In this post, I’ll teach you how to easily sideload ebooks you bought outside of Amazon to your Kindle eReader so you can read them just as comfortably as your other books.
You may have seen that I now have my own store where you can buy my ebooks – courtesy of PayHip. Those books are delivered to you via BookFunnel in my case, but of course, that only means you now have the ebook you bought sitting on your computer. (And in the BookFunnel library, in case something happens to your computer.)
So how do you get the ebook to your Kindle?
It’s actually very, very easy, but you have to figure out your Kindle Email to set it all up. Bear with me, I’m slowly going to take you through all the steps, and after that, it’ll be easy peasy. And then you can start supporting your favorite authors by buying directly from them.
Once you have bought an ebook from a store like PayHip or an author’s website, you’ll download or save a file (generally an epub) to your computer. Then, you can simply email it to your Kindle account as an attachment. (I suggest setting up a folder for your book files so you can find them easily to attach them.)
Just write an email to your account, attach the epub, and it’ll show up in your content list in your Amazon account. Cool, right?
Let’s get started!
Find your Kindle Email
Before you can email anything to your Kindle, you need to find the exact email of your account with Amazon. That means getting a little familiar with your Content page in your Amazon account.
(Don’t worry, you only have to do this once. I promise.)
1. Log into your Amazon account online
I’m sure you can do this, after all, this is how you probably buy most of your ebooks. Go to the Amazon website and log into your account.
2. Find your Content Library
You’re probably aware of the Content Library, since you can also use it to send your books to different devices. At least I do that a lot (after every purchase, actually).
I made a screenshot to show you where to find the Content Library, just in case. Click on “Account and Lists” and you’ll see this:
3. Go to your Content Library and pick Preferences.
Your Kindle Email hides under the Preferences tab in the Content Library. That’s the fourth tab from the left (or second from the right). The page automatically opens on the second tab, Content.
4. Find your Kindle Email
Scroll down in Preferences (pretty far, don’t despair) until you find the heading Send-to-Kindle E-Mail Settings.
There you’ll find one or more email addresses that all end in @kindle. They correspond to the devices you use, either your actual Kindle or the things you use the Kindle App on. In my case, that’s the phone, my PC and a laptop I use for traveling. (Sorry for the graying out stuff. I do not want you to send me books by mistake.)
Take the first one. (It doesn’t really matter, they all talk to your content library, but you can also pick the one corresponding to the device you read most on.)
5. Put that Kindle Email into your contacts/address book of your email program.
This will be very helpful. Give your Kindle Email address a clear name, because you’ll be using it a lot. (Well, I hope you will.)
Wait! Don’t close that webpage just yet!
6. Approve your own email for the Send to Kindle process
Amazon wants to know which emails are safe to receive epubs from, the setting is called Approved Personal Document E-mail List. You can add those emails just below the Send-To-Kindle E-Mail Addresses.
As you can see, I have three emails that I use to get ebooks to my Kindle, including my own author email. After all, I want my own books on my Kindle!
Did you notice it’s called “Personal Document”? That’s because Amazon puts those books you send to your Kindle into its own content category called “Documents” (or Docs) in the Content Library.
Now you can email ebooks to your Kindle at any time!
Now every time you buy an ebook directly, you can simply attach the file to an email that you send to your Kindle email addy. No need to put anything else into the email. It should show up on your Kindle almost right away.
Well… should. Amazon does not always work the way it should. But I’ve got your back.
I don’t see my new book on my Kindle? Help!
If you can’t see the book on your Kindle, go to the Content Library in your Amazon account, look under Docs and deliver it to the device you want to read the book on. Hang on, I’ll walk you through the steps:
1. Go to the Content Library and pick Docs (second image from the left).
Yes, sorry, I got carried away a little with the arrows. But this is where all those lovely books you purchased directly from authors (while really supporting them!) will live.
2. Ask Amazon to deliver the content to the device of your choice.
Find the book you want to read – there is a nifty search function, go for it. You’ll get a nice result like this (yes, I used my own book for the demo). Then click on “Deliver to Device”.
You get to check which device you want to have this book in (you can pick all of them, too), and then all you have to do is hit “Make Changes”.
Check your device – your book should be there. Happy reading!
Thank you!
You deserve a huge thank you at this point.
First of all, for bearing with me and learning all this tricky new stuff about your Kindle and your ebooks. I know that it can be scary to figure out a new way of buying and reading books. It’s also hard to change habits and then pick a system that is slightly more complicated than just buying a book from Amazon.
Even more so, you deserve a huge thank you for actively choosing to support indie authors directly. You are choosing to send your money to the creators, rather than a big corporation that is already abusing its power. And you do that by accepting a slightly more complicated process than you have to.
That’s wonderful.
This is a way to change the world, with a little step at a time. You are making life better for me and many others.
Book of the Month is a new feature of my blog. Once a month, I want to talk (gush, rave, ramble) about one of my books, basically fangirling about my own tales. Because a lot of passion goes into my books, a lot of heartblood, effort, and last but not least, time.
And at the end, I’ll give you a coupon for my own little online bookstore (powered by PayHip), offering you a special deal on the book I feature (often 50% off). Feel free to scroll all the way down, too, if my rambling is not your thing.
For this month, I’m picking the Twin worlds, mostly because it really is one of my heart books. And it’s also the last one I released, so it’s the “youngest” of my babies.
So what’s it all about?
Imagine that there are many other worlds out there, populated by human-like people, and that there are magical portals connecting these worlds. Imagine further that there is one system where two planets orbit each other, and you have the Twin Worlds, where magick exists.
And very secretly, there are portals between the Twin Worlds and Earth.
Imagine further that visits to Earth are prohibited, because the inhabitants here have proven to be unreasonably violent and in possession of very dangerous tech that is absolutely unwanted in the other worlds. (Yes, guns. Also other things.)
Unfortunately, one of the Queens of Langallen (one of the worlds) has fallen ill. And her son, Prince Kreshanaris, has been tasked by his teacher of magick to find the cure on Earth. So of course, he sneaks through a portal.
But the prince is betrayed, and guards follow him through the portal almost instantly. Instead of a clean catch, however, the guards stumble across a young human woman, Judy Ramirez, and – following their rules – take her back to Langallen, in effect kidnapping her from Earth.
Meanwhile, the prince is found by Judy’s best friend Sara Miller. Through bad luck, those two also end up back on Langallen, as captives of the Royal Guard.
From then on, this is one adventure after the other, even after the friends are reunited. There is also bitter rivalry between the prince and the guard assigned to “babysit” Judy.
I won’t spoil any more of the plot here, and start my fangirling instead.
