Halloween season hit full stride here—first with “Scare for a Cure,” our annual messy adventure (this year: mind crawlers!), then a “Trunk or Treat” at my mother-in-law’s nursing home, where the residents—one of them 101!—handed out candy to the little ones.

Never fear on that mind crawler issue, our group saved the world. Missed you this year, Sienna!

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It’s been a whirlwind few weeks—edits, algorithms, and endless coffee. But progress is progress, and each chapter feels like another stone laid in the bridge toward the finale.

Shepherds sits at about 33k words, and the skeleton of the story is almost complete. I’m polishing what I think will be the last “waypoint” chapter—one that stitches multiple threads together—before sending it to my structural editor. I might clean a bit first; even structural editors struggle when the typos swarm.

Of course, 33k is just the skeleton—there’s still plenty of flesh to add. Even if the bones hold, some of it hasn’t learned to move yet. (A lot!) But it helps to know whether I’m missing a rib or three before I build on it.

Meanwhile, the publishing gods are tinkering again—Meta rolled out a new AI ad system called Andromeda, while Amazon changed its book-promotion algorithm. The result? Indie authors like me are battling twin dragons: visibility and discoverability. At least they make good sparring partners while I wait for my editor to strike.

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Previous Newsletters

• "You won't let them die."
• Hear Chapter 1 of Mother of Trees
• Two Threads Down, One To Go - September 15, 2025
• News from the Fractured Arcana - September 1, 2025

​​May you get lost this week in another world.

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