Q3 Update

The year is half over! Why? Why is it half over? I need it to be longer haha.

(I say that, but do I mean it? Unclear.)

Anyways, here’s a wrap-up of the last quarter!

Colors of Magic Launched!

Back in May, Colors of Magic finally launched! I celebrated with a signing at Tatnuck Booksellers in Westborough, MA. It was a lot of fun! I hope to do another signing in September for the release of Blades Reforged.

I’m so in love with this book of short stories, and I’m so, SO thankful for the response it’s gotten so far. I was a little worried — some of the short stories are not quite what people have come to expect from me — but you all seem to be loving them, and what else could I possibly ask for?

Maybe there will be another anthology in the future…

Writing and Edits

Reforged has been getting all its final polish and shine! The blurb and tagline have been finalized, the chibis for the stickers have been drawn, the bookmarks have been designed, and most importantly — it’s (mostly) finished! I completed revisions back at the end of April, and I just got the manuscript back from my copy editor this past weekend, so it’s ready to go for proofreading next week!!! It’s available for preorder now, both on my website and at retailers.

There has been some new writing going up on this blog — mostly primary source documents by our favorite Empire historian Aleeah Cross, occasionally annotated by Marcus. But I also started a new field notes series, which doubles as a guest blog by Jessy Jacobs of Little Giant Monsters (their podcast The Cryptid Cases is awesome; go check it out)! We only put one out this quarter, but we have two ore scheduled for later this year :D

I’ve also started researching and planning for the duology that will follow the Blades series. What sort of research must a fantasy author do, you might ask? Well, this will be focusing on [redacted] and the pirates, and will thus involve a lot of time on the Sea Spirit. And possibly other boats. Even though this is primarily a fantasy world, I still need things to be plausible, which means research! It also means reading other books haha. I hope to start drafting this before the end of this quarter, and am hoping for a late 2025 release for the first book in the duology.

Ream

I am so far greatly enjoying Ream! I hope those of you who have decided to give me a free follow there are, too :) I’ve been putting out the primary source documents there, formatted as they would be in-universe. The history and classics major in me thinks this is the coolest thing ever, so I’m going to keep doing that. Eventually, I’ll have enough essays for another book…

As Blades Reforged is going to launch in September, that means July is the last month to subscribe at the Blades of Oceans Free tier to get put in the acknowledgements! August will be the last month to subscribe to the Blades of the Goddess tier to get the book box for Reforged — and I have some really cool goodies planned for it :)

Also, members of Blades of the Rose will get access to the digital version of Blades Reforged one week early (on September 5th), and members of Blades of Ni Fon and higher will get access three weeks early (on August 22nd!).

Other

I’ve been working on the Campfire projects for each of the books, adding floorplans, character, locations, and more! I still have a few bonus short stories I want to add to Broken Blades, as well as some more of… everything, really, to Colors of Magic.

I’ve been working hard on the recipe book that will be sent to everyone who preorders Blades Reforged! It will include ~15 recipes mentioned throughout the four books (only two of which are jokes haha). I’ve been slowly making them and photographing them, and then formatting them into the digital book itself. I have just a few left to go — mostly the drinks and the one dessert. Petit fours… why did I have to put those in there??? I hate making petit fours lol.

Oh well.

The other preorder gifts are also in process — the stickers and bookmarks are designed, and I have one more super special thing I will announce in the next month or so!

GREAT news on the audio book front — I found out earlier today Lost Blades has been fully recorded! Next it has to be edited, then I’ll go through and make comments, and then it will be edited again based on that, but we are getting there!!!!

Looking Forward

I’m really excited for the finale of the Blades saga to release in September, and I hope you are too! Keep an eye out for some fun things I have planned for the second half of the year!

Finally, I will be at Rhode Island Comic Con this year in November! I have a couple of smaller events lined up in August, and I put my hat in the ring for another bigger event in September, but we’ll have to wait and see if I get in. Keep an eye on my events page to see where I’ll be, or sign up for my newsletter (and get a free short story while you’re at it)!

Have a great summer!

Cheers!