Hey hi folks! The first major arc of my ongoing serial novel, Her Majesty The Prince - Act I is out! You can go get it right here from itch.io!
ALSO: If you're a patreon at the ZandraVandra Book Club level or higher, you get it for free! (If your pledge is below this level, you can raise it and get access to it imm...
2024-02-01 22:03:58 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks, another brief update as I'm still moving into our new place (and have been busy wrapping up the "moving out of my old place" part). That said, I do have some news:
Her Majesty The Prince - Act I should be coming out very soon in PDF and EPUB form! If you've been wanting to read my current serialized novel but prefer to do so in document form, you'll be able to catch up on the first chunk of the story, which consists of chapters 1 to 15 (and the first ma...
2024-02-01 01:10:51 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm so excited to share this!! In anticipation of the digital release of Act I of Her Majesty The Prince digitally on itch, I commissioned this amazing illustration of Lou and the Prince from Skadi Kaos, who absolutely knocked it out of the park! Expect this art to feature on the cover of the first of three compilations of my current serialized novel.
For folks who have been interested in reading the story so far but don'...
2024-01-26 22:24:30 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! A brief, belated update because the last innumerable weeks have been spent preparing for and undertaking the moving of my entire life to a new apartment with my wife. It has been an ordeal and it's still not quite over, but at least we've gotten to a point where we can catch our breath.
Thanks for your support, your understanding, and your patience as I navigate a pretty big change to my life. I've got some big news for the new year, and I'm looking forward to sharing it a...
2024-01-18 17:19:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Addy, Jenny and Lou take a detour through some shops before heading to the castle...
I was so excited to get the final version of this commission! Art by the wonderful polvoronii (https://linktr.ee/polvoronii) who did a lovely rendition of the city's favorite lookalikes ^^
2024-01-12 21:49:14 +0000 UTC View PostHappy holidays, folks. <3
This year has had its share of ups and downs, to say the least. Plenty of things that I thought would be simple turned out to be long and laborious, all the while dealing with a plethora of life events—some joyful, others not—that left me just barely making it over the finish line. But here we are.
Cat Wishes Stories is done; the books are printed and shipped, every stretch goal that was reached has been carried out, and I can finally just... close...
2024-01-01 02:47:24 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! A brief one today because the past two weeks have been eventful, to say the least. But Cat Wishes Stories should be shipped out in the next week or so, and the two main Big Life Things that have taken up most of my time lately are either resolved or being taken care of, which means I can finally 1) rest and 2) devote more of my time to making things. And I love making things! It's why I'm here!
I'm still working on the next Her Majesty The Prince chapter, which will probab...
2023-12-15 22:07:04 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! Another quick update because I'm still at it. The good news is that I've gotten all the Cat Wishes Stories copies both printed and split up among Jen and I for our respective fulfillment zones, and we should be working on getting those books shipped out in early December... which is really soon!
I'm also back to Good Morning Mega Man-ing 3 mornings a week, which has been nice to return to. It's a cozy ritual I missed dearly.
Her Majesty The Prince has almost crossed ...
2023-11-29 22:52:21 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! Quick update because I completely forgot to do one last week. x_x Whoops!
Things are progressing along, Cat Wishes Stories is printed (yay!) and I wrapped up the latest chapter of Her Majesty The Prince! I've got a fun thing coming up on that front soon and I'm excited to share it. ^^
I've been too tired and exhausted from Too Many Life Things to stream often lately, but my wife's been helping me get back into the groove and it's been good! Fingers crossed I get to d...
2023-11-19 04:52:39 +0000 UTC View Post"...And then we worked everything out. When Lady Katerinannora comes back next month you'll be able to pick up right where you left off. I'll take care of the rest."
The Prince listened silently. He'd been slowly making his way forward, from his bed to his desk, the entire time Lou had been retelling the events of the night before. With the speed at which he'd been dragging his feet forward, the stone floor of his chambers may as well have been made out of mud. But just as Lou's story e...
