Hello! It's been a while since I've put something up here, so I thought I'd take a few moments to talk about my schedule for the next couple of months.
In a nutshell, I've been enjoying my time away from writing and using it to plan, to catch up on reading, to deal with miscellaneous life stuff and generally to reset myself in preparation for my next project.
Notably, I have not compiled the physical manuscripts for Peculiar Soul yet, despite my optimistic projections for h...
Phew! That took a minute to write.
Now that it's had a day to settle out, I wanted to sketch out more or less what the next few months are going to look like for my schedule, so you have a good idea of what to expect.
My immediate priority is working on the manuscripts for PS. Because it ended up being a fairly long book (615k words!) I don't think I have much of a choice but to publish in volumes. I plan on publish...
2023-11-02 02:26:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Men see division and union act in opposition and name the two opponents, or ascribe some imagined animosity to their meeting. This is not so. The acts of men differ greatly from those of the divine, and even in opposition there is no enmity.
The two are brothers, raised in the same house, which they remember in different ways. They are father and son, each taking what came before and making it his own. They ... 2023-10-31 14:24:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm alive! I'm writing! I've been plugging away at the chapter through a mild head cold this week and have about a standard chapter's worth of content on the page. This is not a standard chapter, though, so it's probably not coming out today. I want to get this one right!
Current word count: 4372
Current release target: ...
2023-10-27 19:54:09 +0000 UTC View Post
The raven flew over the land and saw that a fence had been laid between the forest and field. Nearby, the black hound was pacing along its perimeter. The raven flew down and stood on the new fence just ahead of the hound.
“What is this?” the raven demanded. “Why does man think he can draw lines upon the forest, and stop the others from moving into the field?”
“This is a fence,” the hound replied. “It tells others that the field belongs to the ...
2023-10-20 20:58:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Men are largely insignificant. This is not to say they are unimportant, but rather that the impact that any one man may have on events is minimal. This is because it takes only one man working in opposition to his efforts in order to thwart him, and the observant will have noticed that there are more than a few contrarian men in the world.
There are, however, some few men who may not be quieted so easily. It may take two, or three men to push back against him, or an ar...
2023-10-13 21:52:28 +0000 UTC View Post
I have had to endure yet another endless paean from the Batzar lauding my contributions to the security of Mendian, despite this having been a particularly sedate year; perhaps their effusive praise is meant to remind people that I am terrifying in lieu of any real opportunities to demonstrate such.
It was not an entirely useless speech, however, because it gave me cause to contemplate what exactly I am meant to protect. The obvious retort would be Mendian, yet there is considerab...
2023-10-06 21:15:34 +0000 UTC View Post
These words may survive where I will not, so I continue to write them - but, who am I writing to if there shall be none left to read? I wish you had been better, Michael. I wish I was writing to you. You, of all people, might understand what I mean to say.
Their voices are never quiet. They speak in tongues that they have invented among themselves, and do not share with me. I do not need to know. It has never been my will that mattered, not in any of ...
2023-09-27 18:23:14 +0000 UTC View Post
The mockingbird and the raven met one day and talked of wisdom.
“Wisdom is broad,” stated the raven. “To be wise is to survey the vast landscape, and see all possible answers from on high.”
The mockingbird disagreed. “Wisdom is narrow,” he argued. “For there is only one answer needed to any question. To be wise is to know how to find it.”
The two argued in this manner for some time, until the sun rose and fell once. Finally, as i...
2023-09-20 14:24:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Listen, and you will hear a truth: each of us holds a world within, and no two are alike. So different are these worlds that none could tell what truth has made itself known, yet even so we may recognize it as truth.
Listen again, and deepen what you have learned: the many truths within exist in harmony, and each bears as much worth as its fellow. But where they seek to once again enter the world, they must reconcile to become one truth. The world is shared between all...
2023-09-13 14:24:59 +0000 UTC View Post
It is held that souls are greater than man, for obvious reasons. Their power is beyond that of a man, and the wisdom gained from them is more than a lifetime of study could hope to achieve. There is disagreement on this point, however, as others say that the man is the greater part of their joining. No soul ever acts upon the world unaided; they cannot be said to exceed man any more than a sword or plough.
