Welcome to the monthly newsletter with all of the latest updates about my books, projects, blog, art, news, and more!
About the photograph featured in the heading: This image came from a photoshoot I did in June featuring the Ghost Realm candle collaboration with Old Soul Artisan and witch’s elixir tea collaboration with Apothica Teas. (The blend in the photo is tenebryst, which has a spiced, earthy, smoky flavor. It’s available for purchase along with the other two blends on my website.)
It’s the calm before the storm as I prepare for my peak event season with the upcoming “Big Four” festivals: Michiana Ren Fest, Blueberry Festival, Popcorn Festival, and Sunflower Fair. This is my busiest time of the year with these events back to back to each other, so I won’t have much writing time while I try to keep up with wax-sealed envelopes and inventory orders.
By the way, the current password is SEVEN. 😉
Over the past few weeks, the books have been temporarily going offline with retailers while the files were updated. I mentioned in last month’s newsletter that the full series has been registered as “human-authored” with the Author’s Guild to join Book IV in the database. (For those who might not be aware of what this certification entails, check out my blog post.)
I made sure to stagger these updates so the whole series didn’t go down all at once. Since I was already updating the copyright pages, it seemed like the perfect time to do another update… MAPS!!
Moving forward, all of the books will have all four maps published in the front. Both the hardcover and paperback versions received this update. (The ebooks did not.) I do still have some inventory left of the original versions and will be phasing those out. An order with some of the new paperbacks should be arriving this week!
Current word count: 93,672
I actually spent a little quality time getting back into Book V recently and even shared the prologue on Patreon! Although this post is exclusive for Alpha members, you can sign up for the free seven-day trial to temporarily unlock all of the posts. But be warned… there are over 580 posts if you really want to catch up on everything!
Current word count: 2,886
Current word count: 1,040 (15 poems)
Drawings: 32
Photographs: 20
Current word count: 466 (6 poems)
The bad news—heavy rain and thunderstorms forced me to cancel my appearance at the Chesterton European Market on Saturday. I can handle a little rain, but with that forecast, I didn’t want to risk damaging my products (and wasting my time/money if people weren’t willing to come out and shop in the rain).
Missing a market is a significant financial hit for me, and the timing isn’t good. I’m gearing up for the The Big Four, which will stretch from the end of August through mid September. With these festivals all happening back to back for four weeks straight, I have to do a lot of inventory stocking beforehand. I also have some large booth fees to cover for fall/winter events. Missing this market was disappointing, especially after learning that a planned convention on my schedule has been canceled (and I was supposed to be a featured guest panelist).
Now, the good news—to try and make up for the lack of sales over the weekend, I’m running a website promotion! (I don’t think I’ve had a sale on my website since the holidays at the end of last year.)
You can use the promo code RAINYDAY on both my regular website (autographed novels, art prints, bookish merch, handmade items, etc.) and my merch website (Chronicles of Avilésor clothing & accessories, all my designs produced by Spring). This promotion is valid through Tuesday 8/4/26.
Be sure to check out my recent interview with Literary Titan where I discussed my inspiration for the Chronicles of Avilésor, key themes of Lab Rat, and a glimpse at what to expect with Book V: The Demikan.
I received a big sticker order that included the three new emojis I launched on Discord last month. Several Kálos and Alpha Patreon members received their complimentary stickers in the mail, while local patrons have envelopes waiting to be picked up at upcoming events.
To accommodate the large clowder of Kits, I built a new sticker display for the booth. (You also might notice the Book IV cover added as a new sticker, too.) All of the stickers are available on my website if you can’t make it to my booth.
Last month’s featured artwork “Redwing” is now available on a magnet! This print, along with this month’s new artwork “Moonflight,” will be added to other products in the near future.
Only twenty paperback advance reader copies (ARCs) of Lab Rat were printed, and all had been claimed except two. I just listed those copies on my website over the weekend. Only ONE is left! #17 is waiting for a new home…
In lieu of the market on Saturday, I joined Writing with Chaos on Twitch to do a virtual book signing instead. We chatted about books, writing, publishing, events, and pasta(?) for about four hours.
Our goal was to sell 10 books to make up for missing the market… and we hit that goal along with the bonus of some shirts, maps, and other items.
THANK YOU to everyone who tuned in and showed support! I even had a fan show some extra love and buy me a drink! 🥰
Okay, I mentioned a fun new activity coming to the booth last time. Here it is!
Fans have opportunities to earn tokens and get prizes in my booth. You’ll need to collect at least 8 tokens for a prize, but there are MANY ways to earn them! Some of the token rewards help to support my business, but I also wanted to find creative ways to support the small businesses, creative entrepreneurs, and bookstores that have worked directly with me over the years. You can do this by following them on social media, posting reviews, visiting local indie bookstores (even if you don’t buy anything), etc.
