Oh it is FEBRUERAYRY ALRIGHT.
That means it’s:
COLD.
yet
ROMANTIC.
How ironic.
Now here’s some music before we get started:
Mister Caldwell is one of the very, very best of his genre. I’ll let the music speak for itself.
It’s that time of the year again – the ol’ Saint Vtines.
This, perhaps more than any other “big” holiday, is experienced so differently by its many revelers.
Do you just hand someone a “ILU” candy? How about taking your special someone out to a coffee shop?
Do you bake nice things, give roses, or just sit around and listen to mood-music?
Maybe it’s just a regular day to you, especially if you don’t have anyone, or gift-giving and lovelies are so ingrained in your day-to-day life that you hardly notice the difference – I don’t know!
Whatever your feeling on it or however you celebrate it, I hope you have (had?) an awesome Valentine’s day, and your year only gets better. There’s a lot of negativity in the world right now, but whoever and whatever you consider yourself to be, understand that I’ll be here to provide nice stories to you, rain or shine.
Did you know that the etymology of the word February derives from Februa, an ancient Roman purification ritual held to fix up the spirit of the city as well as plenty of fertility-stuff, which itself has many ties to Lupercalia, which included sacrificing a lamb and dog to ensure safe flocks and bountiful harvests… which also happens to be a holiday observed in the modern times by The Satanic Temple… interesting how all this stuff comes full circle – everyone’s playing everyone else’s game, as usual.
…Wow, yeah, sorry, we haven’t even gotten to the first thing in this monthly update and I’m already peeling back weird layers for you – I’ll stop stalling and get down to the stuff:
COVER REVEAL: XTREME FORCE BOOK 1 -28 March!
Whoa, yup!
Time for the next new release: this one feels like it’s been waiting some time, and I think those readers that have been with me from the very beginning will agree:
Book one of Xtreme Manly Man Force of Intense Badassery: The Fountain of Testosterone, has been a mostly complete book for many years, but ever- waiting for that final coat of polish where I’d lean back from my laptop, nod to myself, and go: “Ah, neat.”
Published by the outstanding team at Dutch-based House ButterDragons, this series is going to be at least six insanity-filled volumes of the kinds of goings on in Subspace: The Eversea’s even meaner and highly satirical brother. The book’s coming out on March 28 on all fine reading platforms, with print and audio versions following closely afterward. No pre-order link yet, but I’ll let you know when I get one. You can expect these masterpieces of literature to come out roughly every 6 months – promise I’ll try to keep up with other projects while I’m belting these out: both Courts Divided and Nocturna League have been waiting a while for some new releases.
Will there be action, intrigue, and characters you get attached to? Rest assured, all the Kell Inkston charm you know and love is there, but this time with overwhelming violence, extra insane characters, and many more bad words, beating even Clare when she was in Condemnation – that poor missy was cursing like one of The Captain’s boys every second the saw an automaton – and she saw quite a few of them.
In this book we’ll step into the plated boots of an unlikely team of Subspace mercenaries, not the cool, fancy equipment kind: just the regular, screaming, violent kind that really need to get a paycheck… ah, but what’s behind the shouting, I wonder?
…Well, character development of some kind, I’m certain. If you like some of my lighter works, I think you’ll really like Xtreme Force, but even this new series takes crazy to new heights: When Chaos’ minions seem tame by comparison, you know you’re in for a wild ride.
Look forward to The Fountain of Testosterone: coming March 28!
VALENTINES DAY CARDS!
Get you one and share with those you love. You can even print them out and draw on them with crayon!
Have a go:
This year’s cards feature The Captain, H.O.C. himself, and Lord Knight General Order of the R.K.O.K.R.! – Enjoy ’em!
Please, it would be so funny if you printed one of those out and gave it to someone, especially if they have no clue at all who these crazy idiots are.
Featured Art of the Month:
Art by Nozk3ll
Reflection: You will Lose until you Learn, and Learning is a Choice
And now for a more serious note:
There are times you do poorly in life, and it impacts you in a severe way. You do your very best, but it comes up short, perhaps for the very last time it can be allowed.
In failure of his magnitude, your sense of identity becomes damaged – the person you believe you were appears no more in your subconscious view of the world. It’s the kind of loss that does not allow for retries – you are simply burnt, and you will bear that shame for as long as you choose to do so.
At first, it feels like a crucial piece to the puzzle of your life has been snapped up in Fate’s hand and tossed out the window of your quickly shutting opportunity. It feels as though a pivotal piece of reality itself has been lost to you forever: life will never be the same… but this is only your assumption at first.
As the heat of the failure embers into bitterness, this is the next test: your struggle has not ended, as your struggle never truly ends if you’re battling to bring wonderful things into the world.
The more you lean back and take things in perspective, the more you can see the beach for the sand, the forest for the trees, and the sky for the stars. You will begin to recognize the opportunity you’ve been given: introspection.
Just as one does not grow in the moment, but rather while internalizing change during sleep, so to do you change in the moments after you’ve been smacked down to the floor. When you conduct an honest self assessment of your performance, you have to be brutally honest, because even the slightest misjudgement can grow into a inflated, or deflated view of yourself, your abilities, and the challenges you face in the world.
“Winning life” is not the true goal: becoming a person who wins is. Falling down is integral to growth, and if you only win your battles in life, you will not grow,- you’ll simply be forced to wonder what the character building wonderment of adversity and suffering could bring you.
So don’t go waiting for your parents, your boss, your spouse, or your kids to give you permission. You have a responsibility to do valuable, difficult things with your life, and no matter how many obstacles are placed in your way, you know what the end point must reflect: not the specific vision, but the heart, the moral, and the feeling – you have to reflect your philosophy and values out into the world in a meaningful way, and the time to start that is right now.
Have a nice day. Now stop reading and do that thing that I know you’re procrastinating on – do you remember?
Much, much love,
Coffee... WRITING!... COFFEE!! 