Ladies and gentlemen, we've done it. Another year in the books, and what a wild one it was. To think that last January I was cramming in a newsletter while a 6-week-old baby threatened to intervene at any moment. Recall:
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!
I'm happy to say that I generally have more organized writing time now, usually on the train in or out of Philadelphia, where I work. Sleep deprivation is also, thankfully, a thing of the past. I've been quite good about my sleep schedule for a few months now, and Benny has been very accommodating – I can't remember the last time he didn't sleep through the night. He's come so far.
Last year, I mentioned that he was "just a dumb little baby", a controversial statement that was received poorly by some members of my ̶f̶a̶m̶i̶l̶y̶ audience. But then I made some predictions about what he would be capable of by this time:
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.
Now it's not like child development is all that inscrutable, but it's also idiosyncratic – every child is different. I was correct about all those predictions, but to say I underestimated my boy would be a huge understatement.
Not only is all of the above true, he's also now playing with Nazgul, communicating in sign language ("more" is his favorite word because he's such a good eater), and he has a more refined palate than I did when I was 25 years old.
He loves enthusiastically shouting "Baaaa!" whenever he sees a sheep. He drums and bangs on everything that makes noise with his rattles and drumsticks. He pushes his cars and trucks around and says "Vroom."
I could go on and on. I wrote in last month's newsletter that his going to daycare is almost certainly one of the contributors to my being sick for weeks on end. And that's true, but all of the headaches and runny noses and coughing fits will quickly be forgotten. The way Benny makes us laugh every single day, how much joy he brings into our lives... that, we'll always remember.
So, my friends, the state of the JoshSE is strong. Not only have I been healthy for several weeks straight now (enough to basically feel like superman), I've also done the impossible.
Sibling Suns 3 Update
By God, they said it couldn't be done! And by "they" I mean "me." (Me said it couldn't be done? Yes, me did!) If you asked me at the beginning of December how many chapters I would finish this month, I would probably say 3 or 4, an optimistic guess.
I finished seven. Thank you, thank you, I appreciate your applause.
That puts my first draft at 34 out of 68 chapters complete, or exactly 50%. This marks the end of my 4-month catch-up from being behind. 6 months down, 6 to go until the book is due to be finished!
That now brings me to the realization of just how long this book might be. I try not to write them chonky boys, but I might not be able to help it this time. There is some good news. Despite being at almost 95,000 words at 50%, I highly doubt the book will hit 190,000 by the end. Many of the later chapters, particularly in Part IV, should be considerably shorter than average.
I've also been waxing philosophical in some of these recent chapters – probably because I've been thinking about things like religion, philosophy, morality, etc. so much recently. (Enough so that I've even joined a church, hooray!) Some of that is bound to leak into my writing and will need to be edited to make sure it doesn't bog down the pacing.
Anyway, now that I'm entering Part III of AFTS, there will be much less room for those introspective sorts of chapters. Part II had some space for it that was justified by the characters' circumstances. Part III on the other hand is relentless. Much to do. Much to do!
The MegaSale Aftermath
If you were unaware, we just wrapped up the r/Fantasy Holiday MegaSale, which I've been participating in for the past few years. A portion of the proceeds for this sale are pledged each year to the Mary Cariola Center, which supports childhood education for children with disabilities. It's a good cause.
[Mary Cariola is] the regional leader in personalized, interdisciplinary, evidence-based education and life skill solutions that inspire and empower individuals and the families of those with complex disabilities. [Our vision is] to set the standard in innovations that unlock lifelong potential for people with complex disabilities.
I haven't heard the full amount we raised this year, but I personally raised $54 from my proceeds. Not a huge amount, but there were over 300 authors signed up, so I expect altogether we'll have raised a decent sum. This wouldn't have been possible without your generous support, so thank you!
Be on the lookout for next year's sale if you want to fill your Kindle, or head over to the Mary Cariola Center's site to make a direct donation, if you'd like.
Archefire Store Updates
Yes indeed, the website has once again been updated! It's a subtle change, but if you look closely, you'll notice a Start Reading button that wasn't there before. If you click that – voilà!
