And Now for Something Completely Different
State of the Library #19
In this Issue:
June break announcement.
Wyrd West: Rawhide Revenants anthology.
Sardis and the Battle for the Library has ended and what’s next.
In Case You Missed It (ICYMI)
Preview of May’s story, “Magic in the Margins”
We had to move my computer.
The house we live in was built in the 1970s and has passed through quite a few hands, with some of those hands making changes that we later learned were “on the cheap.” Therefore, there are things about this house that make it delightfully unique, and which helped sway us to buy it. And there are things about this house that, after we bought it, made us have a bit of buyer’s remorse.
One of those is the bonus room. We absolutely loved the idea of it when we got the house. However, after we moved in, we realized that it is actually attic space that has been opened up, carpeted, and given a bit of dry wall and a pair of windows. So, as you would expect for an attic, it gets hot in the summer and chilly in the winter.
We originally put a portable AC unit in there to use in the summer. However, that is expensive. So, we made the decision to move my computer downstairs for the hotter months.
It has seriously thrown me off. It echoes slightly when I type. The ambiance of the space is different. Even the background sounds are different. Hopefully, I will adapt, but for now, I am befuddled. Flummoxed. Even, perhaps, bamboozled.
June Break
The fact that I have been hanging onto productivity by my fingernails probably is also contributing to my scattered mental state. While there are certainly harder working writers out there, I have been going at what for me is a very clipped pace. Keeping up with monthly stories on top of a serial and submitting to an anthology contest is a lot.
That is why I am taking off the month of June. I am sure I will be active in my Notes and other social media. However, I will not be doing any writing. My focus, rather, will be reading, getting my house in order, and celebrating my 15th wedding anniversary.
There will not be a State of the Library or a story posted in June. We will return with our regular programming in July.
Wyrd West - Rawhide Revenants
I am happy to announce that I was accepted into
’s next Wyrd West anthology, Rawhide Revenants. I don’t have a cover yet to share, unfortunately, but I do have the publication date: May 16.To say I am over the moon is an understatement. I think I’ve been orbiting Jupiter ever since I got the news. In fact, my husband heard me screaming on the day I found out and immediately concluded, before I even burst into his workshop, that I had been accepted.
This is the first time I’ve been published through any kind of press, and the first time I’ve been included in an anthology. It’s a delightful set of firsts. I look forward to working with Raconteur and maybe even appearing in more of their anthologies. They seem like a fantastic bunch of villains so far.
The Battle has ended…for now.
Sardis and the Battle for the Library came to a close on Saturday, April 19, the day after my birthday. Yay! I was a little late getting out the after-action report, I mean, the “Behind the Scenes” post (please see the In Case You Missed It Section).
I don’t have any plans at the moment for another serial involving Sardis, Drusilla, or Malo. Their stories are not finished, of course. However, I don’t have anything in mind right now. I’m so done with the project, in fact, that my next serial is going to very much be something different. When I’ve rested my brain and gotten some space from Sardis, I’m sure I’ll be able to plan a return.
Please note that Sardis and the Battle for the Library will remain free until July 7. After that, it goes into the Forbidden Section. If you want to continue to be able to read it, and the rest of the menagerie, consider a paid subscription.
In Case You Missed It
Edgar Did It
All Alicia wanted to do was make her main character miserable. But when strange things start happening around her home, the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur.
If you want to catch up on Sardis and the Battle for the Library:
May’s Story: “Magic in the Margins”
This short story is the embodiment of the phrase “and now for something completely different.” Maybe I needed to write something lighter after having done “Edgar Did It.” No idea, but this is the first time I have ever written something that could be characterized as “cozy.” This is sort of like having that one kid you love but aren’t sure where she came from.
Emma owns Tome and Tail Bookery, a little bookstore in magical Bramblerest. Everything is going normally until a series of break-ins disturb the town's peace, and then Emma receives an unusual customer.
Excerpt:
Streetlamps normally flooded the lot with light. But only one on the far end was working, leaving the normally bright lot drenched in shadows. Emma couldn’t even tell if the figure was looking at her, but her gut tightened with the certainty that he was.
Her mind flew to the latest break-ins at Julia’s Herbiary and Perwinkle Alchemy. They both had been ransacked. Rumor was that the burglar had used magic to get in.
The streetlamps really should be on.
Emma yanked the curtain in place. Her heart raced, and her instincts told her to do something. The only sound in the apartment was the soft bubbling of her Bolognese sauce.
After a moment of thought, she rushed from kitchen to living room, and through the door down into the store. A few lights had been left on, revealing Soot curled up on a table in the receiving room. By the back door was a security panel.
She reached it just as the handle on the door began to move. She hit the emergency button. Loud sirens screeched through the building.
The knob stopped moving. If whoever it was ran away, Emma didn’t hear their retreating footsteps over the noise.
“Magic in the Margins” debuts Friday, May 9 at 10 am Eastern.
I think there are several of us taking the month of June to rehabilitate our creative minds.
It's always important to rest, so it's good that you're setting time aside for it. Looking forward to this month's story!