differences were that last year I was on Indie Row and I had that spot for only one day. This year I went all in and got a 10x10 booth for the entire three days of the convention. Last year it was just the hubs and I. This year Phil, Dustin, myself and the hubs all went. Previous years I have stayed in hotel right across from the convention center, this year we got an Air B&N just a few blocks away.

As with previous years, I drove this year. I had to get a rental car because we were bringing so much stuff.

My dear sweet husband, God bless him, wanted to bring A LOT of books. So we packed the car FULL.

In hind sight, we brought waaaay too many books. I think we packed over 300 books into the rental. We’re just not well known enough yet to be selling that many books in a weekend. But dream big and live and learn! Upon learning that you can ship you wares to the event host ahead of time, we decided it might be prudent to do that if we are able to attend this event in the future.

This was my third year at Dragonsteel and I have always been very fortunate with weather. This year, not so much.

Because I work a full time job in addition to writing, I don’t have a lot of flexibility in terms of taking leave, so we ended up having to leave the day the weather decided to get nasty. Huge chunks of our drive looked like the road above where we maxed out at about 45 MPH. What is normally an 8 hour drive from Denver to Salt Lake ended up taking us 12 hours. T_T It was definitely not the most fun drive I’ve ever taken.

We eventually made it safe and sound and that’s what matters. I was a little bummed that I missed Brandon’s walk through of the exhibitor area, but maybe I’ll catch him next year, as I will likely be planning the travel much differently if I get accepted as a vendor in 2026.

We got in fairly late but were able to get everything unloaded and set up the night before the convention opened.

Nick and I picked Dustin up on the way, and Phil flew in from TN the first day of the conference and so we all made it! Since the three of us all live in different states it’s not very often we get to hang out in person together, but here we are!

The next three days were a whirlwind of awesomeness. We had SO much fun getting to talk to attendees. We sold books, we saw tons of amazing cosplay, we got to talk to other independent authors and other craftspeople, we got super inspired, Dustin lost his voice. I was so busy I forgot to take pictures. The whole thing was fantastic.

Dustin brought his chaimaille vest from when he used to be involved in SCA for an item on the table for people to interact with. Some of my favorite moments where when kids stopped by and got to try on the chainmaille.

Another really cool moment from the event where when we had someone stop by the booth and say “Oh, hey, you were here last year, I got everything last year, what’s new this year? I’ll take one of everything that’s new.” I was speechless, that was just such a neat interaction. Side tangent, it really doesn’t take much to make an author’s day.

For Dustin, he had someone buy book one of the Sellsword Saga, go home, read it that evening, (it’s a pretty short book) and then come back the next day and chat with him about it. What an amazing interaction! Dustin is normally a pretty reserved human, and it was so fun for me to watch him light up when he was talking to people. It was very much a highlight of the convention for me.

I tried to buy books and prints from as many authors and artists as I could, but I spent most of the time at the table, so I didn’t get around to every booth I wanted or to any of the panels or anything else because we were pretty busy. Which is a great problem to have! Hopefully next year Dustin and Phil will feel a bit more comfortable at the booth and we can be a bit more organized about taking shifts so we can get around to seeing and supporting other vendors.

All too soon it was time to pack up and go home. Happy, revitalized but exhausted and in much need of some introvert time, we headed for home.

Dragonsteel really is a very special convention. I think both the vendors and the attendees are just genuinely great people and everyone feels happy and excited to be there. The Dragonsteel staff are amazing and really go above and beyond to take care of both vendors and attendees. If you have a chance to attend this convention, I highly recommend it.

I’m really looking forward to going next year if we’re able to. Next week I’m going to post about all the biggest takeaways from the event.

Till then dear reader, enjoy your January! <3 Tiff

Welcome to 2026! I hope you had a safe and wonderful holiday season. It’s so lovely to see you all back.

As is tradition (is it really tradition, or is this just something I like to do every year? Is there even a difference?)… *ahem. As is tradition, I want to start the year off by doing a re-cap of the goals we set out to accomplish last year and what our goals for 2026 are. So without further ado, here we go!

Blacksteel Press 2025 Goals:

• Dustin plans to finish the first draft of Sellsword Saga Book 3.

  • In Progress. We published Mercenary Measures, which is the Sellsword Saga Book 2, and Dustin is currently working on the first draft of book 3.

• Phil will finish the first draft of the Neversleep Scrolls Book 2.

  • Complete! Not only did Phil finish the first draft of Neversleep Scrolls Book 2 (Shadows Spill the Darkest Blood), but it also went through initial rounds of beta reading and revisions. Phil is hoping to release book 2 in early(ish) 2026.

