Update # 4 - October 2025

 A slow start on the Taliesin book - only a little tinkering earlier in the week, and a certain amount of reading in the earlier Storyteller books.  I'm also considering how to use some of the mythical Taliesin material in the story. Shifting back into third person narration is also a bit of a change after the last two first person Storyteller books. This book will follow Taliesin up until Gwernin meets him, although his years in Ireland won't all be told in as much detail as in The King's Druid. Thoughts, challenges...

The garden is finished for the season - two hard frosts and one lighter one in the last week. The ash trees are nearly naked now, but the elms are still stubbornly green. I haven't done much yard cleanup yet, as it's been cold and windy some days, and I've been busy on others. No hurry, though - Samhain soon, and the beginning of Celtic winter.
 

Update #3 - October 2025

 The second proof copy arrived, and my attempt to fix the minor cover problem didn't work, so I made one more try. Ordered one more proof copy Monday, and turned my attention to the Taliesin book, where I'm making slow progress. The proof copies are in salable condition, only the first proof having a few minor punctuation issues the proofreaders didn't catch.

Not much progress in the garden - there are lots of scarlet runner beans which aren't getting ripe because it's not warm enough. I was hoping for fresh seed for next year, but only have a little so far. At least I have a lot from past years which should still be viable. A lot of fallen and falling leaves, except for the stubborn elms and the oak tree in front which are still green. I need to bring the geraniums indoors tomorrow, since I'll be busy Saturday running some Zoom sessions and we may have a first frost that night. We're getting closer and closer to Winter.
 

 

Update #2 - October 2025

 I'm still waiting for the second proof copy of The Well of Wisdom - tracker says it's got as far as Texas, so I might have it by Saturday. The e-book versions are finished and will be available around November 1st - I'll share the link when we get closer. I did some work on Mac Criomthann Tales III earlier this week, but a couple of the stories are short, so the page count is still low. I'll need to write another longer piece, but while I'm waiting for inspiration to strike, I've begun looking at Taliesin: King Arthur's Bard. The tricky part may be putting together all the bits that he's told Gwernin about his early life. If some of them don't fit, I'll have to blame Gwernin's poor memory, as happened in the last part of The King's Druid <grin>. In the meantime, enjoy the cover art I put together three years ago!

In the outside world, autumn is progressing, with a lot of rain earlier in the week and a lot of falling leaves. No frost so far, although I had 36 F at dawn yesterday. I need to do some yard work later today and tomorrow. And it will be time to move the geraniums indoors for the winter before long...

 

Update #1 - October 2025

 The proof copy arrived Monday, and was pretty clean except for a small design problem on the front cover which I didn't notice in the preview. I fixed that, and also corrected a couple of things in the text which I wouldn't have bothered with otherwise - a missing comma at the end of some quoted text, and some missing quotation marks on one of the poems. I published the revised version yesterday and ordered a second proof copy. This process is why I needed all the proofreading finished in September. My next job is to finish up the Smashwords/Draft2Digital version, which is scheduled for publication November 1st. 

My next book will be Mac Criomthann Tales III, which shouldn't take long - I'll be editing the new stories a bit to take out the narrator parts. I might have that one out by January 1st. Then I'll move on to Taliesin: King Arthur's Bard, which will cover Taliesin's early life before Gwernin meets him. Farther down the road after that is the last Gwernin trilogy, called "The Fall of the North". The individual book titles are The Last True King, Three Hundred Spears, and The Fall of the North. There will be some heavy going in all three of those books. And yes, I've had them planned for several years, even if not in detail. After that - well, that is a story for another day!

The leaves of the ash tree outside my window have turned gold and are falling. Still no frost, but it can't be long. I hope it holds off a couple more weeks so my scarlet runner beans can mature - there are a lot of them that set last month after the Japanese beetles were no longer eating the flowers! Four weeks now to Samhain, and winter. 

Update #4 - September 2025

 After spending last weekend working on layout issues, mostly in the headers and footers of the manuscript, I published it Monday and ordered my first proof copy. It's available now on the Lulu bookstore (where, btw, I get about a third of the price as opposed to $2 from Amazon, whenever it gets there). It won't go to global distribution until I get the first copy and approve it, but I think/hope it will be clean, although there is always another typo <grin>. I'm working now on the ebook version, which should be published by the end of October. I'm also working on another collection of Mac Criomthann stories, the four from this book and one from The Fallen Stones. After that I may take a month off before starting my next project, which should be Taliesin: King Arthur's Bard. I have a lot of material for that book already - snippets that Taliesin has told Gwernin in the last three Storyteller books - so it's possible I might finish that one by this time next year.

