New Season, New Series!

So... Yeah, it's been six months since the last update. Heh. Rest assured that I've just been busy; I haven't fallen off the planet or anything. I wish the preoccupation had everything to do with my writing projects, but alas, real life has been keeping me busy too. And yes, I am aware that it's spring now (in the northern hemisphere, at least), which belies the wintery scene above, but I'm launching a new series, and the first book is set in wintertime. Yay! Let's get the show on the road!

Happy Earth Day! I thought today was rather apropos to release my new book, since one of its themes deals with earth-based magic. That, plus the fact that I'm a huge supporter of environmentalism makes this the perfect date for my new book.

This series came a little out of left field for me. I had every intention of continuing with the next book of Galactic Explorers after Rasalas was done, but you know what people say about intentions. Don't worry, though! GE Book Five is still in the pipeline; I just need to get Book Two of this series out of my system first. It's the one demanding my attention the most right now and filling my head with plot ideas.

Rimehollow is Book One of my new Vulpine Tales series, which is loosely based on some of the legend and lore of Japanese kitsune mythology. Each book will be themed to a different season of the year, with the first taking place in winter. I've created eight different clans for my vulpine folk, based on eight species of fox known to humans, and the main characters of each book will represent two of them.

Kitaru is a member of the Yuki clan and represents the real-world species of arctic fox. His clan is descended from the gods of winter, and they thrive in the cold, snowy regions of their world. Yuki are also natural magic users, with some of them, like Kitaru, training intensively enough to earn the rank of mage.

Ryota hails from the Akai clan, representing the human equivalent of the red fox species. Akai are not magically gifted but are inherent warriors, their ranks comprising the strongest army of the vulpine world.

These two spend many hours basking in the warmth of the fire, reading, playing music, and talking about whatever. I created this piece as a representation of several scenes from the book, rather than a direct analog. I even put Mochi in there, curled up on Ryota's shoulder, doing what pampered, spoiled animal companions do best--not much of anything.

This one was fun to create. I had this image in my head for a long time before I wrote the scene it depicts. That happens often for me, though. So much of my content begins as a snippet of conversation floating around in my head or a vivid mental image.

One last image to round out the post. This is from a book scene too and I love it. The lighting just worked out so nicely. Sorry for the lack of context and details, but you know... I don't want to give too much of the book away.

​This is what's been keeping me busy for the last several months. The book is now published, with all vendor links live on the book page. The paperback will be live soon. I'm still working on formatting it, but I'll submit it for publication in the next day or two. I'll add the link to it when I have it.

Oh! Also... I wanted to mention that 2025 is the tenth anniversary of the start of my journey into self-publishing. Ten years and twenty-six books so far! Wow. Here's to the next decade!

​Thanks for joining me on my adventure, no matter how long you've been with me, or which book brought you here. And, as always, thanks for reading!