Why I love the Characters of the Twin Worlds
Let me name them all once again, just to get them straight:
Prince Kreshanaris, Son of Queen Demerys. Krighen, grumpy portal guard Judy Ramirez, young Earth woman Sara Miller, best friend of Judy.
Now, you need to know that Crash (which is Sara’s nickname for Kreshanaris) is not the heir. In fact, the queen’s heir is a cousin or niece (I forget) of her because in the Twin Worlds, men cannot inherit the throne. There’s more about him that I can’t spoil in detail, but he is a mage of some kind that is deemed dangerous in the Twin Worlds, for historical reasons.
Krighen hates Kreshanaris both for his magical ability and for the friendship that he has developed with Sara. Generally, Krighen just wants to get back to his job as a guard and spending nights on Earth. This won’t happen, unfortunately, because Krighen harbors a very dangerous secret even he is unaware of for most of the story.
Judy is the kind of girl who did everything in high school. She’s a cheerleader, dancer, athlete and usually the center of a class. Being torn away from everything she knows and into a completely different culture almost breaks her. She clings to Krighen for that reason, something the guard hates. There is attraction, yes, but it only increases the tension between them. (Well, Krighen is a pompous fool at times.) Judy is a very passionate women, expressive and intense, and she often flies into deep emotions.
Sara, on the other hand, is the most unlikely friend for Judy – and that’s the reason they get along so well. Sara is the bookworm, the nerd girl who watches from the sidelines and knows everything (there might be a trace of myself in her). She’s honest, earnest and smart. And so very quiet and observant. (In German, we say that “quiet waters are deep”.)
It was so much fun writing their relationships (which don’t venture far from friendship in this book). And no, they do not date, although there are some cuddles for comfort. Not a single kiss, either. Sara very carefully sees Crash as the brother she never had, while there is much drama between Judy and Krighen. He does not welcome her crush at all.
Crash actually is a good match for Sara, although he struggles a lot with his failure to find a cure. He’s almost as much a nerd as she is, studying his magick (as much as he’s allowed) and preparing for a life on the sidelines. In turn, he is impressed with Sara’s resourcefulness and stoic disposition.
Writing Krighen was hilarious, actually. I can be a grumpy git at times, so channeling that into Krighen was easy and simple. Unlike him, I actually enjoy helping people, but at least the grumpiness was fun to share. And imagine my surprise when Writer Brain finally let me in on Krighen’s secret. Suddenly, everything made sense.
About the others, let’s just say that contact to Earth wasn’t always forbidden and the magick from the Twin Worlds has left traces on Earth. The subtitle of the book exists for a reason.
The Worldbuilding was Intense
I’ve never done this much worldbuilding for any of my series. The Twin Worlds even got their own calendar and words to go with it. Very little of that makes it into the book, but you will see mention of “desis”, which is actually their term for something similar to a week.
Here, I can finally explain. Skip this, if worldbuilding bores you, because I can be a nerd like Sara.
So, a year in the Twin Worlds has 433 days. Those break up into four quarters that correspond to the usual seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter). Each quarter lasts exactly 100 days.
But wait, you say, what about the other 33 days?
Those are divided up into Festivals that happen between the quarters, each of them eight days long (except the summer festival that’s 9 days long). Those are public holidays, with much revelry, music, dancing, feasts and lots of booths where things are sold.
Each quarter is divided into 10 desimorns (hence “desi”), with – you guessed it – ten days per desimorn. The days are numbered simply Oneday, Twoday, Threeday and so on, with Tenday being the final day in a Desimorn, the equivalent of our Sunday. (Sorry. In Germany, a week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. Yes, there is a law about it.)
The Desimorns are also simply numbered, with their quarter as identification. Thus you’ll get Spring Onedesi, Twodesi etc. A written date might look like this:
Twoday in Threedesi in Spring, – 2.3.Sp.
You can add the year after that, or a time of the day you want to meet. I have not developed time-keeping just yet, sorry, but I kind of think ten “hours” per day, with the hours clearly longer than here on Earth. Yes, they are very much into decimal.
Year: 433 days Quarters: 100 days. (No months.) Desimons: 10 Desis per quarter. Four Festivals of 8 (9) days each that fall outside the Desimorn list. Each festival happens at the end of the season.
It was immense fun to work that out, but I really didn’t want to burden the readers with all of that in the story. Book 2, I can say that much, will begin with a Festival.
There is even a Creation Myth
Yes, I do have a creation myth that Crash does explain inside the story, after Sara asks him about it. You see, according to lore, the Twin Worlds were actually made by twin goddesses, Langan and Tengan. Which is why the planets are named Langallen and Tengallen, respectively. The kingdom of Crash’s mother is on Langallen, but there are many portals between the worlds.
Here’s the myth, directly from my notes:
Once there was a being called Atha. She drifted all alone in nothingness and eventually decided that this was not good.
She split herself into two beings, Tengan and Langan, and they began to talk. Eventually, they started to argue and fight. Finally, they decided that there must be something better than fighting.
So they took energy and made it solid, and it turned into a sphere. For a while, they liked looking at it, and then became bored again. They made things to live on the sphere and liked watching that, but eventually they fought again about what they wanted to grow on the sphere.
So they decided to split the sphere and each took one half, turning them into spheres of their own. Thus Tengallen and Langallen were born.
Soon, they argued about whose sphere was prettier.
Tengallen was mostly blue and Langallen mostly green, and both grew more and more beautiful as more and more species evolved.
Eventually, they agreed to watch those spheres grow without interfering anymore, but getting bored again, they went about making many more new ones, scattering them across an ever growing universe.
It is not clear which of the Twins had the idea first, but they wanted to be entertained even more, and so they connected the spheres through portals – giving magick to the intelligent beings that had evolved on the Twin’s Worlds.
I really enjoyed that myth about the squabbling Twins. But then, I learned a lot about the squabbling Greek gods when I was a kid.
So what’s so Special about Steps of Courage?
For starters, I tossed in several genre-defining tropes, right away.
We have the woman lands in strange world one, which happens at the start. Both Sara and Judy find themselves stranded on a new world, bewildered, scared and overwhelmed. They don’t get a lot of time to adjust, either, especially Sara.
We also have the fantasy portal thing, because you need something to travel between worlds, and this tale is fantasy. I love portals anyway, comes from playing Diablo II and Valheim. For most of my life I have wished for Star Trek transporters, as well. So hey, I can put them into my stories, right?
Crash and Krighen are aliens to Judy and Sara, although you wouldn’t know at first glance. But their eyes are more like cat eyes, the pupils turn to slits.