2023-11-17 23:17:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Raindrops trickled down the window in crisscross streaks that joined together and split apart on a whim like so many bad decisions. She absent-mindedly stirred the coffee in her cup, the sugar having long since dissolved but the motion offering just enough comfort to perpetuate itself. Her eyes searched out into the night, across the quiet street and up the buildings on the other side, the speckled p...
2023-10-31 21:14:19 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! Another quick update, but I'm happy to report that I'm slowly getting back on track with *waves hand* everything. For someone who keeps talking about pacing herself I sure do burn myself out a lot, huh?
I've heard back from the print shop that the Cat Wishes Stories proof should be ready later today!! I'm excited to share pictures once I get it, and finally, finally send this book out to folks.
I also have a special little something planned for Halloween! St...
2023-10-30 16:26:19 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi! It seems that Patreon's website rework has broken something when it comes to displaying text formatting; it's fairly hard to pin down right now, but some ways to view Patreon content are stripping away italics and bold. For me, it's happening on Chrome iOS, but I've seen reports of folks experiencing this on some desktop browsers.
If this sentence is in italics, then the thing displaying this post is working correctly.
If you've ...
2023-10-28 15:29:05 +0000 UTC View Post"Was he able to find her name on the list?"
"He's still looking. I'm sure it's just further down."
"They really ought to find a better way to organize these things."
"I know! I'm sure His Majesty is excited for the rest of the guests behind us to join the party as well."
The socialite hovered by the guard at the entrance to the castle, under the arching stone of the main gate, beckoning her two friends to come closer. But the guard shook his head once...
2023-10-27 21:06:47 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! Quick, belated update because I ended up having to take a forced break due to exhaustion. Whoops. That said, some big milestones:
Chapter XXIII of Her Majesty The Prince is in final revision and is a whopping 10k words, just a few hundred shorter than Feline Therapy. Knock on wood, but it's probably going to be the longest chapter in the book! I'm trying to stick to the average of ~5,000 words otherwise. Stay tuned for it real soon!
Also, Cat Wishes Stories is finall...
2023-10-24 23:41:52 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! Another update from beneath this mountain of paperwork. I'm still plugging away at my giant to-do list, all the while still figuring out the right pace for Her Majesty The Prince chapters. Not holding myself to a weekly schedule has been beneficial for my stress levels though; so far so good!
Turns out weekly updated flash fiction is fine, but once you get into multiple-act, complex storylines... it's harder to write everything by the seat of your pants. A better story is ...
2023-09-30 18:21:50 +0000 UTC View PostHearty shouts alongside the rhythmic sounds of battle drills filtered up from below through the windows, heralding the start of the day still better than any rooster could in these parts.
Lou opened her eyes. She'd been awake for a little while; the clouds blunted the edge of the morning light and the covers did the same for the autumn cold, but not for the snoring that roared under the covers.
She took one long breath, holding it there before exhaling softly. While her body was w...
2023-09-29 22:43:17 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! Quick update again because I burned myself out really hard over the last couple weeks. I'm going to be adjusting my writing schedule slightly as a result: Her Majesty The Prince will go from an update ever week to an update every 1-2 weeks, depending on the chapter.
In the meantime, because there won't be an update this week, I'm answering asks about the st...
2023-09-22 20:57:35 +0000 UTC View PostHearty shouts alongside the rhythmic sounds of battle drills filtered down from above through the windows, heralding the start of the day better than any rooster could in these parts.
Lou slowly opened her eyes in the muted morning light, nestled in her cocoon of warmth, rocked by the steady heartbeat pressed against her ear. She took one long breath, holding it there before exhaling shakily. While her body was well-rested, her head throbbed with a kind of exhaustion she wasn't quite su...
2023-09-15 23:06:10 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! Quick update today (several days late) because I keep getting surprised by both my own time blindness and the sheer amount of paperwork needed when it comes to making a Big Move to a New City (wife edition). But we're making progress!
Consequently, I'll be taking one (1) week off from Her Majesty The Prince for a few reasons:
The sound of voices outside drew Lou out of a pleasant dream she instantly forgot. She opened her eyes, gently adjusting to the morning light draped over the fabric of her temporary home; slowly easing her sluggish limbs into a stretch. She yawned. Outside, footsteps approached, bringing with them a shadow in the shape of a person. Françoise, celebrated set technician of the Shepherd's Troupe, spoke through the fastened flap of the tent.
