So with all the craziness of conventions, (Coming to Anime Expo this weekend? Why so am I. Find me at The Five Wits booths, 441 and 443) I haven’t had the time or energy to update as I wish I could. I had planned to place Book Four after a one year time skip, and write several short stories about the intervening year. Those stories were to have been part of kickstarter rewards to fund getting The Tembelaka Voyage printed. So I was originally going to write a novel and two to three short stories in a very busy two months of conventions while doing a water color illustration a week of catch up work. Evidently I thought I was Djaren with a side of Anna.

So here is the revised plan. Since one of the short stories is threatening novella-hood, I’m just going to start posting it starting tomorrow. I may pull the short stories later to bind up into backer rewards for some future kickstarter, but for now, what keeps me on track with my writing is knowing that people are waiting on my stories and expect to know what comes next. So get ready for The Cambriol Riddle, posting tomorrow.

I was at Soonercon this past weekend, and got to meet some great people and buy a lot of pottery in the art show. 🙂 Thank you very much to everyone who came by and bought a book!

Now I had best get back to work so there can be a book four posting soon.

I hope to have some sketches or maps or something interesting in good enough shape to post by tonight.

So in addition to Anime next next weekend, I’ll be back in Oklahoma for Soonercon in Oklahoma City the weekend of June 15-17. I’ll have an artist’s alley table, wherever they keep those, and have books available.

Today I packed up the van for Collosalcon and AnimeNext, and I’ll be driving starting very early tomorrow, arriving in Ohio on Wednesday and New Jersey on Thursday. If you order a book online in the next few days therefore, your shipping might take a day or two extra to get to you. I’ll be driving Monday through Wednesday on the way back, so any updates in the next week or so will be minor miracles, entirely dependent on finding an internet connection and having something coherent to share.

Here are five fictional facts to give you while you wait:

Shandor’s first King was named Tam. It has been a popular name since, rivaled only by other such standbys as Willim and Jaimrie

Levour will host the next World’s Spectacle, inviting all other nations to the palatial fairgrounds, where people of all nations will be able to be impressed by one another’s technology, engineering, and deep fried foods. This will be Shandor’s first appearance at a World’s Spectacle.

Many Shandorian surnames begin with “Dar”. This is because it is the old K’shay tanna patronymic. In the old days, Djaren would have been Djaren dar Corin, and if he used that at home in Shandor it wouldn’t be too unusual. K’shay tanna who felt like being more pretentious could list the names of several ancestors to call back to some famous hero (Markaerd dar Xahrenth daer Kaerad dar etc, . . .)  “Daer” means daughter of, as “Dar” means son of.

Djaren’s first foreign language, after Trade Common and K’shay tanna was Sarvarthi. It was the language his parents used when they didn’t want him overhearing. That didn’t last long.

Corin’s unique and peculiar black sword has a name. It’s Myrshon. He is not its first wielder.

Here are a couple of sketches I did on the plane coming home from Baltimore. I’ve been trying to work out what Rades and Tallis look like. Their designs may change a little later, but I like where they’re going.

Balticon was amazing and great fun and I just got back at 3am last night, so today’s update will be postponed to a day later in the week.

Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by at Balticon and bought me out of all but 2 copies of the books I brought with me! I met so many kind generous and brilliant people, and got to catch up with some of my already good friends.  I had a really lovely time.

Special thanks to J.R. Blackwell and Jared Axelrod who apart from being exciting and generally fabulous people, made sure I got to the airport on time.

Thanks to Phil Kahn and Rob Balder, who are always a lot of fun to hang out and talk with, and have been for many good and geeky years. I love seeing great people’s careers grow and change, while they remain awesome. Thanks for being as lovely and even more awesome than you were in the days of Ubercon and Slugweens.

Thanks to the DC anime club, for the commission work and for promoting artists.

Thanks to Olivia and her family for being one of the coolest non-fictional adventuring families I have met, and thanks to the people who bought books and then came back to tell me they were already half way through. You remind me I should be writing right now. Which I shall go do.

If I can stand to look at the sketches I made on the plane trip home, I may post them later in the week. I also plan to post a list of art reference links and art book reccs from the presentation I did at Balticon entitled ‘How to Draw What Doesn’t Exist”.

If you want a book I was sold out of, and would rather attend another fun convention than pay shipping, I will be at AnimeNext in Somerset New Jersey on June 7-10, with a replenished book and print supply.

That was an amazing weekend. Thank you Balticon.