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Update: Eight 4 Preorder's Live
And here we go... Eight 4: New Blood, Old Boneswill be published on December 5th. A lot of work has gone into the revisions, so please consider preordering the book. Because Kindle Unlimited requires exclusivity, I will be removing Eight 4's chapters from Patreon, which will happen tomorrow, Dec...
Eight 4 Stubbing, Cover Reveal, and Release Date
Hey all!I have a few announcements related to Eight 4: New Blood, Old Bones:Firstly, the release date for the book on Kindle Unlimited (KU) is Thursday, December 5th. The version you've read here on Patreon is a first draft, so this is the heavily edited version getting its publication date. I&#...
Eight 5.6: A New Mission
The shadows followed me through the streets of Huwata. Their watchful gazes distracted me as I walked alongside the reeve. I had to count on Yuki to store the information about the landmarks she pointed out.It also didn’t help that the tale of the hierophant’s death must’ve preceded me. There ...
Eight 5.5: Random Encounters and Stray Thoughts
Nothing else kept us in Bashruuta, so the next day we headed to Albei at first light. Within the first couple of hours walking, though, we had to put down the zombies of a dusk elk, shambling hellmouth, and brace of fire badgers. Quite a few animals had lost their lives in the flooding, and their un...
Eight 5.4: The Problem Revealed
The river south of Voorhei had flooded right up to the village walls, which meant that the tannery built for my kids had gotten completely submerged. All the tools and furnishings had been safely stored in our family’s longhouse in preparation for the storm, but the building itself was a mess, wit...
Eight 5.3: Mission's Aftermath
Fala watched over me from the rafters as I thoroughly searched Sulwa’s body. The only item of interest was a gold bracelet with a single charm, the image of an eagle stamped on it. Nothing about the bracelet seemed interesting, except I’d learned about something similar from Mumu. Back when we...
Eight 5.2: A Simple Plan
Our next step was obvious—getting a hold of Sulwa’s secret records. Fala, Yuki, and I debated between stealing the book ourselves or waiting to see if Dugo was successful and then taking it from her. The concern was she might fail, which would probably lead Sulwa to run, destroy the book, or bot...
Eight 5.1: Spies Like Us
Author's Note: Here we go! :)----Clouds stretched across the sky above Bashruuta, their limbs letting through the rosy light of morning. I imagined they were exhausted after the previous days’ hurricane, languid after their labors.I couldn’t know for sure, though. I’d lost the Path of the ...
Quick Update: On Track
This is just a reminder that I took a week off from writing and then a week to plan the effort for Eight 5. So far, I'm on track and we should see our first first-draft chapter post this coming weekend. The adventure continues. :)
Eight 4 Title Reveal, Eight 5 Update
I meant to post an update early last week, but a multi-day trip and conference for my day job derailed me. I'm back home , though, so here we go:The first draft of Eight's book 4 is complete, and I've already been working to clean up the story's pacing and fill in the plot holes in a...
Important Upates: Eight 3 Audiobook & Patreon Tier Changes
Hey all,I have two important updates for you.First, the audiobook version of Eight 3: Undaunted is set to publish on March 12! We’ll once again have the incredible Gary Tiedemann narrating, and pre-orders are available on Audible.Second, I'll be changing the Patreon benefit tiers at the end of...
Eight 4.16: The City of Blood IV
Even though the doors to the bridges leading to the neighbors were closed, the house’s leisteila was chilly. There was a stove at the center that Aslishtei was in the process of lighting, while Wensatsu and Krenya went around to light the candle stones. One thing about a family of magicians, there...
Eight 4.15: The City of Blood III
Author's Note: I'm going to be away for a few days, so I'm posting this a day early. Enjoy.________This is all Heleitia’s fault; she’s turned Ikfael against me. That was my first thought. The mass of anger, disappointment, and fear swirling through me needed a target, and the stonewa...
Eight 4.14: The City of Blood II
Back downstairs, I visited the washroom twice while waiting for the messengers. The mystery herb clearly possessed mild diuretic properties—not enough to trigger a condition in my Status, though, so it wouldn’t stop me from drinking the tea or using it in my cooking. The flavor would be one that...
The City of Blood I
Before we set out for Albei the next morning, the master of the Farmer’s Lodge found me and requested an update on what they could expect over the next ten days. I told him the weather would be mostly clear, with a few patchy clouds moving in. The weather system that had been gathering to the east...
