August 2026 Newsletter
Hey, folks – July was a busy month (as pretty much all of them are).
First off, a lot of you that I meet at public events ask me about the maps. I’m working with Luke on a map for book 3 about a skirmish in a town. It’s not done yet, I owe Luke some maneuver graphics (sorry, Luke, I’ll try and have it to you today!). From left to right, there’s my initial draft that I send to Luke, his first draft, and then his second draft on the bottom.
The next step, like I mentioned, is to add maneuver graphics so that the reader can get an idea of who is moving where and doing what.
Next thing, a few people have suggested having 3d miniatures of some of the characters, either to enhance the booth display or for sale. If you recall some of the work that I posted about a year ago in the August 2025 newsletter, a Friend of mine, Steve Rookard, has been doing some 3D drawing in his spare time for my benefit. I talked the idea over with him and he printed up a prototype.
This is Spara, the goblin. If she were life-sized, she’d be ~3 feet tall, as that is the average height for an adult goblin. The goal is to have a set of miniatures that are in the 28mm scale, meaning they can be used for D&D, Pathfinder, and a bunch of other games. This miniature, being half the height of a human, would be 14 or 15mm. The prototype that Steve printed is 1/10 scale, or about 4 inches. I included the shot of her hair and braids to call your attention to the detail. There are a lot of things that I’m learning about 3d drawing and printing from the bit that Steve tells me. It’s a lot easier to draw something 3d if you’re not interested in printing it. There are tools in, for example, Blender, that let you draw a shape or a body, like Spara’s, and then draw a cloth and use a gravity-draping tool so it folds over the body naturally. The problem when it comes to actually printing that is that there are a heck of a lot of polygons in the negative space between the cloth and the shape that printing software can’t handle, so those all have to get filled in. Some poses are untenable, either for printing practicality or durability, hence Spara’s hands are on her hips and her braided tails are resting on her upper back. Not to mention, this prototype is ~100mm (4”). That’s a lot bigger than 15mm, so a ton of detail that Steve’s included, especially the texture of the hair, the lacing of the bodice, etc. either won’t survive in printing that small or printers simply can’t print at that resolution (or it’ll get filled in when people paint the miniature). So, more to go on this, but it’s a really strong start. I’m absolutely thrilled with the prototype and looking forward to getting more of these kinds of things going.
We also have stickers now! So, they come as part of the purchase in public events or if I send you a box for whatever reason.
O-Con was a great show this past month. This was my second O-Con (and my 4th show ever). This was the 10th annual O-Con and it went a lot better this time around for us. Last year, it went well because it was a learning experience. The O-Con staff did a great job getting more foot traffic into the venue so I got to meet a lot more of you folks.
As I mentioned last month, I’ve been better about the socials and editing this month. Just staying accountable (mostly).
I’m 99% through the Battle of Balta in book 3, which puts me at through 37,700 words of the 125,981 words in the current draft of the manuscript, not counting the character index, lore appendices, etc. Just have add in the names of some months and make a few character decisions about appearances. Editing is the big push this month. If you’re wanting to be an early reviewer of book 3 before it comes out, drop me a line or I’d love to have you on the mailing list if you’re not already on it.
Song of the month: Nightcall by Kavinsky
I found this when I was first getting into synthwave to help me write, back in 2021. I found it through the PrimeThanatos channel on youtube, which is a music aggregator channel. Synthwave music changed my life, Friends. It enabled me to get into a mode where I could write, regardless of environmental distractors. It hit me real hard this past Wednesday, July 29th, to learn that Kavinsky (Vincent Belorgey) passed. He was 50 years old. No official cause of death, but it’s suspected to be a stroke. Too young, my Friends. If you haven’t given his stuff a listen, I really encourage you to try. He’s got a lot of great songs that take you anywhere in the world.
Photo from Gunship Music’s IG post, which is how I got the news
And speaking of traveling, here’s the upcoming events through the end of the year.
GalaxyCon, Des Moines, Iowa, 11-13 September
Camp Leavenworth, Leavenworth, KS, 18-19 September
Storyteller Market, Des Moines, Iowa, 17 October
Meeple-A-Thon, Kansas City, MO, 6-8 November
Whatever you do, work hard at it. Stay classy, folks.
