Hi, all! It’s been a hot minute since I really said much here. Let me elaborate on why.
Here are only some of the big things I have in the works! A long post follows…
1. Wulfgard: The Curse of Ankhu – novella series
First up, something I posted a preview for a while back: a trilogy of novellas (that I would later publish as a collection in the form of a single novel) set in Wulfgard and starring a character heretofore unseen in my writing: Djedar Rath. And set in the realm of Kemhet (heavily inspired by ancient Egypt), so much unlike my other publications in that way, too.
A synopsis:
Deep in the mysterious desert of the Red Land, Deshret, lies an ancient tomb, the resting place of one of the greatest evils the world has ever known: Pharaoh Ankhu the Endless. Long did he reign and oppress the people of the Black Land, Kemhet. So great and terrible was his power that the gods themselves descended, defeating and cursing him, burying him in foreign land in a labyrinth never to be found by mortals.
Now Ankhu rises again with each darkening of the moon, a walking mummy, searching for that which he may never find… his own still-beating heart, denying him passage into the afterlife. Over untold ages, Ankhu’s tomb remained undiscovered, a secret protected always by the loyal Medjay, an order serving the many pharaohs of Kemhet who came after.
But now a new threat has arisen— Lord Tefnahkt the Red, cultist and warlock, drives his many slaves to uncover Ankhu’s resting place, unlock his evil power, and once more unleash him upon the world. While a small group of Medjay work to stop Tefnahkt’s plans, one slave may become the key to stopping Tefnahkt – and putting an end to his and Ankhu’s evil once and for all.
In a race against time, five Medjay and the rebellious slave Djedar Rath must stop Tefnahkt from opening the tomb before the coming of the new moon, when Pharaoh Ankhu the Endless will awaken once more… for if he escapes, the world will never survive his wrath.
Expect to see the first novella released very soon!
2. Wulfgard: Knightfall – novel revision
In 2015, I published my first book: The Prophecy of the Six: Knightfall, the main series set in mine and my brother’s world of Wulfgard. Well, now I’m revisiting it, expanding it, revising it, and turning it into something truly epic as I prepare to continue writing the Prophecy series: the main thing I want to do with my life (short of filmmaking). Although it is also many other things, this is what you could call my “werewolf series.” Here is the synopsis:
Sir Thomakos “Tom” Drake is a knight of the Achaean frontier city of Illikon. Together with his close friends and fellow soldiers, he wants only to protect his city and its people from any who would threaten them. But the Achaean Empire to which they swear loyalty is always seeking out new conflicts that put his city in danger.
When Sir Scaevius, Left Hand of the Emperor, arrives in Illikon to recruit Sir Drake to help fight the massing barbarian alliance to the North, Drake has no choice but to obey. But he does not obey without protest, and soon he finds himself fighting not only the barbarians, but his own superiors as well. Meanwhile, strange things begin happening to him. He suffers blackouts, and at night he is plagued by terrifying nightmares. Even worse, he finds himself being stalked by horrific monsters… werewolves. Hated by his superiors, hunted by beasts and assassins, Tom Drake must fight for his home, his life, and even his mind. The events that are about to unfold will change his life, and the world, forever.
More info on this later! I truly hope you’ll give Knightfall a chance when the revision is completed. This series comprises the stories absolutely nearest and dearest to my heart. They, above all else, are the tales I want most to tell – and the thing I absolutely must create and share with the world – before I leave this earth.
3. Werewolf Facts: A Guidebook to Folklore vs Pop Culture – folklore book
So there’s a project I announced a while back, which is a published book edition of my Werewolf Facts I’ve written and posted on the blog here. I am very much still planning to do that, and I’ve been working on it! This will be a compilation of my werewolf facts, but each one will also be expanded and come with full citations, as well as a bibliography, expanded comments, and much more. Stay tuned for news on this book, too!
4. Revamping my personal website + general promotion of my existing work
So my personal website is pretty hideous; that’s a fact. One of my other projects right now is to revamp my personal site completely – again – and make it prettier, more accessible, easier to navigate, and do a better job of presenting my books and werewolf facts, along with my other work.
I also want to promote my work in general, and that’s something I’ve been working on and researching. My personal scoop: promoting completely original work is exhausting, disheartening, and grueling – you put your soul out there and, by and large, no one cares; at the most you’ll get a pat on the head and a ‘nice job’ because it’s cute that you’re trying, I guess. I’ve been working at this literally since my childhood, so I’m intimately familiar with how bad putting your work out there can make you feel.
So I suck at promotion! That’s just an issue with me. It’s something I want to work on. I’m currently investigating avenues of doing so, such as posting my writing on more places across the internet, different publishers, and different sites and communities for me to hang out on and spread the word about my creations. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know! I’d appreciate it. I really do want to promote my stuff better, but I’m just not that good at it. I’d rather just be working on the thing itself, instead, but at some point you have to stop and promote.
5. Werewolf Facts on Twitter
Werewolf Facts’ original home was on Tumblr, and they also live on my personal website, but I’d like to expand their reach, too. So I’m hoping to start posting a werewolf fact as a twitter thread every week for a while, starting next week. These will be semi-condensed editions of the werewolf facts you know here on my tumblr.
6. Making custom LEGO figures & experimenting with other things
I’m always making custom LEGO ‘figs, even if I’m super slow at it. I hope to have more Wulfgard ones around soon, as well as maybe some Nova Refuge, and maybe even some builds/models.
