mcahogarth

The Surgeon

Because every morning is better with dragons!

I'm fairly sure this is what he looks like. *nods*

Summer Vacation (Breakfast Edition)

We've had some luck using einkorn flour, so I shook out Alton Brown's Dutch Baby recipe. Nom!

Turtle Convalescent

His hospital is more cheerful than any of the ones I've been in....

Flip!

I got so wet. >.>

Who is Willing Teaser Graphic

Trying to get my broken Surface to work is frustrating, but I am plodding at it. (Its usual failure mode is to stop recognizing where the stylus is and pin the cursor to the top of the screen, where the glass shattered, and it does this erratically so I never know when it's going to stop responding. But until it does this, it works, so I try to be patient with it.)

Anyway, I've been having such fun making teaser graphics for In Extremis that I decided to do some for other stories. Thi...

Studying the Poll Data: Kickstarters

Thank you all for answering my polls! (And a lot of you did, too.) In the interest of continuing to expose my business thinking, here's what I've been mulling over since your responses. 

One of the most unexpected discoveries of this exercise has been that people want swag, enough to pay for it alone! This interests me because swag is usually a reward in a Kickstarter for other things (proving, I guess, why swag is useful--people who might not want the end product might still hop on board...

Crowventures, Con't

My three-crow family continues to come by at least once a day, sometimes twice. There's also a crow who comes by alone; I'm not sure if she's part of that family or a loner, but she's a lot cagier about coming close. She'll light on the big oak branch and watch me, but not land on the screen to look at me.

I can get out to the yard through two doors, and I switch between them based on which ones the squirrels are closer to (I don't like squirrels, thanks to long experience with them on the uni...

In Extremis, Princes' Game 5, Now Available!

Book 5 of the Princes' Game series--in which space elves re-arrange the political topography of an entire galaxy by fighting, loving, reforming, and killing dragons--is now available at all retailers! Pick it up!  (Link takes you to all retailers so you can pick the one you like best!)

Are you ready to try this series? It's dark and intense and full of triggers. But unlike Game of Thrones, there are good people in it, ...

Dat Swag

Yesterday I asked about Kickstarters you'd like to back and a lot of you chose 'swag'! But I'm not exactly sure what kind of swag you prefer. Here's a chance for you to tell me what you'd like so I can price it out!

Kickstarters! Your Opinion?

So I feel like this summer I should probably run a Kickstarter instead of paying out of pocket for a lot of the things I'm doing, because capital is important. *nods* But I don't know what! That means it is time to ask.

The things I haven't made available are on the backburner because the expense to produce them way outstrips the money I'd make back on them. Things like print editions, because print rarely sells; and audiobooks, because while audiobooks do sell they're very costly to produce. ...

Almost Done...

Later this coming week you all shall have book.

Crowfriend, Leveling Up

The crows come and go seasonally, and I am not so keen an observer that I can tell them apart. This new family of three (if indeed it's new, and not just returning from their winter wanderjahr) is brass-bold, though, in the most delightful way. 

One morning they called me out particularly early, so much so that I couldn't see them in the trees. I put my hands on my hips and made a big deal of looking around, as if I couldn't find them, and proclaimed, "BIRBS! Where are you, birbs?" And on...

Baby Birbs!

I love Sandhill crane chicks. They look like chicken babies on stilts. ❤️

New B&W Map

...is lookin good!

Coracle, Chapter 10: Where You Find 'Em

Mostly done editing PG5 (street date should be sometime next week), so, back to other projects!

***

The cathedral was… imposing. If Marda was to be honest, it was overwhelming. Knowing that it housed the classrooms, teachers, and postulants put its size in perspective—of course it had to be big!—but that didn’t make it any less intimidating. The rose window over the entrance could have fit three of the windows from St. Ermina’s, and it had a lot more colors too. St. Ermina’s ...

