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mayakern · 2 years

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March Preorder + August RTS News

Hey, hi, hello y'all! Boy do I have a BUNCH of news to go over! Buckle in because this one's gonna be a doozie!

First of all, almost all March preorders have been sent out from our office, so if you don't have your skirts yet, they should be in your hands within the next couple weeks... with one big exception.

Our March preorders were insanely successful. Despite only being open for a week, it was the most successful round of preorders we've ever run to a truly staggering degree for both us and our manufacturer. Because of this and because of an issue with our manufacturer, we had an insanely high number of defects in this print run.

Usually, we have an over all defect rate of between 2-10%, averaging around 5% overall, but this run we had around a 25% minor defect rate in midi skirts and around 40% rate of major defects in the miniskirts. This is primarily due to the fact that our manufacturer changed the fabric used for the miniskirts without consulting us. This is super upsetting for many reasons, not least of which because it is incredibly wasteful, but also because they are making us pay out of pocket to fix an issue that they caused.

Everyone who was effected by these defects has been emailed by Devin*, so if you haven't yet please make sure to check your inbox, including your spam, to see if you were contacted. Devin will present you with a few options for how to proceed (including waiting for a remade skirt, taking a refund, or taking a discounted defective skirt) so please be sure to respond so we can get you sorted ASAP. If you opt to wait and have your skirt replaced by a new one, it will take a couple months for us to do that as all the effected skirts must be remade and mailed to us.

(*except for six people who did not include an email in their order and who we have been unable to contact, who we have defaulted into receiving replacement skirts from the new batch)

Because of this ridiculously high defect rate and because of how swamped preorders make us, for the time being we have decided to stop running preorders. Instead, we are planning to have more frequent RTS launches to compensate. We originally started running preorders due to uncertainty with sales in COVID and because we couldn't afford a large manufacturing fee up front, but with the success we've seen over the last couple years we are now in a much better position and are able to finance more frequent RTS orders without needing funds from preorders.

I understand a lot of people love the preorder system because there is no inventory cap (and therefor designs won't sell out as long as you make it in the limited time window), but as things currently stand we are unable to keep up with the volume of preorders without adding a sales cap, at which point we decided that more frequent RTS launches would be the better solution.

Additionally, for the past year or two, miniskirts have been exclusive to preorders. As of right now, we have not decided how we want to handle miniskirts. Our current top options are either phasing them out entirely until we have a larger office space and more staff to deal with the extra variables, or making separate RTS launches for mini and midi skirts to simplify things slightly. If we go for the latter, the miniskirts will be made in a new fabric so as to avoid the problems we had with our most recent batch.

Now, for some better news: we finally have a date for our next RTS launch! We'll be listing skirts in multiple waves, including the defective skirts leftover from preorders (at very discounted rates**), starting on August 15th. More skirts will be listed in waves in the following days and weeks. We are doing this instead of listing all the skirts at one time to ensure that we have time to thoroughly quality check every skirt before it is listed. If you want to see all the new skirts that will be available in this RTS, here's a video!

(**skirts with major defects will be listed below cost so that their fabric may be reused to hopefully reduce the amount of waste generated by this huge defect rate)

I know this is a lot to take in so if you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading and for supporting out little store. Things have changed so much for us over the past couple years and it's all thanks to y'all.

#store #not art #faq #news #maya rambles #long post

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tamberlanecomic · 10 months

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July Newsletter

Hey everyone! Here are some general updates for everything that’s been going on and what you can expect for this month and throughout the summer.

Health Update

As some of you may remember, right after the Kickstarter closed I was knocked out by a one-two punch of a fibro flare and Covid. While I’ve been put through the wringer, I’m FINALLY feeling like I’m crawling back out from under this extended period of sickness.

I’m still dealing with some pain and fatigue due to my fibro flare-up, but it’s more or less back to the “normal” levels of what I’m used to, so overall I’m doing pretty good. I took some extra time to recuperate from Covid in the hopes of avoiding any long Covid effects, and while I am still taking it easy, I take a lot of joy in drawing and being forced to not indulge in any of my creative pursuits have made me all the more eager to get back into the swing of things. So, I’m still being careful, but I’m also easing back into work.

I got so many amazing comments from patrons, readers, and Kickstarter backers all encouraging me to take as long as I needed to get better, and I can’t thank you enough for the kind words and well wishes! It was measurably easier to take some time off to rest knowing I had so many people cheering me on and encouraging me to do so, so thank you so much for taking the time to say something and for sending me words of support. <3 You da best!

Comic Updates

We’re moving right along, with 12 pages currently in the pipeline at various production stages. In fact, I’ve just put three new finished pages into the buffer for $10+ patrons today! Our priority right now is to get a healthy buffer so that I can have ample time and space to catch up on other work without impending deadline pressures.

Patreon Rewards

Next, I plan to knock out a good chunk of Patreon commissions for my $50+ folks. I’ve already been doing that here and there, but I want to make sure that the oldest ones are finished first.

Likewise, due to the chaos of a sudden move and a lot of life changes, Ari didn’t send the May postcards out until today, so I apologize for the delays there – we’re getting back on track! June’s postcards have already been sent.

Speaking of, I’ve included some of the patron reward art I just finished last week!

Kickstarter News

We still need to finish the internal book edits, draw up the Q&As, format the information in the book, and finish formatting annotations. These are all things I had intended to get done both during and after the campaign but I was simply unable to keep up with it due to health reasons. Curse you, chronic illness!

I am also going to explore another option for getting the softcovers printed locally, which is something I will only go with if the quality is up to my standards. But we're less than $5k away from being able to reprint Chapters 1-3 so if we're able to get a cheaper local deal with a good printer, I'm willing to explore the option!

By the way, we are now officially sold out of Chapters 1 and 2 books, but you can help us reprint them by preordering them and other stuff through our Backerkit shop!

Preorder Here

We’ll be streaming edits in the Foxglove discord server, so be sure to keep an eye out on there!

New Pride Merch

For Pride month I launched two new apparel designs as part of our Pride collection! Choose from Agender or Non-Binary Ainsley or Biromantic or Transgender Marie on comfy shirts available in a wide range of colors and sizes.

