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Writing and Publishing

Looking Back

The featured image for this post is a little bit of a taste test for the fruits of February. Unfortunately those fruits won’t be ready to share for a few months yet (hopefully, presuming submissions go well), but Finewhisker & Greypaw, PI (working title) is coming along splendidly—so well that, after I finish Halfwhisker, I think I’ll write a few more episodes and turn it into a serial, then get started on Blood Brothers (working title). I think you’re going to really like this story, as it’s a lot of fun.

Looking Forward

But I get ahead of myself. I did not actually finalize F&G in the month of February, but I nearly did. My plan is to polish it up and send it off to Writers of the Future, assuming I manage to keep it 17,000 words or less—regardless, at some point it’s going to end up in Royal Road because I want to test the waters over there. (I also might use this short story to test the waters over at Spoken Press, see if I like their audiobook narration service—stay tuned.)

Following F&G, it’s back to Halfwhisker! Part five, and then the epilogue—I would like to finish all that in the month of March, but unless I either writer faster than usual, or get far more writing time than usual, that isn’t happening, so finishing draft 2(ish) might be a March/April goal.

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The Blog

February was my first month that I solidly had all of my blog posts written and scheduled out before the month even began—and, as of writing, I’ve got all of March’s posts written and scheduled in advance, too. As long as I can keep that up without hurting my book writing, I think I like not feeling rushed for time or things to share.

Of course, February was also a short month, so I had an easier time filling it with good discussions than usual. Regardless, I think you’ll like what’s in store!

• Man on the Inside: The second season of the amusing, character-driven TV series—does it live up to the first?
• Curse of the Star Wraiths: A sword-and-sorcery novel following two brothers, Steel and Stormbright, in a world that appears to be pretty brutal to humans.
• The Value of Being Offensive: A meditation where the title tells you pretty much exactly what you are going to get—an article on why being offensive can be a good thing.

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My Reading List

As of this moment, I just finished reading The Islands of the Blessed.

I really loved this book. In fact, I just might be rushing this newsletter a bit because I’m so excited to get to writing about it. You’ll have to be patient, though—since I’m planned out through March, this review will be the first of April. (It’s the third in a trilogy, though, and the discussion for The Sea of Trolls and a review for The Land of the Silver Apples go live throughout March, so I think the buildup is going to be fun.)

I have no clue what I’m reading next. Revisiting childhood favorites—particularly series with books that I had missed, as was the case with The Sea of Trolls—has been delightful, but I don’t want to spend too much time in memory and would rather look forward to the next great thing. Whatever that is.

Maybe I’ll even do something crazy and get the manga for Delicious in Dungeon—I’ve never considered doing that before, and mentioning this probably spoils the upcoming review a little bit (yes, I quite liked it), but it’s on my mind.

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Finally—What Else do I Recommend This Month?

I recommend Rainworld.

Rainworld is a bizarre game that almost defies description, but that’s part of what makes it so fun. In Rainworld, you take control of a small, intelligent creature known as a slugcat and try to survive in a gorgeous—and dangerous—simulated ecosystem while trying to find your way home… or trying to discover the deep secrets of this world.

Another plus to Rainworld: couch co-op! If you purchase the Downpour DLC, anyway.

My wife and I have had tons of fun playing this together. It’s a very challenging game, and how much death can sometimes stall progression frustrates me, but it’s a very rewarding experience for players willing to experiment and learn. After all, you never level up or anything like that in Rainworld—almost all of your progression comes in the form of just learning the world and ecosystem, and how to survive in it, better.