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Normally, I write my newsletters on Sunday, then send them out Monday. But I was so tired Sunday morning, and so busy all day Sunday, that I’m writing this Monday morning.
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The tiredness came from helping a friend tile her fireplace hearth. Lots of physical labor for three days. Plus she lives over an hour away, so lots of driving as well.
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What was I doing? Grilling meat and making chocolates. What else would I be doing?
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I made my first molded chocolates at home. They look beautiful, and the exterior chocolate was perfectly tempered, as they popped right out of the molds.
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The interior doesn’t taste how I wanted it to. I made almond brittle, crushed it up in the food processor, then sprinkled some of that into the shells. I soaked pears in a champagne syrup, chopped those up, and added them to the shells. Then I made a white-chocolate ganache, using the champagne syrup, and filled the shells with that.
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However, the white chocolate taste took over, and there’s practically nothing else. Next time, I’ll go with more bold flavors.
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Today I start the next novel, “The Ice Elf & The Fire Elemental.” (This is the sequel to "Ice & Berries" which I'm renaming to "The Ice Elf & The Snow Cone.") Won’t finish until next year, but that’s okay. The plan was to lean into the writing this week and do a lot. Not sure that’s going to happen, as more Life has occurred. But I’ll still write every morning, which is what’s most important. Maybe next week I’ll be able to get more done.
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I’ve made my 350K for the year. I wasn’t sure I’d get that much. I kind of feel as though everything after this is gravy, ya know?
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I wrote three short stories since I finished the last novel. I feel as though I’m back on pace, back able to write regularly. I just looked—I’m at 36K for the month. Will hit 40K easily. Won’t get 50K, not unless I push. We’ll see.
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I’m thinking a lot about the new year. There are so many changes that I want to make. I want to be smart about it though. I need to make sustainable changes. Changing everything all at once won’t work for me. So I’m trying to take baby steps, give myself credit for the small changes.
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Because just as those few words every day add up to novels, those little changes are actually making a lot of progress.
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Guess what's coming....Will be available come May, 2025.
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Hey! It's December! Ice & Berries is now generally available!
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A cozy fantasy tale of friendship, work, and going out into the world. Oh, and snow cones!
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When the Ice Elf Elbriarien Itamar—or just El, for short—fails to get her Mage Mark after her apprenticeship, she decides to leave the frozen north and head south.
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Someplace where snow doesn't stay piled up in corners during the heat of summer. Maybe walk barefoot in the sand next to the ocean. Perhaps even chuck out all her learning and take work in a bar. (A fate worse than death, at least according to her parents.)
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However, without her Mage Mark, El cannot legally practice spells or do complicated magic. Just little things, cantrips native to her Ice Elf heritage.
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Join her as she makes her way in a new life and a new city, finding friends, business opportunities, a love of snow cones, and perhaps, if she's lucky, a sapphic love as well.
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To celebrate the publication of my new cozy fantasy novel, my first cozy fantasy novel is now on sale for $0.99!
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The spell to transform Killian the champion fails. Instead of a worm, he’s transformed into a wyrm. Swell. Now what? Thus begins the story of Talon the dragon and his eventual battle with a god. Or something like that. It’s a lovely cozy fantasy filled with humor, found family, gods and myths, and breaking of the fourth wall.
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Also, to celebrate Blaze Ward's latest Science Officer novel, Exile, which is available now on the KRP site (after Dec 10th everywhere else), we've put the first Science Officer Omnibus on sale for just $2.99.
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Javier will survive the pirates. Will they survive him?
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