The Marshmallow Ranch Gazette (Patreon)

Howdy, buckaroos!

Happy New Year! I hope all of you had awesome holidays and a great time ringing in 2018! Here at the Den and Burrow, my husband and I spent the time pretty quietly; we hung out with friends for Christmas and hosted a small gathering at New Year's, but we couldn't go too hard either time because I had a holiday shift at my day job. Far from being annoyed by it, I actually appreciated the excuse to party responsibly and get a bit more sleep.

Can you believe we're embarking on the *third* year of the Jackalope Serial Company? I know, there isn't an awful lot to show for it -- my sincere apologies on that. However, I've taken these past couple of months to really work on my routine and build a more consistent and productive writing practice. It's still a work in progress, but I think I've been able to improve myself quite a bit in that time! I really wanted to make sure that the Jackalope Serial Company started firing on all cylinders this year, finally!

To that end, my New Year's Resolutions for this little enterprise are:

• Post at *least* 50 episodes of various serials this year
• Attract at least 50 patrons contributing $1/month or more
• Improve the reading experience for serials as they appear here and elsewhere

It's ambitious, sure, but I'm confident that I can do it! This month, I'll be releasing "Boundaries" in its entirely with two episodes a week! The eight-part serial will drop every Wednesday and Thursday in January; I'm nearly done with the first draft and will need to polish up each part before they're released, but I'm going to work like hell to stick to that schedule.

The first two parts have already been released, so this week none of you will be charged for the edited versions; part 3 will be the first paid installment, released next Wednesday. Hopefully, that's cool by you!

Once I've wrapped up work on "Boundaries", it's off to the races on the next serial. What's that one, you ask? Well, good question! I...haven't decided yet. I don't think I'll be ready to put serials to a group vote just now, but I'll certainly let you know when that happens!

If you follow me elsewhere, you might have an idea that there are financial issues with my family that have pretty much wrecked my finances -- and that's not all! My mother is still in a lot of debt, and with other pressures this year it's going to take something special to make things work. It's for that reason I'm thinking about opening up for commissions in March -- perhaps sooner if I can smooth out my working process. Patrons, of course, will get first crack at slots; I won't be able to offer a discounted rate for now, but hopefully that'll come later! For this first little test run, I'd like to offer a 5,000-word short story (give or take a few hundred words) for $50 a pop. Does that sound like a fair price to you? If it does, let me know!

That's all for now, partners; thanks again for your continued patronage. I'm really excited for the next year, and all the stories I get to share with you. :D

• Jakebe