• Tiffani will finish the first draft of Tales of Tigraen Book 2.

  • In Progress. Yeeeeeeeah, I’ve been really dragging my feet on this. What I have accomplished is to finish and publish a novella Of Dwarves and Dragons (a spin-off story featuring Kroegan and Tetsu), as well as get through initial drafts and revisions Of Festivals and Fey (a bridge novella between A Songbird’s Tale and the sequel. I really will get to work on it this year, I promise.

• Tiffani (and hopefully Dustin and Phil) will attend Dragonsteel Nexus 2025 provided our application for a booth is approved.

  • Complete! We had an absolute blast! Expect more posts about our big takeaways to come.

• Tiffani will release the audiobook version of A Songbird’s Tale, provided there are no more significant delays on the narrator’s end.

  • COMPLETE!!! After nearly 18 months… the book is now finished and available on Audible. I couldn’t be happier with it.

Blacksteel Press Goals for 2026

• Dustin will finish the first draft of Winding Divide, the Sellsword Saga book 3

• Phil will publish Shadows Spill the Darkest Blood, Neversleep Scrolls book 2.

• Tiffani will finish the first draft of A Knight’s Tale, Tales of Tigraen, book 2

I have a lot of other little projects that I would like to finish this year, so hopefully I can get those knocked out as well.

That’s all for now. Coming up in the next few weeks we will recap Dragonsteel Nexus 2025 and return to our regular posting cadence. Happiest of New Years and may 2026 bring us all peace and prosperity!

Till next time dear reader, I’d love to hear about your writing or reading goals. :) <3 Tiff

It’s that time of year again: time for the team to take a much-needed break. To rest, to recuperate, to feast, and to fill out creative cups. Basically we’re going on holiday, but unlike Bilbo Baggins, this is a holiday that we intend to return from.

Don’t worry, we’ll be back with lots more adventures and excitement next year.

I also want to take this opportunity to say thank you so much. To new fans and old. Your support means everything to us and we appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you!

Till next time dear reader, from all of us at Blacksteel Press: Merry Christmas, Joyous Rohatsu, Happy Hanukkah, Cheerful Kwanzaa, Festive Winter Solstice, and Happy Holidays!!!

See you all in the new year! <3 Tiff

Stop by if you’re in town!

Find us in the Aether District, booth A-13m between Donato Giancola and Dragon Roast.

Come see our booth and pick up signed copies of books! Pics to follow the event.

I hope this finds you well. I’m busy preparing for Dragonsteel Nexus 2025, so I don’t have much in the way of updates, but I do want to share something fun I’ve been working on with you!

Sometimes I feel like it’s a little hard to explain what Dustin, Phil, and I do, all writing in the same world. But I made this graphic for Dragonsteel recently that I think sums it up nicely!

What I really like about this is that you get a sense of where all the books are taking place in relation to one-another. A Songbird’s Tale, and the spin-off novels that I have written all take place in country of Tigraen. The Neversleep Scrolls, which Phil writes, take place in the city of Arathes, which is in the country of Sarmatti. The Sellsword Saga, which is Dustin’s series about Cas the Mercenary are a little different. Cas is a wandering mercenary, so his adventures will take him all over Nova Eian. (Nova Eian being on of the continents on the world of Galhadria.) You can see that Cas started in Gazea, just outside of Tigraen. From there he’s traveled all the way to Pileus. His next adventure will take him over to Drialadon in The Free Kingdoms.

Eventually, I’ll have to get a bigger map, but for now, I think it’s neat to see how much we have accomplished collectively. At some point, you can expect some of these characters to bump into each other…

Both Shadows Spill the Darkest Blood and Of Festivals and Fey are slotted for release sometime in early 2026, so keep your eyes peeled for those.

Till next time dear reader! ~ Tiff

Today I want to announce that the Galhadria team is heading to Dragonsteel Nexus in December!

This year all of us are heading to Utah! Dustin, Phil, and I will be in the exhibitor section at our booth for all three days of the convention. We are so looking forward to connecting with you readers. You can find us at booth A-13 - Authors of Galhadria.

MAP UPDATED! (On the map we are listed as Dusty Rabbit)

We will have books, stickers, and pins. Among our books we will have some new releases that we are so excited to share with you! Stay tuned for more details!

Till next time dear reader! - The Galhadria team

In the interim, I’m drafting book 3!

It’s been a few weeks. I had to step away from things for a while. Now that I’m back, I wanted to check in with you and see how you are doing?