Plus the people of Langallen and Tengallen are shape shifters, they have what they call “wild shape”. In my imagination, that’s very much like the classic movie werewolf shape, very furry, bipedal, massive claws and teeth, and while they can speak in that shape, they are more likely to just grunt because articulation is hard with that fang face.
And then there’s the magick. There are all kinds of mages, elemental ones, but also mind mages, healers and much more. I love fantasy, and so most of my stories have magic of some kind. In fact, there’s an academy for the mages in Demery’s Queendom, called Artes Magicae, or Artes for short.
The characters also represent tropes, of course. The lost prince, the grumpy guard, the cheerful outgoing whirlwind, and the quiet nerdy gal.
As for plot tropes, we have the kidnapped women, the injured prince, the guards turned against the hero, escaping from prison, a shopping expedition, a tavern scene and many, many more (that I do not want to spoil).
I’m sure I missed several tropes, so feel free to add what you find in the story in a comment below. I’m just not great in recognizing them, but now you see why I use the hashtag #YAPortalFantasy for the Twin Worlds on Mastodon.
Finally, the Deal!
Have I made you curious enough?
This is a big book, which is why it’s 5.99 as an ebook in all stores. But I promised you a coupon, and you’re getting one that cuts 50% off the price, which means you’ll get it for €3.00 in my PayHip store.
Deal: Steps of Courage, €3.00 in my PayHip store, with the coupon code Crash
Click here to get it. Enter the coupon code Crash on checkout. Delivery is through BookFunnel, and yes, you can read it on your Kindle. (Here’s how.)
If you would prefer to buy Steps of Courage elsewhere (but for the full price), I have a universal link that lets you pick your store. And yes, there are plenty of options for print aside from Amazon.
Now, if you never want to miss another deal or even the next release (yes, there will be a book 2 and 3 for the Twin Worlds, I just can’t promise when), sign up to my newsletter below. It comes out once a month, on the 13th, and it has writing news, book deals and a cute little tale about the sweet dragon familiar you saw in the title image.
These days, I’m settling in with my stories again. So it does feel a bit like the above picture illustrating this progress report – it’s a new dawn for me as an author and the stories. (Yeah, that is a bit dramatic, but I do feel better about my writing.)
Right now, I’m doing my best to make my writing fun again, and it’s working!
I’m not writing every day (yet), but I am making progress not just in one story, but in three! And I hop between them when imagination dries up for one. They are Wolves #10 (Timothy’s story), Moon Rises (Winds & Pillars) and the translation of South Breaks into German.
I will say it is great fun to listen to my characters and then write down a scene or two.
Winds & Pillars Progress
Moon
Moon is making her way to West Harbor, slowly but surely. That’s because she has to walk, as she refuses to ride in a mule caravan. (Yes, Moon can be rather stubborn. Oh, the irony.)
Right now, she’s actually flirting with a friendly Priest, and yes, that surprised both her and me. I have a very exciting scene to write next, and it starts out with the two of them visiting the village festival. At the end, they will be at odds with each other, though.
I have a feeling that Ghisfarin might actually turn up again in Spirit Sings. He’s too fun a character to toss away.
Süden aus dem Haus Hase
Oh, and translating South into German is definitely a challenge. Many expressions that sound great in English turn into something very lame in German.
For example, take the first series title, Winds of Destiny. “Winde des Schicksals” just sounds lame and slightly… sick. I’m choosing to use “Sturm” as the term for a Wind, but even “Stürme des Schicksals” sounds too much like a cheesy soap opera.
At least I know what I’ll do with the titles. South Breaks will become “Süden aus dem Haus Hase”, and the others will be the same. Which does create a new challenge for the final book, Spirit Sings, as there is no specific House to mention.
Woah… Writer Brain activating right here, as I’m thinking about this! Maybe I can just combine the series the way I do it on social media (Winds & Pillars) and simply call it all “Stürme und Säulen” and have a mysterious series title that way.
What do you think? Let me know in a comment!
Wolves Progress Report
The new Wolf story is about Timothy (the villain’s son from Wolves #9) and Ellie (one of Connor’s new trainees).
And while I already know quite a bit about Timothy and his main problem, Ellie is very much a blank leaf. She told me this morning that her real name is Marielle and that she hates it with a passion.
It’s a start, right?
I also have a title – A Wolf’s Love. That may or may not stick, depending on how the story develops. I usually wait with ordering the cover until I have a good idea about how the characters grow (and who they really are).
Lately, I’ve been thinking about romance a lot again and why I’m preferring MM romance. And honestly, it’s not about the spicy scenes. (They are getting really old by now.) No, it’s about partners being equal and treating each other with respect and trust. In most straight romance, that’s not entirely the case, gender roles tend to create a divide between the main characters.
It is something I work hard to achieve with the Wolves, however, especially in the later books. My Wolves are equals, they are partners in the best sense, and they treat each other that way. No damsels in distress, and no cutesy girly stuff, either. (I detest that.)
Does that even make sense? (And yes, I invite you to leave a comment about *that*, as well.)
Goblins Progress Report
Still editing A Druid’s Choice, although that has been pushed back quite a bit. Right now, I’m spending what energy I have on writing – but that can change any day.
I am hoping to be able to release A Druid’s choice soon. Still wish more people would give A Goblin’s Plight a try, though. My favorite character in that series is Aldeasu (who would have guessed that?) but they all work well together and that makes me happy, too.
You see, I love good teamwork. I love it when people support each other, when they know they have each other’s backs. And that’s the foundation of this series, a group of people (and creatures) who all work together to save the realm. (Eventually.)
Much of this comes out of the years when I played D&D, funny enough. I’m not importing the mechanics, mind you, just having fun with a group of adventurers and evil antagonists and bosses. If you like LitRPG, this is for you.
Twin Worlds Progress Report
I’m in the process of creating a print version of Steps of Courage. It will be a chonker, but a first proof copy is on its way, via Royal Mail. I’ll share when it shows up. I have a feeling I will have to change the formatting to make it a little smaller and thus less expensive.
Working on Book 2 has been really put on back burner. Sales do not justify me putting much effort into this series for now, I’m sorry to say. I will get back to it once I have finished the Winds & Pillars, they do take priority this year.
Even so, book 2 is a hoot. Imagine Krighen trying to intimidate people on Earth. And dealing with cars. And… guns. Will his abilities stop a bullet? Or get him into deeper trouble? And will they find the antidote that is supposed to exist on Earth?
Ah… later.
Life Progress Report
I work on finding pockets of happiness, and the surprising truth is that they kind of multiply once you find a few.
My safe space is still Valheim (as you can see from the above image), and I have a friend or three I can play with. The game is incredibly satisfying and I can pick activities that fit my emotional state – fighting, building, exploring – the options are endless. And results are very visible, on the map, but also in the buildings and the equipment I have.
