This is going to be brief: the book is in publishable form now. I will release it sometime next week on Amazon, and then I need to connect with some venues in Maine and build an appearance schedule, as well as look at possible conventions to attend.

I do not know how many conventions I will do in the coming summer and fall, as funds to purchase tables and cover travel are low, but any that do come to fruition will be posted here.

T.H.

The proof of The Steed has arrived. I’ll be going through it the next couple of weeks and passing on changes to Shane to get it publication ready. I’ll try to update with estimated timeframes. So far, what I’ve noticed is entirely formatting issues, which are usually the less difficult ones to fix.

You’ll have to excuse my ragged appearance in the photo, I’d cleared snow and dealt with an unexpected flat tire by the time I actually was able to get my hands on the book, but the thumbs up is sincere.

More information to come as soon as I can get it to you, but I can also share there should be hardcover versions of all three books in the series coming around the time The Steed is available for purchase.

And, of course, I will let people know when I make some public appearances this summer, probably all in Maine, but we will see.

T.H.

It is done.

The third book is complete and I have ordered a proof copy to verify that it is in the condition I want for official publication. I will be putting together book signings this summer at Sherman’s Books and other locations, with all three books in the series on hand. Eventually, I’ll figure out an appearance schedule for other events like conventions.

I am absolutely thrilled we finally got here, and that the Kindle versions of the first two have been cleaned up. Now, I will need to verify this version and get it out to Kindle as well, at which point I will offer sales on all three books in the series.

The next publication I will put out will likely come this summer, and it won’t be part of The Legacy Chronicle series, but a new work: a collection of horror stories. More to come soon.

T.H.

An important update: we have fixed all the Kindle editions of the book and they should no longer have any errors in formatting or legibility.

If you already purchased or downloaded a Kindle edition, please delete and re-download the file! The new version may take up to 72 hours to kick in. Please contact me if these changes did not work!

Oh, also, book three will be out …in a few weeks.

T.H.

Happy new year! We’ve been made aware of errors appearing in the Kindle editions of the books. Hoping to have a hotfix out in the next week or so.

There is not a lot to report on the book front. The map is DONE, but now I have to connect with Shane over the formatting issues we can solve on our end before we discover new ones during the proofing process. With some sick family on both sides, it’s been hard to nail down, but it will get done. Early 2023 release still looks good, and I’ll be able to announce appearances then, likely during summer of 2023.

In the interim, I wanted to direct folks to some books I have read this year that I think are extremely worth your time.

The first is an older series of novels I’m certain many are already familiar with, but deserve a look (or revisit): The Black Company series by Glen Cook. It starts with the first, The Black Company and there are three trilogies documenting different eras of a mercenary group hired out in a dark fantasy world. I cannot recommend the first trilogy Chronicles of the Black Company highly enough.

The other two books are non-fiction reads that I think are especially useful and relevant right now. The first is one most probably aren’t familiar with, but if you listen to Robert Evans’s superb Behind the Bastards podcast series, you might have caught it. Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain by David Gerard covers the rise, and inherent pyramid scheme, in cryptocurrencies and the misinformation constantly swirling around their viable purposes. Technical in some ways, but refreshingly accessible in almost every respect to almost any reader.

Finally, and probably most importantly, I have to recommend the extremely hard to read book Sandy Hook by Elizabeth Williamson. As someone who follows the debunking of Alex Jones’s InfoWars through the excellent work of the Knowledge Fight podcast, I got word of this book when Williamson was on the show. Her documentation of the horrific event and the devastating trauma dealt to the families, amplified by Jones and his ilk grifting off their grief by denying and deceiving their audiences, is heartbreaking and brilliant at the same time. Given the absurdity of the discourse around Jones lately, this book takes on even greater importance. Excellent journalism and a hard, but riveting, work.

I’ll be back, hopefully soon, with another, more comprehensive, update on The Legacy Chronicle! I hope some of the recommendations give a few readers ideas.

T.H.

Huge update (with pics)!

