Category: publishing

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New Cozy Fantasy Pre-Order!

  By books, ebooks, projects, publishing

After months of editing, my cozy fantasy with educated (but moody!) orcs is on pre-order across platforms! So excited to finally have it finished! You can register to receive an extra perk for pre-ordering, as well!

Larch Bloodmoon and Greylocke Krolkag are just a couple of orc-kin Finders, digging through mouldy basements and dusty attics to unearth artifacts for SCAT, the Society for the Contemplation of Arcane Tangibles. It’s a living, and not a very exciting one. Artifacts holding the vestiges of arcane power are mere historical oddities, and the ancient Source of magical power is a long-dead mystery. When magic Withered a century ago, folks adapted, and nobody other than Scholars like their boss really thinks much about magic any more.

Or do they?

When a new elf-kin Finder joins their team, Larch and Greylocke’s routine is overturned as they’re drawn into keeping her secrets. And with the discovery of an inexplicable artifact and rumours of a shadowy cabal bent on resurrecting magic, a dangerous new path beckons … one the Finders can’t ignore.

Get free early access to a Moody Orcs short story with your pre-order!

All you have to do is email proof of your pre-order* (a screenshot works great!) from any retailer to sherrydramsey @ gmail.com (spaces removed) to receive the new short story free! (expected delivery date late April – early May 2026)

*Note: pre-orders cancelled before release will not qualify to receive the short story. Story will be emailed to the address provided.

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Hooks & Histories

  By game material, projects, publishing

Several years ago, I released an RPG gaming supplement called Hooks & Histories, offering backstory starters for player characters, NPCs, or even fictional characters. Along with a customizable backstory, each character type comes with a “Qualities & Quirks” section that can add another layer to the character and may be incorporated into gameplay if the player and GM wish. It’s been fairly popular, so I’m pleased to announce that I’ve re-released it with new cover art, and also released a Volume 2 with even more backstories to choose from.

The new cover art is by my talented daughter Emily, whom you can follow on Instagram @may.bringer, or visit her Etsy shop here for original and fan art, stickers, charms and more.

If you’re a gamer, writer, or know someone who is, you can find the system-agnostic game supplements at DriveThruRPG (along with a fun one-shot adventure module I wrote a few years back as well). They’re all at this link.

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Miis in Nearspace – Part Three

  By A Veiled and Distant Sky, books, Dark Beneath the Moon, ebooks, just for fun, Nearspace, publishing

Although we did meet the alien Dr. Ndasa in the first book, Vilisians are not terribly different from humans in appearance (at least I didn’t have to try to recreate their scent-language for Miis). In Dark Beneath the Moon, we meet some new characters both human and alien.

Jahelia Sord

Jahelia Sord is a thorn in Luta’s side for much of this book, but she was such a fun character to write. It was also fun to turn her into a Mii, with her distinctive black-and-white hair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cerevare Brindlepaw

You want aliens? Here you go. Cerevare is a Lobor, a species with a lot of similarities to dogs or wolves. Cerevare was my first really big Mii challenge, but look at how gorgeous she turned out!

 

 

 

 

 

Fha

From dogs to crows— Fha belongs to a crow-like species the crew dubs “Corvids.” You can be sure it took me some time to figure out this one, but with this wig for her feathers and that pale “beak,” Fha’s Mii is exactly right.

Up next, characters from Beyond the Sentinel Stars, including our first look at the mysterious Chron.

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Miis in Nearspace – Part Two

  By A Veiled and Distant Sky, books, ebooks, just for fun, Nearspace, One's Aspect to the Sun, publishing

See the first post in this series here.

Along with the original crew of the Tane Ikai, there are a few other notable characters in One’s Aspect to the Sun. There are a few who turn up briefly in this book but make larger appearances in a later volume (Luta’s brother Lanar, for instance), so I’ll save them for now. Today you’ll meet Maja, Dr. Ndasa, and Luta’s mother, Emmage.