This collection also features downloadable Tales from Treehollow comics dealing with LGBTQIA+ themes. Come check it out!

Shop Now

Artfight

I’ve never done Artfight before, but I’m gonna try this year! It’ll be fun to have little warmup drawings I can squeeze in here and there between larger projects.

If you’ve never heard of Artfight, it’s an annual art trading game where you “attack” by drawing other people’s characters. It seems really fun! If you’re participating and want to add me, here’s my profile:

https://artfight.net/~Cvilbrandt

Thanks all for reading! May this month be ever better!

#newsletter #art #comics #webcomic #cute #animals #adorable #furry art #furry community #digital art #indie comic #TamberlaneComic

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fourteentheart · 7 months

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[Shop Update]

Still in vacation mode, but if you'd like to bookmark it for later:

>> My pop-up shop! <<

Opens October 14 through November 11 for PREORDERS.

Plain text from images below the cut. Hopefully it reads ok if the image is hard to read! ; v ; Feel free to leave a reply / IM / send me an ask if you have any questions.

EDIT: All non-sticker orders come with one free Wind-up Gaius sticker. :) >> Ask box is here. <<

PRICE MENU

AndLoveYouShallFind.etsy.com ForgetsRotation.carrd.co Ships to most of the world!

All prices in USD, not including shipping, tax, and customs fees where applicable. >> US orders over $35 ships free! <<

Gaius Baelsar “Wind-up Minion” Sticker - Single $3.5 / Three $9.5 2x2IN (5x5CM) matte vinyl sticker. “This automaton will be forever stuck at your side (or cup, or laptop, or any flat surface)!”

Pinched Charms - Single $12 / Family Set $20 2.5IN (6.35CM) Double-sided clear acrylic charm with different front & back designs, epoxy dome on front. “Pick up a Baelsar (or two!) for your most exciting and mundane adventures!”

Werlyt Glow Charm - $12 3IN (7.62CM) Double-sided glow acrylic charm with different front & back designs. “And love you shall find forever at your side with these very much alive and well Auri.”

Gaius Baelsar “Wind-up Minion” Standee Charm - $15 3IN (7.62CM) Double-sided clear acrylic standee charm with different front & back designs, epoxy dome on front. “He’s not judging - he just looks like that.”

Gaius Baelsar “Wind-up Minion” Pillowcase - $24 15IN (38.1CM) Double-sided pillowcase with different front & back designs, does not come with pillow stuffing. “Despite his stern expression, sources say this automaton is soft and likes to cuddle.”

Items not to scale. Check individual listings for details.

SHIPPING INFORMATION

Sticker-Only Orders [ $0.67 (US) / $1.50 (International) ]

Flat rate up to 1 oz. Sent the old fashion way in an envelope. Untracked. 1-3 weeks for delivery.

- Shipping upgrades for packaging and tracking available at extra cost. See below.

All Other Orders [ $4 to 4.50 (US) / $10.84 to $13.34 (International) ]

Flat rate shipping in either a 6x4” or 9x6” bubblemailer. Includes tracking and insurance.

- US: $4 to 4.50 - Shipped via USPS Ground Advantage. Est. 5 days for delivery, not including weekends.

- US orders over $35 ship free!

- Canada: $10.84 - Shipped via Asendia (PirateShip Version). 1-3+ weeks for delivery.

- Everywhere Else: $13.34 - Shipped via Asendia (PirateShip Version). 1-3+ weeks for delivery.

Note: Stickers ordered in addition to charms and pillows will not incur any extra shipping fee.

Shipping Delays, Value-Added Tax (VAT), and Restrictions

- Holidays and weather may cause shipping delays.

- For applicable orders, prepaid VAT will be properly documented on customs form to avoid double taxes.

- In the event I’m unable to ship orders to your country I will cancel and refund the order.

Preorder items expected to ship around mid-December to early-mid January

- In-stock items ordered with preorder items will NOT ship until all items are in-stock.

- Please place a separate order with in-stock only items if you would like in-stock items to be shipped out sooner.

#ace this is not art #ace's pop up shop updates #gaius baelsar #gaius van baelsar

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allthingsdarkanddirty · 1 year

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•✦✦• TEASER SHARE & BLURB REVEAL! •✦✦•

Check out this gorgeous new teaser and the blurb for THE THIRD SON by Dyan Layne!!

Home is just a place, right?

Arien Brogan had plans. In Denver. The only place she’d ever call home.

Then her mom met Matthew Brooks, and Arien’s plans were no longer her own.

So here she was, on a ranch in Wyoming, with her two new stepbrothers.

She’d never met cowboys like them before.

Kellan, the sullen one.

Tanner, the sweet one.

What did they want from her?

There was something strange about this town, their ways, and everyone in it.

Everything that comes in threes is perfect.

Where in the hell was she?

She wasn’t staying anyway. Come summer, she’d be gone.

But if plans can change, then dreams can too.

Because home is more than a place.

It’s a feeling.

Make sure to add this to your Goodreads TBR today! https://geni.us/TheThirdSonGR

This all new standalone from the author of the Red Door Series arrives on April 20th! And don't miss the PHENOMENAL cover reveal next week on March 23rd!

AVAILABLE NOW FOR PRE-ORDER!

Amazon Universal ~ https://geni.us/TheThirdSon

#dyanlayne #thethirdson #preorder #kindleunlimited #comingsoon #spicyreads #teasershare #blurbreveal #standalone #angstyread #slowburn #stepbrothers #steamyread #spicybooks #westernromance #contemporaryromance #readers #bookbloggers #forewordpr

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kalu-chan · 3 years

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Someone explain to me why the same game costs 50€ for Switch, 40€ for PS4, and 30€ for Steam. I want it for Switch but like, not if I gotta pay more lmao.