"Hey Lou! The Prince's murder-butler is here to ...
2023-09-01 22:56:24 +0000 UTC View PostThe first rays of sunlight only had a few moments to gently sweep across the ceiling of the wagon before the fog and the clouds drew closed like a curtain. The day promised to be a grey one. Though that was not without its own beauty; there was poetry in fog rolling over the hills as the wagons of the Shepherd's Troupe did the same on their way to their next destination. Lou, however, appreciated none of the artistic depth of the scene going on around her.
She was far too focused on try...
2023-08-25 23:25:42 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! Quick update this time. I'm continuing to work on Her Majesty The Prince and have written back up to my usual 1-week buffer, which means there shouldn't be delays of updates in the near future (fingers crossed). This is already my biggest book yet and I'm nowhere near done. I'm very excited and also a little bit scared!
Work continues on my other projects as well; I've racked up a lot of delays this year due to various health & life stuff both expected and unexpected, ...
2023-08-22 15:25:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe lead actors bowed once, twice, three times; Lou lost count. The raucous applause and cheering of the crowd never abated, not even for a second. But eventually, the final moments of the last show had to come to an end, and the golden curtains of the royal theater finally closed on the stage.
And Lou immediately fell to her knees, unceremoniously tipping backwards into a sitting position, the edges of her vision going dark.
"You okay there Lou?" Roy asked, still holding her righ...
2023-08-18 21:24:43 +0000 UTC View PostLou took a deep breath, then walked through the door.
At least, that had been her intention; however, she veered away at the very last second, instead taking refuge by the open shelves of the changing room. Her forehead resting against the wood, she stared down at the clothes that she'd taken off earlier. All neatly folded into one of the free compartments, just like everyone else's. Perhaps a little neater, even. She exhaled shakily, tugging at the knot in the towel she'd wrapped aroun...
2023-08-11 23:19:56 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! I can finally share that I've spent a chunk of the last two weeks doing something that had been in the works for quite some time: helping my wife move in with me! The mouse house is now a mothmouse homehouse! We'll be settling in and doing a lot of paperwork stuff for the foreseeable future, but in the meantime, I should be good to return to work (with a more frequent guest on streams).
On the writing front, Her Majesty The Prince should return this upcoming Friday as usua...
2023-08-09 19:36:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey hi folks! The next chapter of Her Majesty The Prince will be delayed by a week on account of life stuff that basically saw me get very little sleep for the past week up until the moment things resolved positively. Apologies for the delay! In the meantime though, have a sketch of how the 'collar code' works in the setting!
The beta reader who came up with the idea put it as 'little coded collar markings that indicate pronouns' - and I liked the idea so much it became canonical!
As is distressingly common now, Patreon flipped some sort of switch that rejected a ton of payments, so it might be a good idea to check and see if any of your pledges may have been wiped out by this error! There should be an option to update or retry in your billing history.
That said, if you're seeing this message, it means your pledge to me is still valid, so unfortunately all I can do is hopefully warn you in case your support to other folks on here were hit by this malfunc...
2023-08-03 21:50:56 +0000 UTC View Post"We need to talk," she told him.
Lou leaned on the armored knight's halberd like it was a handrail, her eyes focused on the Prince; the rest of her body focused on catching her breath. Her lungs struggled against the constricting fabric of the princess's coronation dress, faithfully recreated for the stage. She had overcome the obstacles in her way and made it up to the royal theater's exterior balcony, where the Prince had retreated after the show. She had caught him. Now what?
A...
2023-07-28 23:04:48 +0000 UTC View PostHey hi folks! Quick update this time around because I'm still hard at work at my pile of ongoing projects. Her Majesty The Prince has settled into a weekly update schedule that is working quite well for me, sustainability-wise; I'm hoping to upload new chapters every Friday at the end of the day from now on. I'll let you know if that changes!
There have also been other (exciting!) things going on behind the scenes that I'm looking forward to share once they're actually confirmed.
...
2023-07-26 02:12:43 +0000 UTC View Post