They say the first step in battling an addiction is admitting you have one, but why are people constantly quoting that at me lately? It’s true that my YouTube channel now has over 50 Ogg videos and shows no sign of stopping. But it’s not like I’ve already written enough scripts to fuel him for the next 18 months, continuing to post a new video every Mon, Wed, and Fri, is it?

Oh my god. It actually is like that. I do have that many scripts. But come on folks. Addiction? Can’t we agree to maybe call it an affliction instead? That sounds much better, and totally not like I’ve gone off the deep end, hiding behind a sock puppet so I can lampoon every corner of modern society. It may have started as a pandemic exercise to sharpen my comedy skills, but it has fully metastasized now, so you’ll just have to bear with me while the disease runs its course.

But with so many videos piling up, I suppose I should at least provide an index, so my caregivers can track the progress of my madness. To that end, I offer this Ogg-specific summary page, where they can scan the list of topics Ogg has examined so far, although you can use it too, if you like. In fact, especially if you like. Speaking of liking, please send some of those likes Ogg’s way. Or send subscribers. Those are balms that will surely give me the strength to endure. But just to be safe, better send both.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6sLXiZNq9I[/embedyt] Ogg says hello to fans of ImmerseOrDie.

Anyone who has seen any of my streams lately will know that I’ve been conducting a writing experiment lately, using short-format TikTok videos to polish my comedic writing skills. Well, after two months and 45 videos, I’ve finally reached a conclusion. Two of them, in fact:

1. I love the ultra-short video format
2. TikTok is not for me

Finding a character and format you’re having fun with is rare news, so the fact that I’m not loving TikTok shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll just move Ogg to YouTube. In addition to being more familiar territory for me, YT also allows Ogg to go longer than 60 seconds if necessary. (90% of his videos are between 15 and 30 seconds, but from time to time, he gets a head of steam going and finds that 60 second limit a bit tight.)

So if you’re curious what a paleolithic caveman might think of the modern world, or if you just want to watch me make a fool of myself as I try to create a new muppet character with no training and little aptitude, then come check it out. You can try his series intro, watch one of my favorite videos to date, or just scan the entire playlist and see if any of them intrigue you. Or, I guess you could just go about your day and ignore Ogg completely, but is that any way to treat a newcomer to our modern world?

It’s been a while since I had anything to announce, but I’d like you all to meet Ogg. He’s the culmination of a family project that we started last summer, and we finally figured out what we want to do with him.

You’ve never heard of him, but Ogg was the greatest mind of his time. Sadly, an experiment in early refrigeration went sideways and he vanished from the prehistorical record, only showing up again last Tuesday, when he was thawed from the ice by government scientists. Now he wanders the modern world, trying to make sense of the wonders he encounters. Then he tries to explain what he’s learned on his new TikTok channel.

We don’t know if TikTok will love him or hate him, but it’s a fun experiment either way. We’ve got enough material for Ogg to post every day for the next month or two, and there’s a lot more where that came from if he proves popular. So if you want a laugh, or just a chance to gawk at another strange experiment from me and shake your head sadly, come check out Ogg’s new digs. And if you happen to enjoy it, we’d love it if you could help spread the word.

The most ambitious Karsten and Babette tale yet. And possibly the funniest, especially if you like your humor dark and twisted.

Just when it looked like they might finally be settling down and getting a hand on all this magery stuff, the idiocy of others takes a crap on their happy little plans.

Installment 4 of The 13th Advocate, A Plague of Peskies, is making its way to book vendors near you.

Seeking shelter at the edge of the world, in a place where only madmen tread, Karsten and Babette must set their plans aside to rescue a fellow traveler. But no good deed shall go unpunished, and soon the pair is embroiled in a situation that is equal measures tragic, horrifying, and funny.

Pre-order your copy now, or pick it up when it drops on Aug. 29.

You asked for it. Sort of. Now you’re gonna get it.

When I sent out the alert last week to let everyone know that the new Karsten story was now available on Kindle, I also asked whether you wanted to hear from me more often. And to my utter surprise, a bunch of you foolishly said, “Yes, please!”

So  I am officially announcing the start of my new newsletter: The Liar’s Hearth.

Tell me more.

For years now, I’ve been trying to find my tribe on various social media platforms, but they’ve never really clicked for me. At best, they make me feel like I’m being held at gun-point and forced to party with strangers selected at random in a busy train station. It’s not you guys. It’s me. I guess when I think “socialize,” I think about small, intimate groups. Just me and a few friends, relaxing around the fire with something to drink and a few stories to share.

And as soon as I started thinking about it that way, I knew that this newsletter was exactly what I wanted: somewhere I can recreate the camaraderie of friends sharing chatter in the pub at the end of the day. Big news, small news, opinions, gossip. Whatever. Me sharing mine, and hopefully, you telling me yours as well.

I’m calling it The Liar’s Hearth, in honor of the local tavern in Brotherhood of Delinquents. I think Mistress Maggen has hit upon a stellar idea for how to use a drinking establishment to build a community, and I want to borrow her mojo for myself.

At the moment, I’m not sure how often the Liar will come out. Call it once or twice a month for now, and we’ll see what happens. If that sounds horrible to you and you’re not interested in receiving even the first one, don’t worry. You don’t have to do a thing. Just ignore this announcement and your streams will continue to function as they always have.

Sign me up.

But if you do want to roll the dice and drink a virtual beer with me, you’ll have to opt-in to the newsletter section of my mailing list. It’s an easy thing to do. Just click here to get the signup form, then add a checkbox for “Newsletter” (and any other streams you want to receive) and submit the form. I’ll take care of the rest.

Oh, but you better do it soon. Maggen will be serving the first round next Friday. And I’m buying, but she wants to know how many are coming. There’s gonna be stew!

It’s all in the card. If you’ve been itching for another darkly comic visit from a grumpy wizard and his nagging llama sidekick, this is your chance. And for all you lovely, talented, and ever so discerning folks who watch my various streams, I’m extending the same price I offered the pre-orders, but just for this weekend.

Order your copy now and get it for just a buck.

Look who’s got a new jacket! As an experiment, I’ve recently moved the Finding Tayna series exclusively to Amazon/Kindle. For those of you who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, that means you can now check out Strange Places and Oath Keeper for free.

And to celebrate, Oath Keeper is now sporting a new party jacket. Just the thing to make her grand entrance and catch all the eyes. If you happen to see her over on the Kindle shelves, be sure to drop me a line and let me know how she looks against her competition.

(And if you aren’t on Kindle, don’t worry. Things will go back to normal in June, when Tayna and company will be available on all platforms again.)

Click to watch

I recently launched the pilot episode for a new show over on our YouTube channel that should be a lot of fun. It’s a way to give much-deserved exposure to the best books we find on ImmerseOrDie, which we hope will be of great value to authors. But it’s also an entertaining way to learn about new books that are worth your time, so it should be a blast for readers as well.

All I’m going to tell you here is this: animated, talk show, book characters. Intrigued? Then come check it out.

I’m hoping people from both camps will take a look and tell us what you think. Does the format work? Do you have ideas for how to make it even better? Well this is your chance to tell us about it while the format is still soft and squishy. Or maybe you love it the way it is, in which case we could really use the ratings bump by having you like or subscribe. And if you know anybody else who might get a kick out of it, or have useful feedback, shoot a link to them too.

Whatever you do, we hope you’ll help us celebrate the best indie fiction. And if we have a pile of fun while we’re doing it, would that be such a bad thing?