I’ve begun the process of laying out posts, including my own parts. Each one takes a bit of organizing, but it’s fun, too. There’s always so much variety, and it’s interesting to see what books we’re all coming out with.

Guess I’ll get back to that!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.

It does allow me time to think about stories, though. In my case, I’ve been thinking about The Warlock’s Army. I did complete the first draft, weekend before last. Later than I’d hoped, but it got done. The annoying thing is, as I worked through the final chapter, I kept coming up with new story complications. Things that should have been introduced in the second or third chapter, if they were going to be part of the story. Which is now concluding.

I do often find, as I’m tying everything up, that I find myself giving a lot of hints toward what the future may hold. I try not to wallow in this too much; those thoughts are for the reader, if they cared enough about the characters. If they didn’t care, that kind of ending must be annoying.

Today, while proctoring, I started listing out some of the things that I need to address in the second draft. The title will be one of them; I can’t really call it The Warlock’s Army if the warlocks don’t form any sort of army! However, the revision ideas sort of mixed with the future-hints from the ending. I hadn’t planned a second book about Jeniana, Cassander and their big family, but possibly there may be one. I’m saving all my notes, just in case.

As a reminder, I’m still recruiting more authors for Queen Titania’s Court. Feel free to pass along the invitation to any fantasy writers you know.

As another reminder, my latest opus is live today. Tell all your friends about Standing Stones & Eldritch Tomes!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.

The promised tweaks have been made, and my latest masterpiece is all set up! You can pre-order Standing Stones & Eldritch Tomes from Books2Read!

Standing Stones & Eldritch Tomes

This is a fantasy double feature — a short story and a novelette in one e-book!

The Guardian Stones: Mistress Henbane consults her friend, Ethan Matthias, about a mysterious peist irruption. He’s happy to help. The only problem? Mount Enoch University of the Arcane is an all-male bastion that does not permit women to enter.

The Eldritch Agency: Petra, a goblin exile, has made the Eldritch Agency her home for decades. Then a new Archmage seizes control, scheming to discard the Agency’s traditions of balance and cooperation in favor of domination and conquest. It’s up Petra and the other senior staff to save the Eldritch Agency.

Come along for two fantastic adventures in one!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.

As in both the previous works, Automatic Noodle is set in a corporate dystopia, although it takes place nearer in the future than the other two. The United States has broken into two countries, California and America. Like Murderbot, the featured characters here are robots created for wartime purposes. With the war over, they came into the control of a sketchy restauranteur who abandoned them when he skipped out on his lease.

Technically, Newitz’s robots are free. It’s just that they aren’t citizens, have no civil rights, and there are anti-robot hate groups laying for them. The disparate group of four robots want to stay together rather than risk being abducted and sold on the open market. Not all of them have a clear vision of what they want for themselves. But Hands dreams of being a chef and serving authentic Chinese noodles instead of the terrible slop their former owner made them dish out. One step at a time, sometimes through devious means, the robotic quartet begins to create their new life.

This work is definitely on the softer side compared to either Murderbot or Robocop. Each character gets some page time revealing their past and their future hopes. Their physical creation is wildly distinct, as contrasted to the mass-produced constructs of Murderbot. As a novella, it’s a shorter read, but well worth your time.

Speaking of good reads! I’m still recruiting authors for Queen Titania’s Court next month. If you know any fantasy writers, I hope you’ll mention me to them.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.

What I’m Working On. The Warlock’s Army is finished! Writing endings is always a bit odd for me. I keep wanting to give hints about what the future holds for my characters. In this case, my muse wants to introduce whole plotlines that should have started in chapter 2 or 3 if I was going to use them. Bringing them in at the end implies a second novel, which I don’t currently have plans for. Anyway, I have to put all that aside until I’m able to work on revisions during my summer break.

What’s Next? Standing Stones & Eldritch Tomes is in production. I have tweaked my cover and begun the actual layouts and registration with Bowker, D2D, and so forth. It’s due on May 15th.

Where I’ll be. Does Queen Titania’s Court count as being somewhere? Because I’m actively searching for more writers to participate. Chime in if you’re interested.

Fun and Games. Animal Crossing is my forever game. I’ve also just finished a replay of Subnautica Below Zaro. Not sure what I’ll play next. I’m currently reading Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz. My favorite local bookstore has informed me that Martha Wells’ latest, Platform Decay, has come in. Can’t wait for that one!

Happy spring to everyone!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.

I was going to call this a cover reveal, but it’s still a draft. This (or something a lot like it) will be the cover for my next e-book. The illustration is by my good friend, Betsy Mott. Commissioning cover art can be a bit of a gamble, but it helps when I know the artist well and are familiar with her style.