#I'll first check if maybe the e-shop price is the same as the Steam price #(If it's available in the German/European e-shop at all... It didn't get a German translation but that's fine I know English lmao)#But before I can check my Switch needs to charge a bit lmao #(Me:''I should save my paycheck there's a lot of stuff I want that I should save up for.'' ... ''ANYWAY'')#(I can save the rest but first there's two games I want ahsdaklsdhj And two books that'll come out SUPER soon)#(Well. One book. But I preordered that one in both German and English. Bc I wasn't sure whether the German translation would release the #same day and I wanna read it ASAP)#(My pile of unread books and unplayed games from that giant bundle I got for like 10€: *judging me*)#(I need longer days.)#Edit: Yeah it is available in the eshop but also for 50€.#Can't find anything about differences between versions either... Guess Steam it is then #I mean I could check ebay for a used version first... but....#Nope.#They had the PS4 version for cheaper than the Steam version buuuuut. I have somewhat little time to play PS4 #Bc I don't have the space for my own TV so I'd have to go downstairs and use the one in the living room #And I usually only do that at night (idk I could do it during the day but... nah) which now that I'm working means #that I only have a couple hours per week lmao. So. Switch or Steam and I don't think I want the Switch version THAT badly #I could get a used version off of Amazon for a bit under 40€... hm... do I want it on Switch enough for 8€ more?#Like 20€ definitely not but 8€ is something I could consider. Don't have to decide tonight anyway lmao

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copperbadge · 2 years

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Hi Sam! A friend and I are planning to visit Chicago this summer. Can we still rely on your guide?

Honestly Anon, after two years of pandemic, in some ways, I couldn't tell you.

The hotel info should still be accurate, but I'd check on the existence of restaurants before you plan to go to them -- Portillo's is definitely still around (and expanding!) as is Weber Grill, and Garrett's popcorn is still available, but anything else I reference may not be there anymore.

The museums are open, but with very restricted hours and some now require timed tickets. For example, the Art Institute is closed a couple of days a week. By this summer, most of the outdoor attractions like boat tours and parks should be open, but I can't make promises. Chicago does have a lot of events lined up for the summer and as long as there's not a huge surge they will probably go ahead, but I'd keep an eye on the official website for any event you want to go to. Do not trust Google to give you accurate information, since it’s scraping data and not always updating it when the site does. Find the event's website or facebook and look there.

The good news about public transit is that there haven't been any outbreaks linked to El or bus ridership; the mask mandate still applies to public transit, so you'll be expected to mask, but nobody's enforcing it, so don't expect anyone else will. Both buses and trains have a lower volume schedule right now so be sure to check their times if you're depending on them. There's a weird dichotomy on public transit right now because the trains and buses themselves are super clean but I've been in some REAL filthy train stations. Also, because there's such low ridership right now, the trains are rather relaxed about behavior that would normally get you kicked off, like sleeping or smoking in the carriages. Every time I've been on a train in the last month, someone has been actively smoking on it. I don't begrudge them because they're generally unhoused in the winter in Chicago, but if you're allergic or asthmatic it's something to consider.

Since I wrote that guide, weed has been legalized in Chicago, so if you're into that there are several good dispensaries I can recommend -- Dispensary 33 and Sunnyside are both quality establishments, and Sunnyside (possibly 33 also, I’m not sure) allows you to preorder and go pick up, much like you would a restaurant meal, as long as you have ID. I'm not sure how out of state ID works, I'd check with the website. Be aware the tax is something like 25%, it's really, really high, and dispensaries only take cash or debit, not credit.

Most restaurants do have open dining rooms now, but a lot of them still offer easy pick-up and a lot of the ones downtown sell cocktails to go, so if you're a drinker I'd take advantage!

If you have more specific questions feel free to hit me in email, copperbadge at gmail.com!

#chicago

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selfpublished · 2 years

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Here's the Bookfunnel post I promised! Full disclosure that the links used as examples are my own referral links, but I genuinely think it's easier to explain by example. If you're reading this after Dec 2021, most of the links will have expired, but I can pull up new ones if you message me!

What is Bookfunnel? A website for indie authors that provides resources like ARC & reader magnet distribution, group promos for sales & building newsletters, one-on-one author swaps, etc. It's subscription-based, with the basic functionality available starting at $20/year.

How do group promos work? Basically: you link up with other authors & cross-promote by sharing links to a central promotional page! There are two kinds of promos:

Newsletter promos: You give away a free piece of writing (aka a reader magnet) to everyone who signs up for your newsletter--for example: this "December Fantasy & Magic" promo

Sales promos: You create a landing page for your books (here's one of mine, for example) with a summary and purchase links--like this "Coming Soon Preorder Event"

Some of these have specific requirements to join--like limitations on 18+ content, minimum average clicks or newsletter subscribers, etc. & others are invite-only. I feel like the majority that I've checked out have been pretty open, but I imagine it depends on your genre!

My results: I'll admit that round one was a flop! My books weren't a good fit for the sales promos I chose (tragically, since I thought "Queer SFF" would be right up my alley) & so even though I got an average of ~30 clicks to my referral links & ~35 views across 3 promos, I maybe made 1-3 sales. So... not great!

I decided to try my first newsletter promo this month with a preview of an upcoming book, and got 30 link clicks & 10 downloads in the first week alone. Unsurprisingly, the conversion rate is much higher for free writing! (I had been kind of dismissive of the advice to develop a newsletter at first--but honestly, even though it seems weirdly old-fashioned to send emails, I'm finding it way easier and more direct than wrestling with social media algorithms!!)

Overall... I feel like it's still too soon to determine whether it was worth the money for me, but my personal takeaways so far are that 1. it's really important to make sure your work is a good fit for the promo & 2. this is a great way to develop a newsletter following! Happy to update more in the future & answer any other questions!

#bookfunnel #self publishing #indie authors #indie author #writeblr #writing resource #publishing resources

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kiingocreative · 4 years

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The Structure of Story is available for preorder on Amazon! Check it out at https://kiingo.co/preorder or the link in our bio.

In his book Scriptshadow Secrets, Carson Reeves lays out 8 ingredients that he believes serve as the backbone of a great character. The 8 elements are "root-for-ability", a fatal flaw, relationships, backstory, life goal (i.e. your character's dream), secrets, quirks and characteristics, and essence.

