THE FLAME THAT SINGS Crowdfunding NOW LIVE!

IT’S TIME!

The BackerKit Crowdfunding campaign for the third book in the Eternal Library series, The Flame that Sings, is now live! Pledge to get your copy in ebook, paperback, hardcover, or special edition hardcover and help me pay for this print run so that I can make a living as a queer, disabled creative. By ordering through this campaign, less of your money goes to big corporations like Am*zon and more to me!

If you haven’t read the first two books, those are also available in all formats through the campaign 😊💕.

Estimated fulfillment/release date: DECEMBER 2025
This book still needs some time for line edits, proofreading, and formatting, but is otherwise ready to go!

From the back of the book:

Fire speaks in song. At the tender age of sixteen, Aeronwy Silverdream married the spirit of the great volcano, Mount Cináed. But the mantle of Flamekeeper is a heavy one, and the cult known as the Fellowship of the Ardent is an unkind place to grow up for an autistic child. It’s only when Aeronwy runs away to the modern capital of Caspora City and the Eternal Library that e finds freedom to be emself—with the help of new friends Siobhan, Inyene, and especially Mairead Moonsea.

Years later, Aeronwy becomes apprenticed to Illuminator Catrina Rosefall, a quirky artist and former circus actor who is determined to help Aeronwy face eir past. Their personalities couldn’t be more different, but friction starts fires, and isn’t fire what Aeronwy needs the most right now? Throw in an ancestor spirit with an unfinished story, confusion over what "romance" really means, and an increasingly toxic best-friendship, and what started as a spark threatens to blaze out of control.

Creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin, and death is necessary in order to be reborn. As the Flame of Ashes, Aeronwy knows this, but after a life of lies and deception, how does one relearn how to recognize the truth?

Heat Level: Medium. Contains innuendo/jokes, reference to kink, mild flirting, general discussion of sexuality, light kissing, and some euphemistic description of sexual encounters, but no clearly described on-page sex.

Content Warnings
Please be advised that the following appear or are referenced in The Flame That Sings, and though I’ve done my best to handle them with care, may be upsetting to some. This book is a bit darker than the previous two in the series.

  • surviving a religious doomsday cult

  • discussion of past childhood emotional abuse and neglect

  • gaslighting and codependency within a friendship

  • bigotry against an ethnoreligious minority (may feel similar to antisemitism)

  • allusions to past genocide of an ethnoreligious minority

✨ READ THE FIRST CHAPTER FOR FREE HERE ✨

Reasons to PLEDGE RIGHT AWAY
Special edition hardcovers with painted edges - I offered these in the Book 2 campaign, and they’re back again, but in much more limited quantities! It took me literally an entire month last time to paint all the books y’all ordered, which is wonderful, but also, I can’t do that again. So if you want to continue your special collection or nab a full set, you’ll have to be fast!

A hardcover copy of each book in the Eternal Library series, with the edges painted in floral designs.

Bonus short stories for Early Bird and Returning backers
If you pledge in the first 48 hours of the campaign, you’ll receive a free bonus (digital) short story called “Smoky,” about Aeronwy befriending and then being adopted by a grumpy black cat.

If you’ve previously backed one of my crowdfunding campaigns, you’ll get ANOTHER free digital short story called “Legends and Librarians,” featuring the prequel cast playing their world’s version of Dungeons and Dragons together! SHENANIGANS!

Exclusive bonus content PDF for all backers
All backers will also receive a PDF of bonus content, featuring things like deleted scenes, artwork, character profiles, worldbuilding notes, and the book’s music playlist with an explainer. This won’t come with future purchases of the book, just the campaign!

Just for fun, this week I posted a video of my painting process for the front cover. My paid Patrons voted for the topic of conversation, which ended up being how I do the worldbuilding for this series. Check it out if you’re curious about either of those!

Thank you all so much for all your support! I can’t wait to share this next installment of the Eternal Library Series with you!

If you’d like more behind the scenes content, writing blogs, process posts, videos, art, memes, and more, you can also join my Patreon for FREE or a small monthly donation. Since I’m basically off social media, this is the best way to keep up with what I’m doing and join the community.

Much love to you all, and hope you are having a good week! 💜

FAQ

Reading order
I recommend that you read this series in publication order. That said, if you want to pick up Book 3 first, I technically can’t stop you. In the future I’ll be able to recommend a chronological reading order as well, but since the prequel section of the series isn’t over yet, I’d say hold off on that.

Why crowdfunding?
The main purpose of this campaign is to print a small run of physical books—paperback and hardcover. Selling physical books directly through crowdfunding and later the Numinous Spirit Press shop makes me a lot more money per book than simply selling through a large print-on-demand platform, like Amazon, because I don’t have to give them a cut. That means more of your money goes to supporting me rather than big corporations.

That said, if you can’t contribute now, the book will still be available on all the usual platforms once it’s released to the public!

What’s BackerKit?
Up until now I've used Kickstarter for my campaigns and BackerKit for their fulfillment tools. I like BackerKit's service so much that I'm now using them for the entire process--and it works just the same for you, plus you don't have to jump between multiple platforms. If you’ve supported one of my deck or book Kickstarters in recent years, you’ve used Backerkit during the post-campaign fulfillment process already.

European Union Unavailability
Unfortunately, due to new GPSR requirements, I cannot currently ship physical merchandise to the European Union. Digital/ebook tiers are still available!

Other small creators you know may be able to comply and still ship to the EU, but sadly, with my personal disabilities/time limits/income, I cannot manage certain new requirements.  I truly am very sorry and understand it is very frustrating for all of us!

You can find buy links to other retailers below, which may ship paperbacks to your country. The Flame That Sings will be available at the same retailers in early 2026 and will be announced to this newsletter when available.

THE THREAD THAT BINDS (Book 1)
THE TALE THAT TWINES (Book 2)

THE FLAME THAT SINGS Crowdfunding campaign coming in ONE WEEK!

EXCITING NEWS!!

You might have already seen emails about this, but the crowdfunding campaign for my next book is launching NEXT WEEK! This is the third book in the Eternal Library series, which follows the stories of a group of queer, neurodivergent, intergenerational magic bookbinders and librarians as they learn their crafts and heal from trauma. If you haven’t read the first two books yet, you can also get those in this campaign!

It's coming to BackerKit June 2 to July 2, 2025, with an approximate launch time of 10am PST. WHOO!! Stay tuned to the newsletter or sign up here for an email from BackerKit when it’s live.

Estimated fulfillment/release date: DECEMBER 2025
This book still needs some time for line edits, proofreading, and formatting, but is otherwise ready to go!

From the back of the book:

Fire speaks in song. At the tender age of sixteen, Aeronwy Silverdream married the spirit of the great volcano, Mount Cináed. But the mantle of Flamekeeper is a heavy one, and the cult known as the Fellowship of the Ardent is an unkind place to grow up for an autistic child. It’s only when Aeronwy runs away to the modern capital of Caspora City and the Eternal Library that e finds freedom to be emself—with the help of new friends Siobhan, Inyene, and especially Mairead Moonsea.

Years later, Aeronwy becomes apprenticed to Illuminator Catrina Rosefall, a quirky artist and former circus actor who is determined to help Aeronwy face eir past. Their personalities couldn’t be more different, but friction starts fires, and isn’t fire what Aeronwy needs the most right now? Throw in an ancestor spirit with an unfinished story, confusion over what "romance" really means, and an increasingly toxic best-friendship, and what started as a spark threatens to blaze out of control.

Creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin, and death is necessary in order to be reborn. As the Flame of Ashes, Aeronwy knows this, but after a life of lies and deception, how does one relearn how to recognize the truth?

Heat Level: Medium. Contains innuendo/jokes, reference to kink, mild flirting, general discussion of sexuality, light kissing, and some euphemistic description of sexual encounters, but no described on-page sex.

Content Warnings
Please be advised that the following appear or are referenced in The Flame That Sings, and though I’ve done my best to handle them with care, may be upsetting to some. This book is a bit darker than the previous two in the series.

  • surviving a religious doomsday cult

  • discussion of past childhood emotional abuse and neglect

  • gaslighting and codependency within a friendship

  • bigotry against an ethnoreligious minority (may feel similar to antisemitism)

  • allusions to past genocide of an ethnoreligious minority

✨ READ THE FIRST CHAPTER FOR FREE HERE ✨

Reasons to GET READY
Special edition hardcovers with painted edges - I offered these in the Book 2 campaign, and they’re back again, but in much more limited quantities! It took me literally an entire month last time to paint all the books y’all ordered, which is wonderful, but also, I can’t do that again. So if you want to continue your special collection or nab a full set, you’ll have to be fast!

A hardcover copy of each book in the Eternal Library series, with the edges painted in floral designs.

Bonus short stories for Early Bird and Returning backers
If you pledge in the first 48 hours of the campaign, you’ll receive a free bonus (digital) short story called “Smoky,” about Aeronwy befriending and then being adopted by a grumpy black cat.

If you’ve previously backed one of my crowdfunding campaigns, you’ll get ANOTHER free digital short story called “Legends and Librarians,” featuring the prequel cast playing their world’s version of Dungeons and Dragons together! SHENANIGANS!

Exclusive bonus content PDF for all backers
All backers will also receive a PDF of bonus content, featuring things like deleted scenes, artwork, character profiles, worldbuilding notes, and the book’s music playlist with an explainer. This won’t come with future purchases of the book, just the campaign!