This argument contains the seed of truth, albeit evoked for the...
2023-09-07 15:47:57 +0000 UTC View Post
I live inside a glass cage. I’ve always known that this would be the case, were I to receive the soul of the Star, but the reality of my confinement is beginning to make itself felt upon me in ways I failed to anticipate.
The problem is that I, Leire, do not live in a glass cage. I have, and likely should sell, a lovely little flat near the Goitxea harbor, which is convenient to the Batzar administrative offices and a few excellent restaurants that I find myself pining for...
2023-09-01 20:01:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Where did August go? We're almost done with the month, and despite my summer plans being mostly over with I'm busier than ever. I don't anticipate any real delays in posting but some posts (notably, this week's post) may slide by a day or two due to my work ramping up significantly for a while. There should still be 1 post per week but those posts may come at odd times.
It's horrible timing, I know, because this is really getting into the ending parts of the sto...
2023-08-29 22:21:18 +0000 UTC View Post
The white wolf approached the black hound at the edge of the wood. The hound told the wolf to go back to the wood, for he had been charged with safeguarding all of the animals that men kept there.
The wolf pointed out that there were plenty of animals to be had, and that if the hound were to let the wolf take one without raising the alarm they could both eat their fill. The hound considered this, for while the men of the village fed and housed him they took the sweetest meat...
2023-08-23 15:01:35 +0000 UTC View Post
The Seer spoke of his dream, telling the people that he had seen a mighty forest grow up from the land. It was strong and bountiful, and its trees grew tall. But the largest among these trees continued to grow without end, and their branches spread to cover the sun. The forest withered and died in their shade. In the end there was only one tree remaining, and nothing but death beneath it.
As he finished speaking, the Seeker stepped forward to share her dream. &nb...
2023-08-09 15:48:44 +0000 UTC View Post
The divine lies at the core of our existence, yet seldom do we pause to reflect upon what that means. Our thoughts are petty, and gather around the benefit that souls may bring to us in our lives. This remains a worthwhile avenue of reflection, of course.
But a bond marks both sides. Even as we are elevated by divinity, the perfect divine is likewise shackled to our imperfection - yet this is still not an evil, for it is against our rough edges that it may shape itself...
2023-08-02 14:24:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I’m not sure who I’m writing to anymore, if not you. There was a peace to knowing that you would be waiting at the end, and a balance. The man who started this odd new chapter of my life would be the one to bring it to its close.
I wanted it to be you - but I’m not sure I ever knew you. I saw what I wanted to see, what I ALWAYS tried to see, but there are no perfect men. A harsh standard, I know, but what else can withstand the power of a soul?
Our mi...
2023-07-28 19:16:36 +0000 UTC View Post
I know, I know, of all the chapters to make you wait another few days... but it's precisely because it's a significant chapter that I need to make sure I'm getting everything down correctly. My personal life has not been cooperating with my writing schedule - for mostly good reasons, but even good things take away from writing time.
Since I'm making an schedule post already, a few more housekeeping items: there will be no chapter August 16th, since I'm going to be trav...
2023-07-25 23:40:53 +0000 UTC View Post
You wield the price like a goad, but I have lost my fear of injury. The country is the body of the emperor, and mine already bears most grievous wounds; what more fear shall you inspire? You do not believe me, Star of Avarice? Hold out your hand, that I may place this bloody coin in it:
I, Marcus Argyros, shall be the last emperor of Ghar. As I kneel before this tree, its roots bear the weight of ages. The face of Ghar turns upwards towards Mendian and says...
2023-07-19 14:24:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Rivers flow to the sea, and carry with them a portion of the land. In time the land wears away under their touch, and diminishes, as the water collects in the sea.
But the rain cleaves from the sea, and the mountains from the fiery bosom of the world. In this way the breath of the world continues, and its life extends. The division of like from like is the rock on which that life is built.
To men it is natural to think that an ending should come from division. &n...
