If you read fantasy for the magic, the world-building, and the occasional moment of dark humorβI write that. One urban fantasy series, one epic fantasy series, both set in the Fractured Arcana universe, with more coming. My newsletter takes you deeper into the worlds, the characters, and what's next.
Newsletter - 4/19/2022
Busy week - another year clicked by on the odometer, sending me well past my warranty, and we visited extended family in San Antonio for Easter. We took a brief walk through the Pearl district, and I stumbled onto this library at the Emma Hotel. As quaint and rustic as it looks, I can't imagine it has been a library for long--my father-in-law remembered touring the same spot as a brewery (specifically, the Pearl brewery). π€·ββοΈ Still, I like the idea of old bookstores and libraries enough to ignore the trickery.
After updating my blurb on Amazon the week before, I absolutely killed all sales. It was quite enlightening. But I took another stab at what I'd learned from the previous week's podcast, and I'm back in the game. Not that I have many sales, but greater than zero is better than zero!
Beta readers have started on Book 4. I continue to edit it as well. It's getting there--I don't know whether to be aggressive and pin down a June release date, or chill a little and go for July (and stay slightly less insane). Any opinions? I think I have the pics all ordered... I need to think that through, because I remember intending four, and I have three. Maybe I got confused with the cover order. π§
I also received a few more samples of book merch, all of which needed some tweaking. (And no campfire-with-a-hint-of-peppermint candles... yet).
o To-Do list for writing last week:
Email updates- Gather pieces to work a farmer's market - ordered books. Didn't order banner or a way to collect payment.
- insert QR code in bookmark - done.
o To-Do list for writing this week:
- Email updates
- Continue to collect pieces for farmer's market. I'm not happy with the banner I created--do-over.
Previous Newsletters
- βNewsletter - April 12, 2022β
- βNewsletter - April 5, 2022β
- βAlmost done Marching - 3/30/2022
- βSpring Break - 3/22/2022
- β#weekendgetaway - 3/15/2022
- βMarch Merch... - 3/8/2022
- βMarch on! (yeah, that's terrible) - 3/1/2022
- βLate-Feb Slog - 2/23/2022
- βNo rest for the weary - 2/16/2022
- βBook 4 of The Guardian League, The Song Unsung - 2/9/2022
- βHappy Birthday to my Wife - 2/1/2022
- βFinding Books "Connected" to mine - 1/25/2022
- βHunting for Silver Linings - 1/18/2022
- βStarting off the New Year with a Bang - 1/11/2022
- ββHappy Neo Year - 1/4/2022
- βTreasure - 12/28/2021
- βHappy Holidays - 12/21/2021
- βA week of promotions - 12/14/2021
- βElf on the Shelf and the Bless-Yous of Winter - 12/05/2021
- βThanks have been given - 11/30/2021
- βReviews, but not bookish reviews... - 11/23/2021
- βLights, digital recording device, actionβ¦ - 11/16/2021
- βAnnnnd... cue Christmas! - 11/09/2021
- βBook 3 Hype-Up Coming Soon - 11/02/2021
- βLosing Faith, a Calyx Twins Story - 10/26/2021 π Losing Faith, a Calyx Twins Story.pdfβ
- βNew pics for Book 1 - 10/19/2021
- βHappy Birthday, Middle Egg - 10/12/2021
- βAge Before Duty -10/05/2021 πβ Age-Before-Duty.pdfβ
- βGrundle's Hope - 9/28/2021 π Grundle's-Hope.pdfβ
Steven J Morris
If you read fantasy for the magic, the world-building, and the occasional moment of dark humorβI write that. One urban fantasy series, one epic fantasy series, both set in the Fractured Arcana universe, with more coming. My newsletter takes you deeper into the worlds, the characters, and what's next.
I promise Iβve made progress on Father of Stones (FoS). Here's a screenshot to prove it: click the photo to get to the live data showing progress But... I have put a little time elsewhere. I want to invite you to try this web-game Iβve been building out. It was meant to be a role-playing game around Thaumatropic Fractures, but ended up being focused on Thaumatropic Roots. https://tfrpg.sjmorriswrites.com https://tfrpg.sjmorriswrites.com The game will ask you to use your email to associate...
I built a tracking page for Father of Stones (FoS) this week. I did not, notably, write very much of said book this week. There's a joke in there about creative avoidance and I'm not going to pretend I don't see it. Anyway β here's what I made instead. Word Count Over Time A live chart of Father of Stones' progress since late June. I'm not smoothing over the slow weeks. There's a very flat stretch from June 'til August where I worked on the Eigenthrope story, then another flat stretch through...
Yesterday I needed to remember exactly how a character destroyed a dragon artifact three books ago. I didn't dig through my own novels to find itβI asked an AI I built to search them for me. It's called the Grimoire: a mini-AI system I put together with Pinecone that I can ask questions about my own booksβhair color in a different epoch, a side character I want to bring back, a detail I'd otherwise lose momentum digging for. It keeps me writing instead of hunting. That's the quiet way AI has...