A handmade linoleum print in black and red on purple paper, featuring Aeronwy sitting on a ledge in a library. Text in upper left corner: MY HEART BURNS FOR BOOKS.

A handmade linocut print that will be available as a reward!

Thank you all so much for all your support! I can’t wait to share this next installment of the Eternal Library Series with you!

If you’d like more behind the scenes content, writing blogs, process posts, videos, art, memes, and more, you can also join my Patreon for FREE or a small monthly donation. Since I’m basically off social media, this is the best way to keep up with what I’m doing and join the community.

Much love to you all, and hope you are having a good week! 💜

FAQ

Reading order
I recommend that you read this series in publication order. That said, if you want to pick up Book 3 first, I technically can’t stop you. In the future I’ll be able to recommend a chronological reading order as well, but since the prequel section of the series isn’t over yet, I’d say hold off on that.

Why crowdfunding?
The main purpose of this campaign is to print a small run of physical books—paperback and hardcover. Selling physical books directly through crowdfunding and later the Numinous Spirit Press shop makes me a lot more money per book than simply selling through a large print-on-demand platform, like Amazon, because I don’t have to give them a cut. That means more of your money goes to supporting me rather than big corporations.

That said, if you can’t contribute now, the book will still be available on all the usual platforms once it’s released to the public!

What’s BackerKit?
Up until now I've used Kickstarter for my campaigns and BackerKit for their fulfillment tools. I like BackerKit's service so much that I'm now using them for the entire process--and it works just the same for you, plus you don't have to jump between multiple platforms. If you’ve supported one of my deck or book Kickstarters in recent years, you’ve used Backerkit during the post-campaign fulfillment process already.

European Union Unavailability
Unfortunately, due to new GPSR requirements, I cannot currently ship physical merchandise to the European Union. Digital/ebook tiers are still available!

Other small creators you know may be able to comply and still ship to the EU, but sadly, with my personal disabilities/time limits/income, I cannot manage certain new requirements.  I truly am very sorry and understand it is very frustrating for all of us!

You can find buy links to other retailers below, which may ship paperbacks to your country. The Flame That Sings will be available at the same retailers in early 2026 and will be announced to this newsletter when available.

THE THREAD THAT BINDS (Book 1)
THE TALE THAT TWINES (Book 2)

Trans Day of Visibility Book Bundle!

Hi friends!

March 31 is the yearly Transgender Day of Visibility, and if you’ve followed me for very long at all, you know that I’m trans/agender and that my work is made from that lens. Specifically, I always focus on including and celebrating trans people and characters!

The Trans Day of Visibility was created to be a complement to the Trans Day of Remembrance in the fall, which honors trans people who are no longer with us. TDOV is thus about recognizing and celebrating transness while we’re still here. I came out in 2008 when I was 18 and it’s been quite a journey since, both personally and politically. Since then some things have improved, like overall recognition and acceptance, but other things have worsened (see: current US politics). The only way to get through this is together.

In celebration of TDOV, I’ve got two things for you: a special discount for the Numinous Tarot and a book bundle. Both will last from March 28 to March 31st. The former you can find in the usual place and you can learn more about the latter below.

Fellow author Al Hess put together a MASSIVE bundle of SFF books with trans/nonbinary characters and/or by trans/nonbinary authors on itch.io. You may be familiar with itch.io as a site for indie video games, but many authors also use it to get their books directly to readers. You just download the files and upload them to your ereader. This bundle contains 38 books—that’s basically an entire LIBRARY of trans literature! Storytelling is a hugely important part of our culture and the culture of understanding and acceptance—including of ourselves, if you’re trans, too.

An illustrated city skyline at night, with a full moon and stars that twinkle. Text overlaid: "itch.io SSF TRANS BOOK bundle! 30+ authors ~ 3/28 - 3/31

I’ve got The Thread That Binds in there, and I’ve read some of the other offerings like Awakenings, A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams, Mazarin Blues, and Odder Still, which are all very good. Check it out 💙🤍🩷🏳️‍⚧️

Hope you all are hanging in there in these trying times.

Happy Aromantic Spectrum Week!

Hello, friends! This week, the week after Valentine’s Day, is Aromantic Spectrum Week! People on the aromantic spectrum may not experience romantic attraction at all, rarely, only after intense emotional bonds, or other differences from alloromantic (non-aro) people. Aro people can be asexual/ace-spectrum as well or they can be allosexual (non-ace)! Ace identities have been getting more attention in the last few years, but aromanticism still lags a bit behind.

If you didn’t know, I identify as gray-aromantic, which for me means that I rarely experience romantic attraction—to the point that throughout my life it caused me to feel “different” and even worry there was something wrong with me, before I knew what it was—and also often struggle to differentiate between romantic and platonic feelings. Having the word to describe myself and the community to be a part of has been crucial to accepting myself and knowing how to set boundaries and expectations in my relationships.

As such, I’ve had aro-spectrum characters in my fiction ever since my old webcomic Ignition Zero, which had Martin come out sometime near the end as aromantic. Currently, the Eternal Library series has many aro-spec characters, including main ones!

Eternal Library Aro Week Special

To celebrate, I’m putting both The Thread That Binds and The Tale That Twines on sale this week (Saturday February 15 - Saturday February 22) in both ebook AND paperback. I have ebook sales a few times a year, but hardly ever on the paperbacks.

Digital book cover for THE THREAD THAT BINDS, featuring a frame of rainbow books around panels of three characters: Rhiannon (purple hair, brown skin, glasses), Tabby (blonde, white, fat), and Amane (femme, Black, fat).

Rhiannon in The Thread That Binds (book 1) is one of the three narrators and is aroace, and e’s in a queerplatonic partnership with Tabby. Since they’re polyamorous, Tabby also has a romance with Amane in the book, but eir platonic partnership with Rhiannon is just as central to the plot, if not more. At the start of the book, they’ve been together for six years and share a cozy home, life, and a cat named Egg. Some things test their relationship over the course of the story, but don’t worry—it has a happy ending.

The cover for THE TALE THAT TWINES. A rainbow bookshelf frames 3 panels, each with a character: Aeronwy (brown skin, black and gray hair, holding a flame), June (white, redhead, glasses), and Siobhan (brown skin, fat, holding a cane)

June, Aeronwy, and Siobhan do all appear in book 1, but the fact that they’re aro-spec doesn’t come up as much. However, June is the narrator for book 2, The Tale That Twines, and the other two are super important as well. June is demiromantic, which means e only experiences romantic attraction after forming a strong emotional bond with someone.

Aeronwy is gray-aro like me, rarely experiencing those feelings, and Siobhan is straight up aromantic. Siobhan and Aeronwy enjoy a non-romantic sexual partnership, while June and Aeronwy’s romance takes…like 75% of the way through the book to even begin. Aromantic relationships come in all shapes and sizes, and I hope you enjoy some of the variety I’ve gone for in my books!

Click on the buttons to read more about each book, check out a sample, and find all the buy links. If you can buy directly from me instead of one of the other sites, I would love that, as I earn more from those sales! But if not, no worries 😊 I’m stoked about anyone reading my books wherever they get them.

Common Bonds 2 Anthology

Something else exciting for aro week: a second volume of the beloved Common Bonds Anthology!! The first Common Bonds, a short speculative fiction anthology, is literally my favorite anthology ever. It was just SO INCREDIBLY GOOD, so quality, so well put together! Common Bonds centers aro-spectrum protagonists and stories about platonic relationships, and is very beloved by the community.

A banner featuring the cover for COMMON BONDS 2 on ereader and paperback. The cover shows two androgynous people sharing a blanket, surrounded by autumn leaves, the title, and a stylized thread/rope.

As such I’m THRILLED to support and promote a second volume, and I encourage you to do so, too! Even if you’re not aro-spec, we all have platonic love in our lives and it’s something that should be recognized and celebrated in fiction. Check it out!

Happy Aro Week! I hope you all are staying safe and doing well 💜

Cozy Fantasy Book Bundle for Supporting Trans Rights!

Hello, friends! I hope you’re all doing well—or as well as you can with the various frightening and difficult things going on in the world.

Purple text on a pink background: cozy fantasy for trans rights. Anyone who emails their representatives in support of trans rights and sends a screenshot to (or just CCs) hello@cozyote.com will receive seven free cozy fantasy eBooks!

Today I have a call to action for y’all: fellow author Coyote JM Edwards has set up a deal where if you contact your representatives in support of trans rights, you can receive a bundle of seven of free queer, cozy fantasy books. I added The Thread That Binds, which you may have already read, but there are six more great books in it to read!

Coyote has set up a webpage with all the info, including an email template and links to make contacting your reps easy rather than overwhelming. You can find it all here:

While this was inspired by US politics, this call is open to anyone in any country contacting your version of government representation! Less resources are available on the webpage for how to contact your representation outside the USA, due to energy/time/knowledge constraints, but all are welcome who are contributing to fighting trans rights across the world, however that works where you are. More info is on the page (button above).

The books:

Book covers for: How To Get a Girlfriend When You're a Terrifying Monster; A Novella from Chai and Cat-tales: Priye; The Thread That Binds; Awakenings; Coffee, Milk, & Spider Silk; City of Strife; and Lollipop Monster Shop

Aside from my own book, I’ve read half of the offerings here and loved them! Both of Claudie’s books and Coyote’s Coffee, Milk, & Spider Silk are delightful and definitely books I would recommend to fans of my own work (I know I recommend Claudie all the time shhhh). The others look wonderful as well and I’m excited to add them to my own TBR.