Like the predecessor, Standing Stones and Safety Zones, this is a fantasy double feature. The first part is a short story which follows one in Stones & Zones. The second is a novella with a much more topical, political tone. Some of you may consider that a bonus, and others a drawback.

I’d like to do a third of these double features. I even have some ideas for further adventures of my short story duo. However, I haven’t got another novella worked out. Those ideas will percolate while I work on the second draft of The Warlock’s Army over the summer break.

Standing Stones & Eldritch Tomes is on track for release on May 15th. However, if you have any thoughts on this draft of the cover, I’d be interested to hear them.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.

I’m still deep in the finale of The Warlock’s Army, and simultaneously beginning the publication for my next book, Standing Stones & Eldritch Tomes. I migh as well post a reminder of my initial Standing Stones book, which came out last November.

Standing Stones & Danger Zones

This is a fantasy double feature — a short story and a novelette in one volume!

Mistress Henbane: Ethan Mathias was the top student in a very competitive magical college — until his powers began to fade. Recovering at a country retreat, he discovers a very different magical tradition.

Yunarix: Merriam is a young, aspiring hunter who’s desperate to get a foot in with the Hunter’s Guild. At last he has the chance to journey along with Majia Casserine, investigating an attack by the monstrous Yunarix — but the opportunity comes with a nasty thread attached.

Come along for two fantastic adventures in one!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.

This is behind the schedule I had hoped for. I really need to be laying out my next release, Standing Stones & Eldritch Tomes. I’ve got the cover art for it, and I look forward to sharing that soon. It bothers me to leave The Warlock’s Army unfinished, though. I’ll be working on both of them in stages this weekend.

With the initial announcement in my last post, Queen Titania’s Court is also coming into focus. I have more invitations and documents to send out for that. And of course, on these beautiful spring days, I have a garden show to attend and work to do in my own yard.

I hope you’re all having a relaxing weekend.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.

The silvery gates of Faerie are about to open up! That’s because this June I’m hosting my annual blog event, Queen Titania’s Court. And I’m inviting my fellow fantasy authors to take part.

The setup is that one character from one of your books will be summoned to Queen Titania’s Court. You’ll answer a couple of questions, interview style. This gives you a chance to show off your book in a more fun way than just an ad or the cover copy.

It’s a chance for Indy fantasy authors to shine. Whether you work is epic, contemporary, urban, fairy tale, grimdark or cozy — if it can be categorized as fantasy, this is for you. It’s also my chance to reach out and support the community of Indy fantasy authors.

If you’re interested, all you have to do is e-mail me, CAT09tales -at- protonmail -dot- com. Or if you aren’t a writer, but you know someone who is, please give them to info. I’ll get you all the details. It’s so simple! I look forward to planning this year’s event with everyone.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.

The change is concerning to me, since D2D is my main publishing platform. I’ve found their service reliable and let’s just say the fee-free environment was a bonus for me. In fact, D2D is really the dominant platform for Indy writers since 1) they have bought up several competitors and 2) Amazon, B&N and other platforms have previously made some arbitrary changes to their terms of service, too.

D2D’s rationale is that they are being flooded with AI-generated bookspam from “content mills” and it’s overwhelming their platform. Some of these dubious outfits were uploading hundreds of books a day, making it difficult for D2D’s quality assurance to keep up. Once they began rejecting spam titles, the spammers started opening dozens of accounts and uploading 1 or 2 books for each. D2D is instituting the fee for new accounts to try and combat this.

Since there’s been widespread reporting of SF/Fantasy magazines being flooded with spam submissions, this rationale does make some sense. They now have submission windows and other devices that make it nearly impossible to submit work there. But hey, they don’t have to deal with that terrible slush pile any more!

More troublesome is the “maintenance fee,” which is being charged to authors like me who publish regularly but only sell a few copies. You have to sell at least $100 of books in a year to avoid the fee. Since most of my sales are in person through book tables, and they are not counting author copies as sales, I will never be able to meet this arbitrary standard.

It stings. I am the baby being thrown out with the bath water. Unless I pay up, of course.

In this case I feel D2D is trying to get rid of writers they deem not profitable enough — for them. It’s just another corporation deciding to “monetize” their creative partners. In fact, I’ve heard some commentary that the aggressive acquisition of competitors has undermined D2D behind the scenes, and that’s why they have to monetize Indy writers.

All this said, I likely will pay the fee. I do have the expectation of selling enough copies to cover it. I’ll just never see any additional royalties from D2D, if it all goes to their fees. Unfortunately, there are few reputable alternatives. D2D has bought up a lot of them.

Anyhow, if you know of a reliable self-publishing platform besides Amazon or D2D, I’d be interested to hear about your experiences.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website or follow me on Bluesky.