Definitely a source of happiness.
In addition, my bubble on Mastodon is awesome. I do invite you to come over and join the Fediverse, it’s an amazing alternative to all the corporate social media (where you are basically a mark and cheap content creator). On Mastodon, you interact with people, not algorithms, and that is such a fundamental difference. And another source of happiness, at least for me.
I want to encourage you to find your own happiness, in small or not so small pockets. This is even more important when times get rough. And yeah, books are a big part of it, as well.
Do you have any comfort books? Feel free to share them!
Ember Progress Report Newsletter
For those of you who are new here, I hate, hate, hate popups with a passion. Unfortunately, they work, but that’s not enough for me to molest you with one.
So instead, this is where I tell you about my monthly newsletter.
It goes out on every 13th of the month, it points here (never miss another update), it has release news, book deals (always a coupon for my own store), recommendations, and last but not least, the Ember Tale.
Ember is my little dragon plushie familiar, and in every newsletter, you get a short, cozy, heartwarming story about her and her friends, and their adventures. They are not available anywhere else, either. (And I will never, ever sell your email addresses, either.)
In fact, I use Email Octopus, a UK-based service, as I’m trying to move away from US companies.
This month’s progress report deals with a lot of change – which will affect my abilities as an indie author to a degree. Hopefully, the good will outweigh the bad.
I did finish writing the little West and Jeko story, clocking in 200 words below the word limit. It still needs to be edited and proofread before I can send it off to the anthology. Wish me luck!
I’m also writing Moon – very slowly – and started writing a little more for Wolves 10. Right now, I just have to put both main characters into the same town, which is fun because both are not there when the story starts.
Having said that, writing is still difficult for me, mostly because too many people in power in this world insist on being assholes. I can’t turn a blind eye to what is happening to my friends in other countries. This is one world – and the only one we have.
Thing is, I need to feel safe, in order to be able to lose myself in writing a tale, and I am feeling steadily less safe right now. It’s more anxiety than fear – objectively, I’m not in any direct danger right now – but that jittery anticipation of a future crash is getting stronger.
I’m doing my best to write anyway, but it is slow going.
Winds and Pillars Progress Report
Yes, I am writing Moon Rises. I just added a scene with quite a bit of historical background. Eventually, I do want to write a prequel that shows how precisely the Veil came into existence. It’s not a happy tale, to be honest, but I think I can spin it. When the time is right.
Right now, Moon is on her way again, heading into a little adventure that will be great fun to write. And once I get her to West Harbor, things will really move into fun territory.
Yes, I’m also setting up points for the final book, Spirit Sings. That’ll be different because all former main characters will get chapters in it. It will be a bit of a challenge telling a story from eight sets of eyes, but hey… we grow through challenge, right?
Wolves Progress Report
The other day, I just couldn’t resist and wrote a few hundred words introducing Ellie, the second main character of Wolves 10 (really, seriously cannot believe I’m writing book 10 in this series!). You already know Timothy from Book 9, so he’s somewhat established.
Ellie appeared first in Book 9, as well, she is one of the three young wolves being trained by Connor, but she didn’t get much screentime. In book 10 she’ll come into her own, and I am very much looking forward to that.
However, Moon of the Winds & Pillars takes precedence, so I cannot say how soon I’ll be writing Wolves 10 with full speed. Even worse, the tale still has no title. (Feel free to suggest something in a comment.)
Goblins Progress Report
I went and created a cover for the second book in the series, A Druid’s Choice. That has actually spurred me to start editing the tale (by letting LibreOffice read the text to me). It’ll take a while, it’s more work because I dropped a few plot lines along the way – which I’ll need to fix.
The tale includes all the heroes from book 1, and their adversary, the Druid Lynnis. Something is wrong in Oxbridge, and only by working together, our heroes can fight the evil trying to find a roost in town.
Still, I can show you the cover. And I really hope I can find the energy to get it all done for a February release. March, at the worst. Once again, wish me luck!
And hey, why not read book 1 while I work on book 2? Grab A Goblin’s Plight HERE.
Twin Worlds Progress Report
Not much to say, to be honest. Sales have been incredibly disappointing.
I need to sit down and finish Book 2, but I’m struggling with motivation. Truth be told, both the Winds & Pillars and the Wolves take precedence, since those series generate money I need for marketing and covers.
I love the Twin Worlds. I love the world, I love my characters, sweet Sara, earnest Crash, capricious Judy and difficult Krighen. They are all struggling to do their best and save their worlds, and yes, they are having more adventures. But I also need to keep an eye on the market, and the market says, this is a hobby series for now.
Even so, if you want to learn more about the Twin Worlds, try out Steps of Courage. It does wind up most plot lines at the end, rather than having a cliffhanger – in other words, it’s safe to read, even if the sequel is not available yet. And it’s quite a chonker of a book, double than what I usually write, so it has plenty of entertainment.
Life Progress Report
As I mentioned last month, I shut down my publishing business and will continue on as a freelance author. This is a big distinction tax-wise – and it mostly removes the anxiety I had about not ending up with a profit at the end of the year.
That’s also still up in the air for 2025, which had a very weak fourth quarter, with sales just fading away. I actually made less in 2025 than I did in 2024, despite having published six new books.
In contrast, January 2026 has started fairly strong, and I hope it continues that way. I don’t expect it to, I stopped using Amazon Ads this month and I know that’ll have a huge (negative) influence on my sales. But I’m no longer willing to throw money at a corporation that actively harms indie authors (Melinda’s tale and Lilith’s story) and supports fascism.
So yeah, if you want to support indies and buy directly from us, check out my brand new (and very incomplete) listing of indie author stores: The Buy Direct Directory.
Alternatively, head to the PayHip Marketplace for books and see if your favorite authors sell through there. However, this is just one option for direct sales, and many indies use other store software. Please, look around, search the web and be a little proactive for your authors. These days, this amounts to rebellion. Thank you. (Btw, you can read books on your Kindle that you have bought elsewhere. Here’s a How-To.)
Ember Progress Report
Ember is such a dear – but I will say it’s harder and harder to write these tiny, light-hearted stories. The gloom affecting me is also having an impact on my creativity.
Even so, I’ll come up with something new, I always do. However, you’ll only ever read the Ember Tales in my newsletter, they won’t appear anywhere else.
Along with that, you’ll get writing news, a sale for my store, as well as more opportunities to snag books on sales.
This morning, I posted a long rant on Mastodon, about how I might take my books off Amazon because of their latest AI nonsense. I’ve added a little perspective and included the posts but cleaned them up a little for better readability in this format.