We need all the support we can in the face of this new administration—and similar struggles happening in other parts of the world. Emailing your representatives in our government is just one step of many that we can take together, combining smaller efforts into a bigger push with numbers. Whether or not you’d like the free books, I encourage you to use the resources on Coyote’s page for making your voice heard!

And of course, whatever you do best with your own skills and abilities—thank you for doing those things, even if it just means surviving in the face of people who would rather you not exist 💜. Even if I don’t know you, I know that you deserve to be here and be yourself and be loved. Do not obey in advance! Stay safe but stay you!

Take care 💜💜💜

We're Back! Magic Pantry Tarot now Available!

Hello friends, and happy (belated) New Year!

I am back from my medical leave and have healed up nicely from my surgery, yay! And also, you know, now safe from worrying about the fires here in LA. Thank you so much for all of your patience and your well-wishes. I am taking the return to work slowly, addressing various concerns and prepping for new ventures in 2025. Here are the most important bits:

The shop is open again and the Magic Pantry Tarot is now available and on sale for New Year’s! (With exceptions, see below.)

Unfortunately, I am currently unable to ship to the EU and Northern Ireland for the time being due to the new GPSR laws which went into effect on December 13, 2024. These new laws are meant to protect EU customers from dangerous products and are clearly aimed at all of the mass-produced junk coming from websites like Temu, but it is having a huge effect on single/small creators like myself.

I will be keeping an eye on news related to these new laws and trying to figure out a solution, but for now I don’t have the time or funds for addressing this new system. I am so, SO sorry if you are in the EU and want to purchase my physical products, and I understand any disappointment or frustration you may feel. I’m frustrated, too! Sadly, international laws like these are not made with tiny creators like me in mind, who have less resources like time and money available.

Lost/Stuck/Damaged MPT Kickstarter Packages

I have been checking in with anyone who contacted me about their Magic Pantry Tarot Kickstarter orders being lost, stuck, or damaged in the mail. At this point, any Kickstarter or preorder package which has not arrived, I will now consider lost.

If you are experiencing one of these issues, please contact me with your information at this link here so we can resolve it, or reply to this email. In almost every case I am more than happy to send a new package for free, with a a different carrier if necessary, to get it through to you.

Upcoming Releases and Projects

So, what’s on the docket for 2025? Several things, I hope! Things I am focusing on this year:

  • The Flame That Sings (Eternal Library Series Book 3)

  • Adventurers Kneaded (Empire of Eats Novella 2)

  • Attending in-person markets/fairs/cons in the Los Angeles area

  • Exploring new art forms/media

  • Who knows what else???

If you’d like to see what I’m working on as I work on it, please consider joining my Patreon! You can join for FREE and see 99% of what I post there: writing blogs, sketchbook and concept art, excerpts, sneak peeks, progress updates, and more. Since I’m not on social media anymore, this is the best way to keep up with what I’m doing outside of this mailing list.

If you can afford it and would like to pledge $2-5 a month, you can get access to a few slightly more special posts, like full chapter excerpts from upcoming books, coupons, or possibly entire advance copy ebooks (this is something I’m considering for the future)!

Thank you all so much for your support in these trying times. I hope you all are safe and well here at the beginning of 2025!

Medical Leave + Cozy Fantasy Storybundle!

First, the most important announcement:

Starting at the end of this week, December 7, I will be on medical leave for the rest of the year! This means:

  • All physical items (decks, paperback books, etc) will be unavailable in the shop during this time and will return in 2025. If you want any of these things before the end of the year you will need to buy them by the end of day Thursday, December 6. (US orders placed this week should arrive before Christmas but international orders most likely will not.)

  • Ebooks will still be available in the shop (and at other retailers) during this time but I will not be able to assist with any troubleshooting if needed.

  • I will not be replying to emails at all until 2025 and thus unable to respond to any questions or concerns regarding orders, including Magic Pantry Tarot Kickstarter rewards. I will respond when I return, which will likely take some time if there is a lot to catch up on.

Thank you for your understanding and patience in advance. My Patreon will still be open with a scheduled post each week if you’d like to join in either for free or a small monthly donation. Since most of the shop will basically be closed for the month, I would really, super appreciate any little bit you can throw my way! 💜

Some recent Patreon posts:

Another super fun thing that you should ABSOLUTELY check out:

If you love cozy fantasy and would like a really amazing deal on a BUNCH of fabulous books, THE THREAD THAT BINDS is currently part of a pay-what-you-want StoryBundle through December 26—I highly recommend grabbing them all! AWAKENINGS by my friend Claudie Arseneault is another favorite and I am really excited to read the rest of the books myself.

Here’s all the info from StoryBundle’s blog:

Cosy fantasy isn't new, not really. We have always loved fantasy; we've always been interested in the ebb and flow of other people's lives; we have always needed warmth, and love, and hope. The marriage of these things into a thriving genre is, in a word, perfection.

Here's a bundle of tales to take you away – somewhere warm and bright, somewhere the world isn't breaking apart around you. Dive into the lives of dragons, and the bakers of magical cakes; meet tavern-keeps and wizards, in strange and wondrous places; make friends with witches, and mediums, and more. Run away to the castle in the clouds; things are brighter, there.

These books are our gift to the world, to keep the sun shining. Enjoy these tales with tea and cake, and come up smiling – Charlotte E. English

* * *

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of four books in .epub format—WORLDWIDE.

  • The Season of Dragons by Tansy Rayner Roberts

  • Good Neighbors by Stephanie Burgis

  • Drinks and Sinkholes by S. Usher Evans

  • A Spirited Engagement by Belinda Kroll

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $20, you get all four of the regular books, plus 6 more books, for a total of 10!

  • Mouse's Folly by T. Thorn Coyle

  • Baking Bad by Kim M. Watt

  • Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault

  • The Court and Castle Chansany by Charlotte E. English

  • Once Upon Thyme by Celine Jeanjean

  • The Thread that Binds by Cedar McCloud

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get a DRM-free .epub for all books!

It's also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

  • Get quality reads: We've chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.

  • Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that's fine! You'll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.

  • Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there's nothing wrong with ditching DRM.

  • Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to Girls Write Now!

  • Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you'll get the bonus books!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us at @storybundle and like us on Facebook.

Ten book covers in two rows. The books are: The Season of Dragons, Good Neighbors, Drinks and Sinkholes, A Spirited Engagement, The Thread That Binds, Awakenings, The Court at Castle Chansany, Mouse's Folly, Once Upon Thyme, Baking Bad

Thank you all for your amazing and incredible support this year! It’s been a wild one in so many ways, on both a personal and collective level. I’m excited to return in 2025 will all sorts of new offerings, and I wish you all a cozy, warm end of 2024 💜💜💜

The Magic Pantry Kickstarter is now LIVE!!

IT’S FINALLY TIME!!! IT’S FINALLY HERE!!! THE MAGIC PANTRY TAROT IS LIVE ON KICKSTARTER!!

A photo of the Magic Pantry Tarot deck box, surrounded by colorful cards.

The campaign will run from today, May 23, 2024, until June 20, 2024. Unlike in past years where I’d order anywhere from 1,200 to 3000 copies of a deck for a Kickstarter and have tons left over afterward, I’m only printing 600 this time! The last Numinous Tarot Kickstarter, with Backerkit preorders after, sold something like 600 total! There may or may not be more decks left over after the campaign, so if you really want one, now’s the time. I will definitely have a second printing, almost certainly next year—but then you’ll have to wait 😅

This change is part of an attempt to reorganize my business in a way that suits my needs as a disabled autistic/ADHD person better. It also means some minor changes to the type of packaging and pricing I’m able to offer, as ordering in lower quantities means higher printing costs. Thank you for understanding 💕

Hoping to have all the decks mailed out in the fall—I’m currently aiming for November.

All the relevant info is on the campaign page. Don’t forget to check out all the add-ons! You can basically get any of my other decks alongside the new one, as well as copies of my new comedic fantasy novella, Party of Fools, which is also food-themed.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT! I can’t wait to get these delicious decks in your hands!!

Magic Pantry Tarot pre-launch page AND I'm back on PATRE0N!

First of all, the pre-launch page for the Magic Pantry Tarot Kickstarter is live! I will be sending an email through this list on May 23rd as a reminder, but you can also hit the “Notify me on launch” button here if you want to be doubly safe, haha.

May 23rd! It’s coming!! The campaign will run through June 20; if there are any decks left after the campaign, they will either be available for pre-0rder through Backerkit or will hit the sh0p later this year. I will let you know, of course, but I am expecting (hoping?) this first print run of 600 will sell out within 2024, one way or another.

In other exciting news, I am back on PATRE0N! This time around, I’m aiming for a casual, chatty space to blog, answer questions and share my artwork, works in progress, behind the scenes processes, and fun little extras.