I want to pause from my normal post topics today and give some space for all of the absolutely turbulent things going on in the world right now. Perhaps it’s just me, but it feels like things are becoming increasingly violent and hostile. I’m not here to talk about how we got here or the specific issues themselves, but I do want to check in on my readers and see if you are taking care of yourselves.

We were never meant to be constantly bombarded with the kinds of information and news that we see today. Our brains are not wired to handle witnessing televised murders, terrorist attacks, bombings, and/or shootings in 30 second clips, before scrolling on to something else equally terrible. I worry about how desensitized people are getting to seeing things that only a few decades ago would be considered truly atrocious to witness.

Maybe I’m the only one, but I feel like my heart is breaking with how much anger and vitriol I get bombarded with on the news or on social media each day. This group hates that group simply because of a difference of opinion. This group is calling for the extermination of this other group. In the last month I’ve seen footage of people getting shot in the streets execution style, a man get murdered in front of his children and wife and an entire stadium full of college kids; I’ve seen footage of riots and destruction, of people being abducted off the streets; I’ve seen videos of people calling for the murder of children simply because of the political or religious affiliation of their parents; I’ve seen footage of a lady wearing a shirt that says “Make America Kind Again” screaming in rage while she beat a cardboard construction of a political figure.

We are not ok as a society right now.

I don’t want these things to be normalized. I don’t want casual posts about political violence, or assassinations, or mass shootings or the celebration of someone’s demise to just be part of what I see on my daily feed. If social media wasn’t one of the main methods to connect to new readers and market my books, I don’t think I would be on it at all. Not because I want to be blind to all the things happening in the world, but because I’m frightened of the attitude most of society seems to have towards them.

What do we do? How do we change things?

I don’t know how we fix things. How do we turn away from so much anger and hate and move towards creating a gentler, kinder world? I wish I knew. Life is hard, and cruel. But that doesn’t mean we have to be. I don’t have all the answers. I can’t control what people say online, or what they post, or how they think. But. I do know that I have control over myself and my own actions. And I can choose to be kind. I can always choose to be kind. And hopefully I will leave those whose lives I touch just a little better for it.

Take care of yourself friends. Till next time, and every time, choose kindness.

<3 Tiff

Today I want to share a new release. A new novella which details the backstory of two characters from A Songbird’s Tale. This short story details the story of how Kroegan the dwarven prince met Tetsu, princess of Sho.

I’d love for you to check it out and let me know your thoughts!

Till next time dear reader! <3 Tiff

Today and I want to update you on something that has finally, finally, FINALLY come to fruition!

My debut novel is finally available in Audiobook format. For right now it’s only available on Audible, but once my exclusive contract runs out, I plan to expand to other listening platforms.

As a special bonus, the narrator, Arthur Rowan, wrote the songs for my book and he re-recorded How Many Souls creating a tavern version. It’s pretty spectacular.

So if you’re the audiobook listening type of human, or if you know of one, please check it out or share this book! Till next time dear reader, enjoy your listening! <3 Tiff

Today I want to share my newfound love for short reads. I am actually growing quite fond of novellas. Generally, a novella is around the 30-50k word count. Something that you finish typically in one to two sittings (maybe more depending on how fast you read or how much time you have.) These novellas are kind of like a reading snack. I’ve found they help whet my appetite and can help get me out of a reading slump. Plus the little dopamine kick from finishing a book is great.

Additionally, I’ve been trying to work on writing some short stories and novellas to help improve my writing craft. Writing a short story can teach you a lot. You have less time to establish what is going on. You have to be concise and to the point. You don’t have time to meander around or spend a long time worldbuilding.

While I am really proud of my first novel, I know there are lots of things I could have done better. The best ways to keep getting better are to read good stories, keep writing, keep practicing, and keep telling stories in their entirety from start to finish. The more reps you put in, the better. Short stories are a great way to get some good reps in without having to go through the long process of writing an 80k-100k+ novel. I work full-time outside of my writing, so I have limited time to practice.

Here are some of the short stories that I have enjoyed over the past year or so.

Well dear readers, have you read any of these books? What is your favorite novella? Let me know in the comments!

Till next time, go enjoy a short story. <3 Tiff

Superman

The Man of Steel is back! This film definitely feels like an homage to the Christopher Reeves era Superman. He’s wholesome, charming and just wants to save lives around the planet. The new guy playing Clark Kent is great and I loved the supporting characters. Nathan Fillion is great as Guy Gardner. But who knew my favorite would be Mr. Terrific (so stylish and cool).  I actually saw this movie twice in the theater and enjoyed it both times.  There were several people whom I talked to that were hesitant with the refrain of “I heard it was woke…” I didn’t see what people were getting worked up about and I don’t think what any pundit says should stop you from seeing a film you’re interested in. It was a good movie.