In other news, it finally rained Sunday and Monday - over 2 inches, which was badly needed. The garden is nearly done for the year - the only tomatoes still struggling on are the sweet 100s. No frost yet, but 40 deg F this morning. Time to start yard cleanup.The leaves on the ash tree outside my window are turning gold. Autumn is definitely here.

Update #3 - September 2025

 I've finished designing what I think is an acceptable cover, also finished tweaking the interior layout. The chapter breaks don't always come where I'd like them to, but I think it's more important to keep the poetry stanzas together. I'd like to publish and order a proof copy soon, so if necessary I can repeat the process and still have the book ready by October 31st. I'll also need to turn my attention to the ebook version for Smashwords, which has rather different format requirements. Then there's Chokecherry Grove's Autumn Equinox ritual this Saturday, and our annual mid-October retreat, which is one-day and virtual this year. By the time I get to November, I'll need a vacation!

We actually had rain along with cool weather the last two nights. This is good because I don't have to water the garden, although I may have to mow the grass in some places before long. Such tomatoes as are left are no longer getting ripe, so no worries there. I think the raccoons have given up and moved on to someplace with better foraging. Autumn is truly here.

Update #2 - September 2025

 Well, I couldn't leave it alone -  I'm slowly reading through the manuscript again, still finding the occasional typo or punctuation mistake, or changing a word here and there. One of my proofreaders has also found a couple of things I missed. A writer's work is never done. I've also noticed some themes I didn't notice while writing, partly I think because there were so many interruptions. It's interesting how these things develop. Taliesin and Fraechan, for example, both have "I won't do this again" moments. Gwernin's son Ianto learns a lot during the summer, and becomes an important character. And of course there's the big reveal at the end, but I've known about that one since the beginning.

 We're still having warm or occasionally hot weather - 80s and sometimes 90s. It's ironic that we look like having a late first frost when my tomatoes have mostly quit producing. Still, there's always more yard work to do, and at least I'm now getting more beans since the Japanese beetles are no longer eating the flowers.

Update #1 - September 2025

 I'm mostly trying to leave the manuscript alone for a couple of weeks until I get feedback from the proofreaders. Instead I've pulled out the Mac Criomthann stories which will make up most of that next collection. I may however try uploading the current draft of the manuscript to Lulu to see if they've instituted any annoying new changes to the process in the last two years. After I publish The Well of Wisdom and the Mac Criomthann collection #3, my next book will be another spin-off: Taliesin: King Arthur's Bard. I have a lot of bits and pieces already for that one, so hopefully it will only take a year to write, not two!

I've been doing a lot of yard work the last week, partly because the city inspector came by and left me a notice about tall weeds. This has happened before, and I think I've got on his "naughty list", but it's stuff that needed doing anyway now that the weather has cooled down a bit. At least no more raccoon damage, but there are no more tomatoes for them now. Also the Japanese beetles have mostly disappeared except for a few on the remaining (highly shredded) Virginia Creeper. A gardener's work is never done - I'm  looking forward to winter.
 

Update #4 - August 2025

 I've finished my first editing pass, including formatting, and shared the results with three friends who have agreed to do simple proofreading, mostly looking for unclear or confusing bits, inconsistencies (e.g. X has brown hair in chapter 2, red hair in chapter 5...), and simple typos. If anyone else is interested, email me as gwernin at gmail.com. I would need any feedback no later than mid October, preferably earlier, as my planned publication date is Nov. 1st. Total page count is currently 364 pages including title pages, maps, and appendices. 

We've now had a week of cool damp weather, and it's wonderful! I've harvested all the ripe and almost-ripe tomatoes because of the raccoon incursions last weekend, and will be canning a lot of them tomorrow. Other than that, I'm just enjoying the early autumn weather, and will be starting some yard cleanup. 

The seasons are changing...

Update #3 - August 2025

 I finished chapter 31 yesterday and added it to the manuscript. I am now in the process of proofreading the whole thing. After I make any needed corrections, it will go to two or three people who are willing to read it and find anything I've missed. Then I'll upload it Lulu and Smashwords. My planned publication date is November 1st - only a year after my original target, sigh.

Last weekend the raccoons finally discovered my tomatoes. After losing some two nights in a row, I picked all the ripe and almost-ripe ones. The raccoons came one more night and caused a certain amount of damage, possibly out of frustration. I've now had three raccoon-free nights, and hope that they've found someone else's garden to pillage. Also after a week of mostly very hot weather, we should get a break starting tomorrow. On the whole, things are looking up.