A built-in ePub reader appears! This is meant to help people sample the book before purchasing, but... and don't tell anyone this... you can read the entire book there if you'd like. That goes for all my books. Is this entirely unnecessary and putting me in danger of piracy? Aren't all the best things in life?
Another new feature is individual store pages for each book. There you can see some testimonials as well as other retailers that carry the book. Really, this is just laying the groundwork for when I start buying ads for my books on Meta and Google (and wherever else might work). I told you in this year's Odyssey of JoshSE, marketing is a weak spot of mine, and the goal is to improve at it before the release of Sibling Suns 3. Hence...
Let me tell you about this amazing book!
You know, I've been thinking a lot about Lorelay lately. Early in An Ocean of Others, she and Grim have a heart to heart about the stiflingly religious country she comes from. In Paceeq, only the Twelve Songs from the Book of Light are allowed to be performed, and straying from them will see you branded a heretic. Lorelay... she's a heretic. As the story goes on, you learn the depths she's reached in her religious rebellion.
Her backstory wasn't something I had really planned, but it's shaped the entire setting of Paceeq and its capital city, Vos. And at the time, it was very much in-line with my own beliefs. I was an atheist for as long as I can remember (probably annoyingly so in my college years, the cynical, cringy r/atheism style). But I didn't want to write some black and white "the Church is evil" story. That's so overdone in the Year of our Lord 2026.
When Lorelay is sent back to her home city of Vos in To Burn All Belief, she's confronted by the cost of her rebelliousness and has to decide whether it's worth continuing when it threatens to interfere with her mission to gain the Emperor's aid. We learn more about the Church of Light and what it provides for people. She learns about the history of the Bright Empire's faith and has to reconcile that with her heterodox beliefs. The institutions aren't perfect, of course. None are. But they are foundational for a reason.
I realize now that Lorelay has been going on the same journey in faith as I have. Like I mentioned above, I've started attending a church, studying the Bible, and meeting with my pastor and other members of the congregation to discuss faith. If you would have asked me the likelihood of my becoming a Christian when I was writing An Ocean of Others and To Burn All Belief, I probably would have said 0%.
But Lorelay seemed to know all along. Funny how these unplanned character moments reveal not just the world of the story but also the interior of the writer.
Anyway, I realize this isn't a very good sales pitch for the book. But I pour a lot of myself into them, even more than I know sometimes. So it really means a lot when someone is willing to invest their time in my books when there is an ocean of others out there. You see what I did there? I'm saying, if you don't want to buy To Burn All Belief, you could also buy An Ocean of Others. It's out there.
Another really great book
I'm looooong overdue for posting an indie book review, but as I mention in this one, a big part of that is because I've gotten extremely picky about how I spend my time and which books I read. I'm about 10 times more likely to DNF a book now that I have a kid and my free time has diminished so considerably.
Luckily, Sarah's book here broke the streak of DNFs! I think it was likely a great time for me to read this – its themes of cyclical violence and separation vs. connection to other people really resonated, and Sarah did a fantastic job crafting a truly unique religion in her world of Velspar. Give my review a looksie, and then give the book a read. It's a bit of a slow burn, but perfect for if you're in a quiet mood like I was!
Release the Hounds
We've been feeling really bad lately because Naz has not been getting close to as much attention as he did before Benny was born. I tried to make it up to him this month, but he responded by trying to perform an asset seizure on Benny's dinosaur chair.
Our Christmas tree was blocking his normal vantage point of the window, so he used it to keep an eye out during a snowstorm. You know, for all the people strolling around in the blizzard...
But even that was unsatisfactory to this guard dog. He needed a full walk-around to secure the premises.
After the security sweep, he dried off (read: flung snow all over my basement) and settled down for some well-deserved rest on his new furniture.
He also ate a grape and had to go to vet urgent care to throw it up, which is how I learned that grapes are extremely toxic to dogs (even one grape could cause kidney failure) and was out $250 right before Christmas.
That was one expensive grape.
Well folks, that does it for the year's first update! If I'm as productive all month as I've been in the first three days of January, Sibling Suns 3 may be finished by the time you hear from me in February. Only joking...
But maybe? 👀
(No, definitely not.)
As always, thanks for reading!
— Josh