My brilliant plan didn't quite work

So I made a new plan! Details on both along with the results and some book news are in this week's newsletter.

So last week, I mentioned that I had a plan, and I did. But then some weather happened.

I didn't want the weather to derail my brilliant plan. So when the heatwave hit NY State, I had to do something. So I made a new plan.

But I might have gone a little too far with things. Did you expect that?

Oh, you did?

How did you know that when I didn't?

Do you have a crystal ball? Or did the AIs tell you?

I've seen them sniffing around our website. I don't know what the AIs are looking for. But they keep coming back and bringing their friends. Do they like stories?

I hope they do because maybe I can charge them for visiting our site and help pay for my expensive plan.

I should probably tell you what I did now and stop stalling. This is Ran, Sarn's son from the Curse Breaker Series in case you were wondering.

Okay enough stalling. You want to know about my plans.

Did I mention that my original plan is brilliant? Because it was until I made the expensive mistake.

Over the years, readers like yourself, have asked for maps. I've asked too so it wasn't just you asking.

I'd also like to know where things are so I can plan future adventures. That's probably why there are no maps yet. Melinda’s on to me. (She's my scribe.)

But I might have encouraged the characters in the Riders of the Apocalypse series to travel and see the world so Melinda would need a map to keep track of where everyone is.

If that plan failed, I found her old journals, and guess what? There are maps in them! So I planned to slip them in somehow. I haven't worked out how yet because I'm hoping Melinda will do that so I don’t have to learn how to format books. It looks complicated to do that, and I like to stay away from complicated things.

I wanted her to work on those maps this past week since that’s a good inside activity. But it got really hot. On Thursday, it was 101 degrees, and my scribe melted into a pool of sweat had to ooze home.

(Her words not mine. I overheard her telling her neighbor that when he saw her outside walking in the morning.)

I couldn't find any footage of that or any pictures, so I think she might be exaggerating. (My scribe likes to walk and she doesn't like to skip a walk because of a silly thing like the weather being really hot and humid.)

I couldn't prove that she was exaggerating either because there were no photos or videos. But she looked wilted where she slumped on the couch when she returned.

The couch is not near her PC where the hand-drawn maps she made the summer when she was 13 could be digitized and updated. Nor could I get any page time if she's just sitting there, contemplating her life choices.

So I might have turned up the air conditioning until my scribe was shivering and pulling on extra layers. But in my defense, I didn't know that air conditioning uses electricity and that costs money.

Melinda turned the air conditioning down so her apartment could warm up to more comfortable room temperature. She doesn't like the cold, and she says that she can't type with gloves on.

But she does type with gloves on in the winter when she's out walking in the cold. I'm not sure why she can't type with gloves on in the summer in her apartment. That doesn’t make sense.

Melinda didn't explain either. (She doesn’t always answer me.)

So if you're in need of a good book, may I suggest one of mine? It would help pay the electric bill and get me back my scribe's good graces. If you can’t, no worries! Thoughts and prayers are also helpful.

So those were my two plans, and I might have succeeded if my scribe didn’t get violently ill. Don’t worry. I swung into action and summoned her neighbors for help. Then I went back to Mount Eredren, so no one could ask me to help clean up.

I don’t clean. I’ll help assemble stuff and come up with ideas, but I draw the line at cleaning. So I got out of there fast, and didn’t return until my scribe’s digestive issues subsided. She’s better today, but she says everything hurts. That’s understandable since muscles and organs moved in ways they aren’t supposed to. That can irritate them.

So I’ll give my scribe a a few days to recuperate and then it’s back to Operation Maps!

Melinda didn’t get much writing done this week, but she got some edits done on Chaos Reigns. She also posted chapters 5-8 of Chaos in Chains on Patreon and Substack for paid members. So you can read what the characters are up to and see why I am begging for some maps!

(Just a reminder—this is not just a ploy so I can find out where everyone is and plan future adventures to the places on the maps I want Melinda to make. But I’m not saying that I won’t do that too because we all know that I will.)

That’s it for this week. I hope to have better news next week and I hope you read something fun in the meantime. I have suggestions if you need them.

New Books & Special Editions

Don’t forget to follow our campaigns:

Riders of the Apocalypse: Complete Epic Fantasy Book Series

An angel, an ex-god, & a dragon take on the riders of the apocalypse in 4 humorous epic fantasy adventure books. Follow the campaign to get notified when it launches. We’ll probably have to change the reading order and redo this graphic and parts of the covers. Oh well, nothing ever goes to plan!

Curse Breaker Unleashed: A New Epic Fantasy Book Trilogy

An ancient army awakens and the only man who can stop them is the one who set them free in three new adventures full of heart and hope. Follow the campaign to get notified when it launches in 2027. My scribe will write these books next!!!