One of the first tasks of a story is getting the audience connected to the central character. If we don't care about the character, we don't care what happens to them, and consequently we don't care about the rest of the story. This is what Carson Reeves calls "root-for-ability." Reeves says, "You have to give us a reason to root for them. This is one of the primary mistakes beginners make. … If we like your character, we’ll want to follow him. For example, you can make your character selfless (e.g. Forrest Gump), you can make your character love their son unconditionally (e.g. Liar Liar), you can make your character brave (e.g. Jake Sulley from Avatar). Once we like a character, we’ll root for that character."

The next element is to give your character a weakness. Reeves says, "A fatal flaw is your character’s defining weakness, the thing that’s held him back his entire life, and when it comes down to it, the thing that makes him human. Sure, your character may be battling the bad guys, but he’ll be way more interesting if he’s battling something inside himself as well. In the movie Up In The Air, George Clooney's fatal flaw was his inability to connect with others. That's why it was so easy for him to fire people. … Once you establish a fatal flaw, you can execute your character’s transformation over the course of the story, culminating in them overcoming that flaw."

Stories aren't just about characters, however, they're also about relationships. Reeves says, "One of the easiest ways to explore a character is through the people around him, or more specifically, via the relationships he engages in. Now remember, perfect relationships are boring. So the trick is to build a problem into every relationship so that you have something that needs to be resolved by the end of the movie. If you do this right, your audience will want to stick around to see if the characters overcome their issues with one another."

One way to make a character more vulnerable or in-depth is to give them a backstory. "One of the tricks to making characters feel real is convincing the reader that they existed before the script began. That’s backstory. It’s the character’s entire life leading up to the moment where your story begins. There’s a catch, however: all backstory in your screenplay must be story-relevant. In other words, backstory should only be revealed if it relates to important plot points in your movie. … In the movie Good Will Hunting, Will reveals to Sean (Robin Williams) that his dad used to beat him. The reason this backstory is revealed is because Will must face it later in order to overcome his flaw (he’s afraid to open himself up to others)."

Carson Reeves also suggests that we consider the character's life goal or dream. He says, "If you really want insight into who a person is, ask them what their life goal is - what they want to do more than anything in the world. This information often defines a person (just like wanting to be a successful screenwriter defines you!). Forrest Gump wants to be with Jenny. Lester Burnham wants to feel free again. Marty McFly wants to be a rock star. This won’t always come up in the script (I don’t know what Ferris Bueller’s life goal was), but even if it doesn’t get mentioned, you, the writer, should know it, as it will inform many of your hero’s choices."

Characters can be made far more interesting when they've got a secret to keep. Reeves says, "The secrets we keep define our private side, the side we don’t allow the world to see. This side is often more interesting than the side people do see, which is the reason you should know your characters’ secrets. In some cases, these secrets will define a character (maybe they’re a killer) and in others, it will haunt them … I’m not sure you can write an interesting character if you don’t know their secrets. Michael Fassbender’s character in Shame hides his sex addiction. Cole in The Sixth Sense hides his ability to see dead people. Lizbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo hides the way she obtains information (via hacking). Secrets are like the jalapeño poppers of character depth: they can really spice things up."

Does your character have any quirks or vices or odd personality traits? Reeves says, "The Joker always licks his lips. The Terminator always wears a leather jacket. Hancock always drinks. Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) in Meet The Parents loves cats. One of the big problems I see with amateur characters is that they don’t stick out. There’s nothing memorable about them. A common reason for this is that the writer never adds those eccentricities, those details, those final touches that make a character rise above the page. Granted, this stuff is icing on the cake, but cake is pretty boring without icing."

And lastly Carson Reeves asks us to define our character's "essence." Reeves says, "Essence is the least definable trait there is, and yet the most important in bringing your character to life. In my experience, you find essence by figuring out your character’s life story. Where they grew up, their relationship with their parents, their high school experience, when they lost their virginity, their financial status, their vices, their social status, the most influential relationships in their lives, their favorite things to do, their least favorite things to do, what they were doing two weeks before your story began. You want to know your character’s life JUST AS WELL as you know your best friend’s life, because it’s only when you know every crevice of your character that you can make them act, speak and feel like a real-life individual."

#writingtips #creative writing #screenwriting #writers on tumblr #writers #writing #writerblr #writing advice #writing community #writing resources

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aafranmayazine · 1 month

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📑 KEEP YOUR EYE ON THIS -

There are only 2 WEEKS LEFT to preorder "Lavender Blue," an Franmaya Ace Attorney fanzine! Don't miss your chance to get this unique celebration of the relationship between two of AA's most iconic ladies!

💜 PRE-ORDER "LAVENDER BLUE," A FRANMAYA ACE ATTORNEY ZINE NOW 💙

Interested in checking out what's available for purchase in our different bundles and tiers? You can see all of them on our online store here!

If you have any questions, please send them to our Retrospring or here on our Tumblr asks!

Thank you for the support! 💙 @aafancalendar @fandomzines @atozines @zine-scene @zineapps

#aafranmayazine #ace attorney #fanzine #franmaya #franziska von karma #maya fey #zine #maya fey x franziska von karma

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maverick-werewolf · 4 years

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Wulfgard: The Hunt Never Ends Preview - Story 6, “Troubled Waters”

Interior illustration from The Hunt Never Ends story, “Troubled Waters”

We’re almost there - the book releases one week from today!

I am a very special kind of stressed, lemme tell you.

This preview is of the final story in the story collection and my personal favorite: “Troubled Waters.” If you didn’t know, this is a preview for my upcoming story collection, Wulfgard: The Hunt Never Ends. It’s a book, but it’s something in-between a novel and a short story collection.

Each story in the book is individual and stands on its own, but they also go in order and build upon each other. So I’m not sure if one should really call it a novel, but it’s also different than just unrelated short stories. It bridges the gap between the two mediums.

Anyway, here’s another preview - enjoy!

For more info on the book itself, you can also check out this post. Also be sure to check out the Hunt Never Ends tag for a whole lot more book previews!

And remember - Wulfgard: The Hunt Never Ends is available for preorder (digital only; physical available on release date) on Amazon.com!

Pre-Order Link

Please note that, while the ebook is now available for preorder, Wulfgard: The Hunt Never Ends will also be available in paperback on October 30 from the same Amazon listing! Paperbacks cannot be preordered using Amazon’s system, however.

Be sure to check back October 30 for the physical (paperback) edition!