If you haven’t heard about Amazon’s latest scheme, it’s been explained here on Writer Beware, which is an awesome watchdog site for indie authors. Basically, Amazon wants to implement an “ask this book” AI that will create answers for questions readers might have about the book they are currently reading.
This means pushing every book on Amazon into a huge database, analyzing them all so they can generate answers through a local AI chatbot. In other words, it’s one more grab to steal books, suck up their content for an AI – and this is my guess, but maybe Amazon wants to be able to “write” books with that AI in some future, and feeding those to readers. We already see that with AI-generated songs on Spotify. They won’t have to pay anyone for that content.
Basically, I can see the tech giants trying to get rid of the original creators (and paying them), so they can make even more money.
So What am I Thinking and Doing about This Crap?
Here we go, this is the first part of my rant:
Now that Amazon is getting even more evil than it has been for a long time, by shoving AI into every ebook uploaded to them, I am seriously contemplating taking my books away from Amazon.
I can actually do this because
1) my books have been widely available elsewhere for years and I have a somewhat established presence “wide”
2) I have my own store set up through PayHip, so people can buy direct, if they want to (still need to put everything in there).
3) I have a presence here on Mastodon which is already shifting visibility – and people here are much more willing to buy direct and own the ebook they got.
4) I have a day job that pays my bills. I do not rely on book sales for my livelihood. I can take the hit to royalties because I never depended on them anyway.
5) I have taken the steps to kill my publishing business at the end of the year. I guess that was more prescient than I even knew a week ago.
So leaving Amazon is doable for me. And it feels like the right move.
But I’m just one little indie author.
Amazon is not going to miss me. It’s not even going to miss a thousand indie authors leaving them. They won’t care.
They will only care if readers leave them – and that’s where you come in.
What Can You and Other Readers Do about This Crap?
You can leave Amazon, as well. You can get your ebooks elsewhere, and you can even put them on your Kindle (because having one is an investment nobody wants to throw away easily).
This is what I have explored, and I know there is much, much more out there.
1) Use Smaller Stores
There are Smashwords, Kobo, B&N, Thalia (Tolino) in Germany (although they are also evil), BoD, and many more. (Try bookshop.org, as well.)
The above picture is somewhat relevant to this month’s progress report, alas.
You see, I am closing down my own little publishing house this month. More about that further down, though, in the Life Progress Report. In better news, I’m having fun writing a little short story set in the Winds & Pillars universe.
On Mastodon, one of the authors who is a horse addict like me, publicly mused about an anthology with horses (including any fantasy variation of them) as a focus of the stories, since next year is the Chinese Year of the Horse.
And I instantly thought about a story with West (of West Flows), my shapeshifting Wind. I asked if that were okay, and then told Writer Brain to start plotting ASAP.
In fact, I started writing almost instantly, even though the deadline is only in February. Today, I’m less than 1k words away from finishing it. (It has to be less than 1k because I’m running up against the max length of 6k words.)
Most of all, however, writing has been fun and easy again, without the heavy pressure of writing books to finish a series. This feels like writing fan fiction in my own universe, it’s so much just having fun with the two favorite characters from that Universe.
Anyway, I’ll let you all know if and when that anthology happens. And if that falls through, well, it’ll be serialized on my Patreon. In fact, I’m thinking about writing little adventures for all my chars and making a new book out of those. (Do not expect that any time soon. I’m still trying to get similar stories written for my Wolves.)
Winds & Pillars Progress Report
Moon is on hold for another few days, but writing the West and Jeko short story has brought me back in the universe in a way that the Moon story could not. I really think I can now dive into Moon’s tale as well, especially as I’m in a good spot with it right now.
Sales are way down, though. So if you could get interested enough to snag the first book (South Breaks) for free – and maybe leave a review, I’d be beyond grateful. I even put all the Winds & Pillars into Bookwyrm, which is like Goodreads but better. Just find it there and tell people what you liked about it.
Wolves Progress Report
Well, the Wolves continue to be my bestsellers, but I don’t have the brainspace to write a new Wolf book right now.
However, Timothy’s story is coming. I don’t have a title for it right now, but as you know, it’ll start with “A Wolf’s”. I’m thinking of using “Courage”. Or maybe “Pain”. If you have any suggestions for a story where a man is hopelessly in love with a woman he can never have, only to eventually realize that there is another wolf who means even more to him… tell me on Mastodon.
This book will be the one I write after finishing Moon, hopefully early next year. My productivity is difficult to predict, however, and I learned long ago that pushing myself only goes so far. Creativity does not function well under pressure.
That makes me sad. I really love the four characters in there, especially the dynamics between them. I love the world that I created – I put more energy into the worldbuilding of the Twin Worlds than any other book I’ve written. I even created a calendar with inbuilt festival times for it.
And yes, it’s my marketing to a large degree. I’m not good at it. I hate screaming about my book in social media, and Mastodon does not encourage that, either.
But there is something else at play that I run into more and more:
It’s hard to market the first book in a series. More and more readers wait until a series is finished because they want to binge it. They want to get in and slurp it all up in one go.
Readers dislike waiting for the next book to be written. So they wait until the series page says “completed”, before giving a series even a second look.
At the same time the author gets incredibly discouraged when the first book or two don’t sell. Authors read this as a sign of disinterest, of not having met the market’s focus. So they turn away from a fizzled series and try something else.
It’s a bad cycle, and it leads to ever more series being unfinished and abandoned if there is no clear incentive to keep writing. And yes, some of that incentive is the fact that a book is actually making money for an author. Because we authors do like that, even if writing is not our main job, mostly because producing books and marketing them actually does cost money.
Other Series Progress Report
Yes, there’s the Terragons. And the Goblins. And the dragons, my first series ever.
I have plans for all of those, but they are on the back burner for now. Sales are discouraging and after my rant above, you know why. Happiness is a major factor for creativity.
So… give them some love?
Life Progress Report
As I mentioned above, I had to make a difficult decision this fall.
I’m closing down my little publishing business. The reason is very simple: My book sales no longer outweigh the cost of doing business. If I’m very lucky, I’ll end this year in the plus. Last year, I made not quite three figures in profit. (Yes, you read that right. Not even €100 in 2024. But at least it was in the plus.)
I have cut even more cost this year. I bought as few covers as possibly (two Wolf ones), and those were not expensive. A Wolf’s Hacker has earned it back, A Wolf’s Mate is close. That’s good. But I do have running cost for marketing (BookFunnel, Website, Fussy Librarian, Amazon Ads), and those have eaten up most profit. Yes, I’ll ditch Amazon ads next, and spend some of that money on Fussy Librarian (which gets me better results).
I guess that was more information than you wanted, but that’s a glimpse into a self-publisher’s reality. It’s not glamorous. It’s often tedious and frustrating and a struggle.