A few things I have planned for what I’m calling the Casual Funtimes Club:

  • Art from my sketchbook that doesn’t get posted to social media

  • Rambles about worldbuilding and other aspects of writing

  • A look back in time at my old art and unpublished novels

  • WIP excerpts from The Flame That Sings (Eternal Library Book 3) and Adventurers Kneaded (Empire of Eats Novella 2)

  • Q&A opportunities

  • More entries from the Magic Pantry Tarot guidebook and further thoughts about food symbolism, prior to publication

  • Recipes????? from the MPT and/or Empire of Eats novella series

  • New tarot/oracle art when I get to making the next deck, prior to public release

  • CAT PHOTOS

  • Whatever else I get excited about in the moment!

In the past few years, I’ve pulled back from social media. Overall, this has had a great affect on my mental health, but I do miss being able to share casual, fun things with my followers—and have them actually be seen, no thanks to all the algorithms. While it’s fun to talk to my friends about my progress and process, it doesn’t always feel like enough! That’s where this space comes in.

I’m also hoping that it can provide a little pocket change, as my sh0p income has, uh, dramatically taken a dive in the past two years. Times are really hard right now for every self-employed/small biz/freelance person I know, including me. So if you can spare a little bit extra per month for this, I’d super super appreciate it.

(P.S. It is a brand new profile, so if you used to be subbed to my old one, don’t worry about it being reactivated or anything like that. The old one is still dead!)

There are already a few posts up for you to enjoy when you join:

This new space will undoubtedly evolve over time, so who knows what else will show up there in the future? Hope to see some of y’all there!

Best,

Cedar McCloud <3

Amazing creatives to check out for May Day! - Authors and witches I love

Hi everyone! I hope you’ve had a good April—today is May 1, also known as International Workers’ Day. In solidarity and celebration of all the amazing creative people I follow and consider my peers/colleagues, here’s a list of folks whose work I urge you to check out. Featuring witchy types—tarot readers, astrologers—as well as writers. Lots of folks on this list are both! In addition, everyone on this list is queer and a large number of them are also disabled/chronically ill. If that’s your life, they understand, too, and bring that perspective to their work.

The Kraken Collective - Indie Queer Speculative Fiction Authors

This year I joined the Kraken Collective, a group of indie queer speculative fiction authors working together to share resources and marketing! I’ve talked about them before, but I’ll do it again! If you’re looking for more queer SFF and horror, I highly advise you to check out the Kraken booklist below and see if anything strikes your fancy. There’s a wide range of genres and tones available, although cozy/comfort fantasy is probably most popular.

Jeanna Kadlec - Astrologer and Author

I’ve been following Jeanna for years now, and I cannot recommend all of her varied work enough! Jeanna is a professional astrologer (profiled in the NYT!) and author whose experience is rooted in leaving the evangelical community she was raised in and discovering her authentic, magical, queer self. Jeanna is the ultimate Capricorn and says things like they are, straight, with a little bit of an edge that I really love—but never with any cruelty.

My favorite thing of Jeanna’s right now is my paid subscription to her substack, Astrology for Writers. The paid version of this newsletter includes multiple posts per week about the current astrological weather, with a focus on how it may affect our lives and practices as creative folks. Jeanna’s astrological writing is clear, concise, and rich with visual imagery. And sometimes gifs and memes, lol.

In the paid subscription, you also get access to the Astrology for Writers discord server, which is an AMAZING little community! I’ve made so many cool friends there—it’s super welcoming to people of all writing/astrology levels, to folks with chronic illness/disabilities, neurodivergence, etc. One of my favorite places on the internet right now.

She also does classes, workshops, and astrological readings! I took her original Astrology for Writers course a couple years ago on scholarship and it was so enlightening and fun.

And of course I have to mention her memoir, Heretic, which not only tells the story of her exvangelical journey, but also delves into the history and effects of evangelism in America past and present. Highly, highly recommend.

Meg Jones Wall - Tarot Reader and Author

Meg is another person whose work I’ve been following for ages, and who I’ve had the opportunity to get to know in Jeanna’s discord (full disclosure: everyone on this list aside from the Kraken Collective is in that discord, lol)! Meg is an incredible tarot reader and author of Finding the Fool, a book I can’t recommend enough to anyone who is into tarot and cartomancy.

Something else Meg is well known for is their enormous library of tarot spreads! If you read cards, you should absolutely bookmark that link for reference whenever you’re looking for a specific spread for your next reading. Recently, Meg has also been posting a lot of IG reels about tarot/cartomancy as a practice, answering both common and uncommon questions with their honest, no-nonsense, but kind manner. Definitely go follow if you’re on IG.

And of course, if you have the funds, Meg also offers one-on-one services like tarot readings, workshops, and coaching/mentorship.

Siri Vincent Plouff - Witch, Teacher, Author, Small Biz Owner

I met so many cool people on Twitter back in the day, Siri being one of the few who I made sure to stay in touch with when I left in 2021 (or whenever that was). Over the years, they’ve done SO much and SO many different things! A true polymath, unafraid to change up their offerings based on what they feel called to create and offer in the moment.

Some of Siri’s most known and accessible work is The Heathen’s Journey podcast and their antiracist Heathen resources. If you follow this path or are interested in it, these are almost certainly up your alley.

Like everyone else on this list, Siri is an author! Lessons from the Empress, cowritten with Cassandra Snow, is a deep dive by two nonbinary writers into self-care, compassion, and spiritual wellness with the Empress card and tarot as a guide.

Lessons from the Empress is available now, but you can also preorder their new book, Queering the Runes: Reclaiming Ancestral Wisdom in Rune Magic and Mythology as well! Runes aren’t a type of divination I personally do, but I know from being in the divination/pagan community for so long that this book is a WELL NEEDED resource.

Siri’s most recent endeavor is the creation of Lore Books and Supplies, which is currently an online shop and witchy/occult book resource list, but will hopefully one day become a physical space for shopping, learning, and community in the Twin Cities area. We need more community spaces these days, so check it out if you’re interested in ritual supplies, books, or classes!

Cassandra Snow - Tarot Reader and Author

Cassandra is one of the nicest people I know, and extremely skilled at everything they do. Huge Pisces energy, which I love! I’ve had a few email tarot readings with them over the years, and they’re always full of insight and advice that I need in the moment—Cassandra’s readings are also extremely affordable, so if you don’t have the big bucks, you can still book a reading with them at a comfortable price.

As mentioned before, Cassandra is the cowriter of Lessons from the Empress. They also wrote the incredible books Queering the Tarot and Queering Your Craft. When I first published the Numinous Tarot, a lot of folks messaged me to ask if I knew of any good queer-focused books about tarot. At the time I didn’t really have any good suggestions, but now I point everyone towards Queering the Tarot! I’ve been reading cards for over 20 years and I still consult this book on the regular.

Like many others on this list, Cassandra is also a teacher. If you’re new to tarot or are interested but haven’t even started, Cassandra also sometimes offers classes that I think y’all would be very interested in. I’m not sure that there are any open right now, but definitely give them a follow on IG or their newsletter for updates.

Hannah Levy - Tarot Magazine Editor, Writer, Poet

Hannah is the newest person on this list! I found her work through the Astrology for Writers discord and have had a great time getting to know her and the things she does.

The first thing, of course, is that she is the founder and editor of The Rebis, a magazine celebrating tarot, art, and creative writing. I have the first two issues of The Rebis, and they’re not only FILLED with incredible work and insights on The Chariot and The Wheel of Fortune (each issue is themed around a specific card), but the physical print magazines are super high quality.

Hannah also shares her poetry and prose through her free substack, //understories//, which is beautiful and thought-provoking. Definitely give it a read.

I hope you find at least one new person whose work you enjoy on this list! Every creative person I know has been struggling with income lately, for a variety of reasons, but in no small part due to the economy and changes to social media. If you have a little extra time and/or money to support folks, it’ll be extra appreciated right now.

Whose work—witchy, writing, creative, whatever—do you wish more people knew about? Let me and others know in the comments! Feel free to promote your own work as well.

As a reminder, on April 11th, I released PARTY OF FOOLS, a comedic fantasy novella in a brand new series! Two of these novellas will be released per year so you don’t have to wait long between installments.

Ale’s well that ends well…

What happens when a wayward immortal Emperor, a halfling metal bard, and a 60-year-old barbarian queen walk into a bar? They plan a worldwide food tour, of course! But first they have to escape the capital without being caught by the Captain of the Royal Guard, who’s bent on protecting the Emperor from pesky rebels—rebels who may already be Emperor Vallora’s new friends...

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who’s gotten a copy so far—you’re really making my author dreams come true. Happy reading, and happy May Day!

PARTY OF FOOLS RELEASE DAY!

Hello hello hello, friends! Party of Fools, the first novella in my new Empire of Eats series, is out today! HOORAY! A culinary comedic fantasy for fans of Legends & Lattes and Sir Terry Pratchett, as well as a nice quick read for when your brain wants a snack rather than a full course meal.

“This was also when the Stranger entered the building. As a seedy bar, Ale’s Well was used to strangers. They had what you might call a diverse clientèle, the sort who didn’t ask questions and never gave easy answers when it came to who or what they were and which line of work they were in, exactly. It was fluid that way, a liminal space in which a person might become anyone or anything at all, no matter who they were on paper.

Unfortunately, liminality fit this Stranger like a corset two sizes too small. You could see the way their strongly defined character squeezed out in all the wrong places, from the set of their broad shoulders to the way their cloak swirled lyrically around their feet. Their boots were too expensive for this district despite having quite a bit of mud scraped from them before entering.