If you’re interested in purchasing the book digitally, you can now pre-order it right here and have it immediately on October 30!

(Paperback edition will be available on Amazon on October 30)

------------

There were a lot of things Caiden knew how to do. Clean a sword. Maintain a bow or a crossbow, even customize the latter almost beyond recognition. Make his own arrows or bolts. Investigate a crime scene. Bandage a wound, make a tourniquet, brew a potion, hunt, forage, track, forge his own tools or weapons, carve wood, build houses or fortifications, command an army, cook meals…

But one thing he didn’t know how to do was read. And it pissed him off.

The beds in Castle Greywatch weren’t much. Some straw, changed daily, for a mattress, and some sackcloth to cover it. Any Venatori better off liked to buy their own beds, but Caiden wasn’t exactly drowning in coin. Following the dullahan encounter on Samhain, Kiya had given him a feather pillow as thanks – he didn’t want to think it had belonged to Relgar, but it probably had – and that was the nicest part of his sleeping arrangement in the castle.

He shifted his back against that pillow, currently squashed between him and the shoddy headboard and struggling to retain any fluffiness as a result. He tried to focus. Focus, he tended to be good at, but staring at the book in his hand almost made him wonder. It was a much smaller bestiary than the one Gwen had been given by Illikon, with a likewise smaller amount of illustrations.

If he had any sense, he would have just asked Gwen for help with reading. But his dignity – or maybe his stubbornness, or both – had long since thrown that idea out. He had all day to struggle with this, unless something came up. So, he reached to the nightstand beside him for the bottle of whiskey there. If there was something Castle Greywatch did have, it was decent booze.

Not that it seemed to be helping right now. It made things a little fuzzier, maybe. Slightly dulled that deep, gnawing, empty pain inside him, but not enough.

After they left Illikon, that feeling had grown louder, rowdier – tried to make itself more known. Whatever it was found claws to dig into his spine, using them to reach his skull. There, it chewed into him, left seeds of growing frustration – restless anger he couldn’t seem to muzzle. Any unwanted feelings of loneliness, of being lost, only got worse. A pulling, a need, telling him to do something.

After a few nights spent at Greywatch, it had grown to take a shape he almost recognized: hunger. Impossibly deep hunger that absolutely nothing satisfied.

That was why he couldn’t think. Not the drink. Not the page in front of him, covered in small symbols supposedly forming words, all of which made no sense. It was the smoldering flame in him turning into an empty inferno, and he had no idea how to put it out – or how to give it more fuel to burn.

Caiden’s eyes lost focus on the bestiary, staring at something inside rather than out. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, his grip on the book loosening, letting it droop.

Some tentative excitement came creeping up the stairs just outside the room. Caiden snapped the book shut and shoved it under his pillow, folding his arms and feeling an awful lot like a five-year-old trying to hide something embarrassing.

Except the bottle of whiskey. Couldn’t really hide that. Not like it mattered, anyway; she already knew it.

Gwen rounded the corner, peering into the room past the partially ajar door. She gave a few tentative knocks, eyes on him.

Caiden grunted. Yeah. Come in. You already have.

When she stepped into the room, Caiden instantly noted she was fully suited up, wearing her leather jerkin, belt of potions, weapons… Which for her, unlike him, was unusual to see when they were around the castle. Something was up.

Gwen paused, looked at him, followed his gaze to the far wall obviously in search of something interesting there, then at him again.

He met her stare evenly. “What?”

She shot the whiskey bottle a glance. “It’s a little early to be drinking, isn’t it?”

Caiden shrugged. Did that actually matter right now?

“Sure… Okay.” Cool worry filled the room, emanating from her, lapping jittery and mildly annoying waves against him. Gwen fumbled with a letter she’d been holding halfway behind her back. “Well, everyone in the great hall was talking missions, and a new one just came in. I snatched it up – thought it might be interesting. It’s not really like anything we’ve done before…”

An unnatural urge to snap at her, tell her to get on with it, rose in his throat and forced him to swallow it. Barely. It settled in his stomach, uncomfortable and heavy, and he tried to tell himself not to be a half-drunk asshole.

“What is it?” he prompted, voice coming out too flat as he struggled to find his usual patience.

That made Gwen screw up her brow at him more than a little, but she said, “There’s a village in the mountains not far from here – secluded little place called Norhaven. It doesn’t seem very noteworthy, except it has its own freshwater spring coming out of a mountain. But now a monster’s attacking them over the water, or that’s what they’re claiming. They say it’s been burning people, of all things, and it only attacks in the dark.”

For half a second, Caiden’s mind stuttered and ground to a halt. The first time he met something that only attacked in the dark, it had been his first monster hunt. It wasn’t something he liked recalling.

But he nodded.

“They… want us there as soon as possible,” Gwen added, almost tentatively. No, not almost. Definitely. Her nerves were frayed. She was worried about something, and it only seemed to get worse the longer she looked at him.

Caiden didn’t much like people worrying about him. He never had.

So he huffed, trying to figure out how to give what she might consider a ‘normal’ response. He stood and popped his neck in a short shock of painful relief. Even if it didn’t help the pinching headache he’d gotten from being bent over a book and trying to read for so long, it felt slightly better.

“Maybe we should wait until tomorrow morning,” said Gwen, still eying him like he was sick.

He eyed her right back. “I’m fine.”

“Caiden, you’ve drunk way more than usual lately – and that’s already saying something – and way earlier in the day. You know how terrible that is for you, right? And besides that, you’re talking even less.”

Gwen frowned. Some kind of hurt came off her then, enough to make his insides almost start to shrivel.

“You can trust me,” she said at length. “If something’s wrong, talk to me about it. Wouldn’t you be the first one to tell me that you need to know if I have something going on, so it doesn’t jeopardize our mission?”

Caiden’s jaw tightened, hard, before he gave it permission. You know she’s right. Yeah, she was right, and he couldn’t tell her. Every word, every phrase that came to mind sounded dismissive. Uncaring, or at least untrusting.

But Gwen gave up fairly quickly, still wearing a frown. She nodded and said, “Okay. Want to leave in an hour or two? It isn’t far to ride. We’ll get there before sundown and we can find a place to sleep.”

