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Goblin Diaries, Vol 33: The East Road and Erin's Story

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 From the July 24, 2026 Newsletter ... 5th day of Ice Moon, 1219 th Year, Human Age of Magic, just before dawn … Late yesterday afternoon, we reached the bottom of a gradual descent from the foothills of the Darinian Mountains and emerged onto a broad, flat plain and the intersection of a road. I didn’t say anything, but I immediately recognized its elven design and construction. Sure enough, Erin announced, “We have reached the East Road.” To the right, the road took a straight path into dunes on the eastern horizon. Erin pointed to the left, where the road wound its way into the mountains behind which the sun was beginning to set. “My home is a day-and-a-half’s ride in that direction.” “Should we continue on,” I asked, pointing to a well-used campsite in the shelter of a nearby cliff, “or should we camp there and get an early start in the morning?” She hesitated, then sighed. “It’s probably best to camp here.” I interpreted her hesitation as indicating her eagerness to...
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Goblin Diaries, Vol 32: Erin Discovers My Journal

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 From the 06/19/2026 newsletter: 3 rd day of Ice Moon, 1219 th Year, Human Age of Magic … I’m afraid I’ve grown a bit complacent as I’ve become more comfortable with my traveling companion. It seems I have allowed Erin to observe my journaling. She is a creature of habit, a trait any goblin would find endearing, and after our evening meals, she always follows the same routine. She cleans up our cookware and eating utensils, packing them into a bundle in preparation for use at breakfast. Then she settles into a period of quiet introspection, almost brooding, before finally banking the fire and turning in for the night. I can usually count on her falling asleep within minutes, and that is when I take the time to make these nightly entries in my journal, feeling safely unobserved. Apparently, that has not been the case. As we were breaking camp this morning and packing up for travel, she asked me, out of the blue, “Did you use magic to catch those fish last night?” I respo...
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Goblin Diaries, Vol 31: Udo Falls

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  2 nd day of Ice Moon, 1219 th Year, Human Age of Magic … I’ve gotten used to riding on the back of Erin’s horse, and I must admit we’ve been making better time since she insisted we travel thus. Yesterday, the trail we’ve been following made a westward turn away from the desert and ascended into the mountains proper, so I suppose I should be grateful to be relieved of a strenuous climb. Still, I’d prefer to be on foot. A goblin’s sense of connection to the world begins at the soles of his feet, as the saying goes, and I am no exception. But I’ve held myself back from expressing any displeasure to Erin. In fact, I’ve become increasingly aware of the disparity between the extent of her kindness to me and how little I am contributing as a traveling companion. She has not only saved my life and offered to safely convey me to the East Road, but she continues to provide food for both of us from her hunting and does most of the cooking, too. Honestly, I’m becoming a little uncom...
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Goblin Diaries, Vol 30: A Change in Erin Callen

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 From the 04/24/2026 newsletter: 22 nd Day of Snow Moon, 1219 th Year, Human Age of Magic … It may partially be a new perspective I have on my traveling companion after discovering the dragon pendant among her things, but a change seems to have come over Erin Callen. When she returned from her hunt yesterday afternoon, the first thing she did was dump all the rice and lentils from her saddlebags and announce that we would “no longer have to eat this crap.” Personally, I’d had no objection to our diet. The rice and lentil mixture was nutritious, and Erin had a way of cooking them with spices that brought out the best of what flavor they had. But in light of her current feelings concerning them, I felt it inappropriate to voice my opinion. She then observed that there would be plenty of fish and game for the rest of our journey and that we would be living off the land as we made our way toward the East Road from here. She then set about dressing the guineafowl, constructing...
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Goblin Diaries, Vol 29: The Dragon Pendant

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 From the 03/20/26 newsletter: 21st Day of Snow Moon, 1219 th Year, Human Age of Magic … Today I did something that I’m a bit ashamed of, and I’m not sure what to do with it. Erin has been behaving more strangely each day, and I’m worried that she is suffering from some sort of mental or emotional illness. The crying episode I referred to in yesterday’s journal entry recurred during the night and lasted until the light of dawn, when she finally succumbed to sleep. For that reason, I resisted the urge to rouse her as the morning progressed and she remained wrapped in her blankets. But when the sun began to beat down upon us from directly overhead, I felt compelled to wake her up, lest we lose an entire day of travel time. When I gave her shoulder a gentle shake, her eyelids fluttered open, and she fixed me with a blank stare from dull green eyes rimmed in red. “Erin, are you alright?” I asked. The tone of her voice was void of expression. “I’m wonderful.” “It’s past noo...
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Goblin Diaries, Vol 28: The Human Crying Phenomenon

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 From the 02/20/2026 newsletter: 21st Day of Snow Moon, 1219 th Year, Human Age of Magic … For those who aren’t familiar with human behavior, one of the ways the species expresses emotion is through the phenomenon of crying. A salty liquid, referred to as tears , is emitted from the eyeballs, often forming into droplets that run down their faces. A wide range of emotions can elicit this phenomenon. Humans sometimes cry for joy or in sympathy for others. But the biggest tears seem to come when they are very sad. Today I discovered Erin Callen crying tears of sadness. It was almost noon, and we had not been on the trail long, when we crested a low ridge and were afforded a panoramic view of the desert to the east. After many days of encountering such, I’ve become inured to the scenery. (As spectacular as it seemed the first time I viewed it, the endless rolling dunes of sand are now monotonous to my eyes.) But Erin is wont to stop and gaze at its expanse at every opportuni...
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Smarter than the average horse

  I love some of the animal characters in the books I read. From the heroic nature of Dean Koontz’s goldens, through the tragic descent into madness of Stephen King’s Cujo, to the comic distractions of almost any pet, animal characters just add depth and breadth to any tale. Right now, I’m having a lot of fun with my MC’s horse in the epic romantasy series I’m writing. Brawn has a bit of faerie blood in him. He’s super-intelligent—a good bit smarter than the MC in many ways—and his frustration at not being able to communicate through speech makes for some interesting scenes. The following scene in A Verse for Witches was placed in the book after some back-and-forth with my editor on the pros and cons of making the horse one of the major characters. It was an experiment that--as she warned me it might--got out of hand. And now, more and more scenes are from the horse's point of view in the series. From A Verse for Witches, Chapter 1: Trevor stepped out from the shadows as the door...
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