Reed and Gladys appeared not to notice the Stranger. There’s a trope in stories like these where the hero walks into the seedy tavern and everyone stops to look at them, silence falling like an anvil. That may happen sometimes, somewhere, but not this day and not here. ”
— Party of Fools, Chapter One

PARTY OF FOOLS

Ale's Well That Ends Well...

What happens when a wayward immortal Emperor, a halfling metal bard, and a 60-year-old barbarian queen walk into a bar? They plan a worldwide food tour, of course! But first they have to escape the capital without being caught by the Captain of the Royal Guard, who’s bent on protecting the Emperor from pesky rebels—rebels who may already be Emperor Vallora’s new friends...

Some things you will find in this book/series:

  • Food puns

  • Entirely queer ensemble cast (ace, aroace, trans, pansexual, homoromantic)

  • Extremely slow burn sapphic ace romance subplot

  • Autistic main character

  • Mostly older characters (everyone is over age 50 except for one teenager, although two of them are immortal/longer lived and generally act/look like they’re in their 30s)

  • Cheese boards

  • Unidentifiable pub food

  • An immortal dog who can read

  • Rebels who do secret theater

  • Deep fried food on sticks

  • Lots of tropes but also inversions of tropes!

  • General silliness

There are no content warnings for this first book, aside from a heavy focus on food and light casual drinking, if either of those can be uncomfortable for you. There’s no weight discussion or moralizing around the food stuff!

If you do read, please consider leaving reviews wherever you got it and/or on sites like Goodreads and StoryGraph—even if it’s just a single sentence, it REALLY helps with visibility! (And if the book isn’t on those sites yet, well, someone wanna put them up?) Even better, tell your friends if you think they’d like it! Social media for creators is really tough these days, but word of mouth still rules.

Thank you all so much for your continued support! I’m hoping to get the second novella in this series out in the fall, so you won’t have to wait long for more. I’m super excited to finally have something that’s funny and weird out in the world, and I hope you all enjoy it. <3

The Magic Pantry Tarot: Suit of Pentacles + Deck Availability Date!

Hello again, everyone, I hope March is going well for y’all so far!

Today I’ve got for you the full suit of Pentacles from the Magic Pantry Tarot—which, if you didn’t see my announcement a while back on Instagram, I finished the card art for! FINALLY! HOORAY!

This also means that I finally have a better estimate of when the deck will be available: I’m aiming to have the Kickstarter go live on May 23, 2024. Whoo!!

To keep things more manageable, this print run will be smaller than usual. There is a possibility it will sell out during the campaign, in which case it won’t be back for at least a year! I’ll be writing a longer post later about why this is and the changes I’m making to how I do business and release decks going forward. Also, of course, more info and photos about the actual deck and packaging specifications.

Now, onto today’s art reveal, the Pentacles:

So far this deck has focused heavily on single ingredients, but for this suit I went ahead and used things you have to make—bread, noodles, pastry, cake—for the court cards, because, to be honest, it was getting difficult to figure out how to visually differentiate a bunch of grains and tubers in my art style. A LOT of things look like wheat or sweet potatoes!! But considering how foundational bread, noodles, pastry, and cake are to a vast number of dishes and meals across the globe, I think it works out well.

And yes—that is older Aeronwy and June from The Thread That Binds in the pastry card (formerly the Blueberry card when this was still an oracle deck), because I can put my characters wherever I want for my own delight.

Thank you all SO MUCH for all of the encouragement and support you’ve shown me during the last, um, three years I’ve been working on this deck! More if you count the old simple square version I shared on Patreon back when I had one! I haven’t put out a brand new deck since 2020, if you can believe that.

It’s been a huge struggle due to more than one type of burnout, and I’d like to write about that experience more in depth sometime in the near future, because I think it’s important to talk about the reality of being a small business creative or any sort of creative sharing your work in this day and age. Especially a disabled one.

Hope a beautiful spring is coming to your neck of the woods in the Northern Hemisphere, and a lovely fall if you’re in the South! <3 Can’t wait to get this deck out to all of you soon :).

NEW BOOK RELEASE: Party of Fools, a comedic culinary fantasy!

SURPRISE! I have a new novella coming out, and it’s coming out SOON!

PARTY OF FOOLS: EMPIRE OF EATS NOVELLA #1

Ale's Well That Ends Well...

Resistance members Reed Thorley and Gladys the Destroyer can't believe their luck when the Immortal Emperor herself wanders into their favorite bar, unguarded and playacting an ordinary citizen. This is their chance to give the rebellion the upper hand against the Empire—after a few pints, of course. The middle-aged halfling musician and his elderly barbarian partner are seasoned enough to know that when Emperor Vallora invites them to join her worldwide food tour, their best bet is to say “Yes, chef!” and wait for an opportunity to strike.

But hot as a greased griddle behind them comes Captain Andromeda Stagge, Vallora’s personal bodyguard, intent on returning the Emperor to the palace. She's only doing her job. She isn't pissed off at being left behind. It's not as if the Emperor is her only real friend, given the difficulty of fitting in when you're a 200-year-old autistic elf from a lower-class socioeconomic background. It isn't that at all!

Vallora's worldwide food tour hinges on her ability to escape the capital city with Reed and Gladys without being caught. The Emperor isn’t supposed to be sampling local cheeses in the company of commoners. Though why the most powerful person in the Endless Empire needs to be under lock and key in Zenith Palace is anyone’s guess…

Join the party on this brand new adventure comedy as the chase ensues. Make sure you have some good food on hand, because you're bound to get hungry along the way.

Party of Fools is the first novella in a new comedic fantasy series, and it will be available in ebook and paperback on April 11, 2024. I’ll be announcing it here in the newsletter so that you won’t miss it, but I wanted to stir up some hype and show you the cover I painted that I’m absolutely in love with.

My plan with this series is to release two novellas per year, so, universe willing, the second installment will be out this fall. I’m uncertain exactly how many novellas there will be total, but the current outline is up to eight—like a good meal, there will be lots of it to enjoy.

There are no content warnings for Party of Fools, aside from the fact that it is very food-centric. I try my best to ensure that the way I discuss food, eating, diet, and weight in my work is nuanced, kind, and inclusive, but if you are sensitive to descriptions and discussions of eating, please take care.

Additionally, this will be my first release with the Kraken Collective!

You may remember them from the Kraken & Friends ebook sale back in January; the Kraken Collective is a cooperative of self-published, queer speculative fiction authors who pool their resources and support one another in order to boost everyone’s fantastic, fantastical work. I have read many books by other Kraken authors and am genuinely honored to join such a quality group of writers!

The best thing about the work done in the Kraken Collective, in my personal opinion, is the sheer originality and uniqueness of the writing, characters, and premises. Some people like to say there’s no such thing as originality anymore, but I vehemently disagree, especially when it comes to stories by marginalized authors.

Just take a look at the book list to see!

Some of my favorites I haven’t talked as much about before include:

  1. Kaia Sønderby’s Failure to Communicate (Xandri helped me realize that I’m autistic, too!)

  2. RoAnna Sylver’s Stake Sauce (huge PTSD rep, and RoAnna is hopepunk personified)

  3. D.N. Brynn’s Our Bloody Pearl (disabled ace siren MC!!)

  4. And I recently started reading Al Hess’s Mazarin Blues and am thoroughly enjoying it (a scarily accurate AI augmented near future where wearing patterned clothes and loving bright colors and decor is taboo, ahhhhh)

A huge thank you to the Kraken Collective for adding me to the roster! I’m excited to have this new series under such a cool umbrella with such cool people.

Keep an eye on your inbox or on Instagram for some more Party of Fools sneak-peeks and for the official release day announcement. I can’t wait to share this one with you all—I’ve been attempting to write a comedic fantasy for literally a decade, maybe more, and this is the first one that’s come to full fruition. I was known as the “serious friend” growing up, but now I understand how being autistic has impacted my sense of humor and the way I interact with it in the world, and I’m ready to let my absurd, silly side reign!

(Also, I recently started learning about asteroids in astrology, and it turns out I have Thalia, the muse of comedy, exactly conjunct my Mercury in Scorpio at 29 degrees. If you know, you know. An aspect of my chart I’m excited to explore alongside this new book series.)

P.S. I have been publicly quiet when it comes to speaking out on recent world events due to my very limited daily energy and feeling that other people have already said everything I would want to say, but there’s no harm in reiterating: ceasefire now, protect trans kids, peace and justice for Palestine, and everything else I hope is evident in the values I express in my work.

Take care of yourselves, and take care of each other—whatever it is you can do that comes from the shining light and the righteous anger in your soul. <3

Creative Arcana Interview + Favorite Books of 2023

Hello lovely friends and neighbors! It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I’ve actually had several blog-newsletters lined up for your reading pleasure, but January was an absolute tornado of unpleasant, out-of-my-control events for me (I’m doing fine now and am supported, but it was a lot) and I ended up taking the first half of February off to recover. Phew!

Casually sliding back into things now to chat about a couple of things. First, an interview I did on Tarot and creativity that you might like to read, and second, a somewhat belated roundup of my favorite reads from 2023. I don’t know about you, but I find a lot of the best books are ones I was recommended via word of mouth, even in today’s personally trained algorithm world. Maybe I’ll be able to pass along some of the fun!

Oh, and at the end I’ll share a little bonus semi-secret thing ;)…

Creative Arcana Interview

Last month I was honored to do a Tarot-led interview with author Chelsey Pippin for her Creative Arcana segment on The Shuffle!