Caiden nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll meet you by the stables.”

With that, Gwen turned and left – though not without throwing a quick, and decidedly worried, look back at him over her shoulder.

(More preview under the cut!)

------------

“These attacks,” said Gwen, “do they usually happen around the spring, under the trees?”

Asger nodded. “Mostly.”

“And has anyone been in that cave since it started?”

“Where the source is? Gods, no. Gotta have a deathwish to walk into the dark after this thing.”

“Yeah,” Caiden said, already walking around the trees and toward the cave. Behind him, Asger sputtered, while Gwen’s quiet footfalls and building, anxious excitement followed in his wake.

“Go on back to town and get some rest, Asger,” Gwen called back to him.

Caiden stopped before the mouth of the cave and squinted into it, reaching for a potion on his belt: one to enhance his senses. Beside him now, Gwen shifted, tension radiating from her like constant lightning.

“If you drink that and that thing burns you, it’ll really hurt,” she said. “I heard some Venatori pass out from pain if something catches them with one of those.”

Caiden huffed. “I didn’t last time. I won’t this time either.”

Just as he drained the potion bottle, Asger’s panting caught up with them again as he stopped by their side, drawing his bodkin dagger and holding it up in a shaking hand. Gwen blinked at him, and Caiden furrowed his brow.

Asger’s face slowly drained of color as he stared at Caiden’s eyes – a side-effect of the potion was his eyes glowing. Not much, just softly, but it tended to scare the hell out of the average person.

“You probably shouldn’t come with us,” Gwen offered slowly, like she was trying to calm Asger down from some fit of panic. “Especially since… your weapon there looks like something my partner might pick his teeth with.”

“This’s a finely-made dagger, I’ll have you know,” Asger blurted. “And I’m the watchman here, this is part of my job. Let’s go on then—”

He stepped forward, but Caiden snapped one hand out and got a firm grip on Asger’s arm, stopping him in his tracks.

“I’m on point,” he said. “You shouldn’t come, but if you’re following us, then stay behind me. Gwen…”

“On it. I’ll cover your rear— I mean, the rear.” A blush quickly rose in her cheeks. “Tom ruined me,” Caiden faintly heard her mutter under her breath.

Caiden grunted. Then he turned and led the way.

Didn’t take long for his eyes to adjust, then to adapt, thanks to that potion. Faint moonlight spilling in let him see limestone walls slick with condensation and a violently gushing spring, churning the water on the far end of the cavern at the base of the wall. Spitting it out straight into the reservoir, the flow of it turning gentle by the time it left the cave.

Heavy mist hung in the air here, maybe kicked up by the water. But something didn’t seem right.

Then he realized why.

Fear washed down upon them like frigid rain – so much fear that, for half a second, it froze every muscle in Caiden’s body. His nerves pulled taut, ready to break and snap down on him like a whip, hard enough to leave a few more scars on his back. Hand shooting to his sword hilt in a white-knuckle grip, he drew in a sharp breath and fought the chill that ran fast up his spine and forced him to be afraid.

This wasn’t natural. Gwen, from the way she was suddenly fumbling with her gear, seemed to know it.

Asger, on the other hand, didn’t. He bellowed out a hoarse shout, nearly fell spinning around to face the exit, and ran for the cave mouth.

All around them, a shrill voice echoed, “Leave this place!”

It spoke the words very clearly – not the gibberish he’d been told about.

Everything happened at once. A rush of air ripped by him, trailing cold in its wake, like off the surface of the spring itself. Asger screamed, his heavy boots scuffing the stone as something made him stumble and fall. Caiden charged forward at a surging shadow, blade ready to swing.

And an arrow lodged itself in his upper arm with a hard lance of pain and a meaty thunk.

Caiden coughed out a grunt and staggered from the impact, the arrow locking up his sword arm and stopping him mid-strike. Whatever had come past him and attacked Asger seemed already gone, moving faster than he could even understand.

Gwen appeared beside him in an instant, hand on his uninjured left arm and sputtering apologies. “Caiden!? I – gods— I shouldn’t have tried to shoot it, it moved so fast—”

The cave around him was far from silent. Asger swore as he scrambled to his feet, Gwen kept on apologizing as she tried in vain to tug Caiden out of the cave until he, halfway in a stupor, finally staggered along after her.

Boots against stone. Grass under their feet, bright moonlight overhead. Plenty of pain in his right arm that twitched useless and limp at his side.

These sensations stayed, but something was missing.

He’d heard once that silence was golden. He had never understood what ‘silence’ entirely meant. This was the closest he’d ever come.

The whispers had stopped – the fleeting memories. All of it. The fear from the monster was gone – his, Asger’s, Gwen’s – he felt no terror from anyone, though they still looked afraid. Sounded afraid. Moved like it. But he couldn’t sense it. It didn’t invade his mind, twist into him, and try to make itself at home.

And he suddenly felt blind. Deaf. Neither of those things, yet both at once – because it was gone. A sense he had known for his entire life, something that was always there. Gone, no trace left. He felt dumb.

Caiden blinked. Furrowed his brow. His shoulders tensed, pulled against the arrow still biting deep into his arm, and made him wince.

What the hell was going on?

In the corner of his vision, he saw Gwen fumble for something in a pouch on her belt, only to draw out the shattered neck of a bottle. She swore and threw it aside, turning her attention to him instead as he stared straight ahead at nothing in particular.

“Caiden – Caiden, hey, look at me!” Gwen grabbed the harness around his shoulders and tugged on it hard enough for his eyes to snap to her and stare. Her face was pale. “That arrow was poisoned. Okay? You’re probably woozy right now; it’s very fast-acting…”

“Gwen—”

She sucked in a hard breath and blurted, “Caiden if you say ‘I’m fine’ I swear to Athena I will punch you in the stomach.”

He paused and cocked his head at her, his mouth ever so slightly ajar.

“Listen,” she said, voice quivering and straining to sound strong, “the bottle for the antidote I had on me broke – I have more of it, but it’s in my saddlebag. We have to get you to the inn so we can get that arrow out and I can give you the antidote. Okay?”

“Just pull it out,” Caiden mumbled, his words coming out slurred.