Anyway.
I will not stop writing. I also won’t stop publishing books. But from now on, it’ll legally be a hobby.
Because between the AI slop sloshing into Amazon and the ongoing crisis in my main market (USA), my books and my visibility are getting squeezed out of the profitable zone. The sensible thing is to get out of a business while it is still a little above water (see the raft above).
So how can you support me?
Buying my books is just the first step – albeit the most important one. Thank you for that!
Even more important, however, is spreading the word about my books. Tell your friends. Write a review and post it. (Have I mentioned Bookwyrm already?) And well… feel free to talk to me. I’m on Mastodon, it’s easy to find me.
(If you comment here, do not expect a fast reaction. I get so many AI-generated spam comments, it’s not funny anymore.)
Ember Progress Report
Ember is quiet these days. My mind is on so many things, and I suppose she knows it. But I’ll come up with a story for the newsletter, as I always do.
If you sign up for my newsletter below, you’ll get writing news (basically a link to this blog post), a special monthly deal via coupon for my own little store, plus a book recommendation and more deals through BookFunnel. And the Ember Tale.
I send it out every month on the 13th (because I like the number), so no spamming.
By now, you’re probably used to my screenshots from Valheim for these Progress Reports. This one is from yesterday – yes, it’s a new char in a new world. And I love the crisp day and the freshness in this image.
I finally went back to writing Moon, and some of that feels just as fresh (right now, she is weathering a storm, though). But first things first.
Writing is still not easy, but I’m managing a rhythm of writing in my early mornings, aiming for 1k words in that session. Doesn’t always work, sometimes my brain fixates on something else, and I was struggling with a histamine headache this week, which turns my brain to mush. Which is why it usually takes me two or three days to remember that antihistamines exist.
The morning sessions do work really well, unless I’m too tired to think. And as I haven’t been sleeping enough lately, that is a problem.
Winds & Pillars Progress Report
Still, I’m writing Moon, I finally feel happy with her, and I’m sending her on a long (and dangerous) hike to West Harbor, where new adventures are waiting for her. I have a few ones planned, and I can feel more adventures bubbling up as I’m writing this.
Definitely some encounters of the unpleasant kind during the walk… and a heroic deed inspired by the writing games on Mastodon (would you consider joining me there?).
Wolves Progress Report
Still stuck on the audiobook for Mate. Even so, I’m considering switching voices according to the PoV character (which means redoing the audiobooks, meh). Still, what do you think? Is it a good idea to switch between male and female voices, depending on whose chapter it is?
In lovely news, I have three more reviews for the series (books 7-9) on Amazon, and they are truly sweet (quoting with permission):
A Wolf’s Christmas:
This particular book had a great plot. At first I was a bit put off that some parts are written in German, but there is a translation at the end of each chapter. I also studied German in college and could get the gist of the conversations. There is not a lot of German and even skipping over those bits, the book is understandable. I highly recommend this book and the whole series. There are great characters and I love the thought of being able to turn into a wolf.
A Wolf’s Hacker:
This book was exciting. I loved the idea of taking down a Hunter forum of wolf haters. I loved the characters in this book and how the author presents them. Although this set of characters continues on in the next book, this book is complete in solving this adventure.
A Wolf’s Mate:
This was a wonderful read. I loved how Heather hid her identity from Lucky, but was very relieved when it all became known to him. He frustrated me that he would not listen to anyone trying to tell him about becoming a wolf. However, that all changed. Yay for Heather and her success! Such a brave woman and wolf.
Oh, if you want to start reading my Wolves, you can grab the first book for free: A Wolf’s Quest
Twin Worlds Progress Report
Steps of Courage are finally out everywhere (yes, even Apple)!
I will say that I totally love those four characters, even grumpy Krighen. The contrast between him and Judy (all explosive, highly emotional) and Crash and Sara (very low-key but deeply caring) was so much fun to develop and explore.
It’s my first clear YA book, not that I intended it that way, but the characters soon made their wishes known. And yes, the themes are also very much YA, starting from finding out what to do with your life and not ending with discovering attraction and romantic feelings.
In addition, it’s quite a bit longer than my other books, practically double the size. Not surprising, considering there are four main characters vying for attention.
Here’s the description, even if it’s long:
An ailing Queen. A forbidden Portal. Two young women in a new world with Magick.
When Prince Kreshanaris sneaks to Earth, he doesn’t know that his quest to save his mother is a nasty trap. Even worse, two young women from Earth are snatched up during the fights with the portal guards, doomed to spend their lives on the Twin Worlds where magick exists.
Judy is assigned to the guard Krighen, who caught her. Putting up with the dour warrior is a challenge of its own, not to mention adapting to the fact she’ll never see her father again.
Sara, on the other hand, is held with the prince. After they escape together and make their way through the dangerous forests of Langallen, they grow close, especially as she’s missing her bestie, Judy. When Sara is reunited with Judy against all odds, the real adventure only begins.
Can Judy and Sara make a new life on a new world? Can Kreshanaris help his mother despite the intrigue? And what is Krighen’s deadly secret?
If you enjoy a fast-paced fantasy adventure, with massive shape shifters and magick, with a sweet, difficult romance and steadfast friendship in high danger, Steps of Courage is the book for you.
Tags: isekai, magical portals, academy of magic, ill mother, caring prince, smart girls, enemies to lovers but not even a kiss, lots of cuddling, dark secrets, evil magic, surprise magic, shifters, terrible beasts, friendship, grumpy guard with a heart of gold, high adventure, a musical interlude, dangerous events, strange horses, creative goddesses, the author clearly had too much fun with this.
Life is okay, even though there are rumblings and problems in every corner of it. Work is hard because of a highly toxic person causing much damage. Friends are struggling. The world is on fire (quite literally). I do my best to ignore the news, but it’s not entirely possible. And a new Valheim buddy turned out to be toxic, as well, so I cut that world. Back to playing alone, most of the time – but hey, I have time to take pics that way.
A dear friend is sending me Moon Advice (astrological), and her emails are incredibly sweet and uplifting. I’m her test recipient for her new service – please let me know if you’re interested. She is wonderful and very caring, too. (No website just yet.)
Ember Progress Report
Well… little Ember has set me up with quite a challenge, and I’m not sure how to handle it all. But I’ll think of something, and I hope it’ll please you all.
The problems is that you have to sign up to the newsletter to get her stories. That’s my little blackmail, ahem. Sorry, not sorry.
Along with the Ember tale, you get book deals, news, recommendations and freebies, once a month. If you’re game, use the form below to sign up.
Another Valheim screenshot for my progress report, showing my char in the Ashlands. It’s a rare quiet moment, even though the environment is fairly hellish, with a threatening orange sky and a large ruin to her left.