How to Train your Dragon

Well, if you’ve seen the animated HTTYD, then nothing about this film will surprise you. It’s basically that movie in live action form (which isn’t what happened in Lilo and Stitch apparently–I didn’t see that one).  I thought the casting was great. I love that they got Gerard Butler to, what?, reprise his role from the 3D animated film.  The boy who played Hiccup nailed it and don’t listen to the haters who didn’t like who they cast for Astrid, because she was great too.  

The most notable thing for my filmgoing experience of this movie was not the film itself but the 5 year old boy I unfortunately had to sit next to. He was slurping down a giant soda before the previews and then could absolutely not sit still for the rest of the movie. And of course his meemaw was just letting him run wild for the first 30 minutes. It was annoying, but in spite of all that, HTTYD is still a great film, whichever version you end up seeing. 

Eddington

Phew! This movie was harrowing. It really does bring you back to the height of the Covid pandemic of 2020 and just how weird that was. This is a polarizing film because I think that time in our lives was polarizing in many ways. I keep hearing that this film is a Western, but it feels more like a neo-noir to me. We’ve got our conservative antihero in Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) butting heads with the liberal Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). As the hypocrisies of these character’s viewpoints become more extreme, it accelerates them towards tragedy. This was definitely a film that I talked about and thought about a lot after I watched it. And I think that is something that Ari Aster is really good about in his films. 

Also, some lady in the theater was coughing really loudly for half the film so that was an added bit of realism that I didn’t need. 

The Home

So this was another one of the “Scream Unseen” films that I went to. It’s a horror movie starring Pete Davidson about a guy who has to work in a Nursing Home for his community service–and things are not what they seem. Like the other time I went to one of these, it probably wasn’t a movie I would have chosen. (The person I was with saw which movie it was and let out an audible disappointed groan). 

Let’s talk about the film. If you’ve seen enough horror films then you start to know what to expect from a particular setup. You’ve got a weird nursing home where Pete is not allowed to go to the 4th floor–gee, I wonder why?  Then weird things are happening to the residents and it points to much more sinister doings. I will give this film credit for escalating the mystery as it goes. The ending just goes completely nuts and I would not have guessed how the final act goes down.

One final note is that Pete Davidson was probably perfectly cast in this film–for better or worse.

Well, that’s it for now, I’ve got more to talk about next time, so check back with me then. Follow my hilarious Letterboxd reviews and I’ll see you next time.

Elio 

In a world where Disney is mired down in endless sequels and unnecessary ‘live action’ reboots, we actually get an original story from Pixar.  How refreshing! I’ve been a Pixar fan from the beginning—and I mean back when they were doing Listerine commercials.

Elio is about a boy whose parents died, and he’s living with his aunt. She works for US Space Force and she’s not prepared to be a mom. Elio doesn’t feel like he fits in on this world and therefore wants to get abducted by aliens, doing everything he can to that end. I know this film went through some struggles with the studio forcing changes on them (feel free to look up the drama on your own), but it really was a delightful film. I enjoyed it. 

The Life of Chuck

This was one of those ‘talked about’ movies that was getting a lot of buzz. It’s based on a Stephen King short story and done by one of my favorite directors, Mike Flanagan (Midnight Mass, Fall of the House of Usher).  This story is told in three acts, in reverse–which sounds a little strange and it actually is kind of a strange movie.  The beginning part is like an end of the world apocalyptic tale of everything going wrong on the planet. It’s downright harrowing.  But things are not what they seem. I won’t ruin any surprises on this one.  But it was a nice, life-affirming tale and I do recommend it. 

F1

I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with this film. A very slick Apple Studios production starring Brad Pitt and featuring one of the most expensive sports in the world. I know that F1 is huge in Europe and other places, but I’m personally not into racing. All that said, this was a solid film that I rather enjoyed. I think there’s enough thrills and excitement, no matter your interest in the sport. It’s definitely worth seeing on a huge screen.  Brad Pitt is great as always. 

Jurassic World Rebirth

Well, we got another Jurassic Park movie. This one feels like they're trying to dial back some of the problems with the Chris Pratt era films and maybe forge a new franchise with Scarlett Johansson at the helm. I would say the problems with this film are at the script level. Character motivations, dialogue and plot feel like they were written by a seasoned industry veteran who didn’t really care that much and was just cashing a check. There was an entire b-plot with a family that no one was interested in, including a daughter’s boyfriend character that you were hoping was going to be eaten (I won’t spoil anything about that.)  Anyways, was this a good movie? No. But if you like the franchise, you’ll probably enjoy this one. 