2023-07-12 15:55:05 +0000 UTC View Post
I received my soul as a young man, barely more than a boy. Only one of the Eight was among our forces at the time - Zahra Alsaif, the Great Sword. She was a formidable woman, and appeared as a force of nature even to my newly-ensouled eyes. When barriers were crumbling around me, she was my constant reminder that I had a long distance yet to walk.
For sixteen years we fought together, shaping the Gharic front. We managed great things together. I learned muc...
2023-07-05 14:24:00 +0000 UTC View Post
The tortoise was at the pond for a drink one day when he noticed the man staring down into the water. The man did not move while the tortoise came and went, and he thought it so strange that he mentioned it to the mockingbird when they next spoke.
The tortoise asked what made the man stare at the water so.
The mockingbird replied that the man was not staring at the water, but at what he saw in it.
This irritated the tortoise, who knew that man saw his reflection in the...
2023-06-28 14:24:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Of these four, Life stood apart. Truth is eternal once stated, while Form and Light do not endure. Only Life falls between them, as befits its nature. Yet there is no mooring in the space between. Life guides itself to an end.
Some paths would see Life guide itself in the path of Form and Light, its eldest brothers. Ephemeral, as the substance of the world, Life shall appear and vanish.
Some paths would see Life guide itself in the path of the middle ...
2023-06-21 14:48:22 +0000 UTC View Post
For powerful men, the dilemma of leadership presents itself thus: without a strong hand, events proceed in undesirable directions; with too strong a hand, delegation becomes impossible. The usual resolution is to pick one’s battles - to take personal charge of the most crucial tasks while letting subordinates handle less important matters.
This is a false solution to the problem, however. By creating a distinction of importance, a leader tells his men that there are scenar...
2023-06-14 14:46:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Who shall walk with me through fire?
Who shall send me on?
Who shall guide to my desire
Through darkness unto dawn?
Though Sword may clear the path ahead,
And Shield ward me from harm,
None but I knows where I tread,
And none shall guide my arm.
Though Flame may light my path at night,
And Sunlight in the day,
None but I direct my sight,
And none else knows the way.
Though Seeker knows where perils hide,
And Seer knows the end,
None but I sha...
The raven and the mockingbird sat on a branch, watching the boar root through the underbrush below them. The raven boasted that he could see all the boar was looking for from his lofty vantage, and expressed his pity for the other’s limited sight.
The mockingbird replied that the boar’s sight enjoyed a lower perspective, but was not limited. It was a different view, and saw things the raven could not. This irritated the raven, who demanded to know what else the boa...
2023-05-31 14:24:01 +0000 UTC View Post
“I have never killed a man,” the merchant protested. “You should not accuse me of such.”
The Speaker laughed and spoke to the crowd. “Of course you have killed,” she said. “We all have. Each moment we kill uncounted thousands of men who might have been, men who wear our faces and act in ways contrary to our decisions. We kill them with each choice not made, and each step not taken.”
The merchant scowled, and denounced the accusation as...
2023-05-24 14:24:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Our Gharic cousins give much attention to the field of civic law. It is not inaccurate to say that societies of men require laws to function, but the laws must change to suit the society. Ghar’s legal codes could fill a library, and each of her children have followed that example.
Yet our own are so short, barely worth binding together. Whence the difference? It lies in the goal of those laws. Gharic law exists to constrain the deeds of evil men, and to r...
2023-05-17 14:24:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I am increasingly irritated at my illustrious predecessors for handing me the problem of Ghar. The worst of the blame must fall on the Tenth Star, of course, for precipitating the entire mess with his indulgence of spite and petty grievance. I shall allow some sympathy for the pressures of the time; it’s not as though I’ve had to contend with Gharic aggression personally. Nevertheless, I should like to think that if Saleh Taskin were to present himself asking for aid, I...
2023-05-12 21:00:28 +0000 UTC View Post
I finally made the art piñata cough up something Michael-shaped - my take on some of Mike's shenanigans last chapter. See you next week!
2023-05-03 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post