Maja Tacan
Although Maja and Luta are struggling with a lot of old resentments and are mostly estranged at the beginning of One’s Aspect to the Sun, Maja has a considerable presence across the series. Her Mii looks a lot more cheerful than her character does when we first meet her.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Yalin Ndasa
The Vilisian doctor was my first “alien challenge” in making Nearspace Miis. I love how he turned out! You can’t see it in this picture, but he does have the single long braid that his character has in the book. Note the classic violet eyes so common in Vilisians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emmage Mahane
Well, yes, Emmage does look a lot like Luta. Which is in keeping with their character descriptions in the book, not a sign that I was getting lazy with my Miis. ;)

Next post we’re on to Dark Beneath the Moon and some pretty challenging aliens. (But you won’t believe how well they turned out!)

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Miis in Nearspace – Part One

  By A Veiled and Distant Sky, books, character development, just for fun, Nearspace, One's Aspect to the Sun, publishing

For my birthday last year, my daughters gifted me the game Miitopia for my Switch. Of course, one of the first fun things to do with this game is create characters, and I had the idea that it would be fun to try and re-create the people from my Nearspace universe as Miis.

I was right. :) It was fun, but I hadn’t really considered the challenge of faithfully reproducing some of the aliens the crew encounters. However, as I proceeded along, (and being inspired by some of the creative ways my daughters had created non-human characters for their own games) I realized how very versatile the creation system can be, with a little imaginative use of the tools offered.

So, to celebrate the release of the newest Nearspace title, A Veiled and Distant Sky, I’ll be sharing the results of this endeavour over the next few blog posts. It’s been really fun to do, and I especially love the way the various aliens turned out. But let’s start today with the original crew of the Tane Ikai.

Luta & Hirin Paixon
Although Luta and Hirin are about the same age, of course Luta has stayed very youthful because of (spoiler alert!) nanotechnology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rei dam-Rowan

Like all Erian women, Rei wears pridattii, swirling facial tattoos around her eyes and over her cheeks. These were definitely a challenge to re-create, but I was happy with the way they turned out. Rei’s signature long, chestnut-coloured hair and golden eyes were a lot easier to incorporate!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baden Methyr
As the resident “tech-dog” on the Tane Ikai, I thought it only fitting to give Baden’s Mii an eye-implant gadget. He doesn’t actually have one in the books…at least, not one that we know about. Yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yuskeya Blue

If you’ve read any of the Nearspace books, you’ll recognize Yuskeya immediately. I loved that one of the wig options in the character creation interface let me recreate her gorgeous hair so beautifully.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viss Feron
The Mii-version of Viss (the Tane Ikai’s engineer) looks just as affably cranky as I always imagine him. Buzz-cut and all!

Come back tomorrow to see some other characters from One’s Aspect to the Sun, including our first alien, the Vilisian Dr. Ndasa. Then stay tuned to see who else pops up!

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A Veiled and Distant Sky Releases Today!

  By A Veiled and Distant Sky, books, covers, ebooks, Nearspace, publishing

It’s a book birthday! The ebook of A Veiled and Distant Sky comes out today from Tyche Books, so if you’ve pre-ordered it, you should see it in your library. If you didn’t pre-order, what are you waiting for? Go get your copy! ;)

When Luta Paixon and the crew of the Tane Ikai discover a dying wormhole explorer who’s been missing for decades, it’s a mystery; but the bigger mystery lies in her only words: “Save Lillifleur.” Because the colony ship Lillifleur disappeared without a trace almost a century ago.

Meanwhile, a different mystery lies closer to home; Luta’s son Karro and his wife want no part of the life-extending nanobioscavengers that have kept Luta safe from harm and aging for over fifty years. Confused, worried for their future, and even a little angry, Luta struggles to understand why anyone would reject the gift of near-immortality, even as the debate over nanobioscavenger technology rages throughout Nearspace.

Stranded in an unknown system with Karro and Aliande aboard, Luta faces potentially dangerous drones, a mysterious virus, and a looming alien threat to a forgotten colony. She’ll have to contend with all of this and more before she can unravel secrets from her family’s past, and hope for a little luck to get everyone home to Nearspace safe and sound.

I’ll be posting more about the book and some fun things about it in the coming days, so stay tuned!