Well that’s all from me right now. Be sure and follow my hilarious Letterboxd reviews to stay current with what I’ve been watching.  See you next time.

I recently tried my hand at some flash fiction. The prompt was that it had to be 1000 words or less, and that it had to end with the line “Everyone thought they knew the truth, but no one was the things we saw.” This was a very fun and challenging exercise. Here’s what I came up with. Enjoy! ~Tiff

Somewhere in the Atlantic, October 1941

U-47 disappeared without a trace. That’s what everyone said, anyway.

Top brass was pretty hush-hush about the details. A bubblehead like me usually operates on a need-to-know basis, but there was something in the air that told me this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill salvage operation.

Commander O’Neil had been in the Navy near 20 years. He had seen and done it all, so he didn’t bat an eye as he introduced us to the “contractor” who was said to be sponsoring this operation.

“Petty Officers, this is Mr. Bailey. He’s an archeologist from England. He’s been working with the gentlemen in DC and they have some interest in recovering an artifact they believe might be in this wreckage.”

Higgins and I looked at each other.

This contractor had no business being on a Navy vessel. He was a scrawny fellow, wiry frame, thin hair, nervous demeanor, elbows on his tweed jacket worn thin.

Mr. Bailey cleared his throat as he flipped through his portfolio. There were bits of notes and old papers sticking out of it in every direction. He didn’t have much trouble finding what he was looking for, though, because he pulled it out and held it up for us to see. It was a bad carbon copy. “We need to recover this artifact.”

“What do the folks in DC want with some ugly little totem?” I asked.

“It is of great importance. For the war effort.” His ink-stained fingers trembled as he held the paper out.

“Looks like a deformed squid.” Higgins said. He wasn’t wrong.

Mr. Baily lifted his chin, his accent haughty. “Yes, well, it should be easy for you to remember when you’re out there looking through the wreckage in the dark then, won’t it?”

“Suit up, boys.” Commander O’Neil dismissed us.

Higgins and I were quiet as we climbed into our deep sea diving suits. I helped him with the straps first. This salvage operation shouldn’t be any different from any other. There was something off-putting about Mr. Bailey’s request, but neither of us could place it. Higgins helped me step into the weighted shoes. Shoes that were designed to pull me straight to the bottom of the ocean. And keep me there.

I might have asked Higgins his thoughts, but the copper helmet was going on over my head, and the world suddenly narrowed. The sounds of the ship were muffled. My field of view was reduced to the tiny circular window. My body was heavy from all the shoes, and straps, and the giant, round, copper helmet over my head. Bolts creaked as they tightened, sealing helmet to dive suit.

Into the water we went. Pulled down into the dark, cold depths by the weight of our gear. Looking up through the small window in my helmet, the light blue of the surface faded as we sank, down, down, down. Hundreds of feet and still we sank. The chill of the ocean pressed against my suit. It was hazy twilight when we finally reached the bottom. I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me.

I found Higgins to my left. Signaled. He signaled back. All good so far. The coordinates had been exact. Through the gloom a great, black hulking shape was visible: the wreck. It was perched on the edge of a shelf, in danger of giving way and sliding into the depths at any moment. We made towards it, each step kicking up silt, further reducing our visibility.

Through the murk, faint green lights began to glow. At first, I didn’t think much. Bioluminescence was pretty common at these depths. The light began to pulse. The green shimmer undulated in a way that made me nauseous, growing brighter and brighter. I could clearly make out the shape of the U-boat. The submarine was split in half; all its guts strew out on the ocean floor.

I might be hallucinating. I looked for Higgins but he was frozen in place, staring. He saw it too. Beyond the pulsating green light, dark shapes began to wave in the water. Giant tentacles emerged from the darkness beyond the wreck. They were so large they dwarfed the sub, made it look like a child’s toy.

The green lights continued to pulse. I was both mesmerized and repulsed. I began to sweat. I needed to puke. Couldn’t breathe. I had the worst desire to pull my helmet off. It couldn’t be real. This was something supernatural. Something evil had come up from the depths. The tentacles began to wrap themselves around the sub. In the midst of all those tentacles was an eye. A great, yellow, watery eye with twin pupils.

I pissed myself when it looked at me. A thousand voices roared to life in my ears. Screaming at me in languages I didn’t understand. Something warm and sticky began to trickle down the side of my face.

I looked at Higgins. He was trying to unfasten his helmet, clawing at the screws. I tried to hold his hands down; tried to keep him from killing himself. I thought I could hear him screaming inside his helmet. Or maybe I was. Perhaps we both were.

