T. K. Arispe

Just wanted to give an update on Voyage of the Kaus Media--my editor says she is working on it, so I'm hoping to hear back from her very soon! I'm really excited to keep working on it, and I honestly hope to have it published by the end of this year at the very latest. Finding good editors for a reasonable price is tough, but I'm just glad this editor agreed to do it, so I'll wait as long as she needs me to.

Also, I'm feeling under the weather, so I wrote a cute little story about Terra being sick at the Werelupe Burrows because when I'm feeling down, I like to write cheerful cute things to help me feel better. As a bonus, hopefully it'll help other people too! I know when I'm having a rough day and/or can't get out of bed, immersing myself in feel-good stories helps.

This one was fun to write because I haven't written about the Werelupe Burrows since "Worth Searching For", and it's just been way too long. It was enjoyable to return to it and see how everybody's doing after the events of "Return to Lynwood", and give a bit of a glimpse of what Connor's been up to.

Connor's an interesting character because he means well, but he is a scholar at heart, and has a bad habit of disregarding things like rules and thinking of others when he's trying to satiate his curiosity or obtain results. Also he's an 11-year-old boy, and that isn't really the best combination. Good thing he has a subterranean grotto for a laboratory now, because there are going to be a lot of explosions involved whenever he's around. Also possibly a fair amount of slothic acid.

This story also serves to illustrate that even during times when you don't think you're helping your loved ones, sometimes they're just really grateful for your company. Good family can really make a huge difference when you're going through something tough, and even if they can't magically fix things for you, it's still a huge boon to be able to laugh and have fun with them.

Anyway, considering my tremendous backlog of other things I still need to submit to the Times, I probably will not submit this one until later this year--that's why I wanted to talk about it now as kind of a sneak peek. :)

Speaking of sneak peeks, here's one of my favorite parts:

Terra coughed a little. “Hey, it could be worse,” she said. “At least this time, I’m not cursed by a deranged sorcerer and you guys have to defeat him in order to save me.” Pharazon wrinkled his snout and Terra gave him an impish grin. “Too soon?”

“A little, yeah,” Pharazon said, rolling his eyes. 

Clearly, near-death experiences are things to joke about.

... Yeah, Terra and Isengrim both have humor that can get a little offbeat. I like to think that's why they're such good friends.