Not so long this time, adventurers! I’m at about five weeks since my surprise wrist surgery, and I’m back to using both hands semiregularly. According to the surgeon, I should basically be back at 100% next week. Which is great because …

Next weekend is fantasy weekend at ORF!

I am so excited and honored to be able to set up the Tales of Ambergrove booth not only at ORF but at ORF on fantasy weekend! (Otherwise known as the best possible weekend.) I absolutely adore ORF, and I am more than a little excited to be back this year for fantasy weekend. ORF expanded this year, and they now have a new area amounting to five whole acres at the back end of the grounds. This new area is called Whimsy Woods and is itself fantasy themed! The Tales of Ambergrove booth will be somewhere out in Whimsy Woods, so if you’re heading to the festival this year, head on back to check out the new area and go on an adventure until you find us—at least on September 9-10 and October 28-29. The Cincinnati Barbarians will be somewhere nearby, and they are always great for a watch! Head to Eventbrite via the Events page and grab an Adventurer’s Token for the festival day to get yourself a free pin at the Tales of Ambergrove booth.

Also, check out the expanded map and prepare yourself for an adventure in Whimsy Woods!

So, this weekend is hopefully a last push for Ember in the Forge, and next weekend is ORF fantasy weekend. After that, there’s family D&D and a little break, and then October 7 is my third annual MCPL Author Fair! They should be absolutely packed with authors this year because they had an application process this time. It is always a fantastic time. Highly recommend!

Then, at the end of October, we’re rounding out the events for this year with ORF tricks & treats weekend. Hopefully, if all goes to plan, Ember in the Forge will debut at the festival this weekend. We will, at the very least, have the cover artist at the booth and a woman dressed as Ember walking around the festival grounds. See if you can spot her!

As an author, my hope for this year is to finish strong with the author fair and ORF, publish Ember in the Forge, and begin work on Ember on the Anvil. Besides working on EotA, I don’t really have anything big coming up until April. Unfortunately, I won’t be returning to Scotland for another book tour next April (not that I expected to return for many years), but I will hopefully be attending a new festival in central/northern Ohio. More to come on that later.

Not much news for the past month or so, but the coming month or so includes three awesome events and (hopefully) a new book. Fingers crossed!

Until next time, adventurers!

Hail, adventurers! It is strange to think that it has been nearly three months since I returned from the book tour in Scotland. So much has happened since then—culminating in a special event tomorrow.

I’m having surgery! Not a spectacular one. I’ve had it four times before, just as a kid the previous times. Ganglion cyst in my wrist is pressing on the nerves. Tomorrow, I’m getting the cyst removed, and the doctor believes he can fix the problem once and for all—which is fantastic.

The downside is with recuperation after the book tour, preparing for this surgery, rescuing a dog from abuse and getting him surgery and restorative care, and the publication of Dawn of the Dragonwolf, as much as I have tried to work on Ember in the Forge, I haven’t made it very far. Because I am having surgery tomorrow, I will be using one hand or voice-to-text to type and restricting use as much as possible outside work to allow my wrist to heal properly. This means I will likely not be able to get back into working on EitF until September—when I had hoped to publish it.

It can surely be frustrating for books to be delayed—for the author as well—but the delays in the start of Ember’s story can only mean a better-developed final product. I promise her story will be available soon.

In the meantime, Dawn of the Dragonwolf has hit the shelves. I am working to get this one on shelves in game stores as well. It is available via the same online resources as the first series, and it is available in standard core book size paperback and various ebook versions (mainly Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Google Books). Because it is full of tables and callout boxes, nothing really appears as it should when viewing the ebook on mobile. Tablet is much better. PC/MAC is ideal. I will also be giving away ebook codes for the Dawn of the Dragonwolf published book with purchase of the version one packet at events.

I have one event later this week for a library summer reading program, and then all that remains for this year are two weekends at Ohio Renaissance Festival and the yearly author fair in Monrovia (pending final selection). With any luck, I’ll be able to devote August to healing and transitioning modes and will be (finally) back into focusing on Ambergrove in September.

Anyway, this is just a quick update to let you know I am still kicking, still working away, and I’m excited to share further adventures in the coming months.