She drew five cards to inspire questions about my creative process: The Devil, the Two of Wands, the Ace of Pentacles, the Nine of Cups, and the Seven of Swords. Click through to read the whole thing and see what my answers were, then consider subscribing because this newsletter is full of wonderful, magical insights and chats with other awesome creators like Meg Jones Wall (3AM.Tarot) and Hannah Levy (The Rebis)!

Favorite Books of 2023

Now onto the books! Hope something catches your eye. They’re not in any particular order as far as ranking goes. I am not the most eloquent of reviewers; after I read a book once I rarely remember the details, only how it made me feel, so this is not going to be… coherent? Mainly vibes. If it seems like there are a lot of recommendations, it’s because I read a lot this year. Enjoy!!

Traditionally Published Faves

Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney - absolutely lush worldbuilding, incredible characters (the MC’s name is Miscellaneous Stones and I LOVE HER!), death and necromancy magic, shitty birth family vs loving FOUND FAMILY, queer (main romance is f/nb), ending that surprised me! Also this book is L O N G and it DESERVES to be L O N G so it can really hammer you with its nuanced and deep themes/messaging.

Witch King by Martha Wells - look, I absolutely love a book that goes back and forth between two different time periods, one of them eventually leading up to the other. I am just a sucker for that specific tension build. This book is pretty much flawless??? Excellent worldbuilding that is just kind there rather than explained to you directly, vibrant, loveable characters, fantastic relationships with plenty of incredible banter.

A Furious Sky: A Five-Hundred Year History of America's Hurricanes by Eric J. Dolin - I don’t know what else to say other than: I really like learning about hurricanes, natural disasters, volcanoes, extreme weather, etc. and if you do too, this is a GREAT book! I read like four hurricane books this summer while packing Kickstarter orders and this was my favorite of them.

Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay - this might be one of my top three nonfiction books of all time and I read a LOT of nonfiction. I wish I’d found this book during my initial research for The Thread That Binds, but it’s still helping me a lot with the worldbuilding for how Illumination works. Are you an artist? Do you like paint? Ever wondered where old, original natural pigments come from and how they intertwine with history and land? Victoria Finlay has an engaging voice and is a fantastic investigator digging up all sorts of fascinating details in her research.

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach - Mary Roach is a well known pop-science nonfiction writer and her books never disappoint me. It’s definitely on the lighter side of information density compared to the above book by Victoria Finlay, but sometimes that’s what you’re in the mood for. This book about the intersection of humans, wildlife, and human law is at once hilarious and sobering. If you are extremely sensitive to the topic of animal death, I don’t suggest you read it, but it is an illuminating and respectful look at the matter.

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal - I read this book in one single sitting in one single day. I literally haven’t done that in YEARS, possibly in the last DECADE. This new adult novel (the characters are early college age/late teens) is at once hilarious and heartfelt and a little heartbreaking and as a disabled person I felt SO SEEN and also SO ENCOURAGED by everything the characters go through. I want to assure you that it goes beyond just using being a werewolf as a metaphor for chronic illness—the narrating main character has a regular, real chronic illness herself and the take is well done. It’s also fantastically friendship-focused rather than romantic, which I like seeing more of. The characters in this book are online-turned-IRL friends and their online convos and such feel so real. PLEASE READ!!

Self Published/Small Press Faves

The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang - very cute and cozy! It’s basically what it says on the tin: a woman buys an old bookshop in a small town (in a magical secondary world) and ends up hiring a local barbarian woman as help. They fall in love, struggle with their personal pasts, and with local landlords. Apparently the author usually writes much darker stuff, but I thought this venture was well done.

Chosen. Again. by J. Emery - Full disclaimer, J. is one of my internet writer friends so I am biased. This book has been out for some time but I hadn’t gotten around to it. It’s about a former Chosen One who after many years is taken back to the magical world she once had an adventure in—and discovers that things didn’t end happily ever after. This book’s deconstruction and continuation of the Chosen One trope and related tropes is fantastic. J is so good at making interesting characters and just setting up a really SOLID story that keeps you interested from start to finish and feels really satisfying. With a good dose of dry/dark humor thrown in!

Hugs & Quiches by Candace Harper - Again, Candace is in my internet writer circle so: bias. I have told many people about this book, which I bought like THREE YEARS AGO and then let it sit on my Kindle, as things do! Which is a shame because the premise “Two women chefs fall in love while contestants on a TV cooking show contest” is really all you need to convince people to read it. This f/f rivals-to-lovers is sweet and steamy, with main characters who are firmly in adulthood and feel relatable to me as a 30-something. Also if you like shows like Chopped or Iron Chef……you’ll like this!

Awakenings by Claudie Arsenault - This one is like double cheating because a) it wasn’t actually out yet in 2023, and I read it because b) Claudie is a very good friend of mine, and so I got to be one of her beta readers. I promoted the Kickstarter she had for the first three books in this cozy adventure fantasy series a while back, and here I am promoting the first book again now that it’s on sale! Do you like DnD? Do you like cozy fantasy but also a little bit of fighting action and training montages? Do you like board games and banter? Looking for not one but TWO aroace nonbinary main characters??? It’s officially out now!

Well, there you have it! I hope you check some of these out! If you already read and enjoyed some of the same books, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. I’d also love to hear your own recommendations.

Illuminated Dreams

Now for that semi-secret thing. You may have seen this illustration on Instagram (or not, who knows whether the algorithm shows anyone anything these days), but over there I didn’t fully talk about why I drew it:

On IG I said that this is an illustration for the beginning of The Thread That Binds, and that’s true! You see, I have this dream of creating illustrated—illuminated!—special edition versions of the Eternal Library series, because, well, why wouldn’t I?

The only thing holding me back is how extensive such projects would be. Particularly because, though this art-nouveau watercolor painting is the style I’d want for Book 1, my brain wants to make embroidered/applique fabric scenes for Book 2 and linocut prints for Book 3, to match the media the characters most enjoy…and at a “minimum” of one illustration per chapter, that’s like 36 for Book 1, 32 for Book 2, and oh gods, who knows how many chapters there’ll end up being in Book 3! Not to mention Book 4, whatever media that one takes.

So the secret is that maybe one day these things will exist. Maybe if I poke away at them, or something. I’m so incredibly pleased with this first one that I want to keep going. But you know me, I have a lot of limitations these days. Only time will tell if this dream will one day become a reality!

How’s 2024 treating you all so far? I hope you are all able to care for yourselves and your loved ones in these continually troubled times. <3

The Magic Pantry Tarot: Suit of Wands + Queer Book Sale

Happy New Year, friends! Welcome to 2024! How is it 2024? Time is fake, I guess!

Today I’m bringing you a couple of exciting things: the Magic Pantry Tarot suit of Wands and… a huge multi-author queer book sale! Let’s start off with the cards:

The Suit of Wands

The suit of Wands in the Magic Pantry Tarot is represented by herbs and spices! A crucial part of cooking that adds so much flavor and creativity to the dishes we eat. It’s one of the broadest categories I tackled in this deck, and it was difficult to narrow down which spices and herbs I wanted to showcase out of dozens if not hundreds available. Spices are also heavily dependent on culture. What I ended up with is based on what I personally learned to cook with and like to use.

Here we go:

Which one is your favorite? Mine is definitely the Garlic card.

Because of my IBS and GERD, I can’t really eat garlic anymore (or onions… curse you oligosaccharides) without triggering one or both. I can tolerate small amounts of dried garlic in foods, but raw is absolutely out of the question. I know, I know! I used to be one of those people who tripled the amount of garlic cloves in any given recipe. How do I live??

The truth is that after avoiding garlic for over five years now, I find it overpowering in both taste and smell. I don’t miss it as much as I did initially, because my body’s response to it has changed. Wild! That’s the main factor behind my depiction of garlic in this deck, aside from its use in protective magic and its antibacterial properties.

Now, onto another exciting thing.

Kraken & Friends Queer Book Sale and Personality Quiz

I’m pleased to announce that I am one of the “friends” in the Kraken and Friends book sale, which starts today, January 17, 2023, and goes through January 22nd.

Thirty indie authors with queer SFF books gathered in a single fun sale! On the special page set up by author Claudie Arsenault, you can browse these 99¢ books by identities, genre, and other filters, or take our fun personality quiz to find out which of our queer protagonists you are!

The Thread That Binds is included in this sale, so if you’ve been looking to pick up the first Eternal Library ebook, now’s a great time to do so. You can find links to different places to get it here.

One of The Thread That Binds characters is featured in the personality quiz, of course! If you take the quiz and get Rhiannon, let me know in the comments. I got Heron from Dirt-Stained Hands, Thorn-Pierced Skin!

Yep, sounds like me, haha! I’ll have to check this book out and see who Heron is…

Once again, Happy New Year! Here’s hoping that we can do our best to work towards a better world in 2024. <3

Indie Ink Awards Voting + The Magic Pantry Tarot: Suit of Swords

Hello again, friends! It’s December now and I’m back to share with you an exciting request to vote for my books in the Indie Ink Awards, plus a reveal of the full suit of Swords for the Magic Pantry Tarot. Yay!

Vote for the Eternal Library in the Indie Ink Awards

I'm honored this year to have both of my books nominated in several categories for the 2nd annual Indie Ink Awards, hosted in part by Indie Story Geek, a site which catalogues, highlights, and reviews indie and small press books. A much needed service on today's internet!

