Lore Forge News, February 2026
- Herman P. Hunter
- 7 hours ago
- 7 min read
So, some things have happened since the last newsletter. Not good things, either.
My Health Event
I have a more extensive post on Substack with the exact details of what happened. But the thumbnail sketch is: on January 26th, I went to the ER with massive back pain. I'd return again on the 30th for what I thought was dehydration. Well, it was dehydration...and a major gallbladder problem. I have a perforated gallbladder that also has an abscess and gangrene.
Yeah, this wasn't in the plan.
At present, I have a tube that's been surgically inserted into my abdomen, which leads to a bag strapped to my leg. I'm home from the hospital now. I'm feeling 1000% better than when I went into the ER. I'm going to have the tube in until late March, which really puts a dent in my live schedule. I've already had to cancel ConFusion, and I've also canceled my appearance at the Midland Comic Con. I may have to cancel Ship, Shop, and Read Adult Book Fair, and my trip to LibertyCon.
The money I make from these events goes into publishing the next book. Having to cancel is going to hurt. Then again, I don't have much of a choice.
Oh, and by the way, a little more than a week out of the hospital, my employer terminated my employment. So, now, I have to go to interviews with a collection bag strapped to my leg. Yeah, that just signals "employability."
Live Events
Here is my revised schedule:
Event | Dates | Location | Notes |
|
Midland Mall Comic Con | 3/6/2026 thru 3/8/2026 | The Midland Mall 6800 Eastman Avenue Midland, MI | CANCELED | |
Sip, Shop, Read Adult Book Fair | 3/28/2026 | The Spirit Centre 10590 E. Grand River Ave. Brighton, MI | Tentative | |
Wander and Tale Book fest | 5/16/2026 | The Wandering Librarian Bookstore202 W Front St Monroe, MI | Tentative | |
Liberty Con | 6/26/2026 thru 6/28/2026 | Chattanooga Marriott Downtown Two Carter St. Chattanooga, TN 37402 | CANCELED |
To see my full schedule, check out the EVENTS section of my website. And, as always, if there is an event that you'd like me to attend, reach out to me at author@hphunterwriter.com.
If you were hoping to purchase a paperback from me at a canceled event, you can always purchase it from my online store. While you may not receive special event pricing, you can use code BIONICHEDGE2026 at checkout to receive a 20% discount on your entire purchase. Every paperback you purchase comes signed and with a bookmark. I also send along a pen with each purchase (I really like the pens - I use them myself).
Substack Articles
Despite my current condition, I've been trying to be consistent in updating my Substack page. Check out some of my recent articles:
Please consider subscribing to my Substack (use the link above) as I have plans to provide paid / exclusive content on the site in the future.
The Next Book
Well, the good news is the book is done. DONE! Through all of this, I managed to complete the last chapter. Now, I'm in the midst of revisions. Roughly 156K words long, it's nearly double the size of The Wizard's Stone, of which it is a "sequel", and roughly 40K words longer than The Revenant and The Cult books, combined. I suspect that I'll be sending copies to beta readers sometime in April.
The bad news is: given the state of my gallbladder and being unemployed, the status of the book is in limbo. I'll be 60 years old in March. I'm a software developer. Software is a young man's game. I'm not sure I'll be able to find a job in tech again. Of course, I thought that when I lost my job nearly 7 years ago. Granted, I now have lots of time to revise it. But artwork? Editing? Those cost money. My first inclination is to try Kickstarter to see if I can raise funds for production. I know how much a cover is going to cost. Editing, I can estimate. It then becomes a matter of setting a funding goal. But will anyone back it? That's the million dollar question.
This setback sucks. My wife - my main beta reader - gives the book two big thumbs up. She's actually said that she likes this book better than The Revenant and the Tomb, which sort of left me flabbergasted. She still has to read the last 20 chapters or so, but I suspect she'll give those her seal of approval. I really enjoyed writing the last chunk of chapters, and I felt that I nailed the atmosphere and the slow build to a final conflict. I won't say it's the best writing I've done to date - mainly because I'm probably not a good judge of my own output - but I think it really hits the notes that I wanted to hit. If you had any questions as to the influence of Lovecraft in my writing, the last third of the book places it front and center.