I unclipped his weight belt. Managed to get mine off as well. We’d probably ascend too fast, might get the bends, might die even. But it was better than sticking around here with that demon come up from the depths to claim the sub. Higgins just kept screaming and screaming and trying to pull his helmet off. I blacked out.

Commander O’Neil debriefed us in the infirmary. Medics tried to explain it away as a bad case of nitrogen narcosis. ‘Cept you didn’t burst blood vessels in your eyes and bleed from your ears from the bends.

Official report was that U-47 was unrecoverable. The sub slid off the shelf into the depths. Everyone thought they knew the truth, but no one was the things we saw. 

Hello Dear Reader!

Today I want to provide a book review, although this review will be a little bit different than some of the other reviews I’ve done in the past.

I recently picked up this anthology of four stories by four different authors who are all established in the paranormal romance genre. I am a little bit of a sucker for both angels and vampires, and a few of these authors blend both those elements into their stories.

Anthologies are a neat way to experience several different writing and storytelling styles back to back in little bit sized chunks, and this is a great book that does exactly that. Two of these authors I have read previously and two of these authors were new to me. In this particular review I’m going to focus on the contrasting styles of the two authors I’m familiar with:

Nalini Singh

One of the series Nalini Singh writes is the Guild Hunter series, which is urban paranormal romance. In this series ruthless and powerful angels rule modern day earth. This alternate reality is also inhabited by vampires, who generally work in service to the angels. The short story in this anthology takes place in that world.

Power dynamics play a large role in storytelling and how Singh’s characters interact. Her characters tend to be both powerful and dangerous. Having to be on guard and choosing when and to whom to show vulnerability are key elements in building character interactions and keeping tension. In this particular short story 600 year old angel Lady Nimra and a 200 year old vampire Noel need to work together to uncover the plot behind an assassination attempt on the Lady Nimra.

Having read several of Singh’s books in the Guild Hunter series, past trauma tends to be another key element her characters have to face. When you’re immortal, the scale of trauma tends to get cranked up to 10. While these things are not always seen on page, characters suffer pretty extreme physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse in their past. Another trademark feature in Singh’s writing is that her characters tend to be otherworldly attractive.

So your ingredients are: a world where you have immensely powerful beings all vying for control, all of whom are incredibly attractive, angsty, on edge, mistrustful, and dealing with traumatic pasts. All these things together lend themselves to especially well to the “enemies to lovers” trope. It’s not uncommon for characters to threaten each other or occasionally injure each other. The vibe tends to be a bit darker and the stakes are usually high. There tends to be a heavier focus on the sexual tension and the attraction. In this particular short story, they are trying to find the assassin before they strike again: life and death.

I’m certainly no literary critic or expert, but I would say that there are some fairly specific trends in the paranormal romance/romantasy genre that I see a lot of these days that I don’t really remember seeing that much 10 or especially 20 years ago. A lot of what I see on “BookTok” tends to be this “enemies-to-lovers” trope with very powerful beings involved, characters threatening each other, stabbing each other, and a lot more raw sexual tension. In that sense, Singh’s writing feels more contemporary. Readers who enjoy Jennifer Armentrout, would also enjoy Singh’s work. I haven’t read much of Sarah J. Maas or Rebecca Yarros, but I’m willing to bet these authors would also fall into this same type of category.

Sharon Shinn

Sharon Shinn has been publishing fantasy/sci-fi since the 90s, with her Samaria series being the one I’m the most focused on. (This series was published from 1996 to 2004) and the world in which her short story for this anthology takes place. I would actually categorize this series as Sci-Fantasy, and actually sci-fantasy done exceptionally well. The Samaria series takes place in a world where angels exist among mortals. They are the life blood of the planet, keeping things peaceful by flying to high altitudes and singing to their god Jovah who then changes the weather, sends down food or medicine, and whatever else the inhabitants of Samaria might need. If the different nations or tribes of Samaria do not gather once a year and sing together on the plains, Jovah will smite them.

In contrast with Singh’s world, angels are not violent or warful in Samaria, though they are very powerful physically and politically. Angels tend to be haughty and arrogant because they are revered across the land and they know they play an important role in maintaining the world. Samaria would not exist without them. These are personality traits that must often be overcome with the angel characters needing to learn compassion and humility.

In Nocturne, the short story in this anthology, a human woman meets a blind angel hiding out in an attic, largely feeling sorry for himself and trying to figure out what to do with his life now that he has lost his sight. Her initial intent is to annoy and harass him for some personal entertainment. This comes more from her mischievous and contrary nature (we all know people like this), rather than a place of “ultimate girl-boss with a chip on my shoulder feminine rage”. As such her character felt much more relatable and down to earth to me. She’s not being malicious; this isn’t about power.

