Category: Also Me

Galleries of Stone. The first book in the Galleries of Stone trilogy has released as an audio book. These stories have long been my comfort reads (yes, I’m entirely biased), but having the tale narrated by Travis Baldree brings the whole experience to a new level. If you haven’t already heard about this trilogy, it’s a gently-paced sort of story. Slice-of-Life. Cozy Fantasy. But as it goes along, aspirations crop up. To quote Aurelius Harrow, it has ambitions, but they’re deucedly small ones. If you trust my storytelling, try this, too. Book 1 is called … Meadowsweet.

A magical master sculptor banished from his homeland
hires the only Flox boy with the nubs to take his hand.

Story Summary. In places where the Twelve Mountains are honored for their magic, children are tested for affinity. But the villages in Morven’s foothills no longer remember stone lore. The Flox have forgotten the Statuary and the wonders that fill its winding galleries. All that remains are stories to frighten children and gossip about a monster living in the heights.
Necessity drives Freydolf to hire a Flox servant. Tupper Meadowsweet isn’t the cleverest child, but he’s brave enough to follow his Pred master onto Morven, where he finds hints of faraway lands, diverse races, unique customs, long histories … and danger.

Meadowsweet on Audible >>

Travis Baldree Narrates. As many of you know, Travis is our narrator for the Amaranthine Saga. Currently, the first five books & Governed by Whimsy: The Anthology (Songs of the Amaranthine, #1-4) are available in audio format. As it happens, whenever the publisher/author allows, Travis streams while he works. He’ll begin streaming Harrow (Galleries of Stone, #2) by C.J. Milbrandt today, so I’m inviting you all to join us on the Cryptid Audio server. Maybe you’ll only be able to sneak a few peeks. Maybe (like me) you’ll be camped out for every single session. Here’s the link: https://discord.gg/duzCS2D

Why would I be so excited that this series is coming to audio? You can read more about the Galleries of Stone trilogy on this post. (Spoiler: I wrote these books. That this is another of my pen names.) ::twinkle::

Keeping it simple:

• Get Discord (desktop edition is spiffy, but of course there’s an app, too)
• Click the link to join Cryptid Audio
• Choose a nickname for use on that server (especially if you want me to recognize you) – to do so, click the Cryptid Audio drop-down menu (top left on the desktop edition) & select “change nickname”
• Choose a role (as a “Listener,” you’ll receive a notification when Travis begins his sessions)
• Show up & join the #listeners-lounge to chat
• When it’s time, Travis will show up as LIVE & sharing his screen. I usually pop out the video so I can also chat, but I’m on a laptop, so I have the luxury of space.
• Schedule! Travis generally starts around 8:30am PACIFIC. There’s often a coffee break, a lunch break, and an afternoon session. Make sure to secure “Listener” status if you want a ping when he’s starting up again.
• He’ll be reading Harrow beginning today, Wednesday, December 15. He already recorded Meadowsweet back in October, and Rakefang is on his docket for 2022. These audio books will release over the course of next year.
• How long? Oooh, I think Travis will need 4 days (give or take), so it’ll be a Harrow right into the weekend.
• Leveling Up. There’s a sort of mini-game that runs on the server. If you chat, you gain XP, and when you attain sufficient XP, you level up. Whenever that happens, Travis will congratulate you. And this is quite wonderful. Chatting is highly encouraged.
• Fair Warning. You can definitely chat with me during these sessions, but I have DMs and Friends Requests turned off. I mostly use Discord to stay in touch with my kids. If I started chatting with my readers, too, I’d never get any writing done! ::twinkle::

Reminder! Travis also reads Bard & Barbarian, my Patreon exclusive story. Narrated chapters post every other Wednesday over there.

If you have questions that google/faq lists can’t answer, nudge me in comments or email me (if that’s more comfy). Who else is ready for more of Freydolf & Tupper. (And the titular Aurelius, of course!)