Ho, ho, how you all doing, everyone? Welcome to the last Archefire Newsletter of the year – and what a year it has been! We'll do a little lookback at everything that happened in 2024 next month, but I can proceed no further until mentioning what is undoubtedly the biggest news of the year:
After an 8-month hiatus, I've finally published two more Indie Reviews!
Oh yeah, and my wife and I had a baby.
We welcomed little Benjamin (a.k.a. Benny) into the world on November 22, and he's already become the most amazing thing in our lives. Sometimes I still can't believe he's finally here. And reflecting on just how he got here is even more wondrous.
Two little cells got together, then split, and split, and split, and differentiated until suddenly there was a fully formed human being in my arms. That's the power of exponentials. Nature is incredible.
A true miracle...
The fact that I'm able to write a newsletter with a 2-week-old infant, that is. So let's get into it! I don't know how much time I have left before Benny starts crying again.
Grave of the Waiting turns one (month)
Last newsletter was all about Grave of the Waiting, so I won't spend too much time crowing about its release. It's hard to know how many copies are out there considering I'm giving it away for free and there's no way to track downloads from my site (a huge oversight - get on that feature development, Ghost team!).
Speaking of which, if you haven't grabbed your copy yet, your story awaits: joshse.com/thank-you
It's still early days, but the reception has been positive so far. I'm excited to see how things evolve once I get the book into more readers' hands. If you're someone who's already read it, consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads! Whether you love the book or hate it, I'm always open to your feedback.
Sibling Suns Update
In this year's Odyssey of JoshSE, Goal 2 was to complete the first draft of the Mathemelodian Novella. In the past few days, however, I've had a change of heart. One of the reasons many authors write a novella is so they have a reader magnet for their newsletters (i.e. an incentive to sign up).
However, I've already got that in Grave of the Waiting, and since Benny was born, I realized this environment with a newborn is more conducive to brainstorming and outlining than drafting. There will be time for putting the pen to paper when he's a bit older and I'm going back to the office after paternal leave.
In the meantime, I've decided to focus on Sibling Suns 3. I have the broad strokes already written down – but there's a lot of logistics to work out for this book. You can read this as: the beginning is solid, the ending is great, but I have no idea what's happening in the middle yet. I do know that the map above will be published in this book. Read into that what you will. 😉
I'm also pleading, begging, praying to the writing gods that I won't have to split this book up into two. Finishing the outline will let me know if that's to be my fate – but I hope beyond hope that book three will be the Last Dance of the Sibling Suns.
More to come soon as I settle into my new schedule with the baby!
A secret mention of a secret project
Psst. Hey, you. C'mere.
Word on the street is that something big will be revealed in 2025. My part is close to wrapping up. Others are involved. Don't let them know I said anything, or I'll be sleeping with the fishes.
The last monthly giveaway
I've had a lot of fun holding monthly giveaways and reading your comments on the newsletters! It's been like the 12 days of Christmas. Except spread out way longer. The 12 months of... Archefiremas...? Ahem.
This won't be the last giveaway ever (could you imagine? me? not giving things away?) but I won't be doing them in every newsletter going forward. I've got a boy's college to pay for, and at the rate things are going, by the time he's 18 it'll be like $300,000 per semester!
Last month's question was about what your favorite sci-fi media is. Naturally, you had some solid picks. Red Rising, love it. Dune and Star Wars, absolute classics. I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply to your comments - things were getting really hectic with the baby's early due date approaching. But the Wheel has not forgotten. The Wheel has chosen.
Liz, come on down to claim your prize! The Crimson Grave stainless steel water bottle is yours – say goodbye to the microplastics in your diet!
/* By the way, in case you're wondering, this is how far I got before Benny started crying. Time to feed the baby! */
/* Aaaand, I'm back. Baby is soundly asleep, so let's get this thing done! */
This month, in the spirit of the season, the giveaway prize is a little bit different. I'll be donating $100 to a charity of choice in your name. I expect to see you all in the comments section, fighting for your cause! Just answer this one simple question:
What unique holiday tradition does your family celebrate?
If you've got some standard, run-of-the-mill ways to celebrate the holidays, that's okay too, leave that comment below (and it doesn't have to be Christmas – any holiday is fine). But I want to hear the thing that only your family does to celebrate, and the meaning behind the tradition for you guys.
For example, my wife's family has been reciting a poem from an advent calendar for long enough that all of them know the words by heart. Which is lucky, because this 90s-era calendar is so frail that opening the advent doors risks tearing the paper. Each stanza is behind one of the doors, and on Christmas Eve they all say them out loud in unison. (I'm still working on memorizing my lines.) During my first Christmas with them, I didn't know what to make of it – it felt a little like a cult ritual 😅 But for them, it was a way to celebrate the advent together and focus on the story of the nativity, which is what the poem is about.
Now that we're starting our own family, it's fun to think about what traditions we'll try to start, which ones will fade out, and which will stand the test of time. I'm looking forward to hearing yours!
Big Brother Naz, the Gul
Just a few hours ago, Nazgul met his little brother! Until now, he had been staying at grandpa's house while we got used to having Benny at home. But now the whole pack is together – though it's still going to take a while for Nazgul to get used to the new paradigm.
For the first half hour, he was barking constantly. Not aggressive, just scared of the new creature occupying our home. With some positive reinforcement (i.e. showering him with treats anytime he's calm around the baby), we managed to calm him down. Now he just flips out whenever Benny starts crying. It's a start.
Before we dropped him off at grandpa's and left for the hospital, he was enjoying things discovered below the carpet of autumnal leaves before the landscapers blew them away. Such as a very large stick. Only 3 times his body length. Very manageable.
That's pretty much it! Most of our month was just preparing for the baby, so I don't have many pictures of Nazgul this time around. But from our pack to yours, I hope you have a happy holiday and a wonderful start to the new year! See you in January.
As always, thanks for reading!
— Josh