July 2025 Newsletter

Greetings everyone! I would normally spend an inordinate amount of time on the Fourth of July gloating about our flawless 1-0 record over the British, but tonight is different. I've got a baby trying to sleep and a dog that's currently going through his personal Vietnam, so there's no telling how much time I have to get this newsletter out the door. Should I have started writing it earlier than 9:20 PM on the day it's due?

Yes. Yes, I should have. But I didn't. So what?

Enough about my bad decisions. Let's get to the good stuff!

Sibling Suns 3

It's so refreshing to actually have a project I can update you on monthly. It can be hard to make these newsletters interesting during months when I'm working on nothing but edits, formatting, marketing prep, and the like. I try my best, but it feels really good to be back to working on a first draft.

Don't get me wrong, I love editing—it's my favorite part of the process, even above writing first drafts (that's rare among the writing community, from what I gather). But what I love most of all is variety. Incredibly, it's been almost two years since I finished the last 1.0, for To Burn All Belief. Good lord, how I've missed staring at a blank page waiting to be filled.

As you can see from the progress bar, I'm a touch behind schedule, considering I've given myself one year to write this book. I'm not worried, though. Knowing how these things go, progress on my first drafts tends to start slowly then ramp up as I get further into the story. I see no reason that won't hold true for this book, especially since I've got plenty of scenes that I'm excited about—not just at the end but all throughout! Trust me folks, this is going to be one hell of a series ending.

A Quick PSA

If you've been a long-time subscriber, you'll know that I abhor overt marketing and advertisement. Y'know, the kind where an author just tells you to go buy my books? The kind that works? No, no, that's not for me. I prefer to do it all wrong.

I just tell you about things happening in my life and the projects I'm working on, and I rarely tell you to go buy these beautiful pieces of art despite spending hundreds of hours of my prime years on them. (Never getting those back!) Okay, sure, every once in a while, maybe I'll throw in a link to Amazon or the Archefire Store—but I assure you I feel deeply ashamed every time. Every time!

Well, folks, something's got to change. This ain't working. It seems you've got to be a salesman to get those sales, man. I know! Who would have thought?

And if that's the case, then so be it. A salesman I shall be!

/* Side note: Do you ever open up an author's newsletter (because you're subscribed to dozens, like me) and find that it's just a big advertising for books other authors wrote? Those really annoy me. No judgment toward authors who do this—they're called newsletter swaps, I hear they can be quite effective, and this game ain't easy, so I appreciate the hustle. But I promise never to turn this newsletter into one of those. If I'm recommending a book here, be assured that it's one I've read and loved enough to recommend. Not just because another author wants to swap audiences. */

Alrighty then, moving on...

Hmm, what's that? I haven't actually done any promotion yet? Woaahhh, easy there, pard'ner. Don't be so hasty. A guy's got to warn you of a change that big before slapping you with it. Next month, expect to start seeing a recurring section dedicated to selling my books. Apologies if it's annoying, but if I don't sing my own praises, no one will!

In the meantime, due to unforeseen amounts of laziness and forgetfulness, I've left up the free download for To Burn All Belief at the Sibling Suns page. The page currently also says An Ocean of Others is free on Amazon, and that part is a filthy lie. So, I've got to fix the page soon—likely this weekend. Consider this your PSA to go grab a free copy while you can still take advantage of my error!

Website Facelift

Forgetting to update the website to take down the free download is going to seem especially stupid given this next section—all about this month's website update!

Instead of deleting two small sections of code to remove the limited time offer, I added 800 new lines across 13 files to add a sitewide search feature to the ever-shrinking rectangles of my homepage. Now you can, for example, search all my posts to fact check the last section about me never promoting my books.

Literally no results! I told you I'm bad at this. If you search for something that has appeared on this site, you'll see all the matching posts and pages highlighted, and it will even take you directly to the searched text if you clink the link.

If you've got any feature requests, leave a comment below! Anything requested by you will immediately jump to the front of the priority list (assuming it's feasible).

/* In the off chance that many of you request new features, I'll tackle them in the order of most fun to least fun. */

The Fourth of July is a bad day for dogs

Here is Nazgul right now:

This strange little furry creature is not afraid of thunder and lightning, even when the rumble is loud enough to shake the house. But God forbid someone sets off some fireworks three miles away. The end is nigh! Apocalypse now! Bark! Bark! Bark!

We're in the basement now, listening to some chill music—quietly enough that Benny doesn't wake up, but loudly enough to drown out the people having fun celebrating our glorious victory over monarchical tyranny. (Suck it, Brits!) It's a tough balance to strike.

Luckily, the rest of the month was pretty nice for Nazgul.

Oh, hold on, wait a second...

I think, uh...

Guys, I think he might have known today was coming.

Ooh wait, false alarm. We're all good! Nazgul says: buy my thrall's books!

You can't say no to him, can you? I can't.

That's it for this month! 11:00 PM on the dot. And you thought I was going to be late! Hah hah hah...

As always, thanks for reading!
— Josh