To vote, click here to head on over to Indie Story Geek. There you can make a quick account (this is to discourage cheating) and then click on the categories that you'd like to vote for and find your winning book there (even if it’s not mine!). You get one vote per category, but you can vote in as many categories as you like! Below I’ve provided links to the categories my books are nominated in so you can find them faster.

The Thread That Binds (Book 1) has been nominated in the categories of:

The Tale That Twines (Book 2) has been nominated in the categories of:

Both books have been nominated in the categories of:

Vote as you see fit, based on your honest opinion! Though if there's one category I really feel like I deserve to become a finalist for, it's The Thread That Binds for "Best Mentor." Aeronwy and June deserve it!!

Voting is open for two weeks starting December 15th. Thank you so much for the nominations and for the chance to be a finalist ❤️ It really means a lot to me to have the recognition!

The Suit of Swords for the Magic Pantry Tarot

Now onto tarot stuff!

This suit is represented by vegetables, which I think is appropriate since the swords are the suit with the most struggle, and many people struggle with liking vegetables, even as adults. Personally I love most vegetables, and salad is one of my favorite foods, but I am here to validate many other people’s taste as well! (Also: I don’t like spinach. Lol.)

Many vegetables have bitter components, especially if overcooked, and the suit of swords contains many bitter lessons itself…lessons we may need to learn, just as we generally should be consuming vegetables if we can, for their nutrients. You may need to find ways to make them more palatable with added ingredients, and some may be out of reach depending on your neighborhood and finances, but both vegetables and swords bring a lot to the table.

And, for the record: yes, tomatoes are technically fruits. You know what else is technically a fruit? Cucumbers, eggplants, squash, pumpkins, and many other foods we typically label as vegetables! But for whatever reason, no one comes up with the “well, actually” when you mention them. Tomatoes are functionally vegetables as much as these other foods are in the way they’re prepared and eaten, and so here they are! In the swords suit! Thank you, haha.

Without further ado, the Swords:

I’m really proud of how these turned out! Thank you all for sticking with me on this journey the past few years, I hope you all are having a lovely end to 2023 and a good holiday season, if you’re celebrating. Keep being your wonderful selves and making the world a better place.

- Cedar <3

The Magic Pantry Tarot: Suit of Cups

It’s official… I have finished* the artwork for all of the pip and court cards in the Magic Pantry Tarot!! That’s fifty-six illustrations (more, actually, because I redid a few) down, twenty-five to go (there will be three alternate vegan cards in the Major Arcana in addition to the regular twenty-two)!

(*Will I decide to redo a few more illustrations before publication to ensure everything is up to standard and cohesive? I might.)

For the next few newsletters/blog posts, I’ll be showing you the finished art for the suits, starting with Cups, which I think might be my favorite. I am a Scorpio sun and November 10th is my birthday (I’m turning 33 this year!); the card associated with this decan of Scorpio is the Six of Cups. The Queen of Cups is also associated with Scorpio, as are several other cards. Cups are water and I am a very watery person, astrologically speaking, and very emotional, so these cards get me.

In this deck, Cups are represented by sweet and beautiful fruit. I LOVE FRUIT SO MUCH! I cannot express to you the joy that fruit brings me, and now living in southern California, I have access to it in abundance and at much cheaper prices than when I lived elsewhere.

Is this in large part because of unsustainable irrigation practices used in the United States to grow most of its produce in sunny California? Yes, yes it is. And importation from far off places like New Zealand and Chile as well. Overindulgence is something we might well want to be aware of when it comes to cups—and to how our fruit is grown, specifically its impact on our environment.

If you’ve been following this project for a while, you’ll have seen the majority of the Cups illustrations already. Due to my love of both fruit and the Cups suit, they were the first ones I ended up painting and so I had most of them done before the big break I took earlier this year. This is the first time all fourteen will be together, though, with the right titles.

Enjoy!

The Magic Pantry Tarot: Suit of Cups

Which one is your favorite? How do you feel about fruit in general? What’s your favorite recipe that features fruit? Let me know in the comments!

<3 Cedar

More Magic Pantry Cards & Cozy Fantasy Book Rec!

Hello everyone, I hope you’re doing well now that it is officially Spooky Season! October has long been one of my favorite months, typically because I enjoy mild weather over hot or cold, because Halloween was my favorite holiday for a long time (no idea what it is these days), and my birthday is in a month’s time. Whoo!

In this post you’ll find, in this order:

  1. General life update/musings

  2. Magic Pantry Tarot update, with new card pictures

  3. The Flame That Sings update, with line excerpts

  4. EXCITING NEW COZY FANTASY BOOK TO CHECK OUT IMMEDIATELY

Read it all or read just what you like :)

Life, In General

Here in southern California, it’s finally starting to cool off after the usual blazing summer, although we had a small heat wave this past week which ruined the fun for a moment. I’ve been doing a lot more exploring of my local area in the San Fernando Valley, appreciating the nature that still exists despite colonization and getting to know the history of the land better.

Did you know that Los Angeles and the valley used to have wetlands? Many people think of LA as a desert, but it isn’t. Though the average rainfall is low compared to other places, in actuality, some years get quite a lot more rain than others, fluctuating back and forth. Before they were covered in concrete, the Los Angeles River and its tributaries also brought water down from higher elevations where there is more precipitation and snowfall, often flooding and creating vibrant marshlands. Even heavily changed by colonizers, it’s still a very interesting region and biome.

You can view maps here of historical ecology of the area, and over here you can sign a petition to help create a marine sanctuary off the coast to protect sacred costal waters of the Chumash tribe, whether you live in the area or not!

Magic Pantry Tarot Update

While not exploring, I’ve been continuing to work on the Magic Pantry Tarot! Here are some more cards, some of which you may have seen videos of on Instagram lately:

If you’re wondering why we’re skipping around now instead of going chronologically through a suit, it’s because that’s just where the deck is. Some of the cards I painted while still planning for an oracle deck are being repurposed, like for the Queen of Pentacles: Pastry, which used to be the Blueberry card. Eventually I’ll scan everything, add titles, and put up comprehensive galleries.

I’ve got about eight cards left to do in the pips and courts before we move on, at last, to…the Major Arcana!! I love the cards I’ve done so far, but those are the ones I’m really excited about—and I know you all will be, too.

The Flame That Sings

I’ve also continued to work on Eternal Library book 3, which is now at 20k words! I wish that were a significant amount, but this book is going to be so, so long, and I am a chronic over-writer on early drafts. Based on where I am in the outline, I am concerned that my 180-200k word finished estimate is too small and that it might be in the 250k range. For comparison, the first two books were around 140-155k. Oops?

Have some fun out of context, unedited bits:

“Wasn’t your interview yesterday?” Siobhan asks. I’m sure e’s glad for the change in subject, but I’m not. “How did it go?”

“It,” I say with difficulty, “went.”

Inyene lets his arms fall to his legs with a smack. “Coming from anyone else, I’d assume that meant it was bad. With you, it could mean anything. You’ve got to give us more than that.”

“I bet it went really well, but in an unexpected way, which is making em upset,” says Siobhan pointedly, and Inyene makes a noise of agreement.

I sigh and say, “I hate you both.”

June squeezes my waist, then lets go. E pushes the bridge of eir glasses up with one finger, a small gesture I’ve become intimately familiar with over the last three years. The freckles on eir nose and cheeks are constellations I’ve memorized while listening to em tell long-winded stories about everything and nothing in particular. Eir eyes are circles of summer sky, bright even when it rains.

“You’re always so warm,” June says, nuzzling eir face into my neck.

“My regular body temperature is one hundred and four point two,” I reply.

“That’s very specific.”

“No more so than ninety-eight point six.”

“True. No wonder you’re always so hot,” June says, with a giggle that alerts me to the fact that this is, in fact, a double entendre.

“Your flirting is as bad as your jokes,” I reply, even though such a basic acknowledgment of attraction sends a flush of heat through my body.

“So, not bad at all, but very good and very obvious?”

“Yes, that is precisely what I meant.”

I’ll be working on this steadily every Thursday for as long as it takes. Having a lot of fun so far! Things are already taking a darker turn as we get into Aeronwy’s backstory, at this point stories about when e first came to Caspora City some years prior. A tad worried about how cozy this one will be compared to the first two books, given the dark bits. We’ll see!

SPEAKING OF COZY FANTASY….

Cozy Fantasy Book Recommendation

I’ve been meaning to start including reading recommendations in my blog/newsletter for a while now. What better place to start than this brand new cozy adventure fantasy series from my very good friend, Claudie Arsenault?

Yes, grain of salt, this is a recommendation for a friend’s work, but look. I read three of Claudie’s books (City of Strife, City of Deceit, Baker Thief) before we became friends via Twitter back in 2018 and was immediately hooked. Claudie is an amazing fantasy author whose work has more aro and ace-spectrum characters per square inch than anyone else I know (she also runs the Aro Ace Character Database), and by that ALONE, I know this is a great match for so much of my own audience.

The thing I love most about Claudie’s work is that her characters are so incredibly loveable. Even the villains are the sort that you just love to hate. They give every story so much heart, along with some good laughs and a few tears, on occasion. Her work is infused with a strong sense of loving political justice that represents more of what we need in our own world. It is both honest and hopeful, in this regard.

