Okay, yeah, I know. It’s far from the start of the month. I’m behind—on a lot of things. Oh lordy, so much. July has been… a rough month for me. Things are better now though, I promise, and will—knocks on wood—hopefully continue trending that way.
Life
So what was I doing for most of July? Sulking, mostly. I went to a funeral, spent a few days in the hospital (not covid-related, no worries), and stared out through my window as Portland slowly burned. Man, how I dislike Portland. One of the worst places I have ever lived, and I felt that way before 2020’s craziness. I’ll probably leave sometime next year… so there’s that.
Book-wise, I’ve received my paperback cover version and have gottenin my first proofs. I still have to work out some minor formatting kinks, but I can pretty much guarantee the paperback edition of Cradle of Sea and Soil sometime this month. Stormbringers will debut with the paperback version at the same time as the ebook… because, ugh, doing them separately is a pain. I’m looking to get an audiobook version of it out soon too, so cross your fingers.
In other news, I’ll be taking part in Self-Published Fantasy Month:
I’ll be squealing like a pig about my book all month, so look forward to it 😉 I’d appreciate any and all help sharing. I plan on making a separate post about it sometime this week, but I thought I’d mention it.
Outside of that, the cover for Stormbringers is coming along nicely, and by nicely, I mean, damn, it looks amazing. Teaser coming next month too… maybe? Work on the actual book itself is less amazing. I fell behind a lot in July, but I’m fully committed to catching up throughout the rest of August, so we’ll see how it goes. That’s about it in my life right now, for better or worse.
Books
Still behind: My Descent into Madness. That pretty much sums it up. I did, however, just finish this gem of a book:
I’ll be frank. The quality was excellent enough from the start that I knew it would be an excellent book, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much. It’s very traditional in structure, both as written and in plot, what with kings being destined and kingliness being a quality some have and some just don’t have (and, of course, it’s genetic, so also passed down bloodlines).
That being said, it’s acknowledged in the book that this is an archaic and partially illogical concept, and turns it into a development point for the would-be-king protagonist Beau. There are also some seriously complex characters in here, which is something not even traditional fantasy always does well. For example, I wanted to alternate between punching Gavin in the face and embracing him in brotherhood.
Beau’s cousin, Julius, was a little annoying at times, and Royce’s descent into madness was a little too steep and sudden, but overall I found myself wanting more. My only complaint is the lack of magic, really, and it’s not that it’s not there, it’s just not explored until the very end and even then you’re only given droplets here and there. Delicious droplets, though. It’s rare to see a paladin in the making in the way you see a mage apprentice, and I didn’t realize that until just recently. Paladins are a fantasy trope… but they’re not really well-explored in fantasy outside of the prepackaged cliches.
Anyway, I can easily recommend the book. I’ll be moving on to Eyrie next, a gryphon book by an author who has strong feelings about the Black Gryphon, which I very much loved as a young adult.
Gaming
What are video games again? Ugh, I just haven’t had time to play anything recently, let alone the mindset to enjoy them.
There is one game I’m looking forward to this month, however, and that’s a bleak post apocalyptic RPG whose original release went out to inspire Fallout: Wasteland 3.
Been waiting for it for a long time. Even helped crowdfund it. It also comes out at the end of the month, so it’ll be a much needed mental break, I think. Unfortunately, Baldur’s Gate 3 was pushed back a bit, but that’s okay. I have some writing to catch up on anyways, so it’s best to just look forward to Wasteland at the end of the month.
Finale
And that’s it for August. I’ll make a few more posts in the coming weeks, with a ton of them in September as Self-Published Fantasy Month kicks off.
Sorry for all the silence. Stay safe, everyone.