Acknowledgments and Announcements

An update on the future of The Shieldbreaker Saga.

Jun 09, 2025

Hi.

As of today, the paperback version of The Last of the Etela is up for sale!

It’s available in exactly one place, the link for which is right here:

I want to take a moment to thank several people who were instrumental in me getting to this day:

First, my wife Rebecca, for her magnificently blunt assessment of my first sketch of the character who eventually became Sivridi. Without her intervention, I’m pretty sure this story would be too one-dimensional for me to bother trying to sell you. She opened the whole damn thing up.

Second, my mother-in-law. (No, I’m not kidding. Why do you assume I’m kidding? What are we, in the Catskills?) She is the reason I’m not sitting on my ass waiting for form rejections from agencies. She’s the reason I met all you fine people.

Third, my friend

Tochi Onyebuchi

. If any of you are lucky enough to have a literary hero who will respond to your texts, you get it. It’s a psychic boost.

Fourth,

Andy Futuro

, whose kindness and willingness to give me advice during my first few weeks on the platform made it a lot easier to stick around.

Fifth, and so very importantly, the crew that has developed around the Emil and Pablo initiatives.

, and obviously

and

, I am proud as hell to know you and I love you with my whole chest.

Sixth, a few regular readers and commenters that I want to send some extra love to:

and

: thank you guys so so much for your attention. I’m incredibly lucky.

And lastly, I want to shout out EK MacPherson, wherever she’s at. She makes things better by being involved with them. She’s an incredibly talented writer, she was an awesome interview partner and a vital member of the support crew, and I am proud to have called her my Substack bestie. Hope you’re doing well, buddy.

—

So, the fine print:

As of tonight, Chapters 1 and 2 of Etela will remain freely available, and the rest of the novel will drop behind the paywall. If you buy a copy of the novel (again, right here!), and DM me a receipt, I will comp you a year’s subscription. Or you can just subscribe. Here’s a link for 40% off a subscription, just because.
How about Daughters of Vei? Well, we’ve got two chapters left, and you’ll see them Wednesdays just before lunchtime EST, like usual. DOV and any other newer, shorter works that aren’t available for sale are staying free until I have enough shorter material put together to make it worth printing.
When I do (and I plan to in the next few months) release Book Two of Shieldbreaker, it will be dropped here first as a serial and stay free to read until I’m happy enough with it that I’m ready to print it.
And obviously, any conversation about any community initiatives will remain as public as possible for as long as possible.

This platform is a place where I feel very much at home, and you are the people I want to share my work with first.

Fiction is culture. Thank you for hanging out with me this year.

THE SHIELDBREAKER SAGA

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