Shinn’s romance elements sometimes also focus on enemies-to-lovers, though this tends to be a much more mild version than what you see in romantasy today. These are often characters who start out at odds, but grow into friendship or romance through mutual respect and admiration. There is a greater focus on the slow burn in terms of characters pining for each other. While angels in particular do tend to be highly attractive, there is less of a focus on this. Many of Shinn’s characters in the series are “plain old vanilla mortals” (to borrow a phrase from Jim Butcher).

As a result, we get stories that carry a sense of characters falling in love rather than just lusting after each other. Characters are still working through past hurts or traumatic events, although it feels like it is done in slower degrees. This is a fairly broad stroke, but my perception is the trend in current paranormal romance is to use sex as an anodyne for emotional distress and need for acceptance. "I’m feeling angry/vulnerable about my past/insecure, let’s fuck.” “You’re so perfect, I just want to worship you, let’s fuck.” “You did something incredibly hurtful and betrayed my trust, so instead of talking about it I’m going to stab you and then we’ll have angry revenge make up sex”. For me, personally, this gets tiresome to read rather quickly.

All that to say, Shinn’s approach to sexual intimacy is just handled differently. Intimacy seems to carry a bit more solemnity in her work.

Summary and closing thoughts

I’m not trying to throw shade at modern paranormal romance or smut. I’m simply highlighting the differences in how these two authors approach their craft and their stories. Different readers are going to gravitate towards different stories, styles, tropes, characters, and so on. Both authors use angels as key figures in their works. Both tell stories that involve romance. Both have very different approaches to how these elements are handled.

Honestly, I love that! I think that’s part of what makes writing and storytelling so cool. And what a neat way to juxtapose these author’s styles, by putting them in the same anthology so you can see very back-to-back how those different styles of character building and story crafting work. It highlights how an author’s unique voice and vision come through even on a similar topic like paranormal romance involving angels. That’s a pretty niche sub-genre in my opinion but when you read these two stories they couldn’t be more different.

More honesty, I never really spent much time reading anthologies before. Like, at all. This experience definitely makes me want to read more anthologies so I can get some exposure to different authors in bite sized chunks. It’s like a sampler platter, and I can quickly find out which author’s styles might really resonate with me so I can seek out more of their work. I have so little time to read these days I find myself gravitating more towards shorter stories, especially when I’m in a reading slump. I love long novels, but there is something super satisfying about finishing a book. Even a short one. And I sometimes need that little dopamine hit between longer books.

Exploring these two different styles so closely together helps me feel good about ideas for future stories I that I want to write in popular genres. I know people always say there is nothing new under the sun. And to some degree they’re right.

*Cue soundbite from Gnomeo and Juliet “The story you are about see has been told before. A lot. And now we are going to tell it again. But different.”

One of my professors in art school talked about this, and I always appreciated his take on it. He said, yes, everything has been done before and there are no new ideas. But has it been done before by you? Use a certain type of style that already exists. Tell a certain type of story you want, even if you feel like it’s been done before. Put your own unique spin on it; tell it in your voice. So I find that rather encouraging. Do what you love. Tell the kinds of stories you want to tell. Only you can tell them in your voice.

Anyway, this is getting rather long and I’ve rambled on enough for one Sunday. Till next time dear reader, go explore some anthologies and let me know what some of your favorite short stories are. I always love hearing from you. Cheers! <3 Tiff

P.S. I didn’t forget, but I’m opting not to rate this anthology since this review was more of a comparison between styles than a true review. Ta!

The Phoenician Scheme

As a longtime fan of Wes Anderson’s work, I never miss a chance to see his next film. I think he’s truly an auteur of cinema and a treasure. I’ve heard some people criticize him as repetitive, but I truly like the tone and visuals of his films and more than one has hit me on an emotional level. This movie about a shady businessman who fears he’s at the end of his life and wants to pass on his legacy to his daughter—who’s in training to be a nun, is a very enjoyable film. It’s got the great banter and strange characters that you’d expect from Wes Anderson. The running jokes are good and there’s a bit with Michael Cera near the climax of the film that had me laughing out loud.

A Minecraft Movie

I’m not sure I need to say too much about this film. It’s silly and fun. You’re basically there to see Jack Black dialed up to 10. I did like it far better than I was expecting to. 

However, I did see it long after it was available on VOD–so I avoided the stupid middle schooler nonsense that you’ve heard about associated with this film. The theater was only showing it on one screen, one show per day, but it was PACKED with twitchy youngsters and their meemaws and peepaws. And the meemaws were checking their texts in the middle of the film—they just didn’t get it. Nevertheless, I didn’t let that ruin my experience; it was dumb fun.  

Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning

So if you’ve watched all these films from the beginning, which I have, you’ll be surprised at a character from the original that they dust off and bring back for this film to give them more than a cameo. The plot with the AI is super convoluted and at any time could fail with just one mistake, but of course you know how these things go. The action was fun. The stunts were pretty incredible. And I loved the appearance of Tramell Tillman (Severence’s Seth Milchick) who has some of the best line deliveries in this movie. If you like the Mission Impossible films, you’ll enjoy this one. 

40 Acres

We went to this movie as a Screen Unseen offering–which is one that you go to and don’t know what you’re about to see. Honestly, I’m glad I did. I wasn’t too interested in it from the poster or the synopsis. It’s an idea that could have easily been done very poorly. But this small budget film from Canada with actors that I’m not familiar with was a pleasant surprise. The premise is that a self-sufficient homesteader family in a post apocalyptic world where all the crops are not doing well must defend themselves from the worst of humanity. These guys have taught their kids to kill raiders and they’re lethal. What I’d really like to highlight is the acting by the woman playing the tough mom, Hailey. Danielle Deadwyler was incredible in this film. She was intense, ferocious and protective (overprotective, as it turns out), but a woman who would do anything to keep her family safe and together. I hope more of you go see this film because it is really well done.

Okay, I’m going to leave off here and come back for another set of films.  As always leave your comments or questions. What movies are you excited about this summer? 

I wanted to share a quick rundown of some of the things I’ve seen so far and my thoughts. 

Thunderbolts* - The New Avengers

A lot of people have been down on Marvel lately and not excited about their new offerings post-Endgame, but I thought this was quite a nice return to form. I’m a sucker for Florence Pugh, so whatever she does is okay by me. But I actually liked the surrounding cast as well. We get to see the villains from other Marvel movies have to team up (yes, it’s like Suicide Squad that way) in order to stop the big bad politician lady and her plan to clean up all her shady covert ops stuff. It had a few laugh out loud moments for me–which is kinda rare. Overall, I rather enjoyed it. 

Final Destination: Bloodlines

I’m a fan of this series. Even when it’s okay, it’s still pretty fun. And also I’ve had a chance to interact with the creator of the series Jeffrey Reddick, who is such a nice guy. This story actually takes the Final Destination formula in a new direction. Whereas earlier movies said that those who cheat death will have it come back for them, this one posits that if you escape death and have a family, then death will come for them too.  There were some great set pieces and creative kills—which is why you come for these films. The tattoo artist brother was my favorite character. 

Sinners

How could you be around any kind of pop culture and not hear about Sinners? It’s all the buzz and rightfully so. It's a different kind of vampire movie, with Michael B. Jordan played dual roles as the Smoke Stack twins–who I was pleased to note didn’t fall into the tropes we often see for twins in media (See my earlier blog post for my thoughts on that.)  Music plays a major part of this movie as well. I probably didn’t love it as much as some people, I did think it was good and worth a watch. There are a ton of interesting think-pieces about the meaning within the time period, music and setting of this movie so plenty of rabbit-holes to visit to learn more about this.

Bring Her Back

This second feature from the Philippou Brothers’ 2022 horror feature Talk To Me (which I loved and was super scary), follows an older brother and younger vision-impaired sister who find themselves stuck in the foster system when their father dies unexpectedly. The brother Andy, is just slightly too young to be considered a guardian for his sister Piper, so they have to go live with the incredibly unsettling Sally Hawkins’ Laura. Things are immediately awkward with Laura. The vibe with her place is off, there’s another foster kid there named Olly, who seems developmentally delayed and we also find out Laura lost her own daughter who was the same age as Piper.  Without spoiling anything, this movie is tense, scary and wild. It made me cringe in a couple of places–so it’s not for the faint of heart.  Very good follow up and I’m looking forward to whatever these boys put out next. 

Well, that’s not my entire list but I feel like this post is running long so I’ll close it here and pick back up with Part 2 later.  Thanks all. If you’ve seen these movies and want to comment, let me know your thoughts!

My birthday is in July and I’m thinking of starting a new tradition.

Just like hobbits, I think it would be a lovely tradition for me give gifts away on my birthday. (Or at least sometime during the month of my birthday. The exact day shall remain a mystery.)

So without further ado:

THIS COMING WEEKEND: from July 18th to the 21st, you can download the eBook version of A Songbird’s Tale for FREE on the zon.

Mark your calendars, tell your friends, download a copy, and enjoy!

Till next time, happy reading! <3 Tiff