“I’m not doing that, you don’t just suddenly pull an arrow out – there are procedures for this!”

One sharp tug on his uninjured arm later, and he was following her back down the mountain path, both of them led by a stumbling Asger. The watchman looked at a deep welt on his forearm, his flesh twisted and reddened – what was left of it. Most of it had burned off entirely. Asger swore more colorfully than the average sailor, wearing a deep grimace.

He separated from them with a few hurried words to Gwen – words Caiden should’ve heeded, but paid no attention to – and disappeared into a nearby home. Gwen kept leading the way, up the stairs and into the inn, still tugging on Caiden’s uninjured arm.

“By Jove!” the innkeeper shouted, starting up in an instant from where he’d been sitting in his quiet tavern.

He quickly started throwing questions, which Gwen just as quickly deflected. She mostly did that by dumping a handful of coins on the counter and asking for two rooms. All the while, Caiden leaned his uninjured arm on the nearest table and pulled in one deep breath after another.

Pain quickly found its way across his body, tightening every muscle and settling heavily in his chest, like having molten lead poured into his lungs. It didn’t leave him any room to breathe, and that didn’t leave him much room to think.

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mayakern · 2 years

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so, is it Known when the next round of preorders will be?

no, because everything is based on when other things happen. so typically our timing looks like this:

we run a preorder design survey for 1-2 weeks

a week later we run preorders

preorders go into production. after 4-8 weeks all the garments have been sewn and they go into the mail.

we make a stealth ready to sell order with our manu

1-3 months later the preorder skirts arrive at our office

we quality check and take inventory to make sure everything matches up. this takes 2ish weeks usually.

we mail out preorders. this usually take 3-5 weeks as there are a LOT of orders and our current office space limits how many packages we can send out per day

after all the preorders are sent out, we take a week off

then we list the RTS skirts, which mostly sell out within 1-2 days

we mail out all those skirts. this usually takes 1-3 weeks.

we take a little break, or try to. maybe.

then we run another preorder design survey and everything starts over again

previously, we’ve been using sea shipping for our skirt orders because it is considerably cheaper, but this time around we’ve switched back to air shipping with the hopes that it allows us to run 3 sets of preorders in a year instead of 2.

right now, i estimate that the current preorders will be fulfilled around late july, but i won’t know for certain until the skirts reach our office. that would mean an RTS sale in august and next preorders either in august or september.

it would actually help us out a lot if we could run one order of preorders, get those skirts in production, then do another set of preorders, etc etc etc in tiers, but running another set of preorders before the previous one has been fulfilled is a HUGE optics issue and ppl will think we’re scamming even though the different preorders wouldn’t actually effect each other at all and would make skirts available more often.

we’re trying to figure out ways around this. right now we’re working on button up shirts plus a separate line of natural fiber embroidered skirts and we’re hoping they’re different enough that we won’t run into this problem. we’re also considering splitting up preorders in the future into two types — collab preorders (only collab designs) and non-collab preorders (only my designs). i’m still not certain how we’re going to handle this tbh.

#ask #long post #store #faq

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cesium-sheep · 3 years

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see, whenever I want to buy something it’s this whole fucking calculus because I only get $30 a week and anything on top of that I scraped together from some “““““side hustle”““““ that pays like a dollar an hour.

I’ve been wearing my hat a lot the past couple days and definitely need to jump The Hat to the top of the priority list. that’s $40+tax. which I can afford next week because I have $35 from sticker sales (check out my kirblog :v ) on top of my $30 allowance. BUT an artist I follow has a darling bear plush going up for preorder on friday, which is $30+tax. so even with sticker preorders I would have to choose between them.

EXCEPT I finally reached the $20 minimum on transcribeme (audio transcription, highly variable availability/quality) to cash out again, so I cashed that out and it will probably arrive late next week. that means I can afford both The Hat and loomi bear preorder.

PLUS I checked on a whim and finally have enough points for a $25 gift card from nielsen (passive generation, cash out ~2x yearly), and happen to have an extra $14 worth of points saved up on swagbucks (survey points, occasional afternoon of grinding for a dollar or two).

SO.

I am cashing out all my income pools (minus patreon (check out my kirblog lol) which I cashed out a couple weeks ago to get a game during an autopay week, but which will also be growing much faster now!! 4 whole patrons, 20 whole dollars!!!), so they will all be empty and I don’t have any backups if my brain throws a tantrum about having no money again. (altho patreon refills on monday actually. it’s not set up to auto-deposit yet.) but I will be able to afford The Hat next week, without missing out on bear preorders, and probably even get some comics I’ve been staring at enviously too. (mana put out a new monster ex girlfriends way back in like fucking november, and worvies who is a very good narumitsu artist put out a 7-year-gap era doujinshi last week.) maybe I’ll have leftovers to roll into the following week for once ;n; (or maybe I’ll buy a new fucking computer mouse, the scroll wheel is acting up really bad today.)

I only have to do this for another 18 months max. arin already did the math and she can afford to give me double the allowance mom is currently giving me basically starting from her first paycheck, and by then my VA appeal will have processed so I might not even need allowance. tbh that would be the ideal. but even if they reject me again, my allowance still doubles in 18 months. I am starting to come around to the fact that yes even with bills and groceries already squared $30 a week “left over” for *everything* else would be a pittance for anyone. everyone deserves more than that including me.

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elhoimleafar · 4 years

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Celebrating All Hallows Eve in these strange new times.

Welcome back here dear reader, I am Elhoim, and this is my post, remember to share and leave your comments.

We are all living in these new times, times that are increasingly strange to us, times of ostracism and election season, months without hugs (can you believe it?), And times of political and social conflict, we are living together a season that in a way We were amazed, even though we saw for years that those glasses on the counter were overflowing with spilled water, we watched them fill up day after day, and finally, they spilled, all at once. But the important thing is that we are in this together and that we must remember.

We have reached the month of October, and it is the “popular witch's month”, it is Autumn in the North, Spring in the South, and a typical-warm summer in the tropics of Ecuador (Venezuela, my native country).

