I’m e rathke, the author of a number of books. Many of you are here because of Howl so today’s post is perfect for you. Learn more about what you signed up for here. Go here to manage your email notifications.
I was interviewed by HC Newton at Irresponsible Reader today about my publishing and other activities I’ve got going on. Probably of interest to anyone considering self publishing in the future, or those who just want to know more about what I do beyond the walls of this newsletter.
I have not been doing enough promotional stuff for my books lately but especially not for Iron Wolf, which is out today!
Paying subscribers received this back in May, but now the rest of you can check it out. It picks up right where Howl left off, so you probably want to pick that up first.
I love this series. It’s one of the most fun things I’ve done in a long time and I fully intend to tell the stories of Virgil, Vera, and our queen Lady Agova for as long as I can. Even just the way this specific novel happened reminded me how fun writing can be.
Howl, as some of you know, was written basically as a dare.
I talk about it with the Agitator boys there. It was, I think, the middle of October and they were talking about publishing their cyberpunk novels on December 1st and I just thought: me too, why not.
Went in without a plan and pulled out this wild lofi cyberpunk story about two outcasts who get hired by a giantess to hunt a vampire.
With Iron Wolf, I had a plan. I really did. Had the whole shape in my head, but something happened after I wrote the first few chapters. Realized there were about fifty pages missing and then realized that what I thought was going to take me a few sentences to accomplish would actually make up the rest of the novel.
And so Iron Wolf ends where I thought it was only just going to start kicking into its narrative. That’s not to say nothing happens! But that a whole lot of other things happened before I could get to where I thought this story started.
Anyway, makes Broken Katanas, the third book in this series, easier.
For now, I hope you pick up Iron Wolf. I hope you love it.
It dives further into the Gene Wolfe influence but also offers more comedy than Howl. So if you thought that book was funny, wait until you see what’s cooking in here!
Have some other things cooking this week! Namely, the Dadpod Gamescast that started up this week. This is my podcast about gaming with kids that I’m doing with my good friend Joe Owens. We’re releasing the first few at a rapid pace, so you can listen to the first four episodes!
Episode One was out yesterday.
Episode Two is out right now!
Episode Three tomorrow and Four will be on Thursday.
After that, expect a new episode every other week. Subscribe here at substack or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. And if you can’t find us where you usually listen, let me know!
And we’d love if you wrote a nice review of us on wherever it is you listen to podcasts.
Some big news for the newsletter: we crossed 1,000 subscribers!
And then I wrote another Harry Potter essay and I lost several subscribers, like always, and this dropped me back under a thousand. But we’re back over again!
My goal this year was to hit 1,000 subscribers and I sort of thought that was an impossible number to reach, but now we’re well ahead of it, assuming growth continues.
Anyrate, I just wanted to thank everyone who talked about my newsletter or shared it and especially to those of you who pay for your subscription.
Get 30% off your membership right now and you’ll get all my ebooks for free.
This does remind me that I need to just write a post giving a short description of all my books and also update everyone on next year’s publication schedule.
Maybe soon!
That’s it for today.
Go buy my books and love them and review them and make your heart sing.
My novels:
Glossolalia - A Le Guinian fantasy novel about an anarchic community dealing with a disaster
Sing, Behemoth, Sing - Deadwood meets Neon Genesis Evangelion
Howl - Vampire Hunter D meets The Book of the New Sun in this lofi cyberpunk/solarpunk monster hunting adventure
Colony Collapse - Star Trek meets Firefly in the opening episode of this space opera
The Blood Dancers - The standalone sequel to Colony Collapse.
Iron Wolf - Sequel to Howl. Out today!
Some free books for your trouble: