Hey, folks –
Times are a-busy as we’re in the core of crunch time to get the advance review copy of book 3 out. Let’s get into it.
I first drafted this map on October 23rd of 2022. Over the past month, Luke has been transforming it into the beauty that it is now.
This is the siege of Yvel. For those of you that have waded into book 1, you get the impression of the importance of this battle (and its map). You are in for a ride with book 3.
These are the in-progress drafts of a fight scene that’ll be a full-spread, double-page illustration, by Sarah Jones (Instagram: @the_realm_of_the_artist). We’re playing around the with the lighting, but this is gonna be a huge piece. If you prefer one over the other, let me know! As you can see, it’s from the point of view of someone who’s having a bad day.
As I said last month, the core manuscript is done with editing (but, really this time). I wrote the lore appendices: Southern Humans (Gills), Gnolls, Bugbears, and Ogres, so some of this is going to significantly expand on the book 2 appendix that gave a short overview of those latter three. Those are edited, too, and the team here is processing them into the manuscript that’ll go out for advanced review here in a couple weeks.
And so! Crunch time! I owe Luke some instructions on the last map for this book (I think). Likely it won’t be ready in time for the advanced review and neither will a bunch of the illustrations, between Sarah and myself. In hindsight, even though I gave myself more time with book 3 than I did with book 2, I still am rushing down to the last minute on a lot of things. But. It’ll all get done in time for the January release.
Speaking of the advance review, I have to close the vote on cover art. Folks can still sign up for the advance review (link), but the cover art vote is done.
And the winner is: the long-hafted axe. Inspired by the Dane Axe or Long Axe (this is what I’m talking about: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I2Q0tR9WNuo). The vote fell as follows: Longaxe with 5 votes, cavalry javelin and forward-curving sword tied with 4 votes, the Eklendan bow (the recurve bow) with 2 votes. The polehammer, spear, and a write-in for the broadsword (which could also be an arming sword) are tied with 1 vote, each.
So, what we’re gonna get is summed up like this:
I was kindly invited to the first Storyteller Market at the Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines this month. Met a ton of great folks, some authors I haven’t met before and reconnected with some that I know. Good time for a one-day show. Also, ate pie.
Coming this weekend, 6-8 November, is Meeple-A-Thon. I’ll have a booth there in Bartle Hall in Kansas City, MO. It’s a family-friendly, board-gaming and tabletop gaming event. They’ve got a board game library, vendors, play testers. People that are trying to make new games and launch them are gonna be there looking for people to playtest them. Come check it out.
Music of the month:
This is has been really captivating to me. I’ve never played Katana Zero (similar to how little I’ve played Hotline Miami 1 and 2), but the soundtrack is stacked with bangers. Here’s a playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfSwxETYAd8&list=PLZUD8BXC8V55DoSZZHUn22miwxCpN1RR3
Here’s one that I’ve been jamming out to while editing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO2lkMIxvUU&list=RDCfSwxETYAd8&index=2
Another banger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLuxMi2enn4&list=RDCfSwxETYAd8&index=4
Upcoming events
Meeple-A-Thon, Kansas City, MO, 6-8 November 2026
Fan Expo - Cleveland, Cleveland, OH, 12-14 March 2027
WonderCon, Anaheim, CA, 26-28 March 2027
Stay classy, folks.
