Food Preservation, More Naughty Animals, and Many Writing Projects!
Sep 25, 2025 9:54 pm
Hey !
Author Update
I did it! I'm thrilled to say that I finished Elf Blooded (Book 5 of the Hidden Heritage). This book has been in progress for so long I wondered if I'd ever be able to finish it. Now that I've gotten to the end, the feeling is bitter sweet. Mainly because the ending is...let's just says it's a much bigger ending than was intended. But that is the nature of discovery writing. I'll deal with the fallout later.
So that means I'm jumping into the throng of editing to 'cleanse' my writing palette. I'm already about 1/3 of the way through the first edit of Fairy Blooded (Book 4) and honestly, it's much better than I expected. Thank you past self for making a pretty clean first draft! A printed proof version of Dwarf Blooded (book 3) is on the way and hopefully will arrive soon. That means I'm on target to get the third book out by next month. As you can guess, this one is from the perspective of the half-dwarf teen, who you haven't met before. ;) You are not ready for the ending of that one. Even my editor fell on the floor out of shock.
Just a quick reminder that I've partnered with 21 other fantasy and sci-fi authors on an exclusive, special edition anthology of honor related stories. With tons of commissioned art, a beautiful cover and audio book to boot. And you can pick one, or both versions of the book. It will be going live in a few short weeks so make sure to follow the page for this awesome book!
In hindsight, I realized I'm working on so many concurrent projects maybe I need to chill out... Let's be honest though, I probably won't. On that front, October's short story is right around the corner. This one follows a woman entering adulthood and destined, with the other emerging adults, to commune with one of five spirits to be blessed with magic from one of their orders. Aravis is ready to start her life as a full-fledged adult in her forest dwelling tribe. That is, as long as nothing goes wrong...
Homestead Update
The past couple weeks, my wife, Sarah, and the kids have jumped into preservation of our garden spoils. From jars upon jars of pickles, to sauerkraut and other fermented foods, the storage room is getting packed full of all the fresh produce that seems never ending. It's an incredible blessing on many fronts. My personal favorite is the fermented jalapeño peppers that are good on so many things. While a bit grueling to can and preserve all the food, it is always appreciated in the dead of winter when we can eat fresh and save some grocery money.
All at once the days shortened, and now we get to do many of our daily animal chores in the dark. Here's the view I got to enjoy while moving the cows to pasture this morning.
With the shorter days, comes the cold. We haven't seen a frost quite yet, but it's right around the corner, and to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about that. Naturally, the cows, pigs and chickens don't seem to care, which makes me slightly jealous. Hamrietta and Porktia continue to bully poor Baconita, so we've had to start giving her a private half bucket of milk every day to help her keep getting chunky. At first, fending off these already heavy pigs was...interesting and required quite the fortitude, but now they just know that one bucket isn't for them.
As for the other animals, they aren't without trouble. Lucy seems to be getting a bit more cheeky with her horns. Not with us, fortunately, but with Mac (the Steer of our late cow, Ginger). Some new cuts and gashes keep appearing on his behind, which we treat as quickly as we can. Fortunately, he seems healthy enough. He's learning to be, let's say, quick on his feet to avoid the business end of Lucy's horns. And lastly, the chickens are everywhere. They decided they don't like hanging out in their fenced area in the pasture, so they just roam all over the place. It's been driving Sarah crazy, so soon enough they may be confined to the winter coop and run.
Free Story
warm regards,
Dan
