Tag Archives: tea

you’ve blogged it in the tea leaves, and the tracks are on TV

And we’re back. My apologies for missing last week; Clockwork Alchemy consumed the entire weekend, but in a good way. There’ll be a few photos after the cut, along with two other things of note. Before that, I do want to answer a comment left by H on Saturday in a bit more detail. They asked what the latest news was on the seventh Monkey Queen book.

Hopefully, it’ll be late this year. Part of the delay is due to my not being completely happy with the story I had planned for the seventh book. At this point, I need to either figure out how best to rework what’s been written, or scrap it and start over. I know where the overall storyline is going after that; I just need to get it to that point.

Another part is real life getting in the way. Getting the Monkey Queen books ready for print after they’re written requires covers and formatting. That has taken money and time, and though I may be looking into steps to cut those costs, it’s not like with the Peavley Manor and Skyblade Saga stories, where I’ve had help (thank you, Shei and Amber!). Also, Willow has been busy for most of the last year, both with her Yokai art book and her real life things. (She did pass the review and earn her Ph.D last year, and was immediately hired for a teaching and research position, all of which has eaten up a lot of her time.) I don’t want to ask her to commit time to do a cover until I know what the story is going to be.

And other writing projects have also come up. Skyblade’s Gambit took some writing time, and I still need to finish up Skyblade’s Claim for a release later this month. The Peavley Manor short stories begged to be written and were fun to do (and helped me get out of my writing lull). And I have another project, a steampunk/fantasy thing, that I want to finish by September. After that, I can take a long look at Michiko and Beth and try to get book seven going. But it will, sooner or later, get done!

More stuff after the cut! (WARNING: Lots of photos, may take a minute or three to load.)

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Filed under Sunday catchup

she turns me on, don’t get me wrong, but I’m only blogging

Today’s Sunday catchup will be brief, due to a badly-timed power outage. But I do have an announcement, for those who missed it during Friday’s Tea Party: Work is underway on the second Peavley Manor story! It looks like it’ll be another novelette, and the title is… “The Thorn Harbour Road Rally (Or, Macalley Takes The Wheel)”! Look for it sometime in May!

And If you missed Madame Askew’s Tea Party last Friday, you can watch it on Facebook. The delightful, vivacious Madame discussed tea, dances, Scotland, a naughty cat, more tea…and “Book Fair Frenzy”! I cannot thank Madame Askew enough for her time and her kind words. Don’t forget – the good Madame and/or other members of the Temporal Entourage host a Tea Party every Friday night, so do drop by!

More next Sunday as always, Assuming the lights stay on, that is.

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Book Fair Frenzy to be featured on Madame Askew’s FB Live on Friday!

If you’ve read “Book Fair Frenzy (Or, Macalley Turns The Page)”, you’ve seen the mention in the acknowledgements of Madame Askew (a.k.a. Jocelynne Simone), whose videos on tea dueling helped to inspire parts of that story. I’m pleased to announce that Madame Askew will be discussing “Book Fair Frenzy” during the weekly Facebook Live video on her Temporal Entourage’s page! It’ll be Friday, April 21 (tomorrow!), starting at 6:30 PM Pacific / 9:30 PM Eastern / 3:30 AM CET! If you can’t make it for the live webcast, it’ll be available for viewing shortly after the webcast wraps up; check my Twitter feed for the link, or check here on Sunday.

Oh, and since Madame Askew will be discussing a story I wrote, I will be taking part in the live chat. There may be questions. There may be behind the scenes insights. There may even be a surprise. But make no mistake…there will be tea and biscuits!

Click here to find out more about Madame Askew, her trusty sidekick The Grand Arbiter, the rest of the Temporal Entourage, and their many adventures, and also to be notified when the event goes live. Hope to see you there!

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So inviting, so enticing to blog the part

Sunday catchup, and we’re starting with this reminder: If you missed it, Book Fair Frenzy (Or, Macalley Turns The Page) is out! You can get a nicely formatted copy at Amazon for 99 cents…or click here to read it on this blog! Either way is fine with me; just let me know what you think, and spread the word.

After the cut…well, best put the kettle on first. Continue reading

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Book Fair Frenzy (Or, Macalley Turns The Page): A Tale Of Peavley Manor

It’s here at last! Meet the irrepressible Alice Peavely, the imperturbable Macalley, and Alice’s friends and rivals in their debut novelette, Book Fair Frenzy (Or, Macalley Turns The Page)!

I’m going to do something a bit different here…

You can click “Continue Reading” and read this for free, after the cut…

Or you can help support my work and spread the word by buying a nicely formatted and ready for your tablet or phone copy on Amazon! Click here for the US link, or search your local Amazon store.

Do whichever you like, and do it without guilt. I’m fine either way. (And doing both wouldn’t hurt!) But please, please, spread the word. Review, retweet, share the Facebook post, blog, mention it to friends over a hot cup of tea, whatever works for you.

And enjoy! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you have as much fun reading it. Continue reading

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Filed under announcements, short story

Willow Wednesdays: Pass the crumpets

Welcome to Willow Wednesdays! We’re featuring art by Willow, the cover artist for the Monkey Queen series, with her kind permission! Read on after the cut! Continue reading

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