September 2024 Dispatch
So that was August! It was nice to stay home for most of the month and be able to work on projects. I did remotely attend a writing retreat and got feedback on the third Wolftown book, and have started revising Azure City, so both of those are on track for releases next year. I’m also making good progress on the craft book, tentatively called How to Novel, and I’m enjoying writing out all the things I think about when writing. It’s proving to be a good exercise as I work on revisions, too, because I will write a piece on description and then go through my text and think, “oh, this is how I can make this description more effective.” Anyway, I hope this’ll be out next year and you guys can all read through it as well. I’m excited to share it!
We didn’t get into the BLFC dealer’s room so we’ll be passing on that con, and that means my next event will be MFF! I’ve submitted some panels and we’re hoping FurPlanet can be in the dealer room so I can hang out with them and sign some books. In any event, I’ll see some of you in Chicago this December!
We wrapped up the Kickstarter and will begin sending out rewards in September. If you haven’t responded to the backer survey with your address, please do!
And stay tuned for some changes to the Patreon! We’re working on merch and some other cool stuff you can get at various levels. Enjoy what’s left of your summer!
Books:
Squeak Thief: OUT NOW. A rich mouse hires a fox thief to steal from his own family, but the job quickly spirals out of control. You can get it as a print book on FurPlanet or Amazon, or as an e-book on BadDogBooks or any other major retailer.
The Price of Thorns: buy at Argyll and review at Amazon or GoodReads. In a fantasy world where stories are woven into the fabric of magic and life, Nivvy the thief is hired by a mysterious woman, and this job will change his life in ways he could never have anticipated.
Audiobooks: Titles has been approved and should be released this month! Watch the socials for an announcement (we don’t control when it’s released; ACX puts it up as soon as it passes their QC).
We are working on getting Love Match 2 out the door now. And we are working on a Price of Thorns audiobook! We’ve just resumed recording and hope to have this out early next year.
Other upcoming releases:
Dead Right: Late summer/fall 2024. Jae gets tangled in the life of a ghost activist who endangers his relationships and his future.
Azure City: 2025. A book full of blank pages might be the key to another world, but the more Athos reads, the more he disappears from this one.
In progress:
Robin Hood fan fic (two books) — draft complete, awaiting revision
Third Wolftown book — draft complete, awaiting revision
Ty the Knot — draft complete, awaiting revision
Fast Break (a gay basketball player story on Patreon) — first draft ongoing
craft book — first draft ongoing
New Ellie story (mystery) — first draft ongoing
untitled fantasy world project — outlining
Streaming:
The Instigators (Apple+): This movie feels like it should’ve been made about fifteen years ago: a Boston-set heist drama with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck? But the sensibility is very 2020s, with ex-Marine Rory (Damon) being in therapy as a point of the plot, and he and Cobby (Affleck) being new to the heist game and having to figure it out as they go. The supporting cast includes Ron Perlman, Ving Rhames, Toby Jones (Dr. Zola from the Captain America movies and also the voice of Dobby, which is a weird thing I learned today), and Hong Chau (from Downsizing and The Whale, and also the voice of Pickles Aplenty from Bojack Horseman). It’s an Odd Couple kind of movie, balancing the entertaining friction between Cobby and Rory with the action of a heist movie. I enjoyed it a lot. If you recently bought an Apple product and therefore have Apple+, check it out!
Scavenger’s Reign (Netflix/MAX): What would it be like if you crashed on a planet designed by comic artist Moebius where half the world was trying to kill you? What’s more, what if you’d been separated from the rest of your crew and you had to find them while also reliving your past traumas? Gorgeously animated and cleverly written, this series had me interested in every aspect of the world’s ecology while also cringing every time someone touched any part of it. Loved it.
What We Do In The Shadows (Hulu): We love this series, and this penultimate season hasn’t fallen off at all. I wasn’t quite into the “Colin Robinson as a child” season, but only because adult Colin Robinson is so much funnier, and he’s back now, draining energy from the world. There’s an overarching plot to the season that is well done, and everyone is at the top of their game. One more season to go, and while the writing is definitely heading toward a conclusion, the cast is still delivering fantastic performances.