Until next time, adventurers!

On page 9 of Ranger’s Odyssey, Freya tells Mara that she may not have announced that she was coming to Ambergrove, but it’s what her soul wanted. My soul also got what it wanted when I fell asleep on a 2:00am flight to Edinburgh and woke up as we were flying over the islands.

This blog will likely be my longest, as I share a fraction of the over 1,000 pictures I took on this trip. When I went to Scotland in 2011, I never thought I would be able to return. I never thought I would be able to finish a book. So many things came full-circle on this trip, and such magic was awoken. But let’s start at the beginning.

I took little D&D minifigures of Mara and Ember along with me. By the second picture, Mara had lost half the handle of her battle axe, and before the end, she’d lost the head of her small axe. But they came along for the adventure, and I got a few pictures on the flight over. There was a layover before making the final flight across the pond, and we ended up having a four-hour delay. But we made it. I made the tram to the bus station and got a train to Dundee. I forgot how much I love the trains. It was also really cool to cross the Forth Bridge.

After a long trek—about 24 hours of travel—I made it on the bus to Kirrie and got to the square. Kirriemuir is the birthplace of JM Barrie, and there are Peter Pan things all over the town. I stopped at the statue in the square and held Mara up to Peter for just a moment and breathed in the self-fulfillment of the moment before heading to the house.

Soon after arriving in Kirrie, it was time for me to make the trek up to Huntly for the first events of the mini book tour. On the way up, I stopped at my favorite place in Scotland: Restenneth Priory.

A ruined priory resting on a small hill in someone’s field, Restenneth is full of magic. The moss has taken over all of it, crawling over the stone and pressing up under the grass. Just walking on the spongy moss adds an otherworldy feel to the place. It’s just so pleasant and beautiful.

I wore my library listing shoes for this whole trip, so I have a few pictures of the shoes in these places. Such as sinking into the moss at Restenneth.

After making the trek to Restenneth, I took a train to Stonehaven and then to Aberdeen, spending the night in Aberdeen before making the final journey to Huntly in the morning. I did take the time just this one day to have a proper Scottish breakfast (sans black pudding). Complete with haggis patty and Irn Bru. I may or may not have had haggis whenever it was on the menu and solely drank Irn Bru for most of the trip.

I made it to Huntly by late afternoon, and I first went to the library to see my books on the shelves. I sent 108 copies of my books—36 sets—to the Aberdeenshire main library for distribution to all the libraries in Aberdeenshire. In the absolutely magnificent Huntly library, the books were on prominent display in the YA section. The librarian also requested I send a copy of Dawn of the Dragonwolf when it is finally completed.

Orb’s Bookshop is right next to the library, and they also ha my books prominently displayed in the window. They intend to keep them in the window for a while as well.

I had two events at Orb’s. For the first event, the librarian at the school brought students over. There were supposed to be sixteen, but the final count of attendees of the first event was twenty-five. The students sat and quietly listened as I talked about how Scotland inspired the books, what the books are about, and how they differ from others of the genre. I also read an excerpt, answered questions, and signed maps and bookmarks.

For the second session, we had a more sort of “conversation with the author” event. It was attended by the local writer’s group and a young writer and her mother. We chatted about the books and the writing process, themes and tropes. It was lovely, and they both went really well!

The following day, I had loads of plans for castles. I intended to see Huntly, Kildrummy, and Dunnottar castles. I woke up too late to see Huntly Castle without missing something else, and I realized on the train that Kildrummy was actually closed that day. But it meant that I had more time for Dunnottar, an absolutely fantastic castle on a cliff. I’d seen Dunnottar back in 2011, but it’s certainly a place to see time and time again. Even if it is a long trek.

The whole castle grounds are open for visitors to explore, and I spent about three hours just walking around, listening to the waves, feeling the moss, and taking pictures of little Ember and Mara all over the grounds. I even had the opportunity to bring Ember in the Forge—the real forge in the castle.

The following day, I got the souvenir I’d wanted for this trip: a thistle. When I came on my last trip to Scotland, I got a tattoo of the leafy triskele on my ankle.

