The Hiatus Files (short update)

Howdy, all, and welcome back to the Hiatus Editions of the T.D. Cloud author blog! They’re mostly the same as the usual fare but colored by my ongoing battle with burnout. We may break every now and again with the monthly format, but for the time being, we’re going to just do our best and see what happens.

This month’s topic is pretty nebulous. Some of you may have noticed that I’ve been posting new stories over on Itchio lately. I’d like to talk a bit about that and what may come from it, and with any luck, I’ll be able to tempt a few more of you to follow me over there to get ahead of this new update schedule.

Let’s get to it!

First, some general updates. I’ll be leaving for Youmacon in Detroit, MI in just a couple days, and while I don’t have a table this year—nor will I be attempting to grab one at the convention itself due to the various administrative and structural issues going on with the convention in general—I am hopeful that I will be hosting my usual meet-up. As of writing this, I still don’t know if the Ren Cen will factor into the convention in any measurable way. My meet-ups have traditionally always been held in the Wintergarden, and I may move that to the Huntington Center (Cobo) depending on how welcome Youmacon attendees are at the Ren Cen this year.

If you’re attending and hoping to see me, snag an autograph, or just in the mood for one of the freebies I plan on giving out to fans, please keep up to date on things by following me over on Twitter or Blsky (@tdcloud_writes and @tdcloud respectively). I’ll post what I’m wearing, where I’m at, and what time you can expect to meet me in whatever venue I end up deciding on once I’m there. This will likely take place on Saturday in the evening, but if you find you can’t make that meet-up, just shoot me a DM and I’ll meet elsewhere if you’ve brought books in need of autographs.

You can also dm/email me if you’d like to pick up a signed copy of Ossuary from me directly. I’ve got a fair amount of those on hand and am willing to play delivery man so long as payment is sent before the convention itself.

Second on the docket is the current state of my Patreon. Payments have resumed now that we’ve hit the new month. While I am no longer promising monthly updates, I’ve set my tiers to reflect its new status as a tip jar/exclusive behind-the-scenes space. Things like cover reveals, summary teasers, chapter notes, and outlines will be the main fare there, as well as any other pieces of writing I choose to write on my own schedule. Those pledged $5+ will get access to any Itchio/digital ebook release I have as well. I’ll begin migrating all of my older releases onto Itchio over the course of this winter. Keep an eye on that and consider subscribing for updates, both on Patreon itself and on my Itchio.

Thirdly, and this is more of a note than a true update, I’ll be resuming work on Hiraeth, the final book in the Tempest Series, this month with intentions to finish it to completion before we hit December. I don’t want people to think that my hiatus means a further delay for this already overly delayed project. While I’m not going to be writing any new book content for awhile, Hiraeth is not part of that resolution.

Sun’s schedule opens up just long enough next year that it’s possible we may be able to get both a cover for Infaust as well as Hiraeth from her. I’m going to finish the last three chapters of this story and give it over to my editing team before the end of the year with high hopes of seeing both books on the publishing block for 2024.

This resolution is as much for me as it is for you guys. I am… so sick of this book not being done. I’m so tired of this series not having its final installment available. Ruari and Corbet need their final conclusion, and Breena needs her story told. Once this is done, I’ll finally be able to say goodbye to a major source of stress in my creative life. I want this chapter closed so I can dedicate all of my focus to the Dark Vagaries and all the other one shots I want to explore next. Please send me all your good vibes as I start on this post-Youmacon. One of us will meet our end, and I’m determined that it won’t be me.

And last but not least, let’s talk about the biggest update in my life at the moment: Itchio itself and the sort of content you can expect to find there.

I’ve kept myself busy despite my hiatus. Like I said in my longer Patreon post about it, my burnout has largely been caused by my writing schedule. Working on things piecemeal has never been my preferred way to create a story. While my polls and monthly serializations resulted in a constant stream of updates and completed novellas, it left me with very little time to actually write the things I felt most passionate about day to day, and even less time to see each completed project through to full publication.

Since experimenting with Itchio, I’ve managed to put out two short stories, one of which was written entirely within a two week time span. These have been horror focused, macabre, and toe the line between depressing, sickening, and comedic all at the same time. They’ve been the definition of passion projects, and I’ve found they’ve gotten me excited about writing in a way I haven’t felt organically in several years now. I’ve got a few more ideas I’d like to execute like this. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to see them all through now.

If you haven’t yet, check out my current projects there! I’ve got a short 6k demonic smut piece about Kell, a demon of bells, responding to the calls of some poor soul who’d been buried alive in hopes of drawing him out. My other story just dropped yesterday and is a 15k dark eroguro medical kink horror smut piece about Dacre, a cursed af dhampir desperate for a cure to his undead affliction. The poor thing seeks out a honey-tongued doctor of death and pays the price of entering his parlor without a fight. It’s gruesome, macabre, and very horny. You can get both for $6 total, and it’s one hell of a way to celebrate the season.

I’m hopeful that if I’m able to write a couple more of these things I can compile them into an anthology for print. It’d be really funny to release something titled Dead Dove with a silly cover to match, and as much as I’ve been trying not to think of everything I work on in terms of book projects and publication schedules, thinking about this has been too much fun to resist. It’s just been really nice indulging the way I have, and even though I think these might be a harder sell in print, it’d just be kind of cool to have it as an option for the handful of you out there interested in very dark works.

I don’t have a whole lot else to talk about at this point in time. I’m mostly taking things a day at a time, seeing what I want to do and only working as much as I feel like working. If something begins to feel too much like a burden, I stop and pick it back up a day or two later. It’s been… nice. A lot more like how I used to write before I got too dependent on my hectic schedule. I don’t have any questions to pose to people this month, but maybe we’ll come back to that old format in December. For now, we’ll let this blog post stay short.

Keep an eye out on my schedule as convention dates filter in and release information begins to flow for Infaust. We’ll be looking at a publication date for that early next year, and I’ll have a lot more announcements around it after the New Year.

Thanks again for all the well wishes, understanding, and support on these small Itchio projects. It means the world to know you’re all patiently waiting for what’s still to come.

Until next time,

T.D. Cloud