Hello, adventurers and comfort lovers!

Yes, you can love adventure and comfort. A balance of both is, I’m sure, recommended by health experts.

Thank you for being here and joining me on my author journey. The stories in Erviad are just beginning, it’s going to be epic!

Quick shout out to Voracious Readers! Thank you for giving Morvelving a chance. I hope you are finding enjoyment in the story! Shoot me an email to let know what you think or give it a review or rating on your preferred platform. I was delighted to see all twenty giveaway slots filled.

What the Took, July has been crazy. I received a place in a panel for a local con. I am pleased to announce I will be at Mac Minicon in McMinnville, Oregon on July 19th. If you are in the area, come say hi and check out the arts and cosplay. You can find more information at macminicon.org. I’m eager and nervous to be on my first panel.

Before that, I will be at Cascade Writers Workshop in Bremerton, Washington on July 11-13th. I’m always looking to improve my craft and meet more people in the broader writing community. My assigned critique group consists of talented writers with intriguing stories. It always amazes me how many incredible artists there are in the world! We have friends everywhere.

During the last weekend of June, I had the opportunity to be a vendor at IFG’s Tournament of Roses. IFG (Indes Ferox Gladio) is a Historical European Martial Arts non-profit club for practicing with medieval and renaissance weapons like longsword, rapier, etc. You might ask, who does this kind of stuff? The answer is nerds. Lovely, beautiful people who find joy in artfully striking each other with swords in a friendly manner and then invite you after to the pub or DnD campaign. I have been a longsword practitioner since 2015 and am proud to be one of the founding board members of the club. It was the right place to sell a fantasy book, and I had a blast chatting with new and old friends. If you want a recreational community with a big heart, look up your local HEMA club. Be warned, it is an addictive hobby.

I submitted Morvelving to the Book Blogger’s Novel of The Year Award. It’s a competition set up by book bloggers to read and rate indie books. I’m super excited to see how my book stands against over a thousand other books. The talent pool is deep, with finalists from Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. My goal is to make it to the second round, which I’ll know by the end of July. Fingers-crossed!

Time management is the only way I can juggle everything I need to do. With a full-time day job, it’s paramount I am wise with my time. I would say I am thirty-three point-nine percent successful. Which isn’t great! There’s always room for improvement. I revised my calendar and added more reminders for myself. The best lesson I learned for time management is having realistic goals. That is why I changed my newsletter to only four a year (from here on, pfft). This way I don’t spam your email with my ramblings (You can join my newsletter by clicking the “Join Newsletter” button to the top right).

That said, I am querying book reviewers to see if they are interested in receiving a free copy of Morvelving in exchange for an honest review. I also have reached out to several booktubers for interviews. Since I am sporting a majestic beard, I thought it fitting to pursue the Bearded Book Beast and the Beard of Darkness booktubers. They love fantasy books just as much as I do, and I hope to be hosted by both to talk beards, books, and even beer. Check out their channels for book recommendations! Their willingness to host indie authors has impressed me, so they deserve the subscribers and views.

The sequel for Morvelving is moving along. I am currently at 65k words, and not at the midpoint! Compared to the first book, it’s going to be a chonker, but I am happy with this change. We’ll get more from each character and instead of journeying from one place to another, the characters are in one place for the duration of the novel.

I am thrilled to continue to bring historical cultures into the world of Erviad, and The Mourning Sword book two is no different.

I was studying Bronze Age civilizations in the Mediterranean when I stumbled onto Nuraghe. If this is your first time reading that word. Go google it ASAP. Nuraghe is a Bronze Age stone fortress. They are essentially medieval castles before medieval castles were cool! I couldn’t believe it. Incredible architecture, and there’s over 7,000 of them on the island of Sardinia. What? So, yeah, my next novel has Nuraghe in it. Super pumped to bring these stone fortresses into a fantasy context along with the cultures that built them.

What to look forward to? I’ve been whispering in artist’s ears about character art for Morvelving and Nippi. Gasp! There are rumors about a hardcover edition with the first chapter of The Mourning Sword Book Two in it. I will also update you all on the July events.

Oh, and the next newsletter may even have puppy introductions! Stay tuned for dog pics.

I hope everyone has a pleasant day of comfort with friends or loved ones.

Edu ve, Mulranei-friend.

C. J. Switzer