It is a bit like I feel, but more on that below. (And in all honesty, my life is not hellish, in no sense of the definition.)
Writing is hard. The words are not coming, but at least Writer Brain is plotting, to a degree. I have pivoted to what I call my “Spicy Shifter” tale, since Moon is still pouting and I feel bad about writing another Wolf tale when I have so many unfinished books.
In a big win, I figured out how to make LibreOffice read my writing to me. (It’s simple. Install the “Read Text” expansion, and under Windows, it uses the Windows narrator to read text. Under Linux, you need Festival, but there, you even get to choose the voice.)
Anyway, that will definitely help me edit my books much more easily, and is great.
Wolves Progress Report
While I’m not writing the new Wolf book just yet (yes, there is one in the works), I still have news for you:
I set up two more auto-narrated audiobooks in the Google Play Store, A Wolf’s Christmas and A Wolf’s Hacker. I also started the one for A Wolf’s Mate.
That took quite a bit of time, since I had to somehow get the German into Christmas. It worked, eventually, even though the German there now has an American accent. Ugh.
I did listen to both of them and fixed typos (*sigh*). Still need to upload the new version of Hacker, simply because that is the only epub I actually need to hack (so ironic) to make it look better. (It is a simple thing, I have to change a color value in the CSS, nothing big, but the task takes energy to work up to.)
So yeah, there is progress with the Wolves.
Winds & Pillars Progress Report
*heaves another sigh*
No progress. Moon is not talking to me. I’m trying to simply get back into the habit of writing – which is hard enough – and then hope she’ll come around. I have delicious things planned for her.
LitRPG Progress Report – The Mengarian Conspiracy
A Goblin’s Plight is now wide and available everywhere (even on Drive Through Fiction).
It’s actually doing fairly well, at least for me. It has already sold in the low two digits, and there is a lovely, lovely review for it out on the web, albeit in German:
If you have missed the fun adventure with my four heroes and the little goblin, you can get it here. And let me repeat: If you, at any point in your life, enjoyed table top role-playing games, this is the book for you.
And yeah, I have two more novels already written in that universe and at least one of them will be published next year.
The Twin Worlds Progress Report
I have started letting LibreOffice read the manuscript to me (and found a heap of typos already!). This is clearly pre-production, but I’m determined to get this book to you before Christmas.
I’m counting down to the last few chapters on AO3, so you have to hurry if you want to read it there. It has to come down before I can publish it, rules of AO3.
With a bit of luck, I’ll have a link for you in the next newsletter (sign up below!).
Life Progress Report
Well, life is progressing whether we want it or not, but I have been working on my inner emotional landscape (would that be called emoscaping?), mostly connected to accepting that things change in my life. That is hard for the Autistic brain that sits in my head. But as we all know, change is inevitable. Things wear down and break, people come and go in our lives, and some I’ll miss dearly, and some I’ll be glad to see riding off to other pastures.
So yeah, that’s the connection to the Valheim image, I’m working through an inner landscape with a lot of pain. But the results are worth it.
I’m reading another book by Devon Price, Unmasking for Life, which is helping a lot. I already knew I have difficulties handling change, especially with people moving out of my life, but the insights from the book are making a difference. Definitely recommend for my fellow Autistics.
Ember Progress Report
Well, I have written myself into a fine corner with Ember, and no idea how to get out of it. But I have to, because a new Ember tale is due tonight.
Want to know how it turned out? Simply fill in the form below and hit send.
Oh! Here’s what to expect with my newsletter: It comes out once a month, on the 13th. You’ll get some writing progress, some book deal info and the latest releases, or books from friends that I recommend.
You will also, always, get a coupon to redeem in my own store, where you can buy a DRM-free ebook (not just a license!). Delivery is through BookFunnel, who also store a copy for you, just in case.
This month’s image for the Progress Report shows my character encountering her first bear, after an update in Valheim. They are fierce creatures, difficult to fight.
I feel a bit like that, wrestling with a bear or two in my writing life. More about that in the part about the Winds & Pillars. Other than that, however, I have mostly good news!
Writing isn’t really happening. Which is beyond frustrating, but Writer Brain is refusing to make words. So I’m brushing up old manuscripts, editing them, polishing them, making covers, and yes, even publishing them.
All of this means I have a new book out this month, which I’ll share below under its own heading. Fun stuff.
Wolves Progress Report
Yes, there is a new story on the backburner for the Wolves. If you have read A Wolf’s Mate, you already know that it’ll involve Timothy McCraw, who has become a good friend to Heather.
Poor Timothy struggles with unrequited love, and absolutely fails to see how someone else, brought in to help his and Heather’s pack deal with the sabotage perpetrated by her enemies, has a budding interest for him.
I have no idea what exactly will happen in this story, but that’s how Writer Brain rolls. I hope I can write that as soon as I finish writing Moon. Which brings us to the next item on the list.
Winds & Pillars Progress Report
*sigh*
I have about 10% of Moon’s story written. I even know how to move her from her safe place and out into the world, to face danger and hardship. I know where she’ll end up. I even have lots of fun planned for the time she reaches West Harbor.
But the words won’t come. And I have learned that forcing them is never a good idea.
I’ll get there. I always do.
In the meantime, I have gone through an old manuscript and turned it into a book.
LitRPG Progress Report – The Mengarian Conspiracy
I wrote this story during a time when I couldn’t make progress with my “scheduled” stories. It happens, Writer Brain does not like having to write something – pressure is detrimental to my creativity.
So I deliberately chose a tale that was far from what I was writing at the time (can’t quite remember what it was, to be honest, it’s been a while). Which means that while it’s still fantasy, it’s a little different from my usual stories, mostly because it has a large cast. And it hits a lot of the tropes of epic fantasy, because I wanted to have fun. And so you get to have fun, as well.
Now the first book is out – in my store for now, but it’ll be available everywhere else soon.
Join our heroes on a fun romp through a fantasy world full of sentient species, surprising enemies, new allies and evil overlords. If you ever enjoyed fantasy roleplaying games, this book is for you!
I’m still posting chapters on AO3, but there aren’t many left to put up there.
And since I already have a cover, I will go ahead and publish the story as a book of its own in November. This, in turn, means I’ll have to take it down from AO3. (In other words, if you want to read it for free, get started now!)
Since images do spice up a blog post, I’m sharing the cover already, and I really hope I can interest you in some sweet, almost cozy YA fantasy that includes portals and shape shifters. Yes, once again I’m hitting all the tropes!
