Hi! If you enjoy fantasy with snarky humor, I've got some books for you. My newsletter takes you along the creative journey, and keeps you informed of what's brewing.
Newsletter - September 1, 2024
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My big non-writing news: I clicked on the "I'll go ahead and take the Early Retirement, thanks!" button at work. That means I have one more month at Intel, and then I'm off to do something different. For new folks, I have three teenage daughters, so I'm not in a place to stop working. I want to be able to help pay for college, post bail, hide the bodies of presumptuous boyfriends (I assume that takes money to do well). To be blunt: it’s scary. Twenty-seven years at Intel and now I’m going to reset. Prove myself all over again. With a family that depends on me for money (and insurance… and hugs… daughters like hugs). Aaand, it probably destroys my writing time. On the flip side, I like learning new things. I took one wild chance and applied for a Creative Director role at a game company, the same one I was in the process of signing a contract with for a litRPG that takes place in their game world—it turns out the communication fell apart because their Creative Director left. If you’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, you know I use my phone to write, often while waiting in parking lots for my kids. These days I’m writing in hospital waiting rooms. Life doesn’t let up, does it. Then it does, and you miss it. [Since I know my editor reads this, I feel obliged to point out that the next to last sentence was rhetorical, and a question mark at the end of it wouldn’t convey that. I am asserting my writers’ license.] Since the last newsletter, I released the updated cover to Mother of Trees. You’ve all seen the previews, but here’s the final version. The cover designers are working on the cover for Book 2 now. (I’m very happy with the company, Deranged Doctor Design.) I received my structural edits for Book Two, and I’ve read through them all. I think, even if I can’t manage all the suggestions, the book will be better, and my writing for this book and the future will be stronger. So I’m going to call that a good investment. I’ve tackled about a fifth of the suggestions, so this may take a while. But life has also smacked me around a little more than normal, so my pace has been slow. If the gods of writing decide I don’t need so many life-lessons to grow, maybe I’ll get more time to write. At a guess, I will request ARC readers for Book Two, Bones of Cenaedth, mid-October. All books by Steven J. Morris Indie Author ShowcaseI went heavy on the collections of short stories this newsletter. There's a good deal of overlap in the giveaways, but there's a few unique ones in each. Go find some new favorites. Previous Newsletters
May you get lost this week in another world. Follow me on Goodreads. |
Steven J Morris
Hi! If you enjoy fantasy with snarky humor, I've got some books for you. My newsletter takes you along the creative journey, and keeps you informed of what's brewing.
Shepherds of Truth is live. It’s yours now. The conclusion of Thaumatropic Roots is within your grasp. If you’ve walked this path since Mother of Trees, this belongs to you as much as it does to me. Get it here: → Shepherds of Truth Also available: UK | CA Thank you for reading.Thank you for trusting me with your time.Thank you for finishing this with me. — Steve p.s. It is also my birthday today... :D May you get lost this week in another world. Follow me on Goodreads. Subscribe
Ten days until the end of Thaumatropic Roots. Ten days until the threads you’ve been following since Mother of Trees pull tight. Since “peace broke out like a plague.” Ten days. That’s all that stands between you and the end. I won’t overtalk this. If you’ve been waiting to see what becomes of Elliah, Hughelas, the dragons, and the fragile cage holding back the Father of Stones… It’s here. Every book has been tightening toward this. Mother of Trees. Bones of Cenaedth. Secrets of Deara. Every...
Elliah was never meant to carry this. She was born without magic in a world built on it.She was told what she could not be. Very few asked what she would become. And yet here we are. If you came to my work through The Guardian League, this is where the deeper current begins—the prison that holds the Father of Stones, the fracture in magic that echoes forward into Red’s world. The modern story stands on what happens here—even if it doesn’t know it yet. And Elliah’s world was not built for...