Words I've Looked Up Lately

The "press for definition" function on my kindle has been lifechanging. Not just because it teaches me new words, but because it lets me double-check ones I think I know, but aren't sure of. I've fixed a lot of lexical errors from my childhood, learning words from context, with my kindle.

Here are some words I looked up lately while reading. :)

• prodromal 
• 2017-05-16 17:53:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Faulfenzair Ears

Several people asked how they "roll closed" so here's my attempt at explaining. They're ribbed, sort of, with two spars that fold, fan, and spread them in a roughly conical shape.

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the moms in my community, new and old! There would be no human race without us. 😊

(And dads, too. But their day will come in a month. >.> )

Farm Visitor

While I was picking breakfast this morning, this small neighbor came by...

Cool Stuff Saturday

First things first: candles were lit. *nods* Thank you, Candle watchstanders. People in need, you were remembered. In two weeks, we do it again.

Meanwhile, on to Cool Stuff! I wanted to share some cool stuff I've found lately. I'd love for you to share any cool stuff you'd like to rec too, in the comments! Let's pass some awesome around. Here are mine:

• Alphaville released a new album this year, which prompted me to look up their discography and discover they released one in 2010 to...
  2017-05-13 13:00:58 +0000 UTC View Post

Tribe Logo Is Almost There!

I have some nitpicking to do, but this is almost right.

For the curious: this is our "we are part of the jaguar community" badge. Patrons who stick with me for a year are going to get a sticker version. I'll use larger versions for other swag. Folks who do something special will probably get a different version as a gift: 'First Reader Brigade,' for instance, instead of 'Sept of Patrons,' and with a different color scheme. (You'll be able to collect them!)

I'm pretty happy with it. Logos...

Candle Friday

Today is Candle Friday! I will be going to light one for intentions later this afternoon. Thanks to last Candle Friday's watchstanders: Jen, Rion, Sarah, Anastasia, Elise, and Eric, along with people who might have done so anonymously. ❤️ Your help is appreciated. Jen, your photo was beautiful! Here it is, for people who missed it on the community wall. Feel free to keep sharing your photos there if yo...

Jem and the Holograms Hair

Yiiiis the 80s called they had a dye job for meeeee 💖

Someone...

I'm not saying WHO (but they totally might be one of my first readers) called the Chatcaava "wingsnakes" but now I'm going around repeating "wingsnek wingsnek" over and over. >.<

Next Up

Print edition of the new Alysha novella is on the way (and might even be available before the audio edition, which should be ready at the end of the month).

Now why, you might be saying, are you spending this money, Jaguar, if you just demonstrated with your pie (nom) chart yesterday that print editions make you no money? GOOD QUESTION. Sometimes I am dopey.

Okay, that's only part of it. Most of it is that I am going to Anthrocon, and if things go well, I might be able to borrow some tab...

Swirly Faulfenza

Dangerous Data

 Back to random business stuff. HERE IS A PIE.

(nom)

This is 2017's book revenue (so far) broken out by edition, wherein you may conclude that if people stop reading on their phones I will starve to death!

No, really. More serious now. >.>

Every year I do this chart, and every year it's about the same. E-books are always the bulk of my sales. Audio, every year, creeps up a little more. Print never grows. I call this data dangerous, though, because it's easy to look...

Book is Done!

First readers are combing it for errors now! (And crying at me.) YAY!

Sediryl's not too happy with me, but I'll make it up to her, seriously. >.>

The Jaguar on Cliffhangers

So cliffhangers. WHY DO WE DO THEM. Some reasons.

No wait. First. Keep in mind this important Three Jaguars fact: a novel is not a story. A novel is a way of packaging a story of a certain length, in a certain way, with a certain kind of marketing fluff and with certain cultural and reader expectations. Okay? Okay. Onward!

MARKETING REASONS

Cliffhangers work.

Yeah, yeah, I know. People rage about them. I’ve raged about them. It doesn’t change tha...

Lunchbag Art: Tunas!

because nom 😋