You probably saw me post my Shazam! Fury of the Gods fig recently:
I absolutely loved that movie beyond words, by the way. It reached deep into my soul and awoke something in me again that I honestly kind of feared I had lost or was coming dangerously close to losing. Watch it in theaters if you can still find it – if not, watch it at home. Trust me. It’s worth it.
Getting back on track: I’m only just starting to finally find the courage to start chasing my true and ultimate dream, too. It’s something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never known how. I had pretty much given up hope, too, short of a miracle, because I am broke and simply don’t have the means to put myself in any kind of position to enter that world. Well, I’ve found new inspiration recently. I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but let’s just say I am feeling good about the future and starting to dip my toes into the extremely amateur edition of what I want to do. I should’ve done it years ago, but I can’t change that, so I’m gonna do it now. More on that later.
7. Resuming work on Nova Refuge (sci-fi) novels & novellas
A few years ago, I started working in earnest on a sci-fi series called Song of the Stars. That is still very much a thing, and I hope to start publishing the series as novellas soon, as I have enough content written – and some of it even edited, too – to compose several books. Song was always intended to be me trying out a sort of traditional TV show formula, with each novella being a stand-alone “episode” that can also be experienced as a chronological series. I still love Song and I’m very proud of all the work I did on it, and I look forward to sharing it with you in the coming year or two.
I’m also working on a brand new book that is set in Nova Refuge but is extremely cyberpunk in nature, as cyberpunk has always been one of my favorite genres for a million reasons. I’m very excited about this story, and I’ve been working hard on it every weekend for a few weeks now. I’m making fantastic progress, so expect to hear more about it very soon!
8. Running my Patreon
So hey, you know that Patreon thing I run? That’s the best place to get the latest updates from me. I keep that thing updated as best I can. And I am always trying to provide content to my patrons and keep everybody happy and rewarded for showing me so much generous support. I run polls there about what everyone would like to see from me, discuss my writing, my research, and much more. I also post previews of my upcoming work.
I also have been posting a very silly and just-for-fun story there periodically, once a week, for all my Lunatic patrons. My lunatic tiers are my weirder/crazier writing and stuff that will never see the light of day in terms of publishing it as/in any kind of book. The story in question will never leave my Patreon, in fact. I write these always rough draft “lunatic writings” as warm-up sessions to other writing sessions on my major projects or as something just for fun for me to cool down on my day off every week. Feel free to ask me about details regarding Lunatic tiers!
9. Publishing a hardcover edition of The Werewolf: Past and Future
So you know that book I published a while back, the book edition of my master’s thesis? The Werewolf: Past and Future – Lycanthropy’s Lost History and Modern Devolution. It has done some pretty wild sales ever since I published it despite only having 14 ratings!
I’d like to have a hardcover edition available on Amazon, too. It’s on my backburner, so it might not happen anytime terribly soon, but it is on my list and I’d like to get around to that sometime, because I know a lot of people really like hardcover books, and I’d love to see what the hardcover publication is like on Amazon. It’d be my first time checking it out, and it’s something I’d like to investigate for my future books, too.
Also – if you’ve purchased and enjoyed the book, please consider leaving me a review on Amazon (or at least a rating)! Reviews on my books there help me immensely and encourage Amazon to show my book to other people, too. I appreciate every review!
10. Resuming Vampire Facts!?
I might! It might happen! I still see several in my drafts that I am no longer so exhausted and discouraged about. We’ll see if/when that happens and how it’ll work later on sometime, but you might just see folklore posts resume on this blog sometime later this year or next year – or at some random time earlier, we’ll see.
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Whew! And I think that’s quite enough of just a few of the things I’ve been doing since I stopped posting my regular folklore/werewolf/vampire facts. As you can see, I have a very full plate! And I’m actually a really slow eater. No, really, I am. It’s pretty ironic, I know, for those of you familiar with some of the weirder things I like. Anyway–
I’m working as hard as I can go on everything and I’ve actually been writing up a storm. I have an entire novella series ready to be published once they’re done with my editor and artist. I actually have a backlog of books to pester those who work with me because I’ve been writing so fast, and I don’t want to pressure anyone to try to keep up with my insanity.
I’m inspired, I’m motivated, and I’m determined. I’m gonna make these dreams happen, my friends. So expect a lot more news from me soon, including plenty of books! In the meantime, give me a follow here on Tumblr and my other social media:
Patreon — Ko-fi —Twitter — My Discord Server
And be sure to check out my Patreon if you’re interested in a lot more updates, behind the scenes stuff, previews, and a whole lot more. You can also join my little Discord and come hang out! Everyone is welcome. I’ve been trying to talk there a little more, because though I do be shy (online, anyway) and a bit of a hermit, I can also be a lonely soul. At any rate, you can also toss me a little donation on ko-fi if you’re in the mood; I’m way too ambitious for how low income I am and I am not afraid to admit that, so every single donation of literally anything is appreciated from the bottom of my heart.
I hope everyone’s still with me here on my blog. I love all you fellas, you’ve been really great to me. Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately.
I’ve been working on the side on compiling my werewolf facts into a proper book, as I mentioned, and I also want to get back to doing some werewolf blog posts, as well as posts about other folklore and mythology. I actually recently considered one on the mythology of Ladon, the dragon from Greek myth, because of Shazam! Fury of the Gods (the movie that breathed new life into me and revitalized my soul; a lightning bolt of inspiration in every sense of the phrase, I love it with all my heart, and it reminded me that there is good in this world and it’s worth fighting for)… we’ll see what happens with that.
Until next time!