Heading into the weekend, I was able to explore some of Perthshire with my host mum. We had the privilege of taking a Buddhist nun to a hermitage in Perthshire. I was able to see so many lovely things there and experience customs of her faith. Out of respect, I’m just including one photo from the outer grounds of the hermitage.

After leaving the hermitage, we visited Dunkeld and saw the cathedral and the river.

Just across the river is the remains of Birnam Wood, featured in Shakespeare’s Scottish Play. There is one remaining oak, hollowed out, and a sycamore the locals call the “Young Pretender”.

A week after I left for Scotland, and my second to last day in the country, my host mum and I went on another big adventure—this time to places we’d gone to before. We visited the White Caterthun, a Bronze Age hill civilization that’s reduced to stone rings on the hill and one cairn that visitors build onto when they stop by.

On this day, we finally had the first bit of typical Scottish weather. The wind atop the caterthun was biting, and I loved it.

After seeing the caterthuns, we went to the Blue Door Path by Edzell Castle. It’s a simple nature walk along a river, through moss-covered trees.

There were ample places to stop and feel the majesty of the place and so many places to pose Ember and Mara. It was impossible not to be inspired by all the moss-covered stones and trees.

When we headed back to Kirrie, my host mum dropped me off at the top of Kirrie Hill. It was there on Kirrie Hill in 2011 that I first created Ambergrove. I walked back to that same red gazebo and worked on Ember in the Forge like I had worked on the Ambergrove map, on worldbuilding, on the first steps of Mara’s story.

I walked around the small (amber) grove on the hill between the red gazebo and Kirrie Hill’s standing stone.

We had a couple nights of coal fires. This night, after the chill and the wind, we had dinner by the fire and I had some hot cocoa. I also took some pictures of Ember and Mara beside the fire.

From Ranger’s Odyssey chapter 1, after Mara sat playing D&D by a fireplace and began to doze off:

Mara’s eyes fluttered closed, and calm sleep took her, blanketed in the warmth of the fire. | When Mara woke, the room was pitch black but for the embers of the dying fire.

The final day in Scotland was also the final event of the mini book tour. I headed back to the school in Kirrie for a talk with 120 kids, and there was a short hailstorm on the way up (which I loved!). I met up with my favorite teacher of all time, my English teacher from Scotland. I had the opportunity to walk to his classroom, where he’d encouraged my writing. I went to the school library, where I’d plotted some of the world. During the talk the kids were attentive, and after they had so many questions. It was absolutely spectacular.

After the event at the school, I ran to Dundee to ship some materials back across the pond, and then I came back to my Scottish home for a final night of quality time with my host parents.

My train to Edinburgh left at 5:40am the following morning, so I said goodbye to my host mum before bed and then my host dad drove me to the train station in the morning.

I was able to spend a day crossing Ireland to see a childhood friend of mine before heading back to Edinburgh to make the final flight home. I was able to get a lovely final picture of Scotland from the plane.

I got some mini dice from a cool game store in Galway, Ireland, and took a few pictures with them to round out my trip.

My husband met me at the airport with an “H. T. Martineau” sign and thus my book tour was over.

It was an adventure of a lifetime, going back to Scotland as an author, sharing my stories with a new generation, and returning to the places that inspired Ambergrove. It was magical and transformative. It was a dream come true.

Dreams come true if you work for them. This dream was twelve years in the making, and there were so many bumps and holdups along the way, but it happened. If something matters to you, never stop fighting for it.

Until next time, adventurers!

The time has arrived! One week from right now, I’ll be sitting in the airport during my first layover on the way to Scotland. This past week has been a ride to say the least. I submitted Dawn of the Dragonwolf to the publisher and did a lot of paperwork for my home. I also put together a PowerPoint presentation for my final event on my mini book tour and packed my bags.

While working on the PowerPoint, I went though a bunch of old things from my first trip to Scotland in 2011. I was reminded of just how much I’d worked on my worldbuilding and writing on that trip. I was also reminded of the dreams I’d had as a teenager that I never thought I would achieve.

