Newsflash: Feb 12

Good evening, everyone! This fortnight was on the slow end of progress for Royal Affairs, alas, due to a variety of things but mostly shoulder pain. Desk work for the day job sitting on a less than supportive chair and then sleeping on a less than great pillow means that working on Royal Affairs/Noblesse Oblige after work difficult. Which is a real drag, and of course puts a dampener on mood - I love writing, and it's hard when I can't just sit down and power through it.

In happier news though, your subscriptions have enabled me to a) get some physio soon and b) order a better chair, both of which should improve my situation! The chair should arrive on the 18th and I. cannot. wait. Thank you, as ever, for your support - it's honestly far beyond anything I hoped for, and it really means more than I can say.

All that said, I have been carrying on with Chapter 8 of Royal Affairs and am almost at the point where the suffrage vote happens! I'm so excited about this bit. The way the MC handles the situation, and how the vote goes, will massively change the rest of the plot of the game. It's those diverging points that I find really exciting when making games!

The other nice thing is that I have the upcoming week on holiday from my day job. Which means less desk work, no meetings, hopefully less pain, and way more time and energy for Royal Affairs writing! (SOON I will get to a particularly intense Trevelyan romance scene that I've got planned out and it'll be so much fun!)

In other news, would you like some book recommendations? Things I read recently and loved:

• Gender Euphoria edited by Laura Kate Dale: a collection of nonfiction pieces from a wide variety of trans authors examining gender through a lens of joy and fulfilment. Often moving, always interesting, and a breath of fresh air to see trans lives being explored away from a cis-focused and/or tragic gaze.

• Lord of the Last Heartbeat, The Immortal City, and The Calyx Charm by May Peterson (the Sacred Dark series). I've barely read fiction for a while but these books stole my heart and reminded me how much I love fantasy books. Beautiful prose, sweet and sexy queer romances between flawed characters who are doing their best, terrifying villains, and vividly imaginative worldbuilding... I struggle to find anything I dislike about these books. Absolutely brilliant. As well as not reading much fiction, I haven't been reading all that much for the last couple of years but I just inhaled these three. I'm now desperate for more May Peterson books!

In subscriber related news, just some reminders:

• For Sneak Preview subscribers and up, a Royal Affairs demo update is here 
• For Bonus Supplement subscribers and up, the February SFW question post is here 
• For Spicy Section subscribers and up, the February NSFW question post is here 

Thank you for reading this rather chaotic newsflash update! I hope to get more Royal Affairs work done this coming fortnight. Catch you soon and I hope you're having a comfortable February!