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Dear Reader

Guess what?

We are taking a moment to breathe.

Everyone needs real opportunities to step back out of the chaos, and settle in our own selves. Too often we are so consumed with what's next. What is the big thing that we have to focus on because that will help us for the rest of our lives.

In life, it's all about the hustle and your health. What can you do that will sustain you, while reaching that next level of success. Trying to squeeze in the extra hours at work, or even taking classes or online coursework to find "that secret," that will turn your life from failure to success.

In art, sometimes the hustle is just to outrace all the other fans. What is the big book I have to blitz through? Show to binge? Music to stream before everything gets spoiled by some Facebook reel reviewer trying to get more clout?

Everything is a race. What can I do that is faster than everyone else, worth more than everyone else, and yet cheaper than everyone else? What can I do that will turn the world onto my side, instead of constantly having to outrace everyone? How much faster do I have to go so I don't have to run anymore?

I feel this in my bones. Year nine of Arcane Inkdustries, and everything is about speed, and content. How many books can I put out there? How many campaigns, how many shows can I do? What can I do to bring more of you, dear reader, into the Arcane Ink story?

It is a constant buzzing in the mind. Stay relevant, stay hustling. And it wasn't until I realized how depressed I've been the last couple of years that I finally said it was time to slow down. Get back to what was important. Writing, and telling stories.

It's only been a couple weeks, but it has been so much better for my mental health. I can have conversations with friends and family that doesn't have the undercurrent of 'please fund my kickstarter so I can eat,' and instead nerd out about the fact that I got a Cosmere shirt for my wife's birthday.

You know the strangest thing about the hustle culture? It's that we know it's wrong. You as fans want more books. You want games, and comics, and movies. But when we try to shove everything down your throats, your response is to hurl it back at us and say no, thanks. We as writers should understand that.

If you were to ask most writers as they start out what they'd want to be, the easy answer is the overnight success. I want to write my first book before I'm twenty, with a movie out before I'm twenty-five. Get your life set so you can keep doing what you love without worry or care.

But I'd say that actually the best thing to be as a writer is persistent and consistent. Not chasing every fad, or trope. Putting pen to paper for decades, slowly getting your best work out there. No matter what the 'major players,' say. No matter if some big publishing house is chomping at the bit for your next work.

We as writers are here to tell amazing stories to you, dear reader. Not in soundbites, not in ninety seconds every day. But tales that echo from our hearts to yours. And it takes time. Time to write, to reflect, and time to breathe and consider what is happening in the world around us.

I hope that this week, you get to sit and breathe. Enjoy your book in a comfy chair and sip on your favorite beverage. Walk without worrying about heartrate, or deadlines. Sit with your family and watch a movie that came out a decade ago that you've already seen because, gosh darn it, it's that good.

May you be able to sit and enjoy life.

All the best,

Jack

How are the books coming along?

Oh, these are getting to be so much fun. Innkeeper's Dirge is delving down into Dwarven Politics, while I'm two-thirds through editing the first book.

Got to sit down and write something special for the trade paperback volume of Legends of the Realm. A nice coda to the arc as we bring this part of the tale to a close.

Fantasy sometimes has me researching revolutionary war-era dress. Sometimes I'm trying to figure out just where Samarkand is and why it was so important in Alexandrian time (the correct answer to where Samarkand is is Uzbekistan.)

Breathing. Letting yourself breathe means your books get room to grow.

Some awesome projects to check out

At the end of the dark ages, Fae left the mortal realm in a battle for dominance in the Fae world of Avalon. In the tales of the Fae, this is called the Age of Enlightenment. Battles for territory and power between waring factions erupted over the vast continent of Avalon, causing all creatures throughout the varied worlds within to deal with this change in their world.

Twilas, the queen of chaos, who grew as the most powerful queen of Avalon during the dark ages was overthrown by other factions. Now new factions such as Dawn and Luna and old, nearly irrelevant factions such as Sekti and the Jade Emperor saw the opportunities they were all waiting for, a chance to become the driving force of Avalon and impose their will and views upon the other creatures of their world!

Fae is a TTRPG that was launched 4 years ago and has since grown and spread internationally. With a love of gaming, the creators of Fae have developed a new game about competition and strategy in the world of Fae. You are still the monster. And now you can inflict your monsterness on your friends, picking your teeth with their bones

Fae Courts Link

Who will love Boston Metaphysical Society?

• Fans of Penny Dreadful, Girl Genius, Ruse, steampunk, and gaslamp fantasy stories.
• People who like to read paranormal, historical fiction, and/or alternate history.
• If you like character-driven comics with a mix of paranormal and science fiction, then these are the comics for you!

Issues three and four continue the story where the team (Samuel, Caitlin, Granville, and Alma), fearing arrest, flee Boston to arrive at the only safe haven they have--Tesla's Experimental Station in Colorado Springs. There they meet Tesla’s most unlikely partner, Meihui Zhou, a scientist from the Great House Zhou in California. Life gets more complicated when an attempt is made on Tesla’s life and Caitlin’s psychic abilities take a dangerous turn. Now, they must figure out who is trying to kill Tesla and what Caitlin’s visions are trying to tell her before anyone else dies.

New to Boston Metaphysical Society?

If you are new to the series, the original six issue mini-series (Volume 1) is about an ex-Pinkerton detective, a spirit photographer, and a genius scientist who battle supernatural forces in late 1800’s Boston. They live in an alternate steampunk history where ghosts and demons are a normal part of life. Families known as the Great Houses control the economy of the Great States of America while the middle class and lower classes sole purpose are to serve the Great Houses.

Boston Metaphysical Society Link

Dead by the Book

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I didn't ask for a destiny.

Especially one that says that I'm supposed to destroy every god in existence.

It made the name William Creed a curse. Made me turn tail and run from the only home I knew. Left my friend, my favorite ghost, and hoped that the gods would just forget about me.

But now I'm back. Chasing the one good paycheck I've seen in years. Chasing some kid who's in way over his head, searching for a book that could break reality.

I'll have to take on dragons, the undead, a whole cosmos of deities, and my own mother.

Welcome to God Street. Where miracles become realities.

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