I never thought I’d be able to go back to Scotland. I never thought I would finish a single book. But in just a short while I’ll be traveling around Angus and Aberdeenshire for three events as a published author. I’ll be visiting places I loved—Kirriemuir, Restenneth Priory, Dunottar Castle—and places entirely new. I’ll be taking minifigures of Mara and Ember along with me to photograph in beautiful Scottish hills and on walks through ruined castles. I’ll be talking about my journey as an author, about dreams coming true, and I’ll be signing books and taking additional signed books to other bookstores who want to add them to the shelves but couldn’t fit an event on the calendar.

The Huntly bookstore called this a “spiritual homecoming”, and I doubt I could put it better myself. Kirriemuir became my second home when I went so many years ago. There is little I love more than I love Scotland, and I have wanted it to be my permanent home since the day I left it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to have a writing cottage in the woods somewhere. Just a few series down the road. One can hope.

After all, it was the hopes of a teenage me that turned into impossible dreams … and later reality.

When next I check in, it will be after the book tour. After sitting atop Kirrie Hill and writing a chapter or two of Ember’s story. After seeing some of my big, impossible dreams come true and come full circle.

I am a testament that dreams come true if you work for them. If something matters to you, never stop fighting for it! Your dreams are worth having, and you are worth them.

Until next time, adventurers!

If you would like to donate to the book tour, GoFundMe can accept donations up to April 21 and I will still receive funds while in Europe. I’m down to “walking-around money” (day-to-day expenses).

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!

My two favorite renditions of this song for ambiance: Celtic Thunder—Caledonia and Celtic Woman—Caledonia.

This past week has been quite a whirlwind. My books are in a school library in Scotland as of Monday, and as of Tuesday, the door has been opened to a possible author event. Tuesday evening, I started a GoFundMe, and now I already nearly have enough in donations to cover the plane ticket.

This is all in the preliminary stages, but after the past few days, there is a very real possibility that I will be doing a few author events in Scotland in a few months. For those of you who haven’t read the lengthy About the Author on the website, when I was sixteen, I was an exchange student in Scotland. I stayed in Kirriemuir for five months and two days nearly twelve years ago. I sat atop Kirrie Hill and draw the map of Ambergrove. I spent hours in the school library working on worldbuilding. Scotland is a huge part of Ambergrove, and I love it so dearly.

I have always wanted to go back just to see those places I love, but now I have the chance to do it as an author. I cannot describe how progressively giddy and humbled I have felt since Tuesday, especially at the unbelievable generosity of so many—friends, coworkers, former students, fellow writers, and even a total stranger!

I will be renewing my passport next week, due to the lengthy processing time, and in the next few weeks, I will be dreaming of Scotland and preparing for the possibility of contacting additional locations for author events (I’m thinking perhaps a bookstore and another school in the surrounding towns).

If you enjoy Ambergrove and have something to spare, please check out my GoFundMe. Details below as well.

From the fundraiser page:

My pen name is H. T. Martineau, and as an author I’ve written and published a full book series. I’m working on my second series of nine set in a world called Ambergrove. I created Ambergrove in Kirriemuir, Scotland, when I was sixteen. I spent a lot of time in the school library or in Neverland playpark drawing up the maps and building the foundations of the world my readers know today. The map is largely the same draft I did way back then. Scotland is a part of my books as much as it is a part of me. I lived in Kirriemuir for five months as an exchange student, after raising the money for that trip with scholarships, donations, and odd jobs.

I have always wanted to go back and never had the chance, but now, twelve years later, I have a good reason to try. I want to go back to Kirriemuir as an author who was molded by that town in Scotland. I have participated in many author events and have planned more still for this year. I don’t know if I’ll ever be conventionally successful as an author, nor do I know how many places would want me to do events with them if I can find my way back there instead of doing a Zoom meeting, but my measurements for success as an author are different from the conventional.

• I wanted my books to be read and enjoyed. As such, I have donated dozens of copies to libraries and organizations throughout the US. I barely break even because I give away way too much, but every new reader is a joy for me.
• I wanted at least one kid to be so interested in my book that they put off something else they should be doing just to read it. A teacher told me about a student nearly missing his bus because he just wanted to finish the last chapter before he left for the day, and that reminded me of young me who got in trouble for putting things off to read a book.
• I wanted my books to be in Scotland.

