Another base, another life in Valheim. I chose this image for this month’s progress report because it shows something I appreciate a lot: Use what you’re given and make the most of it.
This dolmen was in the way of my garden (which has been nicely walled in and is very safe for things to grow), but instead of demolishing it, I chose to integrate it. And in fact, I’m using it to keep the chest with all the gardening stuff safe and dry.
In real life, it’s clearly not that easy to run with what you’re given, but I am doing my best. Right now, that means writing as much as I can, handling stress (life is making demands – unreasonable things like cleaning and taxes), and finding things to enjoy (it is spring, and I love the color of the fresh leaves). And Valheim, obviously, I enjoy that a lot. It’s where my brain goes to rest.
Book of the Month Offer
This month, you can grab Kraken War (Book 2 of The Cloud Lands Saga) for 99c in my store, and only in my store.
The book continues the story of Dorelle and her dragon Mashira. Since they ran across kraken at the end of the first book (Dorelle’s Journey, free in all stores, get it here!), they now have to fight the kraken that threaten to invade Dorelle’s home.
But even as the war against the kraken is taking shape, treachery is brewing in the wings assigned to Dorelle and the Crown Prince. Soon, the dragon force is not missing one, but two Wing Commanders, weakening it considerably and enforcing unusual choices to fight the invaders. Thus, you’ll get a fast-paced adventure with dragons good and bad, a thoroughly mangled hero, a dashing Prince and the clever heroine you hopefully liked in book 1.
How does it work? Hop over to my store, read or skim the blog post, choose the book and add the coupon code Debesh on checkout. (Copy/paste is your friend here. Ask me how I know.)
Enjoy!
Writing Progress Report
I’m definitely writing, that is the good news. Not as fast as I want, but I’m finally making good progress with Moon Rising, Book 8 of the Winds & Pillars. I’m about 2/3 done, and I’m seriously thinking I can release the tale in July.
Definitely aiming for that, at any rate. (And please subscribe to my newsletter down below, so you won’t miss the release!)
I’m having great fun with Moon, tossing her into wild situations and bringing up characters from earlier books – not in person just yet, but enough to make it clear they are all sharing the same (small) world.
And for some reason, Writer Brain insisted on making the world bigger just now. I’m – very tentatively – thinking about more stories set in this larger world. We’ll see. There is so much else to write before I can go there.
Wolves Progress Report
The other day, us writers of Mastodon were talking about fairy tale retellings, and let me tell you, I do not like them. Just not a fan – I mean, why rewrite something old when you can create something entirely new?
But… I was running with a fairy tale theme in the second Wolf bonus story (yes, the first bonus story is live!), and that got me thinking. There is a wolf in Red Riding Hood, after all, so what if I have a grandma type wolf and a young female wolf and a young male… not quite yet wolf?
And there is Steven, bratty little brother of Sylvia (from Book 1), and there might be a great-aunt or something in the family, and well… we can find a nice wolf girl in the Asheton pack, right? Writer brain is certainly enamored with the idea. (But – *I wail* – I have two more wolf books planned after Wolves 10 and how… how does that fit into the grand plan?) Usually, Writer Brain wins, so it looks as if Wolves 11 will zoom back to the Asheton pack, after all. (Definitely not before 2027, though.)
Wish me luck.
Pockets of Happiness Report
First of all, it IS spring. All the trees have leafed out, and I just love, love, love that light green of the fresh leaves. There is a small linden tree in front of the house I live in, and it starting to grow up to my level (hiding some of the cars in the street across me). That tree truly makes me happy.
Also, I’m in negotiations with our local community college about teaching a class on writing short fiction in English. I’ll know more next week, but I’m thinking very hard on what I want to offer. And if they don’t buy the idea, maybe I’ll do it online instead. (Easily doable, too.) I think it would be so cool to encourage more people to write. It would definitely be affordable.
Interested? Let me know!
(And you might, you know, sign up to my newsletter so you won’t miss an announcement.)
The Ember Tale
Need one more reason to join my newsletter?
It’s fairly low frequency, just about once a month on the 13th, but I might send out something extra for a new release. It contains some writing news (basically what you read here), some book deals (we indie authors need to get visibility somehow), some fun thoughts by me, and the Ember Tale.
What is that, you ask?
Well, it’s a very short, very cute little adventure by my dragon familiar, Ember (who – shhhh, don’t tell her – is a tiny red dragon plushie I found in a store years ago). I don’t share those tales anywhere else, not even in my blog.
Deal? Sign up below (yes, yes, I am repeating myself. But I know you want this).