I will say that I’m rather proud of this story, it has come a long way and I really love my four main characters, Sara, Judy, Kreshanaris and Krighen. They have a lot of exciting and intense adventures together, with some relationship drama fitting Young Adult tales.
Sara and Judy are young women from Earth who are pulled into intrigue on Langallen, one of the Twin Worlds.
Kreshanaris, on the other hand, is a prince with a forbidden magical power, while Krighen is a surely guard with a deadly secret. Both can shift into Wild Shape (a little like our werewolves), and they start out as clear enemies. Of course, they will eventually become friends, because that’s what happens in my books.
I hope I’ve made you a little curious with that – but on to other things for now.
Life Progress Report
Not really much to report, to be honest. I work, I write (or try to), work on promoting my books, post on social media (i.e. Mastodon), and I play Valheim. My life is kind of boring, but that’s fine.
I actually believe I’m doing better. I’m slowly losing weight, I’ve not been sick (I keep wearing a mask in public transport), and my mind is mostly doing fine.
The current developments in the world are affecting me, not personally (yet), but they are certainly depressing. Being Autistic, I can see the patterns very clearly, and they are beyond disturbing. Humanity will need a lot of luck to get through the next 50+ years with civilization intact – because I see mostly destructive patterns at the moment. But enough of politics, this is a writer’s blog, after all.
Ember Progress Report
I will say that I have no idea what Ember is getting herself into these days. Last month, we had a surprise visitor, and I really hope that some part of my brain can tell me what is going on with that.
If you want to know more, sign up to my newsletter – that’s the only place where you’ll find Ember. In addition, you’ll get writing news, new releases, book recommendations (mostly by author friends), BookFunnel deals – and always the Deal of the Month in my own store!
For me, this pic from Valhem fits this month’s progress report perfectly. You see, my char is in the Plains (the last mid-level biome), and here, we have a special location, a real prize – the Sealed Tower. It’s a hard nut to crack, but you get nice rewards from it. And with patience and perseverance, I cracked it.
This month, I had a hard nut to crack in real life, and the reward is the new book that I officially release today. More in just a moment.
Writing has been interrupted constantly this month, by family meetings, functions and travel. As I write this, my sister is visiting. Family is welcome – I do love them! – but my writing always suffers when my routines get interrupted.
Having said that, July has been the month with the most new words for the entire year, I cracked 20k and finished writing Wolf book #9. I even started diving into the Winds & Pillars book 8, so there’s that.
Currently, however, I’m stalled out again. I do hope I can reach 20k once more at the end of August. Wish me luck.
Wolves Progress Report
Lucky’s book is out! A Wolf’s Mate, Wolves of the South Book 9 is done and up in all stores!
Let me tell you how relieved I am. This story was a bit difficult to figure out, but my mastermind buddy handed me the key idea a few weeks ago, and then it got easy. Writing the final chapters with the fast and furious showdown was great fun.
Getting the cover was much more difficult, Fiverr is giving me problems ordering from my usual designer (this is the nut I mentioned above). I finally did get my order through – and then I had to ask them to replace the model for Lucky because the first version really didn’t fit. No hacker will wear a silly blue/white checkered lumberjack jacket. Ahem.
I can live with this one (not quite as cute as I imagine Lucky, but good enough). Heather was fine, I think her model is a good fit. She’s generally cheerful, even though she has quite a few problems herself.
The best part of finally finishing this book? Timothy turning out very different from what Heather expected – so different that he is now the male MC for Wolves #10, which has the working title A Wolf’s Courage. Can’t wait to write it, but for now, the Winds & Pillars get their turn.
Winds & Pillars Progress Report
Yes, I’m finally writing Moon’s story. I got her out of the Sacred Square and into the city. She’s in a fairly safe place right now (no spoilers), but she can’t stay there. I want to send her to West Harbor (won’t be a simple journey), and from there, her new, big adventure will take off.
*rubs hands and cackles*
I am looking forward to writing her. However, I probably can’t publish the book before January 2026, because financing the cover is a problem. (More about that further down.)
Twin Worlds Progress Report
Still posting the story, but we’re getting closer to the end (and the part where I have to shift chapters and fix what remains). For now, it’ll stay on AO3. Their rules state I have to take it down before I can publish it as an ebook, but I’m pushing that into 2026, as well.
Nothing new, really, except that I’m planning to publish Goblin Invasion in fall this year, probably in late November, to try to hit the Christmas sales.
This book is probably the one closest to “classic fantasy” that I have written, and I hope I might reach more readers with it.
In good news, there are two more novels practically done for the series, as well as a short story and a prequel. You’ll have to make do with home-made covers like this one, however.
If you like D&D, this book is probably for you.
Life Progress Report
I’m doing fairly well, although I am now definitely craving a few months of boring routine. My brain wants routine and structure, and I’m not getting that right now.
I also want more sleep, and since summer is nearing its end and the days are getting noticeably shorter, sleeping is getting easier. (I will say I do not want summer to end, those long evenings are wonderful.)
In other news, I turned 60 last month, and while I feel no different, that number seems both a little scary and utterly untrue. How in the world can I be this old? Time waits for no-one, though, and I guess it’s just been so long since I entered life on Earth.
The good thing is that I’m starting to care even less about appearances and expectations – it is so much more fun to just live my life the way I want it.
Publishing House Progress Report
I did a lot of thinking, a lot of math, and I will shut down my publishing house, as an official business, by the end of the year. I plan to keep the name, but will continue my indie author career as a hobby, at least officially.
It feels like failure, in a way. But:
I’m not selling a lot of books, and what I earn barely covers cost. I’m cutting back on marketing, on covers, on even publishing some books, under the pressure of coming out with earnings at the end of the year. It’s a lot of stress.
And honestly, I don’t think the situation will improve for indie authors, not short term. The US is my main market, and we all know that a lot of people there are living in uncertainty, are suffering, and are losing their jobs, their income, if not even their homes. I can already see my sales from there dwindling.
In addition, AI is messing up the book market, both clogging it with stupid AI-“authored” books and pirated copies, as well as marketing algos ruined by the “wisdom” of AI.
It’s getting so that I’m slowly losing the joy of writing, of feeling my creativity suffering, from the constant financial pressure. It’s time to free myself from those constraints and stress.
I hope I can keep my publishing imprint, in name, at least, but I want to be able to write and create with more freedom and more joy. And that is good news, in my eyes.
Ember Progress Report Reminder
Ember wants you to know that she is young and having fun! So much fun, indeed, that I write a little Ember Tale every month for my newsletter subscribers.
(Ember is my small dragon familiar, and she is both cheeky and very cute. Don’t tell her I said that, though.)
My newsletter goes out every 13th of the month, with writing news, book sales and other fun things. I even give you a discount for my store every month!
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The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