They are now in the school library, and I can imagine kids going up to the top of Kirrie Hill, sitting in the Peter Pan swing, and reading my books. But to go there myself and hold one of my published books in my hands while I look out over Kirriemuir would be the epitome of my journey as an author, no matter how the future shakes out. If I can go there for events as I hope, I’d want to be able to show the kids of Kirrie what their town meant to me and that dreams can come true if you work for them.

Aside from Scotland, the greatest catalyst is my dear husband. I can hold my books in my hand because he supports me every day and pushed me to write again after life kept getting in the way. If I can raise enough to go myself, I’ll go and treasure every moment. But I was on my own when I went as a kid. I would love to bring him with me and show him those places I love so dearly, and if I exceed my goal I’ll raise it to see if I can do that.

I know GoFundMe is full of worthy causes, but if you have chosen to donate to this one, I am so grateful to you. Thank you.

I hope my next blog is to share event locations in beautiful Scotland. Only time will tell. Until next time, adventurers!

Time does fly. It seems like only yesterday I was writing the first draft of Wheel of Fate. 2022 was full of wonderful events and firsts. So what happened in 2022?

I’m pretty far behind schedule now, and that has altered my plans for Hammer and Flame. First, I got behind because I took on a ghostwriting project. This was ultimately good for the books because it allowed me to stock up for events I could not otherwise have afforded. I also took the time to create a 50-page D&D module packet to have at events and on the website. We played one of these modules at ORF, and it generated interest. These two things alone delayed work on Ember in the Forge by six months.

A further delay came in November when I was finally cleared out for the year and ready to go full-tilt into EitF (for real this time). I lost my boy Batty. A 14-year-old crossbreed mediumhair, he was visually unique by his two-tone hair and his fangs. He was also comically dumb, and my mom always said he was on borrowed time because of it. I’ve brought him into Ember’s life since he’s gone from mine, and I really like the life he has in Ambergrove.

I had a personal crisis after this loss, waking up the first day in my entire life without a pet to lovingly call bub. I then got my first bunnies, initially to fill that void and to fulfill a lifelong dream of having bunnies—which had somehow never been in the menagerie. But, boy, do I love my boys. Two brothers, a bonded pair, I named them Merry and Pippin (Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took). Pippin always gets into trouble and Merry is along for the ride, so I figured it was a fitting tribute to fantasy while also describing them perfectly. They, like all my pets, also like to “help” with the books.

I had initially planned to have EitF completed in September 2022 to allow for six months working with an agent to try to be published with Tor, a dream publisher of mine. The delays in the process have two outcomes. The cover art for EitF is complete before the book is, allowing me to look at the cover art while writing the book and make a cover mockup.

Whereas I may not be able to take the avenue I had planned, there should be a set schedule for Hammer and Flame:

Hammer and Flame will be published through Archway Publishing, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. If all goes to plan, Ember in the Forge will be published in late spring, Ember on the Anvil will be published in the summer, and Ember of the Flame will be published in late autumn.

I also have many plans for events for 2023, expansion to even more libraries, and giveaways. I hope you enjoy the second tale of Ambergrove.

What is 1 Toire? It’s the day Mara’s destiny is completed and Ember’s begins. How about yours?

Until next time, adventurers.

Wow. ORF. It was everything I imagined and more—even if I was told that we weren’t in a great spot. I was disheartened at the beginning, because I didn’t fully realize that it wasn’t telling to have no visitors an hour in when our booth was in the back. This after stopping for The Swordsmen first thing every single year as an attendee and barely making it away from the front gate in the first hour!

Something I have always loved about Scottish festivals and ORF is just how unflinchingly kind so many people can be. When I was in middle school and attended a festival, I wanted to get an English/Scottish Gaelic dictionary from a shop, but I needed to ask my parents at the clan tent first. The vendor told me to take the book and show it to my parents and come back. It was completely out of sight, but I took it to my parents, they said yes, and I went back and paid. At another festival, an angry wind came through and made the canopy buckle up over itself. It was raining, and it was nasty, but everyone in sight ran to our clan tent to help us pull the canopy back down and secure it.

At ORF, I had one of each of these instances as well. We had issues with wind and were unprepared due to this being our first event. The experienced vendor next to us offered us a tarp and gave us binder clips to use to hang my forest tapestry. He even checked in on us a couple times throughout the day. (Thanks, Jack!)

