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  "description": "Sibling Suns 3: Dawn of the Final Month",
  "path": "/may-2026-newsletter/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-05T01:00:32.000Z",
  "site": "https://joshse.com",
  "tags": [
    "Review an Ocean of Others on Goodreads"
  ],
  "textContent": "Happy May, gentlegerms and ladyfolk! I hope the weather in your part of the world has been as pleasant and enjoyable in the last few weeks as it has been here in eastern Pennsylvania. We've had plenty of opportunities to get outside the house and, as the kids say, touch grass. Doing so tends to induce an allergic reaction. Wouldn't recommend.\n\nIt also feels like I was _just_ writing the April newsletter. I'm convinced a black hole passed within a few kilometers of Earth, because I swear I experienced some sort of time dilation. When I started hearing NSYNC lyrics at an elevated rate, so too did my heart reach an elevated rate. Never before has _It's Gonna Be Me_ induced such panic in a man.\n\nWhat month is it gonna be, Justin?\n\n\"It's gonna be May!? I need to finish this book!\"\n\n### Sibling Suns 3\n\nThat's right, it's officially the last month before my deadline for Sibling Suns 3! There's still a lot of work to do in May – I had another mini panic attack when I looked forward a few chapters from where I left off after my latest writing session and realized, oh my God, I need to write the climax, the finale, the big shebang, like _this week_. Talk about pressure. But also excitement!\n\nLast month's progress was very good. I wrote 6.5 chapters and, even better, subsumed one chapter into another when I realized the planned scene was already included in an earlier chapter. I love it when work vanishes into thin air and I get to mark it as done with no effort. We writers are very lazy, as I've mentioned before.\n\nThat leaves a total of 7.5 chapters to write this month. And then will come that sucking feeling that always accompanies the end of something big, where I don't know what to do with my life. I guess I'll, like, do another draft or something, geez. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First I need to finish this dang book, ideally with enough time left over in May to get a jump on the next Odyssey of JoshSE.\n\nI have committed a grave error, however. A perennial writing sin. You see, the outline calls for a character to give a big speech, one on which the fate of the world hinges, a masterful oratory that sways hearts and minds and changes history. I began that chapter, wrote the big buildup that sells its importance and makes the character feel the weight of what he must do. And then I realized... Darkfather's balls, I actually need to _write_ that speech. My mid-session notes ended with \"this needs to be the best damn speech I've written in my life. But it won't be. Not in the first draft, anyway.\"\n\nAnd that made me feel better. Knowing no one ever needs to see your first draft is incredibly empowering as a writer. I'm not saying my first drafts are total crap (a friend of mine calls his \"toilet drafts\")... but they _could_ be, and you'd never know. Not as long as I do one hell of a job revising.\n\nI'm rambling a bit – it's early in the morning, and the caffeine rush of my coffee is just kicking in. The point is: I'm feeling good about getting the book done this month. It will be a challenge, but the good kind of challenge that pushes me past my perceived limits.\n\n31 days to write 7.5 chapters – that's plenty of time!\n\n__gulp__\n\n### SPSFC 5\n\nIn just a few days, the first round of the fifth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition comes to a close and the semifinalists _should_ all be announced. I say \"should\" because many of the judging teams have been quiet and haven't even announced quarterfinalists, including the team judging Grave of the Waiting – Team ZAPS.\n\nTo be fair, quarterfinalists aren't part of the official competition rules. It's just something teams started doing a few years ago to give recognition to some books that were a cut above the rest but didn't achieve semifinalist status. Each team only chooses 2 semifinalists, so the number of spots is very tight.\n\nAll this to say: I have no idea what is going on with Grave of the Waiting, but in the unlikely event it makes it to the semifinals, I will definitely be hooting and hollering about it! Honestly, at this point I'd be appreciative if one of the judges posts a review of the book, just so I can see how it landed for them. Fingers crossed!\n\n### Speaking of Reviews\n\nIt's that time of the month where I cajole you into doing me a favor. Now, now, don't click away. You'll be rewarded with some very cute Nazgul pictures right after this!\n\nI simply wanted to mention that it has been more than a _full year_ since An Ocean of Others received a review. The latest one was posted by a good fellow named Pete on April 1st, 2025, and bless his heart, it wasn't an April Fool's joke of a review.\n\nIf you've read An Ocean of Others, I'm guessing it has likely been a long while. That's okay! A review doesn't need to be a super detailed analysis of the book. Even a single sentence letting other readers know you enjoyed the story helps me immensely.\n\nI'm going to leave an inconspicuous little button here. You know what to do. 😘\n\nReview an Ocean of Others on Goodreads\n\n### Nazgul Reaches the Legal Drinking Age\n\nAs promised, we've got some excellent photos of Naz this month. That's because he turned 21! In dog years, that is. Our puppy (yes he's still a puppy and always will be) has now been alive for 3 years of human time.\n\no i just love my hat\n\nHe had an excellent (ongoing) birthday party. He got new toys, new treats, and a bunch of trips to the park!\n\nwhere r u takin me?\n\nAs usual, he wanted nothing more than to run around like a crazy dog.\n\nfast as the dickens\n\nBut after a long day (and night) at daycare and the park celebrating his big day, our Naz loves coming home and cuddling up on the couch.\n\nwoofsnore\n\nHappy birthday to our handsome boy!\n\nyur beard will never b as good as mine\n\n* * *\n\nThat's it for this month, my friends! I've got another busy month ahead, another time dilation to experience, I'm sure. And then I'll be back with my big yearly update, The Odyssey of JoshSE, on my birthday! Until then, May the Fourth be with you, always.\n\nAs always, thanks for reading!\n—Josh",
  "title": "Archefire Newsletter - May 2026",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-05T01:00:32.776Z"
}