Recently, Claudie has made the risky jump to attempting writing as a full time job—her existing work sells very well, but there’s still a bit to go. Having just finished the City of Spires series (WHICH I ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMEND), she’s moved on to a brand new dive into adventure of a cozier nature with The Chronicles of Nerezia.

The EXTREMELY good cover for the first installment in the series!

Innkeep, hunter, blacksmith, nurse—Horace has apprenticed for every clan in the domed city of Trenaze, and they’ve all rejected em. Too hare-brained. Too talkative. Too slow. Ever the optimist, e has joined Trenaze’s guards to be mentored. Horace has high hopes to earn eir place during eir trial at the Great Market. That is, until the glowing shards haunting the world break through the city’s protective dome, fused together in a single, monstrous amalgam of Fragments.

Armed with a sword, a shield, and far too little training, Horace doubts eir ability to defend the market-goers. But eir last stand is interrupted by a mysterious elven figure who can dissipate the Fragments with a single, strange sentence: your story is my story.

From the moment it is uttered, Horace knows the sentences holds true for em, too—and when the elf collapses in the middle of the market, e carries them to safety, to recover away from the panicked crowd and inevitable questions from eir fellow guards. It could cost em eir apprenticeship—eir last chance to find eir place in eir home city—but Horace cannot resist the pull of this mystery elf and the call of a new friend.

Aliyah has but one desire: to leave Trenaze’s safe boundaries and find the forest that haunts their dreams. After an afternoon of board games in their quiet, sharp-witted company, Horace is ready to follow, confronting Fragments and other dangers of the road to understand what happened that day, hear Aliyah’s laugh again and finally feel like e belongs.

You can get the first three novellas for an extremely low price on Kickstarter, starting today, along with digital copies of Claudie’s other incredible work at equally low prices. The Kickstarter is meant to cover the costs of editing and cover illustration that self-published authors have to pay out of pocket and will be an immense help versus buying them later. Plus, you get them ahead of the public release schedule.

I have read the first novella in this series in advance, and I absolutely love it. The POV character, Horace (e/em), is a giant cinnamon roll who just wants to help people and find eir place in the world. The relationship that Horace immediately strikes up over board games with another stoic main character, Aliyah (they/them), is delightful, and I can’t wait to see how their friendship progresses.

Now, I will point out, this is cozy adventure, so there still is fighting and such. But in between that stuff is all sorts of board/card game playing, banter, cooking, cleaning, and everything of that nature. I know about the later characters who come into the party and how good Claudie is at character relationships/dynamics and I can’t WAIT.

Think of it as a party of quirky queer DnD characters going on a bunch of side quests in a bigger-on-the-inside sentient magic wagon and you’ve got the vibe.

Go check it out and give Claudie your support today!!

That’s it for today! I’ve got cards to sketch, a book to write, and some ongoing health things to attend to. Fingers crossed I can get another painting vlog out for you all later this month, but if not, I hope your Spooky Season is suitably Spooky :)

Love, Cedar

New MAGIC PANTRY TAROT Cards + THE FLAME THAT SINGS First Lines

Something I hope to do while working on the Magic Pantry Oracle Tarot and writing the third book in the Eternal Library series is to share progress and updates with all of you along the way! I was pretty quiet while working on The Tale That Twines, as I was recovering from burnout, but now I’m feeling a lot better and ready to chat about progress and such with all of you.

The Magic Pantry Oracle Tarot

One of the fun things I have for you is a new painting video! This one is way shorter than my previous painting videos, in part because this painting literally took less time than the book cover illustrations, but also because I’m learning a lot more as I go about how to edit and pace these things.

This video is just under twelve minutes long, with footage of me working on the Six of Pentacles while chatting calmly about the painting process, the meaning of the card, and a few little life updates.

On top of that, here are a bunch of new illustrations for the Magic Pantry Oracle Tarot:

These are (clearly) just photos of the paintings, without titles on them yet, but here we have the Five through Ten of Pentacles! Millet, Barley, Oats, Corn, Amaranth, and Wheat in that order.

Yes, this deck started out as a Tarot deck, then I changed my mind and announced it as an oracle, and now it’s back to being Tarot. In addition to the autistic burnout, I have struggled with some burnout in recent years when it comes to cartomancy, in no small part because making and selling decks is my job. It all started to feel a bit too clinical, like I was seeing it solely as a product and not as a product that is also a spiritual tool with meaning and heart.

Being in online Tarot spaces has felt exhausting at times. Learning, growing and being thoughtful about how we depict people, cultures, gender, and other identities in Tarot is important to me. However, due to the format of social media, I was getting overwhelmed by so many very strong voices with a lot of different opinions all coming in at once. I process information more slowly than many people and get easily overstimulated by a lot of information at once. It ended up putting me in a frozen state where I couldn’t think or make my own decisions about my work—not because anyone was saying mean things or because I felt they were wrong, but because of how much was all being communicated in a short time period.

Anyone else struggle with this?

Anyway, I feel truly excited about this deck again! For a hot second in late spring, I thought I might abandon deck making altogether and just focus on writing. Ironically, making that decision freed me up from the feeling of financial obligation that was hanging heavy over my deck work. Making a spiritual/magical tool just to pay the rent and no other reason (not to say you shouldn’t make money off of a spiritual career, but there should be more than just the desire to make money there, if that makes sense) was not enough motivation for me to do the work.

Currently, I hope to keep my focus on the Magic Pantry Tarot until the main artwork is finished. Fingers crossed I can do that this fall, but as we well know, life often interferes when you have uncertain health issues on the table. I’ll be posting new illustrations regularly to IG as well as making updates here.

The Flame That Sings (Eternal Library Book 3)

I have officially started writing Eternal Library book 3, which is titled The Flame That Sings! Technically, I wrote the first paragraph of it back in the spring, right after I finished The Tale That Twines, because I was vibing and because it literally picks up RIGHT where we left off—the first time I’ve ever done that in a sequel, somehow. This is the eleventh book I’ve written in my life and the third series, but previously, I only wrote sequels that were overlapping stand-alones in the same universe or “many years later, the MC’s kids” style. Weird, lol!

A photo of a drawing featuring young Mairead and Aeronwy when they first met. The focus on their relationship will be HEAVY in this one.

Here are the opening lines to The Flame That Sings, because I love them, and I love them even more because beginnings are the absolute hardest part of writing for me. It’s narrated by, as promised, young Aeronwy:

“The moment I step foot into the Head Librarian’s office, my betrayal is complete. I am in the heart of the enemy fortress, facing three formidable foes: the Head Librarian emself and two senior Illuminators. The Scriptivist overlords who strip the life from story and taxidermy it into a blasphemous, unchanging, immortal form from which there is no escape. Tools of a fascist regime which will burn in the rivers of fire and choke on the clouds of ash which will one day descend from the holy peak of Mount Cináed on high in retribution for their crimes.

I am here for a job interview, in hopes of joining them. ”
— Opening lines from THE FLAME THAT SINGS

Aeronwy’s narration style is very different from everyone we’ve seen previously (Tabby, Rhiannon, Amane, and June), and I AM HAVING A LOT OF FUN WITH IT.

I regret to confirm that it is going to be a couple years before this book is out, but that’s what these little updates and sneak peeks will be for in the meantime. With The Tale That Twines, I was able to focus on JUST drafting the book and made it my priority project. Right now, the Magic Pantry Tarot is my priority project. I’ve reserved a full day per week to write, but there will be an MPT Kickstarter next year that takes up a lot of time, and who knows what else. Phew!

Also this book… is going to be… LONG. Longer than the previous two. Uhuhu.

I will say, though, that it is farther along already that it might seem. In 2021, I wrote a full draft of “book 2” which was actually book 2 and 3 in one volume. After writing it, and after writing several large chunks of book 3 content that I thought MIGHT actually be book 2 (I’m talking 30k word chunks) trying to get the timeline of the books straight, I ended up splitting June and Aeronwy’s prequel stories the way they exist currently. This means that The Flame That Sings has essentially already had a draft zero. And a zero point five. Or six.

Hopefully that means good things for the length of the process going forward.

Here are some more quotes from the first 5k words of the book so far, because I can’t help myself and I think they are funny. Whether they will make it into the book or not in the end, we just don’t know. Also, they are raw and unedited!

“The Flame in my lungs smolders with barely repressed anxiety. This would be the worst of all places to have a meltdown and fill the room with smoke. Open flame is not allowed in the Library, for obvious reasons. I reassure myself that I am not an open flame so long as I don’t allow any to escape my body. I am merely, as Mairead would say, the equivalent of a human lighter.

A sacrilegious way to describe a Flamekeeper, spouse to the Star-Crowned goddex of fire and creator of Caspora, who gifted these magical Flames to the exalted leaders of my ancient ancestors. I have already committed worse spiritual crimes, so I will allow it.”
— - THE FLAME THAT SINGS, Chapter One
““—which is normal enough. Don’t forget, all three of us have been in your position before,” says Rose. “Let’s cut to the chase, relax, dispose of the usual question list.”

Please don’t. Those are the ones I prepared for. ”
— THE FLAME THAT SINGS, Chapter One

I’m going to have so much fun with this one. It’s finally cooling down here in Southern California (for the moment) after so much heat, and though I’ve, as usual, got some weird health things on the table, I’m feeling good about the work I’m doing. Hope you all are having a good end to the summer and start to fall!