It has been a long day. The day job got very busy. Technical problems resulted in me having to reinstall Microsoft Teams multiple times. I had a meeting which went well. But I had to start early, and I am now quite tired.

The day was productive nonetheless. I wrote about twelve hundred words, all on task. So that was good.

I’m going to keep this short today. So stay safe!

-DD Ward

I wrote another eleven hundred words or so yesterday. Things are coming along nicely on that front. I should have a new episode of The Plight of the Last Paladin ready soon. This time we will actually get to see the much talked about unicorn.

I am waiting on word regarding the cover for the Husband Poisoning Society. Once I have it in had, you all will get to see it as well. The roughs I have received look great. I am using the same artist as I used for Hunted in the Wolf Wood.

So that’s it for today. Stay safe everyone!

-DD Ward

I wrote about thirteen hundred words or so yesterday, most of it for The Plight of the Last Paladin. So that’s coming along. I will post up the next episode as soon as it’s ready. I still have yet to upload the Last Paladin episodes to archive.org, so they aren’t available on this site yet. But you can still find them on my Patreon and the mirror blog.

I plan to start putting up some images on the website soon. Liven the place up, as it were. So keep an eye out for that.

We have a little time yet, as The Husband Poisoning Society won’t be finished uploading until early in 2026. But, I’m mulling over what to upload next. And so let me know what you want. Another Moonlight Hearts short story? The next Moonlight Hearts novel? My new magical girl novel: Star Sentinels of Cerberus? We have options. For those of you saying: The Plight of the Last Paladin, don’t worry. I will continue to post those as I finish them.

So that’s it for this morning. Cheers! Stay safe!

-DD Ward

John Scalzi famously writes on his blog every day. I considered doing so on my Patreon, but that seems annoying for my readers. I think I will update this blog daily, even if its only a few words. And I will update on my Patreon once a month. The idea would be to keep things from feeling like a pest buzzing about.

I am trying to build a consistent morning routine. This is something I have struggled to do my entire adult life. But, for the first time in many years, my outside circumstances are stable. I start my day job at the same time each day and work the same days each week. I can anticipate what time I will have available months in advance. So I am testing a morning productivity routine. I am usually too tired at day’s end to be productive. So doing my real work before my day job seems best.

I am running behind schedule on my writing. Although I set the schedule, so it’s only myself I’m disappointing. But still. My goal is to write five thousand words between now and Friday. I work best during the week. Weekends always fill up with social obligations.

So I’ll keep you informed on how both of those things go. Until next time. Stay safe!

-DD Ward

I put a bunch of writing into the page yesterday. You can find it under Works and Odds and Ends. I filled in blurbs for a big chunk of the stories available and upcoming. I also filled in details on recommendations and what I’ve been watching and reading. So have a look. Have fun.

Writing update. I am still planning Star Sentinels of Cerberus. I want to get Captive of the Crimson Countess done by year’s end so that’s looming. But I’m doing okay. The last three weeks were a vacation for me. So I want to get my ass back in gear now.

Despite this. I plan to watch a pay-per-view AEW wrestling event I bought yesterday but lacked the time to watch then. So, yeah. Better luck tomorrow, I guess.

Isn’t it odd that we speak to hypothetical audiences these days. I haven’t promoted this website yet. So the only way people are reading this is if people went back and read through all the back posts. But here I am, talking to you like you’re there.

But, on the reasons that you should be reading, I have added an Odds and Ends section filled with minutia like what I’m reading and what media I recommend. So go have a look.

Minor musings. I would love to make a Moonlight Hearts tabletop role-playing game system. I’d also l love a video game. But that second one is substantially more work of a type I am not skilled at doing. I would also love to commission so much more art for my projects. But that one requires more money than I currently have. So I continue at my current pace.

Oh, that reminds me, I want to add the art I have to this website. Something to do later.

-DD Ward

John Scalzi writes on his blog everyday. Even if it’s just a few words. I’m considering doing likewise. I spend a lot of time on social media. But I control this space. It’s mine and Margaret’s. And I’m the terminally online one. So keeping this site active falls to me.

I had a dream last night about a hero having to chose between sacrificing themselves to save the world or sacrificing themselves to save a child. And the child cut the knot by drawing a circle of protection around themselves in peanut butter. So the hero could save the world, and only they had to die. There’s a pretty good finale in there, as long as the circle of protection and the peanut butter are both anchored early in the narrative. So, I may use that down the road. We’ll see. I have plenty of active projects right of my own, and more with Margaret. So who knows. But still. Good idea, and one I’ve logged away for later.

Listening to author James Scott Bell talk about making dialogue more interesting. And he’s got some good ideas. I particularly like the following ideas.

• Have characters talk about something the reader doesn’t know.
• Have one character talk about something another character doesn’t know.
• When dialogue seems stale, have the character say the opposite of what you just wrote, and make that work.
• Replaced stale lines of dialogue with random dialogue from other books and make the line work in context.

Bell provides good nuts and bolts writing advice. Nothing big or sprawling like the hero’s journey, just a tool kit you can use.

I should probably start writing. I’ve warmed up the engine enough.

Stay safe!

-DD Ward

I uploaded a full text of ‘Daughters of the Digital Empire’ to archive.org. So if you prefer to read that way, have a look. I will expand that later.

I updated the Works page a little. Added a release schedule. Nothing much else today. So… yeah.

• DD Ward

I have executive dysfunction today. So I didn’t do much writing. I did finish a chapter. Which is nice. But I wanted to accomplish something today. So I poured myself some bourbon and mango juice. Yes, really. Try it. It slaps. And I worked on the website.

There’s more here now. But there are no links yet. Hang tight, they are coming. Obviously the Patreon and the Blogspot are both available until then. I will be putting the books up on Archive.org under ddwardiswriting. Because, after all, that’s what I am everywhere.

In retrospect, I should have named it ddandmargaret. But I started the first book and then found a coauthor midway through. So I couldn’t do that. This is an ongoing project. I am not going go rush things. But this should be up and running by year’s end.

Cheers!

• DD Ward