Quarterly Update: March 2025

Over the past few months, I’ve been intensively writing my next novel, set in the same world as Out of Dark Waters. The draft stands at about 60,000 words now, out of an estimated 100-120K, so I am at least halfway! I’m putting different titles through trial runs in my mind, but the current working title is Oath and Memory.

It will tell the story of Tamlin, an exile from another world, one of thousands who appeared through a gate in the sky, bereft of memories from their previous lives. Alongside a party of other adventurers, each with their own goals, he seeks the key to his memory in a dragon’s hoard. To reclaim his past, he must navigate treachery, dragonfire, and growing friendships, all while keeping his oath to an elven enchantress.

Below are a couple of short excerpts from the work in progress!

I have also been poking at my much older manuscript, The Kight and the Necromancer. For now, since I’ve been able to harness a lot of creative energy toward Oath and Memory, it is on the back burner. But I plan to circle around to it again when the stars are right. It’s very close to being done but is a challenging story to finish.

There are a few tabletop projects I’m working on as time allows, which I’d like to host here once they’re fit to be seen. These include a Frostgrave solo campaign, some 5e modular systems for things like crafting and overland travel, and an introductory TTRPG designed for 5–6-year-olds (which I’ve had great fun playing with my family). The content of those projects is largely complete. They are things that I’ve been using for a while, but they’ll require a good amount of polishing before I’m ready to post them.

Finally, I’m in the editing stage for a horror-fantasy short story, which I hope to make available in some form or fashion in the near future!

Oh, and I posted the first five chapters from Out of Dark Waters as samples here! 

Outside of writing, I’ve painted a lot of miniatures lately. My Instagram is now full of tiny monsters and tinier people. My painting, certainly by the standards of Instagram, is nothing fancy. But I love sharing my work there, and I hope it can be an example of someone having a great time with the hobby, without needing to be an S tier painter.

I was also very lucky recently  to work with an artist, Niputya Cuveika, who drew a fantastic illustration of a pivotal scene from Out of Dark Waters. She wonderfully captured the characters and the tone of the encounter, and I’m grateful for the application of her talents to my writing. Thank you again to her, for her excellent work and skilled eye!

I'm looking forward to doing a great deal more writing as the year continues. The next few months may be relatively consumed in preparing to move houses, but I'll be at my keyboard, telling stories about dragons, whenever possible. 

And I wish you all a Happy Spring, wherever you may be!