We met with extended family to spend a day at Sea World. Hot day with cool (literally) rides.

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​Click here to be removed from family content.​

Oddly enough, the twice-a-month cadence for newsletters won out over once-a-month, by one vote. So twice a month is borderline. Maybe I'll skip a newsletter once in a while. And more people liked seeing the indie book options than didn't, so I'll keep them, but I set up ways to opt out of both the non-writing updates AND the indie book showcase. So you should be able to click on your choices in an email, set your preferences, and future emails will be tailed to you. (I can't change the one already in your inbox).

Hmm, maybe I could do the same with the frequency of emails too. The mid-month has less critical writing updates, perhaps, and one could opt out?
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I spent most of my “writing time” on marketing since the last newsletter. I’m paying to be taught how to advertise better, and that course time is limited, so I have to put energy into it.

Still, I have a first pass at the first chapter of Shepherds of Truth. Typically, it takes a few chapters to get the ball rolling, and then the story flows for a while, and then I have to circle back and adjust--that's my process. But because I keep switching to marketing topics, I'm not getting a rhythm going for my writing. That's okay though... I'll come back to the writing with more energy.

I have an embarrassing mistake to tell you about. I had to go back and revise Book 2, Bones, because I had a mistake in dragon genealogy. I think you all know that there was a mistake caught in Book 3 just as it was released—same issue. Well, when I started Book 4, I needed to refer to something from Bones, and it looked fishy. So I went to my character database (yes, I have a literal database, on my phone), and finally figured out the problem. I had a circular reference for the genealogy of the white dragons. In other words, depending on which dragon you picked, you would see a different set of parent/daughter relationships. I don't know how I punched it in wrong in the first place, but I did.

SPOILER ALERT below. I'll leave a little gap so that people can look away.

This is the correct genealogy for the whites:

Kryhryzar - she was the last white dragon alive during the Breaking.

Jenat, First of the Lost - daughter of Kryhryzar - those who have read all three books should know why she is the First of the Lost.

Arsyli (Flurry) - Jenat's daughter.

The bit that was hugely messed up in Bones was the info recited by the magical statue in Fael Themar. It referred to Jenat, when it should have referred to Kryhryzar. It's all fixed now, and to my understanding, anyone with an ebook will automatically get the change. I don't have the magic to change printed versions. Hopefully some day I sell enough copies that those with the errors become collectors editions.
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​All books by Steven J. Morris​

Indie Author Showcase

Ironically, while people voted to keep this section, I don't have any books to share this newsletter. I'll take the opportunity to share that my favorite fantasies are Stephen Donaldson's series called Mordant's Need, and Barbary Hambly's series that begins with The Time of the Dark.

What are some of your favorites? Here's your chance to add to my TBR.
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Previous Newsletters

• ​Newsletter-makeover - June 15, 2025​
• ​Newsletter - May 15, 2025​
• ​Newsletter - May 1, 2025​
• ​Newsletter - April 15, 2025​

​​May you get lost this week in another world.

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