A firmly landed foot strikes up the ridge-line of the Great Climb – could it be that the author has been met with a victory? (The Sweet Sweet September ’23)

My Ever-Beloved Reader, hail to you on this fine day,

I uh… I have some pretty big news for you, but first… music!

A little more sunlight before my side of the world gets cool for the rest of the year.

A Welcome Update: Traditional Publishing on the Horizon

Some days writing feels like a lot of work.

You have to balance characters, their motivations, the events and setting of the story, and try to wrap all of this together in a package that is both interesting, and enjoyable. Perhaps you have most of these things done, but other parts are neglected to the point where it just doesn’t feel right.

Writing a good book, and I mean one where all the little bows unravel from the box in just the right way, is a very particular art. Writing is too hard for us mere mortals, so it’s deeply encouraging when something neat happens.

What’s the neat thing in question? I’m glad you asked!

I’m… getting published!

Like, the real kind of published.

Gently teased sometime over a year ago, the house that expressed interest in my good-ol series Xtreme Force has finalized the paperwork for a six book publishing deal, and now we’re really cooking with gas.

Xtreme Force, I.E. Xtreme Manly Masculine Man Force of Intense Badassery, is a book series I sparred with for a couple years while I was finishing up the Kingdom Slayer series (unpublished), and writing it alongside Woodcastle, which in that day was tentatively and lovingly titled “The Fairy Book”.

This series follows the exploits of five super manly, independent, badass dudes – none of which have any character flaws whatsoever. That said, it is satire, but only in the most High Fantasy kind of way. Those looking forward to learning about some of the less savory parts of the Holyverse are encouraged to get their copies on release day to discover the grandiose lengths that Subspacers go to in the name of wealth, power, and fame.

That said, these books will reveal quite a few secrets about the ancient civilization of Subara and it’s outrageously gruesome fate – I hope you’re looking forward to it, because it’s not just going to be one of my usual releases: We’re expecting audio editions, cool little maps, library listings, physical copies, and more.

I have more to tell you, but it will have to wait as I’m permitted to give you more news. For now, even the publisher is secret, but I’m getting published, by-gone it all – wow!

Cool Details: Updated Website, Lore pages and More!

Notice anything different?

Well, if you’re reading this in the newsletter, of course you aren’t (at least… I hope you’re not seeing anything different, that might be an HTML error!)

Here, if you are, check out https://kellinkston.com/ for a moment.

Okay, now do you notice anything different?

Hopefully not too much, but I did redo a lot of the site on the back-end side. Things should load better, faster, with nicer text, and all that-

Who am I kidding, this is a writing thing – who cares if page loading speeds are improved by .00001 seconds?

Alright, BUT, I have added a lot of new lore entries on the website: Check these fine fellas out.

We have new pages about a few of the upper kingdoms, and most of the bigger pages all have at least one piece of coolio art included – some of them are even made by a soulless automaton AI!

N-now don’t get the wrong idea, here! I’m still going to hire artists, but there are a few concepts and posts that I wasn’t going to shell out for that I still kind of needed an image for. It was either my stick figures or an AI art program, the choice was mine and I took it.

Anyway, enjoy it!

Oh… and I may have hidden a trusted friend somewhere around the bottom of kellinkston.com – can you find her?

Little Short Fiction for the Month – A Reflection

Do you know what Order’s #1 secret is?

…

Okay, besides drinking herself flat to the ground.

…

Let me help you out: Painting.

It’s painting.

This (very) short story is about her painting, with paint.

Please enjoy reading it by clicking here.

The Departure of the Month

It is so cool to get to talk to you like this on a monthly basis, the only thing that would be cooler is if you returned with your own thoughts.

I have a new(ish) email: kell@kellinkston.com. Drop me a line and let’s chat about… well, anything!

All the best to you and your wonderful face,

Kell Inkston