The Marshmallow Ranch Gazette (Patreon)

Howdy patrons!

As you can see, The Cult of Maximus is picking up steam; I have to say, I had a lot of fun writing the latest chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it! I'm planning to let loose with part 16 this Thursday, July 14th if all goes well. It'll be a bit of a tight squeeze, but I'm confident in my ability to see it through!

I've been trying to develop a regular writing practice for some time now, and it's just beginning to take hold. A change in my shift at the day job has opened up my evenings a bit, which makes it easier to get at least an hour of writing done. I'm incredibly grateful for that, you have no idea -- before, I left the office at 5 and couldn't get back to the Burrow until 6:30, which meant that if I wanted to do *anything* after exercise or cooking dinner or social engagements, it would have to wait until near bedtime. That doesn't quite work because my brain tends to turn into a pumpkin around 10 PM or so. I am so not a night owl!

Now, I leave the office around 4, which shaves an hour off my commute time. With 90 whole minutes more in the evenings, the pressure is eased and I can devote that hour towards writing. It really is awesome and I've been putting it to good use already. I'm quite excited to build a good habit through the rest of the summer!

I still haven't been able to catch up enough so that I can go back and revise earlier chapters for The Cult of Maximus, though. Now that I have a firm outline for the rest of the story, there's a lot more I can do with those earlier scenes and I've been itching to take that on. I'd love to draw Tom and Jerry a bit more clearly and lay things out so that it's not quite so hamfisted (unless it's not already, in which case I just want to seed things a little better). I'd also love to see if I can make Fogport feel like a bit more of a character; good police stories are as much about the city as they are the people living in it, you know.

Anyway, I'm hoping that I can revise a few other things through the rest of July and August so that I can open up for one or two commissions by fall. The unexpected expenses earlier this year are tough to recover from, and a little extra cash will certainly help me to recover faster. If I manage to get my act together for this in time, you lovely folks will be the first to know!

One final thing -- I'll be heading down to southern California this weekend with a few friends to see Disneyland (maybe) and the Shambala Big Cat Reserve (definitely). If you don't know about Shambala, it's really incredible -- Tippi Hedren owns the property and has devoted her post-Hitchcock Blonde existence to advocating for animal rights. Maybe she loves cats because they prey upon birds…

That's it for this edition of the Gazette, Patrons. If part 16 isn't up by Thursday evening, I'll try to make up for it with a double helping next week! Until then...