Tim Maddox Books

Hey everyone. Hope 2026 is going well for you all.

I had a bit of crazy spell after the combined Christmas Bazaar & OHS Holiday Cheer weekend to start December. Stressed about work going into the end of the year, then learned the week after New Year’s that my rental had been sold and quickly moved to a new place. Didn’t really get settled down until the first week of February.

Then there was the behind-the-scenes drama of Square changing their newsletter policy to not be accessible through a free account. Led to the roundabout journey to the new website. Still tinkering with it, but it’s good enough to release.

I am well past the time for a typical 2025 review, so I’ll have that be a separate update in a couple of weeks.

Now to more of the fun stuff:

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First Events of 2026:

Well, I’m already double what I did for events this time last year and both were within the last ten days.

I didn’t catch everything, as I took the outside-by-the-door slot on a fairly windy and cool day. Not quite the level of misery that Mayfaire provided at times (I swear the wind that day could cut to the bone). Fortunately I was able to call in a favor and have hand-warmers delivered. Also could step right in and talk with everyone inside, so it more of a Browsers’ preview than I expected.

It was a fun time, and a good refresher on having a table again. I did learn that my daisy-chained mobile hotspot setup doesn’t work on 2-3 bars of service, so I’ve added a new card reader for payments. Should simplify things.

One could also say that this is the last event of my first year as a “touring author”, as my very first in-person event was at Oregon Author Fair on February 22, 2025. Here, I would like to thank everyone who has stopped by my table, whether you bought a book or not, and also all the authors and bookstore owners and other vendors I have had the pleasure of meeting along the way. It was (to borrow a quote from Mentour Pilot) an absolutely fantastic time, and each of you contributed to it. Thank you.

OAF has a more personal connection for me, though. The first OAF in 2024 was where I met a number of authors who encouraged me to finish more of my stories and become a better author. By the end of the next month, I had joined NIWA and The Bard and the Forest Nymphs had been submitted for editing. I was also well into the first drafts of both The Tale of Snow White and Rose Red and Wraith.

Fast forward a year, and the second OAF became that first in-person event. It also served as a catalyst for compiling the Reedsy stories for In The Reeds so that I would have more than just Forest Flight to offer.

So, in a very direct way, attending OAF as a interested reader and back-burner author led to where I am today. [End sappy backstory]

(I would also be remiss to not mention that the only reason I attended OAF in 2024 was at the insistence of my brother, whose stated goal was to try and get me connected with other authors and chase this dream. Thank you, Jason.)

This year’s OAF was a roaring success. On the sales side I more than doubled my total from last year, but it was the part of the job I’ve enjoyed the most over the last year that shone brightest. I had so many fun conversations with the other authors and the fair-goers. Personal highlights go to the young lady who had Vivien Leigh as her favorite actress and the two fair-going authors that I tried to connect since one wrote in the genre the other was looking for.

I also ended up selling my 1,000th book during the event! Strange to consider that going into OAF last year I was still well short of even a hundred sales, and now I’ve had hundreds of people come up to me and take a chance on my writing. I can hardly express all of my gratitude for this last year. It’s been so memorable.

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Writing Life:

Okay, I’ve been dark on this for a while. Writers block is a pain. But, I do owe some updates since I continued to mention my works-in-progress all of last year. We’ll talk the good news first:

The Hammer of Fate: Alone Among Stars is in final editing!

My first series attempt, The Hammer of Fate is a classical low-fantasy that follows Ward Martel as he tries to rescue Lady Hannah Silvertear from the clutches of the invading Akorians. What he doesn’t know is that the Akorian king, Rodian Alde-Baran, is hunting him specifically due the the appearance of a guest star that appeared the night before the invasion.

For those wondering, a guest star is an astronomical phenomenon written about in old Chinese astronomer texts. They were also recorded across the known world, but China’s the prime source for my reference star, the guest star in 1054, whose location is where the Crab Nebula sits and serves as the prime example of the supernova-to-nebula theory. The Akorian, being starseers, take the appearance of such things quite seriously, serving as one of the main plotlines of the series.

The Hammer of Fate: Alone Among Stars still needs a cover, but I’m confident you will all see it soon.

Speaking of soon, I get the publishing rights to Wraith back in April. Since it looks like Alone Among Stars is trending for a May release, I’m toying with having the physical version of Wraith published for the Salem Paper Arts Fair and for the weekend at Browsers’ that are coming up in April. Have a cover idea in mind, so keep your eyes peeled for if that ends up happening.

It does not appear that I will have a short story for this year’s NIWA anthology Keepsake. Annual deadline for the anthologies is April 1st and I have nothing started.

That said, I’ve never finished the NIWA story before March. The Bard and the Forest Nymphs from 2024 was a last minute jolt of inspiration on the 28th and completed over the next three days, while I didn’t even name the main character in Darkwalker until March 19th of 2025. Had left Darkwalker for dead because I was well beyond the 3,000 word Reedsy limit at ~3,900 and completely lacking a number of scenes… then I was informed that NIWA’s limit is 7,500. Finished at 7,484 on the 26th. So who know? Maybe March has another burst waiting to happen.

Finally, for those looking forward to seeing my adaption of the East of the Sun, West of the Moon fairy tale… I’m more disappointed than you, having to report that the opening continues its evasive ways. I have Act 2 fully outlined and mostly written at this point, and Act 3 has a solid ending for once, but Act 1…

As mentioned before, my issue is the opening hook. East of the Sun, West of the Moon is at first a run-of-the-mill Beauty and the Beast fairy tale before the globetrotting and troll-outwitting that comes after Ingrid (the Beauty character) triggers the fail condition on Oswiu’s (the Beast) curse. The Beauty and the Beast part isn’t even the section I’m truly struggling with. It’s the setup before Oswiu takes Ingrid to the mountain stronghold. For some reason or another, it never feels right.

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Book Recommendations:

It was a crazy month trying to finish Alone Among Stars and getting back to doing tabling events, so the recommendation list is light this time:

Y Gododdin by Aneirin. This is an ancient Welsh poem about the Battle of Catraeth. I enjoy history, so this was a fun diversion from the havoc of last month.

Don’t be fooled by calling this a poem; there are 102 sections to this epic verse, many of which detail the warriors who fought against the invading Deiran and Bernician forces and the manner of thier death. Historically the battle happened around 600 AD and was a disaster for the Britons. While we usually quote “history is written by the victors”, this poem is the tragic song of the vanquished.

That’ll do it for now. Take care, and may God bless you in the days ahead.