It has been six months since my last update, and I figured it was time, even if it’s a bumpy one. Let’s get right into it.
Big Brain Time
I received my traumatic brain injury in January. At the last update in March, although the neurologist and memory care had told me that it would likely take a year or longer for my recovery and that pushing myself too hard would likely cause setbacks, I thought I was ready to write again. Because I was impatient and wanted to continue. I have been able to come up with a couple adventures for an Ambergrovian D&D campaign I’m running, but that’s basically it. The harder I try to think of something, the faster my brain just fizzles into static.
“What do you remember about—?”
*static*“How should Ember meet [character]?”
*static*“What did you just say?”
*static*
The more stressed I get, the faster my brain fizzles into static and the headache starts creeping back around the back of my head. I’ve had some large personal stressors the past month, and it’s become clearer when those stressors come in that I’m not near as recovered as I thought. I have to work on calming strategies to ensure that stress doesn’t cascade into a spiral and then lengthier static and pain.
I’ve accelerated to memory care and brain care that’s used most often to assist people with dementia. As it is, if it’s not something I already knew before I hit my head or I don’t have the opportunity to just wait for the thing to come to me, it’s gone and I won’t be able to put it together. I’ve dialed back exponentially, because it’s become clear that the more I try to get back into writing the books, the less I’ll be able to write and the more damage it’s causing in other areas. For the foreseeable future, the books are on hold.
Just in Case
At this point, I am starting to get concerned that I may not get that brain function back. All the doctors said to be patient, and I’m nowhere near the point of concern yet (to them), but I worry about the future of the books. To that effect, I’ve just posted an authorly advice blog about preparing for that possibility.
It’s an author’s responsibility to give their readers a complete series if they start one. However, sometimes things happen. In that event, authors should have the series planned out so the plan for the series can be shared with those who care about the ending. Five years ago, when I first published Ranger’s Odyssey, I had already planned the ten pillars of the Tales of Ambergrove saga and written a few sentences about what their stories would cover. I know whose stories are important for the completion of the overarching tale, and I know how I want them to come together. Slowly, over the next few months, I will be expanding those notes into more detailed outlines and compiling them “just in case.”
If the worst happens and I am unable to write all these books I’d planned because of this brain injury, the stories will not be left incomplete. I will provide as much information as I am able to put together to show where the stories were headed. Mara began the Fourth Age. The tales of the ten pillars will end with the start of the Fifth Age. All those main stories will be shared for free as compiled on the website. I will not share these unless it becomes clear that I will be unable to continue, but I will ensure that they are put together and ready.
I don’t think I’ve shared them before, so here are the pillars:
So, What’s Been Going On?
- We had some events in April, and I was able to participate in those as planned, even if I needed assistance getting through the D&D one shots.
- I began running an Ambergrovian D&D campaign, and we’ve had three sessions. The fourth is coming this weekend.
- I’ve continued various therapies and medications to try to improve my brain function.
- I’ve prioritized doing my best at work in case I don’t have the capacity for much more above that.
- We did some home improvement—we got our roof replaced, upgraded our D&D room, got a dumpster and cleaned out a bunch of junk, and had a professional cleaner come and help out with some stuff.
- We said goodbye to one of our elderly cats, Reba.
- We went on a two-week trip to Maine, Boston, and Philly, to visit my husband’s family, go see a game at Fenway Park (a bucket list item for him), and get an authentic Philly cheesesteak (“one whiz with”). He and I both got tattoos—his a D&D scene and mine some plant life.
- I lost my grandpa. In another brain-static response, I spent six hours painting moss on the floor of my alcove with a sponge to calm my brain.
- I played a cozy game called Coral Island, my husband and I played It Takes Two, and I have been reading some ebooks (I still can’t read print books for very long without the headache creeping up).
What’s Next?
Our last planned event, the last of this year, is scheduled for the end of this month (next weekend, September 27–28). We will be returning to Clayshire Castle’s Medieval Faire, a fantastic event in Indiana, and we will have all current materials available and all sessions of Paeor’s Game planned to be run.
After Clayshire, we’ll be reorganizing and cataloguing the remaining materials and storing them. Next year, I will attend recurring events I have previously attended, such as Clayshire, but I do not plan to book any new events in 2026, so I can take some time to actually work on my brain.
I will continue to share some blogs here and there, and hopefully get back to a schedule for the authorly advice blog and the newsletter, and I will share some playable information on the playable characters and adventures page as I compile what we have played in our monthly sessions. I will complete my “just in case.” And I will work on my memory and brain care.
We’ll see what 2026 brings. Hopefully, I will be able to share a real update about Ember on the Anvil then.
Until next time, adventurers!
Tales of Ambergrove 