Archefire Newsletter - January 2025

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and if you had any time off work, I hope you feel refreshed and ready to rock and roll for 2025. I feel optimistic about this one.

Our boy Benjamin is 6 weeks old now, and I can't help but look forward to all the early developmental milestones we're going to hit. Right now he's just a dumb little baby – incredible how we all start out so helpless and unaware – but by the end of 2025, he... well, he'll still be pretty helpless and small.

But he'll be able to crawl around, maybe starting to take his first steps. He'll be babbling and smiling at us, maybe even saying his first words. He'll be eating solid foods! Hard to imagine that of someone who screams every two hours (or less...) for another bottle of formula. It's impossible not to be optimistic when I've got all that to look forward to.

On the other hand, it's almost a certainty I won't be releasing a book this year. Whereas my last newsletter was written when Ben was sleeping fairly regularly and let us put him down in the crib for multi-hour-long stretches, he's now more demanding of our time. That update felt relaxed, despite the early signs of sleep deprivation. Now sleep deprivation is just my way of life, and I'm writing in a state of urgency before Benny needs his next bottle or the wife thrusts his tiny screaming body into my arms. Gotta write fast!

In preparing to write this newsletter, I looked back at last January's. Oh boy! So organized. So much content. Such high hopes and lofty resolutions that I only partially achieved. Let's take a look at those.

Resolutions

The first resolution of last January was in the context of the US Presidential election. I vowed not to get mad at people saying stupid and wrong things. And boy, let me tell you, there was a lot of that, as is tradition. I kept myself composed, however, and didn't lash out on social media, which has only gotten more stupid and wrongheaded, it seems. It's hard not to get frustrated, but I maintain that it only hurts myself when I do. Better to turn the other cheek and focus on more productive things.

The second resolution was to spend more time promoting other indie authors. To that end, I created the Indie Reviews page on my site and the Talking Spoilers podcast on YouTube. I've been diligent about reviewing each indie book I read and enjoy (I don't post negative reviews), but the Talking Spoilers podcast has been hard to keep up with. Turns out it's a lot of work to run a podcast! I'd like to do more episodes, but that's even harder now with a kid.

Finally, the third resolution was to spend more time practicing the art of writing. The goal here was to post more short fiction on the site... and I completely failed to do that. The most practice I got was in editing this year, culminating in the release of two books. Better than nothing!

So much of 2023 was just Go! Go! Go! that I spent less time learning about writing and storytelling than in previous years. I want to get back to that.

Sadly, most of 2024 felt like Go! Go! Go! as well. And now with the baby here, I don't feel like I'll get much of a chance to slow down and work on craft. At least, not in the early months. That's why I'm working on the outline for Sibling Suns 3 as my first priority this year. Then I'll be poised to write as soon as I get the chance – and I've got some big ideas for this book! Speaking of which...

Sibling Suns Update

Yeah... December was a busy month, as you can imagine. Holidays, new baby, sleepless nights, oh my! I didn't get precisely zero done on the Sibling Suns 3 outline, but I did little enough that I haven't updated the status bar.

The post-holiday stint has already felt a bit less chaotic, so I've got a commitment to really make progress on the outline this month. Fingers crossed, friends. I've got to take it day-by-day with the newborn, and most days are sleep-deprived stupors I can hardly remember.

Bald and Balding

My wife has graciously agreed to care for the baby for a few hours while I chat up two other fantasy authors – Mike Mollman and Ro Bushey – on their Bald and Balding podcast. January 7th at 7:00 PM EST. I hope to see you there! Otherwise Rachel's sacrifice will have been for nought – and you wouldn't want that on your conscience, would you?

Alright, looks like my time is almost up! Rachel asked the fateful question: "Are you almost done?"

In no world is the answer to that, "No." At least, in no world that doesn't involve divorce. (I jest!)

Sorry to cut this one short – next month should be more of a substantial update. So long as Benny doesn't have other plans...

A brief Nazgul update:

He hurt his paw and had to wear a sock. He hated it, but he's all better now.

And with that, I must go hold my baby. See you all in February.

As always, thanks for reading!
– Josh