It has been a wild month and change, adventurers! Last check-in, the idea of a book tour in Scotland was just that—an idea. So much has been scheduled, booked, and shipped in the past few weeks, in addition to my first event of the year last week. So, here’s a log of the updates, oldest to newest, starting with my big ol’ stack of books!
Alrighty. I have received nearly $1,300 from the GoFundMe. Flights are booked! I’ll be boarding the first plane in 39 days. 40 days until I set foot back in dear Scotland. Then I have a train and a couple buses before I make it to a tattoo shop for my small souvenir of this trip, and then I will be to my host family’s home by suppertime. Then the real magic begins.
My first events are scheduled and accommodations booked for the mini trip. 19 April, I will have two events at Orb’s Community Bookshop in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. Huntly is the birthplace of George MacDonald, lesser-known father of modern fantasy (and influencer of Tolkien and Lewis). In the process of planning for this event, I have sent over a set of books for Huntly’s school library and spoken to a public librarian. For the biggest news—my books were accepted into the Aberdeenshire libraries. All of them. The stacks of books above are the 108 books I will be sending over for the 36 Aberdeenshire libraries! But more on that in a bit.
I do have some fun things planned around the Huntly trip as well. Some ruins and some beaches on my way back into Angus. I’ll also be stopping into a tartan shop to pick up some custom work for my husband and to a bookstore or two who couldn’t fit in an event but would still like signed books. I’ll be revisiting a bunch of places I adored, and some are specifically scheduled in.
Monday afternoon, I’ll get to have lunch with my favorite teacher of all time. His wise words will be featured in the Hammer and Flame trilogy. Then I have an event at the school I went to during my exchange in 2011 to round off my trip. I am still hoping to have another event or two in there, but we’ll see how it goes.
Next, a little good-news-bad-news situation. Publication of Ember in the Forge has been postponed. I cannot devote the necessary time to it with everything else that is going on right now, and I want to make sure it is worth the wait. EitF may be expected this fall. However, that does not mean that there will be a whole year and a half with nothing new from Ambergrove. Because Wizards of the Coast put D&D 5e elements under a Creative Commons license, another door was opened for Dawn of the Dragonwolf. The past few weeks, I have been revising my initial DotD packet into a full book (50,000 words and counting)!
My little monster baby has assisted me with revisions the past few weeks, and I’m hoping to push it through the publication process by the end of March. I have added race and deity information, modified classes, and made many improvements to the playability of the initial set.
Next, I was able to go to my first event of the year last week. Not only that, but I was able to ride my motorcycle for the first time in two years! I shouldered a full pack of books and materials, and my workshop went over by double what I’d planned. It was fantastic, and I cannot wait for part 2 in May!
A dear friend of mine made the full availability in Aberdeenshire possible, loaning me the funds for 50 copies of each book in preparation for the book tour and all Scotland-related offshoots, so yesterday 150 books showed up at my door. This morning, I sorted them out and signed them all (green for book 1, purple for book 2, and blue for book 3). They will be packed and shipped out by the end of the week and should be arriving at the main library for distribution by this time next week!
It has all come so quickly, and I know it’ll be past soon as well. I plan to cherish it—the beauty, the community and readership, and of course, the adventure. My next update will likely be right before or right after the trip, so …
until next time, adventurers!
Tales of Ambergrove 