We’ve got some updates on the map. Shane is working hard to make it not just a spectacular fold out in the book, but also to function in some big, fancy poster-like maps that will be colorized!

The below images show the greater features now available with line weight and different color tones. Enjoy!

No substantial update today, except that I will be making my first official appearance since COVID at the end of October, sharing some of my new, non-Legacy Chronicle work.

That’s right, the horror anthology is entering the first draft stage.

This has been a particularly tough year that I think I’ll, justifiably, call a failure on the writing front. I’ve made a lot of deadlines that have passed, had a lot of plans for work that hasn’t got done, and in that since I haven’t delievered.

However, I haven’t given up on the work. Book three is coming out, even if it’s still a work in the final stages of progress. I have the bones of the horror anthology (and some of the stories) laid down. And I’ve got another idea that I am really taken with I will be pursuing, which I will leave unexplained for now.

But at the same time this year has been a success. I want to share with everyone this success, which might seem silly to some, that I am really proud of:

This is Portland Phoenix FC, my soccer team in the Southern Maine United Soccer League. It has been one of the most thrilling and enjoyable experiences of my life to be playing with this crew. The diversity of the people that play soccer in the SMUSL and the chance for me to learn and grow by being part of a team with these men is something I am going to treasure forever.

If you can’t see it clearly, the cover image for The Steed is our team’s crest. I was honored the team chose it to represent us, and so I think that can count as a win this year.

More pictures and updates to come.

T.H.

As promised, an excerpt from book three below!

As one comes closer to the base of the library fortress, the shops open into a great square around it, offering a fantastic view of the many towers stacked atop one another leading to the main spire that stretches far into the sky, blending in with the peaks of the mountains on the horizon. The square is not so much a gathering place for buskers and street merchants, as it would be in most cities, but is an oddly calm location almost devoid of any except tourists who have come to gawk at the imposing seat of arcane majesty. In the aftermath of the God-Sorceror’s defeat in the Arcane Wars, such visitors were rare. The tension was amplified by patrols of spellswords, bedecked in plate mail and with many plumes extending from helms and spears of bright shades of red, green, and purple. Though they were wondrous looking, like some heroic figures of fairy tales, they were exceptionally dangerous and, despite their gaudy dress, stern and foreboding beneath their armor.

The square features little in the way of shops or taverns, but there are a few that line the edge and are frequented by apprentices and wizards alike. It was to one of these establishments that Diaga chose to go first, in search of a former teacher he knew to have frequented the place. If she were still actively working in the fortress, he expected he’d find her there during the day.

The shop was known as The Scroll Binders, and was an old and highly regarded establishment for the ancient practice of rune and sigil etching. The walls inside were covered in parchment bedecked in the language of the arcane, some single characters and others several words in length, all made with exquisite calligraphy. These were demonstrations of the work the proprietors could perform, each with a price listed at the corner of the scroll. They ranged from simple wards against pests or alarm systems to shield from thieves, to more complex and potentially harmful wards intended to seal illusory walls or ignite the unwary person who had triggered them. Diaga scanned the walls and then began to make his way through the tightly placed shelves covered in more reams of paper as well as a few physical objects that had been etched, everything from skulls to silverware.

At the back of the store, he saw exactly who he expected sitting at one of several desks, practicing the precise strokes to form a singular rune. She had a stack of papers, blank, to her left; and she had a smaller stack of those she had completed, but in some minor way imperceptible to Diaga, not up to par. She had long grey hair tied back with a simple leather cord and wore heavy robes of blue, faded with use. Rather than a staff, which was traditional among most wizards, she had a wand set off to one side made of finely carved bone. As she turned to pick up the next blank piece of paper, she caught sight of Diaga over her shoulder, squeezing his way past a massive trunk that stood on its side. 

Raising her hexagonal spectacles, through which she had been studying her work, she narrowed her eyes, and then her aged face broke into a massive grin. “My gods, Diaga Cursair? Child, you’ve come back!”