The most heartwarming, however, came from the issues we were having with the Square terminal. Even though there was a good signal, the amount of devices on the tower bogged things down, and the Square didn’t work at all. So we could only accept cash purchases. We learned this after our first reader had been in the booth about half an hour. He’d expressed interest in playing D&D, he’d looked through all the materials on the table, and he’d decided to get the full Dragonwolf trilogy. I signed his books for him … and then the Square wouldn’t work. We tried and tried. Now, a testament to my poor business sense: I decided to just give him the full series. He was really interested in them, and it wasn’t his fault the reader didn’t work. I’ve always said I don’t care about making a profit; I just want my books to be read and enjoyed. So I gave them to him. Then his companion tried PayPal (which needed to update, of course) and Venmo (which I didn’t have). They took the Tales of Ambergrove email address so they could send money via PayPal when they had a reliable signal. I figured that was the end of it, but no. A few hours later, back into the booth they came. They’d gone to the onsite ATM and come all the way back over just to make sure they paid me for the books. Talk about heartwarming!

I had dozens of other positive interactions throughout the day. I had a mom come in looking for clean fiction for her eleven-year-old daughter who reads above her age level and can never find anything without sex in it. I saw myself in that interaction, and when she didn’t have cash, I tried to give her a free book, too, but her companion shook her head and they paid. Three people I’m aware of made the long trek to the ATM and back just to buy the full trilogy, and most of the sales were for the full trilogy as a set. There was so much interest for Dawn of the Dragonwolf and Ember in the Forge, and so many D&D lovers came through and tried to throw a group together to play at my table. One girl was visibly upset that the playable D&D wasn’t on the ORF website.

I did have a group play Paeor’s Game with me, despite the 90-minute chunk it took out of ORF for them—and despite my lack of experience as a DM. We still really had a lot of fun! Especially the boy who played Finn (a rogue for DotD), who just had to collect all the loot and chucked a skeleton skull at an identified trap just to see what would happen. They even earned the bonus XP for making the right choices in battle. The kinds that come from goodness. They also didn’t complain when I stepped away from the game every 5-10 minutes to sign books at the booth. When the game was over, the man who played Toren gave me DM pointers for next time, and the lady who played Ashroot decided to go ahead and get the full series. It was just all-around a positive interaction. I was so worried about DMing for the first time and what the players would think—or if they would just hate it more as time went on because they wanted to do other stuff. But this group just went with it and seemed to enjoy themselves. And young “Finn” walked away with the Finn character bookmark.

I also had someone make the drive all the way to ORF just to support me and to check out the festival at my recommendation. She has all the books; she got the latest a couple weeks ago, but she came anyway and came to my booth.

I also learned that ORF does a trade system with kids with voluntary vendor participation and am now the proud owner of two rocks, a blue stone, and a plastic coin. Two boys also came into the booth and were looking just at the merch. One wanted a logo coaster and borrowed money from his grown up to check out. The other one grabbed a coaster set because the Teddy one was on top, and when I told him that was part of a $10 set (thinking that would deter him), he said “Ten dollars? That’s CHEAP!” and proceeded to buy them—and grab a Teddy bookmark.

I also talked to a few potential readers about local availability and partnerships, library listings, and the audiobooks. I’ve decided to have the audiobooks on flash drives at events from now on. All-in-all, we walked away with 50 fewer books and half of the business cards! It was a wonderful event made better by the personal interactions with new readers—and attendees who came to chat without becoming new readers, like “Dumb Odin”—and the unwavering support from my lifemate. ORF was absolutely magnificent, and I’ll be coming back next year for both days rather than just Saturday. Check the events page next summer for dates!

Another thing I learned whilst co-running the booth … there is quite a lot of interest for a story like Ember’s. Talking with people at ORF just made me want to work on Ember in the Forge even more! I have a few things on the docket before then. We’re tearing down a building on our property and have decided to do a mass junk purge at the same time. We’re also going to be hosting our first D&D game day in a dedicated D&D room next month—once we convert it into one. I have a plan for tomorrow to do as much as I can in one go, and I’m hoping to use that dedicated time for EitF as much as possible the rest of the year. I’d really hoped to have EitF completed and ready to pitch by mid-November. There’s no possibility of that, but I have my fingers crossed for 2022. I’m also going to be working on getting into other events at the same time. I currently have my sights set on GenCon Indianapolis, but it’s too early for 2023 sign-ups. The gears are turning, though, and the cover artist is making progress with the art for EitF.