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Come-From-Aways

  By books, ebooks, projects, publishing, science fiction, story

My January release is live! It’s a standalone short story about small towns, strangers, and friends, and you can find it at your favourite retailer by following this link.

Mac Laidlaw returned to his small hometown after a decade away, with big plans to build a theme park and put the place “on the map.”

​​​​​​​For Louise Coldbrook, the town’s mayor (and Mac’s one-that-got-away), Mac’s plans are nothing but bad news. The town has a good thing going–a very, very secret good thing–and the last thing they want is attention from the rest of the world. But Mac’s not a man to take no for an answer…not this time, anyway. And certainly not without a really good explanation, which is the last thing Louise can offer him.

​​​​​​​Not if she wants to keep the town’s secret safe.

It’s just .99 across all platforms, so what are you waiting for? :)

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Hooks & Histories: Fantasy RPG Game Resource

  By character development, game material, publishing

I’m pleased to announce that my first publicly-available gaming resource is live now at DriveThruRpg.com. “Hooks & Histories” is a character backstory builder for fantasy RPGs.

Are you a player who has a hard time coming up with interesting backstories for your characters? Are you a GM who’d like to create more fully-developed NPCs with strong motivations and personality quirks? These thirteen system-agnostic character hooks and histories will help populate any campaign with well-rounded and intriguing individuals to bring the world of the story and the story of the world to life.

Perfect for player characters, NPCs, and other inhabitants of any fantasy world RPG, these backstory starters are wholly character-based, and so can be used in any game system. Whether it’s for a new player who’s having trouble generating ideas for their character’s past, or a recurring NPC a GM would like to flesh out a little more fully, these character-building starters provide a great jumping-off point for characters to grow from.

Each backstory starter can be molded to fit any race or class, and includes a “Qualities & Quirks” section which players and GMs can incorporate as they choose. These are ideas, beliefs, and personality traits that may be used to further develop a character’s roleplay persona. These choices have no effect on game mechanics unless the GM chooses to use them in this way, but allow for deeper and more lively role-playing.

“Hooks & Histories” is just $2.00 at DriveThruRPG.com, so if you’re a gamer (or a writer!) you might want to have a look! The product includes both a stylized version and a tested accessible simplified doc.

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2018 in Review: Writing

  By books, current projects, musings, Nearspace, Planet Fleep, projects, publishing, self-publishing, writing life

I was just looking back at my year-in-review post for 2017 and having a laugh at myself. I’ve just finished trying to reconstruct the months from June to December in my writing/revision tracker, because I only kept good records for the first half of the year, and my 2017 post said much the same thing. I could make a comment about old dogs and new tricks, but I do have a new tracker all set up and ready to go for 2019, so we’ll see if I can change my errant ways.

At any rate, 2018 shaped up with just over 150,000 words of new writing, an increase over the year before, which makes me happy (this number doesn’t include blog posts). I finished four new short stories, one middle grade chapter book, a novella, and made progress on several other longer projects, including coming *this* close to finishing a new Nearspace novel (which I should finally achieve by the end of January at the latest). I kept a few stories in submission throughout the year and had a couple of acceptances. I self-published four new titles. I gave a couple of courses and professional development sessions, one of which was new. I helped our local writer’s group publish an anthology. All in all, a very productive year for me.

I’d like to do a little more short fiction in the coming year and finish some of my languishing works-in-progress. I do have a detailed plan, but since no plan survives contact with reality, I think I’ll keep that to myself. :)

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Friday Desk Report – June 29, 2018

  By Beyond the Sentinel Stars, books, bundles, covers, Dark Beneath the Moon, Nearspace, One's Aspect to the Sun, Planet Fleep, publishing, writing life

Oh my! So much going on this week, I hardly know where to start!

Well, today this happened:

So exciting to see it at #1! You can still catch Planet Fleep for .99 until the end of the day on June 30th, so don’t miss out!

Next on the list, this beauty: an ebook set of the three Nearspace novels! I am in love with the incorporation of the three covers here. If you want to pick it up for your very own self, click whichever of these links works for your e-reading preferences:

And last but not least, my baby graduated from high school this week! I’m a very proud mama (even if I don’t understand how the time went by so quickly!). :)