Here is the full (current) list:
A few notes about this new activity:
We’re still testing it out. The list of ways to earn tokens is subject to change as we figure out what works and what doesn’t.
While we very much appreciate past support, we can’t retroactively award tokens.
You don’t have to provide any personal information to participate, but we do need proof of completed tasks. If you aren’t comfortable showing me something personal like a book review, I completely understand! My assistant can verify instead. We just need to see that it’s been posted and confirm the date.
Yes, we’re paying attention to participation. If we notice people abusing the system, such as frequently following/unfollowing/following again on social media, we won’t award tokens for that. Don’t ruin it for everyone else. I wanted to make sure there were some easy earning methods for new people visiting the booth to feasibly earn a prize on their first visit.
Do you think you know the Chronicles of Avilésor inside and out? I created a super hard quiz that only a true superfan can pass! If you score 100%, you’ll earn a token and gain a new role on Discord (if you’re in the server).
You can take the quiz as many times as you like, but we won’t tell you which answers were wrong! Most of the questions are open-ended, so we’ll grade them by hand. If your answer is close enough, we’ll count it.
I’m pretty confident that nobody will be able to get a perfect score… but I’d love to be proven wrong! Good luck!
I’m really happy with how this one turned out! I used mechanical pencils, a Primsacolor pen, a blending stick, a circle template, and (not pictured) a bowl for the outline of the moon and base line of the lunar cycle arching across the bottom.
Patreon subscribers on all three paid tiers saw daily progress posts while I was working. Kálos and Alpha members can watch the timelapse video in an exclusive post. This new drawing will be added to my print collection.
Subscribers get exclusive content emailed straight to their inbox every time I publish a new post! I offer three membership tiers with varying perks: Human ($5), Kálos ($10), and Alpha ($15). New patrons, depending on their tier, can unlock over 580 posts! Here are the latest posts since the last newsletter:
• Upcoming event announcements
• New booth activity (tokens/prizes) + new Patreon perk (extra tokens at events)
• Updates: stickers, book changes, and events
• Read the prologue of Book V!!
• Kit stickers sent out to eligible patrons on the Kálos and Alpha tiers
• Daily art progress
• Timelapse video to watch me draw this month’s featured artwork
$5 a month isn’t much, but these small subscriptions really do add up and help me cover the publishing costs for upcoming books in the series along with other business expenses such as vendor fees, website costs, and more. Thank you to my subscribers for your support!! 🖤
For more information about the membership tiers and how subscriptions/donations support my business, check out this FAQ page on my website.
Is it better to publish independently or through a traditional publishing house? There’s no right or wrong answer, but for me, self-publishing was the clear winner. In this article, I’ll explain why being an indie author was the right decision for me… and why it might be for other authors, too.
July 11: Multi-Author Book Fair at The Press in Valparaiso, IN
July 18: Battle Creek Pride in Battle Creek, MI
July 23: Book Reading + Q&A at Edgewood Literary Salon in Michigan City, IN
July 25: ARTS in the Street Festival in Plymouth, IN
Be sure to check my website for the most up-to-date list! To receive event reminders, you can join my Discord server, follow me on Facebook or Buy Me a Coffee, or become a Patreon subscriber. Here's the current schedule of events:
CHESTERTON EUROPEAN MARKET
August 8, 2026
Chesterton, IN
OLD TOWN ARTFEAST
August 15, 2026
Lansing, MI
MICHIANA REN FEST
August 29-30, 2026
South Bend, IN
BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL
September 4-6, 2026
Plymouth, IN
POPCORN FESTIVAL
September 12, 2026
Valparaiso, IN
SUNFLOWER FAIR
September 19, 2026
La Porte, IN
BIZARRE BAZAAR
September 26, 2026
Valparaiso, IN
WOLF HOLLOW WITCHES MARKET
October 3, 2026
Belvidere, IL
NWI PAGAN PRIDE
October 17, 2026
Crown Point, IN
IRVINGTON HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL STREET FAIR
October 31, 2026
Irvington Historical District in Indianapolis, IN
PEORIA BOOKFEST
November 14, 2026
Peoria, IL
PCMGA GARDENING SHOW
January 23, 2027
8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Valparaiso, IN
KALAMAZOO COMIC-CON
April 9-11 2027
Kalamazoo, MI
If you can’t catch me at a local event, my website is the next best place to shop!
Browse my custom designs on apparel and accessories, produced and shipped by Spring
Old Soul Artisan’s custom “Ghost Realm” candle inspired by the Chronicles of Avilésor
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