So, you're getting it all: action, adventure, battle, some mild humor, intrigue, and horror. All in one book. I'm both excited about getting it into the hands of readers and wondering how I'm going to pay for it all. No good thing comes easy, I guess.
The Revenant and the Tomb
As some of you may be aware, The Revenant and the Tomb eBook is now priced at 99¢, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. While it is available on Amazon at this price, the price drop applies to every bookseller out there: Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and so on. Doing the price drop has reinvigorated my eBook sales, though at a steep cost. When you do a price drop like this, Amazon changes the royalty structure. I now get only about 32¢ per copy sold. Which means that if I sell 100 books (and I'm close to that right now), the most I'll rake in is $32.00.
The reason why I made this decision had to do with buying patterns at live events. If I had a customer who was hedging on picking up one of my books at a signing event, the lower cost for The Revenant and the Tomb made the purchase a fairly safe decision. It's a novella, so it's not a huge investment of time to see whether you liked my style of writing or not. It was inexpensive, so you didn't feel like you wasted a lot of money on something you may not enjoy. Suffice to say, I can't count the number of times someone has purchased The Revenant and the Tomb, then returned to my table on the next day to buy the rest of my books. OR, have the same people wait a year so they could pick up my latest offering.
So, why not try the same thing with eBooks?
What people look for in stories and reading preferences tends to be very individual and subjective - I get that. But, as far as I can tell, of the people who bought The Revenant and the Tomb, roughly 30% returned to buy my other books. That's 5x better than my best ad campaign. The little novella, which I couldn't give away at first, has become my best driver of additional book sales.
Most of you probably already have The Revenant and the Tomb as one of your prior purchases. If you liked the book, and you know someone who prefers to read eBooks (and would enjoy my story) Send then to the following Amazon link:
It's the little things like this that help us authors like me, toiling away in obscurity, grow and expand our audience.
Here's the thing: the odds of someone like me getting picked up by a large publisher and breaking through into the big time are slim to none. While self-publishing can build big careers in publishing, such success is usually limited to a handful of genres. Smaller indie publishers are often a gamble, and those willing to publish my flavor of fiction are relatively few. So, anything you guys can do to increase my visibility - even the smallest thing - helps build my audience. Many industry experts note that word of mouth is still a huge driver of sales. It bypasses rigged algorithms, cuts down on the amount I have to spend for advertising (I spend WAY more on ads to drive sales to Amazon than I take in via royalties), and creates a community around the books.
In Conclusion
This gallbladder thing, and being unemployed, has set me back. These issues will continue to be a problem going forward. After the drain is removed, I still have to have the gallbladder removed, and the recovery on that can be anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks. A lot of what I do doesn't exactly require physicality, though there is always the looming threat of "complications." While I'm not one for soliciting prayers, I ask you to petition the Lord Almighty that this problem be resolved swiftly and without further issues. I don't have a problem dragging myself through this process, so long as I can keep writing.
Oh, and I have to search for another job. In an environment where it seems no one can get a job in IT. Yeah. Great.
On a personal note: the small company of fans that I've drawn to my work are really what keeps me going. Success is always a slow build. Some of the glowing things you've said about my books have left me flabbergasted and in awe. The whole experience has really been humbling. I can't thank you enough for your support.
So long as there is life in these (moderately) old bones, and my body doesn't fail me first, I'll probably keep writing so long as my mind is clear and my fingers still function well enough to hammer away on a keyboard. The compliments you've thrown my way have me a little flummoxed, as I really haven't a clue as to what I'm doing to draw such rave reviews. Maybe because I'm so immersed in finding my way through the trees, I can't see the forest? I'm not sure. What I have come to accept is that God has given me a gift - one of many - and that it is my obligation to use that gift until it physically becomes impossible to do so. At present, that's not a problem. Hopefully, I'll be able to say the same thing a decade from now.
So, again, thank you for your support, prayers, and kind words. While I may, in time, experiment with my writing, I promise to never phone it in.
That's all for now.
Remember, if you purchase something through my store, use the code BIONICHEDGE2026 at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase.
Hang in there Herman.