Despite himself, Diaga smiled. “Mistress Indra, it’s so good to see you.”

She prevented further conversation by rising, with some haste even given her advanced years, from her seat and hugging him tightly. “I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again in my lifetime, short as the remainder may be.” She held him by the arms and stepped back to study him, her face growing suddenly concerned. “Why, Diaga, something horrible has happened. What is it?”

Though they had never known Neep at Ozmandias, Diaga felt certain that Indra would understand. It was thus that he spent the better part of the next two hours seated on a bench next to her, explaining all that had transpired since he had left the wizard school. Indra never interrupted nor posed questions, nor did her old hands leave his own which she had sandwiched between hers. Diaga did not, could not, tell her everything, but he told her enough. He found, for the first time in months, that he could say Neep’s name without halting his words. It was unclear to him if that was progress.

When he had finished, Indra removed her spectacles fully and set them aside. “Well, my boy, you’ve been through quite enough for several lifetimes. I am so sorry, Diaga.” She leaned back a bit and studied him once more. “But you aren’t here to have an old woman take pity on you. What is it that brought you back?”

Diaga hesitated. He needed Indra’s help to reach the fortress and see Q’thal under his own terms, but he also knew that if he told her too much, Q’thal would learn the same. Whether she wanted to tell him or not, Q’thal would get from her what he wanted through careful study and inquiry, and Indra would likely never even know she’d betrayed her beloved pupil. “Have you heard of this Lord of Legocia? That’s my friend, Jovanaleth Blade, who I was telling you about. He means to do something about the Nerothians terrorizing the continent, and I am here to ask for help.”

“From the Prime Wizard himself?” Indra could not help narrowing her eyes in obvious distaste. “Q’thal is not a man who concerns himself with what he sees as minor matters, and as extreme as things may have become in the north, they don’t even warrant a meeting of our staff to address.” She gave Diaga a sympathetic look. “I wish I could give you more hope.”

“I just need to see him and do what was asked of me,” Diaga said with a smile. “No more or less.”

“So why come to me? Q’thal would see you in a heartbeat, his prize pupil.” Her tone, though it feigned confusion, could not hide the glint in her eye. Diaga and she both knew full well why he would not go directly to Q’thal, but they kept up the deception between one another.

To that end, Diaga played along. “I have some friends that I wish to bring in as well, and it would be far easier to be invited than to petition the Spellswords.”

“Ah, of course. Too much paperwork and chance of rejection; I understand. Who are your friends?”

“Khaliandra, a priestess of Endoth; Aenallanos, a Revenant;” he paused a moment and pressing his lips together in obvious concern he added, “and Gervina, a Rift Sweeper.”

“A Rift Sweeper?” Indra’s voice was scandalized. “You may as well ask to bring an assassin into our midst, or one of those Wizard Hunters from the Sirrion Sea.”

“She may not even be a Rift Sweeper any longer. We found her wandering the streets here, and she’s in poor health. I don’t think she’s a danger to anyone but herself.”

“You are asking quite a bit, my dear.” Indra’s serious face faded in short order. “Though, I am certain I can get you in. Where would you like me to contact you when I have the matter settled?”

“I’m staying at the Drunken Wizard.” Indra cocked one eyebrow in mock surprise. “It was the cheapest place we could find for two rooms. I’ve not grown wealthier in my time away from Ozmandias.”

“Expect word from me by tomorrow then, and please keep Gervina’s former, or current, allegiance between us. I don’t want to have her tossed in a cell as soon as she gets into the fortress.” Indra smiled once more and patted Diaga’s cheek. “It will be good to have you back, if only temporarily.”

“Thank you, Mistress. I look forward to it.”

“Now, let’s see how you have kept up with your studies.” She handed him a blank sheet and quill. “Start with an ice ward, and we’ll see how steady your hand is.”

Diaga was going to protest, thinking he ought to get back to the others sooner rather than later, but her stare and tone brooked no argument, and he sat down with, in truth, little resistance; to become a student once more.