May 2026 Newsletter
Hey, Folks! Hope April was a productive month for you. Had a great chat with Luke on the map of Balta. Here’s what we’ve got, so far.
This is the 92% solution or so. This map will appear early on in the Battle of Balta chapter(s) and it’ll have the maneuver graphics on it in it’s final form, but that’ll be an additive map for later in the chapter(s).
Currently, book 3 sits at 108k words and I really wanted to give a rounded out product of ~120k words of content and, when I started writing the Battle of Balta, I thought I could do that…. As you may know, I struggle with brevity and I do not believe in cutting content. Perhaps the story needs to expand and the cutline for where book 3 ends shifts, but perhaps not.
If you recall from last month, I got this comment on youtube for my ‘defense of a linear obstacle’ video…
…and I got inspired to tell the story of the Battle of Balta, which happens on the east side of the Kaskev Mountains (pretty much all the rest of the story is in the west) as a way of:
· rounding out book 3
· showing the expanse of the war across the continent
· giving a glimpse of how human culture is a little different in the east
· giving a little bit of backstory/exploration to some characters that have appeared or will make a stronger appearance in book 4 or 5.
But, as the characters took shape in my mind and the necessary logistics to paint the dilemma for both sides got worked out step by step, this story arc grew legs. What I thought would be 10k words might end up being 20k or so.
A few of the new characters that shape the chapter are:
From Oygariyet’s alliance forces:
· Murchian, the gnoll/dog-person warlord that made a brief appearance in book 1 to report on the progress of the war in Gilliam
· The Ravager and the Destroyer, two orc kings that are lesser than the Borys-Karang. I haven’t previously taken the time to explore them but you and I get to know them in this battle
· Stayraban, an eastern hobgoblin that is here to nominally supervise alliance forces in Oygariyet’s name, though the gnolls under Murchian are in the lead.
· Khahna, gnoll matriarch. This character is actually inspired by my black lab-mix dog, who is really old and a real pain
· Hhobn, a gnoll warrioress
· Ezria, a gnoll ‘pretty one,’ basically a gnoll that can pass as a human – these are not the same as dnd gnolls.
On the Gill Army side
· King Edralgo of Gilliam
· Queen Mardose of Gilliam
· The Princesses Diana and Ascetta
· Duke Marsonne, the king’s most reliable force commander and duke of Kalbeno
· Lord Algoni, one of his trusted advisors and brigade commanders
· Lord Albredo, the king’s chamberlain, retired from the Gill Army
· Eleam, A Gill noble and officer in the Gill Army
· Alonz, a junior officer in the Gill Army from the Duke Marsonne’s cavalry unit
I didn’t start out with this many, but you know me. I can’t help myself…
Something else that this is helping me do is shape the eastern world. I had a little bit of a concept, but to be honest, I haven’t fleshed out too much about the area of Paeta east of the Kaskev Mountains and west of the Atlayan Mountains. I will say, while western Paeta, where most of the story takes place, has a whole bunch of egalitarian cultures – and that’s for a reason in their history – the east doesn’t have that. The east is still in some very gender-charged roles in society. I’ll leave it at that, for now.
Aside from the Battle of Balta, I was planning one short fist fight scene and then the appendices. What I’m thinking for the appendices so far is
· Gnolls expanded (from the small appendix in book 2)
· Gilliam (maybe)
· Explanation of why Gersh is the way it is (maybe)
· Explanation of why the east and west are different (probably)
· Other, as needed
· Hit me up if there’s something that you want explained in the appendices
In other news, I’ve been working on a coffee table. It’ll have two compartments where leafs on the top will fold up and we can throw stuff in there. I don’t quite like the joins that I did to make the two leafs, but it’ll hold. Just not very, uh, straight or level. Very obviously a novice job for any discerning eye.
I also had the great fortune to see Magic Sword, Dance with the Dead, and Megan McDuffee live in concert this past month. Truth in lending, this is the first concert that I’ve ever been to. Small venue, maybe ~100 people. Great show, great experience.
Songs of the month:
Tempest by 3FORCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMdgrWfHyZU&list=RDSBqim20BtgM&index=3
Abyss by El Tigr3 (on the Hotline Miami 2 Soundtrack): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0pDBh1bR3c&list=RDA0pDBh1bR3c&start_radio=1
Run by IAMTHEKIDYOUKNOWWHATIMEAN (also from the Hotline Miami Soundtrack, absolute banger): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICjD3f-8SXE&list=RDA0pDBh1bR3c&index=2
Maimed by El Tigr3, featuring Gurglesplat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYh0yhqK9-U&list=RDSBqim20BtgM&index=11
Events
Kansas City Fae Ball and Literary Market, Kansas City, KS, May 30th
(New) Kansas Summer Spirit Festival, Leavenworth, KS, June 25th-27th
O-Con (Omaha Convention), Council Bluffs, IA, July 17th-19th
Nerd Con KC, Overland Park, KS, September 19th (applied - no response, sad face)
Boozy Book Fair, Kansas City, MO, October 3rd (applied - pending decision - probably hear from them in June)
Stay classy, folks.