This was planned as my fifth month of Halloween since arriving in New York City in 2015, and although I did not have many plans, I was willing to take a couple of short trips and attend some parties of my friends, all of it was canceled, and now I'm planning the month from home.

I do not celebrate Halloween, I do not dress up or decorate the house with pumpkins and plastic dolls, because it is not one of my family traditions, and (here wasting the cold frankness that characterizes me) in these times where keyboard activists seem to have more power than the real activists, it is almost a social risk that a person from Latin America even dares to mention "Halloween decorations", without some white blogger accusing you of cultural appropriation (many Pagan Blogs are full of those).

But if like me, you feel at home, with a great desire to take advantage of the available energy of this month for your own benefit, these are some of the things that I will do, and I invite you to do, maybe it will be something fun, less elaborate, but definitely better than spending the entire day watching horror movies (two continuous hours of voluntary anxiety) and reading hundreds of repeated posts about the season's most recommended "witch" movies.

Remember that it is an annual celebration, it is a season with a duration of several days, it is a celebration of nature and its cycles. Take an afternoon to meditate on it, write what you think about it, and question what you know (and what you think you know) about All Hallows Eve, its origins, traditions, and customs, and how you are honoring some of these.

Cleaning, rearranging, and moving furniture is much more important than decorating to impress. There is nothing wrong with the decorations, but focus on moving the energy first, and for that, we move the furniture, let the old energy of last season move out so that the energy of the new season can come in.

Invite the ancestor spirits to come home, to connect with you, to sit around the table, to spend the night, to chat with you. The dead celebrate together with the living.

Turn off the television. Choose one to two days before the night of All Hallows Eve (October 31) and spend these days without using the TV. Plan other activities that put you in contact with nature, with forests, visit rivers and parks, visit the tombs of your ancestors, spend a day in the garden, read some books. And don't worry, Netflix will still be there when you get back.

Light candles and incense, burn herbs and dried flowers at home, remember that the aromatic smoke of herbs is perceptible beyond the senses, its energy influences various planes of existence at the same time, that is why we light incense in churches and temples to venerate those who have departed. I invite you to prepare your own incenses at home, or you can if you wish, copy any of the recipes that are in this blog.

Make coffee and serve it by the front door for several mornings in a row to honor the deceased and those souls who are about to be forgotten.

Connect with your ancestors and the witches in your family, honor their lives and their processes, read about them, write about them, I keep a small diary (really small, it does not have more than 30 pages), where I write the memories, rituals, and real stories of witches and ghosts related to my mother, grandmother, mom's uncles, my sisters, and other family members, so we keep their memory alive and honor their magic.

Decorate with flowers and bunches of herbs, grow and collect some flowers at home, nurture the nearby gardens, move the soil with your bare hands, leave portions of bread and seeds around to feed the animals. Connect with nature in different ways than usual.

Take a blanket and go out at night to look at the stars, prepare lunch for the park with wine, juice, fruits, and homemade bread (it can be from a local organic bakery).

Organize virtual meetings (zoom, Facebook, telegram) with your Coven or with your friends, to catch up, drink coffee "together", chat about their ancestors and about the energy of the season, about these full moons of October, about the season of All Hallows Eve, etc...

Clean and decorate your altar, that portal that connects you with your ancestors and your gods. Take a few hours to clean, rearrange, and decorate this space from scratch, add some flowers and aromatic herbs, you can use the dried herbs to make a homemade potpourri.

Learn something new. If we are in season to venerate our ancestors, and especially the witches and sorcerers who preceded us, it is time to honor them as they were. It is a good month to get started in the art of making your own candles (click here) and incense, maybe you can discover how to prepare some essential oils (click here), magic perfumes, and magic bags of good luck (click here).

This month has a powerful and accessible energy available, invest in some candles and amulets, dare to perform new spells, enchant your objects, practice a session of spiritualism, try a new ritual, or create a talisman to protect the house or the room where you sleep.

Invest some of your time in your spellbook, take notes of some herbs, crystals, and oils with which you have worked recently, write down what were the results, how they made you feel, what were the feelings and motivations behind these spells.

I will be offering this same month, a couple of workshops on summoning and mediumship (click here and click here) because the lunar energy this month feels incredible for this kind of magical work, I especially feel that there will be a magnificent moment between the last week of October and the last weeks of December, to carry out invocations and mediumship. Try to conjure something different and unusual, or to summon some familiar spirit.

Prepare some meals with magical intent, for this, I recommend the new book "A Kitchen Witch’s Guide of Recipes for Love & Romance" by Aurora Dawn (available here).

HUG TREES !!! There, in them, and in those sensations that they give you when you hug them, there lies our true power, in that sacred connection with nature that only we can understand.

Make a list of intentions for the next year, make a list of intentions for the blue moon (October 31), prepare some candles for that night.

Give thanks, perform a ritual of gratitude, as simple as writing down all the reasons for which you are grateful, light a candle with the scent of myrrh, and burn the list in the fire to send this message of gratitude to the universe.

Look for my new book Manifestation Magic on Amazon and Goodreads and preord…. No no no, it's a joke, (but you can do it anyway, lol), what you should do is add one or two new titles, so let me recommend you to search and read:

Llewellyn's Little Book of Halloween, by Mickie Mueller. (available here)

The Book of Candle Magic, by Madame Pamita. (available here)

The Complete Book of Moon Spells, by Michael Herkes. (available here).

Modern Witch: Spells, Recipes & Workings, by Devin Hunter. (available here)

Hoodoo Cleansing and Protection Magic, by Miss Aida. (available here)

Water Magic (Elements of Witchcraft), by Lilith Dorsey. (available here)

Initiation into Witchcraft, by Brian Cain. (hardcover available here)

Llewellyn's Little Book of Yule, by Jason Mankey. (available here)

And remember, your teacher is your daily practice, your magic and its results depend a lot on your daily routine. So whatever you do, make it conscious and put your heart into it.

with true love and honesty, Elo.

Check my new upcoming Book (available on pre-order):

Available in Amazon: CLICK HERE TO PREORDER

Available in Goodreads: CLICK HERE TO SAVE

Check my next classes and Save your spot.

The Court of the Witches, and other Allies on our Magic.

A Mystical Night of Invocation and Mediumship.

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