Eight 4.12: Our Good Friend, Confusion
When Yuki let Mumu know of Xefwen’s departure, she replied that the team was investigating the trail left by the Maltrans. Doing that work now would save Silasenei time later, speeding up the pursuit. Her instructions were to stay at the pool and call when the grandmaster arrived.At first, the tim...
Eight 4.11: The Burden of Influence II
The next twenty minutes saw Ikfael and I sitting awkwardly together. I briefed her on what I’d seen of the Maltrans, and she acknowledged the information. Though she was clearly interested in learning about the recent invaders, the sense of distance didn’t decrease.Yuki tried to help by acting a...
Eight 4.10: The Burden of Influence I
Her name was apparently Heleitia. I’d previously spent three days with her and never wondered; it had never even occurred to me to ask her name while we were in the dream together. That wasn’t natural for a curious old man like myself.When I’d asked Ikfael about her name in the past, she’d s...
Eight 4.9: The Gloominess of Forgotten Memories III
The stonewater serpent had trapped Ikiira at the point between life and death—right at the edge of suffocation. Then, after a short while, runes arose from within the stone surrounding the young hunter. None of them looked familiar, possibly because they ran partly through the rock in addition to ...
Eight 4.8: The Gloominess of Forgotten Memories II
Why had my Status camera shown me results for Ikiira and the stonewater serpent? Perhaps it was because they were more present within this memory than the giant snake from earlier had been? Or was this experience more dream than memory, and its internal logic required certain details?Maybe… maybe ...
Eight 4.7: The Gloominess of Forgotten Memories I
I dodged, rolling to my left to put distance between me and the thing that Sklein had become. Hard-earned training kept me going, turning me toward the hillside leading up to the top of the Glen’s waterfall. About halfway there, the dark creature’s Spitter talent kicked in, and a tree behind me ...
Eight 4.6: Encounter at the Glen
Over the years, there’d been rumors of “accidental” darklight poisonings in the nearby towns, and not by small amounts either—these had been massive overdoses that had sent people straight into dusk, or in the case of a famous Albei carpenter, dark. None of the victims had been trained to ha...
Eight 4.5: The Tao of the Status Camera
The journey to the Glen began uneventfully enough. I was annoyed with myself, but that didn’t stop me from paying attention to my surroundings. And not just because of the potential for danger; being out in the woods never got old.The forest was vigorous with new life. The early bloomers already h...
Eight 4.4: Life is Change
After Aslishtei’s nieces left, my team stuck around the ritual room to hash out our concerns about taking on the job—the primary one being Asiik. There were supposedly other dangers hidden among Old Baxteiyel’s ruins, but anything too powerful for us would’ve already been swallowed by the si...
No Chapter Tomorrow
I'm sorry, y'all, but there won't be a chapter tomorrow. It happens every time—my good intentions to write during a holiday are overwhelmed by the realities of travel and/or hosting family. The disruptions will end on Monday, though, so we should be okay to resume our normal schedule n...
Eight 4.3: Untold Legends
We met in the ritual room under the lodge. The space was circular, and it hadn’t changed much from when I’d first seen it the night when I’d been initiated into the Way of the Hunter. The same, worn tapestries hung from the walls. They portrayed the woods around Voorhei and the creatures inhab...
Eight 4.2: Lessons Learned and Given
The fighting appeared to have scared off the other beasts in the area, so the trip back to Voorhei was uneventful. As we crossed the village’s boundary, I sent Snow blinking ahead to alert the militia members guarding the wall that we were back and safe.A handful of villagers had volunteered for t...
Cast of Notable Characters from Eight 1 - 3
Patreon Digdug kindly reminded me that a cast of characters is often helpful for Eight's story, so I quickly assembled a list for you all. The people below comprise my best guess for who is likely to show up or be mentioned in Eight 4:EarthFirst Family Alejandro Sandoval, grandfather Catalina Sa...
Eight 4.1. Eight Years Later
In the dark of night, the forest lit with the tell-tale flashes of fire magic. That would be Wensatsu, I thought, easing myself past a thicket. Ahead, the trees clustered like old men, or maybe more like the cutouts of them, backlit with their edges traced in flickering orange-red. There came a whoo...
Eight 4 Planned Release Schedule & Patreon News
All right, here we go—the first draft chapter of Eight 4 will release shortly.Expect chapters to be approximately 3,000 to 4,500 words long.My plan is to publish on a once-a-week schedule like I've done in the past. Unlike before, however, the chapters will publish on Sundays. My weeks have be...