Good things, good things! As the year winds down, I’m hoping to do some organization, event planning, and to get EitF ready for publication. It’s a tall order, but I adore Ambergrove, and I can’t wait to see the next story come to fruition.

Until next time, adventurers!

Big progress with Ambergrove the past few weeks! Dawn of the Dragonwolf is complete, and packets are printed and assembled. The listing is included in the Tales of Ambergrove store, but Dawn of the Dragonwolf will be making its debut at Ohio Renaissance Festival next Saturday. October 16, DotD will be available from the store. Any preorders will be sent out ASAP that morning.

Dawn of the Dragonwolf (digital only) is $5.00 from the store. If purchased from an event, it will be bound in a folder with copies of each of the character sheets as well. Printed copies will be $8.00 to account for material costs; provide an email address, and I will send the digital copy to you separately with printed purchase.

Family Green, the board game for Wheel of Fate, will also be included in packet form at events beginning with ORF. Free from the store, it is $2.00 to account for material costs. Game board, instructions, Mara and Kara character sheets and game pieces, and 6 blank character sheets are included.

All that remains in preparation for ORF is to staple character list booklets. The Dragonwolf trilogy character list, removed from Wheel of Fate to lower book price, is free in the store—$2.00 as booklets to account for material costs. Otherwise, we’re all ready to go. Tubs are packed, materials are assembled, and there’s nothing much left besides loading up the car.

Now, finally, with everything else prepared or completed, I am able to go full-tilt into Ember in the Forge and work toward my prior plans for Ambergrove. With any luck, I’ll have a couple drafts finished before the holidays and be able to work on publishing attempts before the end of the year. We’re getting back on track! I’m also hoping to enter in a book blurb contest this week!

At this time, ORF is the final scheduled event of the year, but there may be one more before Christmas. We’ll just have to see what adventures come along in the next couple months.

Until next time, adventurers!

What a wild month it’s been, adventurers! There are just two (maybe three!) events left this year, and now that the ghostwriting project is officially complete, I am plugging away at preparing for them. Most of these are for debut at ORF October 15, but I will have some things at the author fair October 1 as well. So what’s new?

This weekend, I am woodburning necklaces and painting necklaces, keychains, and coaster sets. The past few weeks, I have been working on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign packet. It follows many of the events in Ranger’s Odyssey with two separate game sessions—plus a bonus session following Toren through Paeor’s Game. The trilogy of one-shots will debut at Ohio Renaissance Festival. I’ll have a table by my booth where players can run through Paeor’s Game, and packets will be available for purchase. After ORF, the packets will also be available in the new Tales of Ambergrove Online Store!

At this time, my family group’s main Dungeon Master is reviewing the packet from a DM standpoint to make sure that everything makes sense, nothing is missing, and all stats are correct. I’ll be reviewing and finalizing it shortly, and I’ll print the packets and put them in 3-prong folders and into my new tub.

I spent this morning organizing my restock of books and my other event supplies into two new collapsible tubs as I prepare for regular events. I bought a collapsible wagon (that the tubs will fit perfectly into), First Edition stickers for the remaining copies I have of Ranger’s Odyssey, so I may keep them straight from the current editions, a new Square chip/contactless pay reader, and a few other things for events. It’s a very exciting time!

Once I finish my painting and woodburning tomorrow, I’ll just be down to finalizing the packet and printing everything off. Then, finally, I’ll be able to get back to Ember in the Forge. I hope to make great progress with the draft once other responsibilities have evened out. I still would like to give myself at least six months to attempt submission to Tor before moving forward with my current publisher for this series (I’ve always dreamed of being published by Tor), so hopefully the next couple months bring good tidings where Ember’s story is concerned. Fingers crossed. I’m chugging along.

Until next time, adventurers!