Hello there fantasy author blog enthusiasts! This is Sam, Will’s favorite and only younger brother coming in hot with a very unfun post while Will is somewhere in the middle of the ocean writing something not ocean related.  

2025 has been off to a rough start here at Hidden Gnome Publishing. As some of you may know from the last blog post, our cousin Ellie was diagnosed with stage four Ovarian cancer in January. She fought for four months but ultimately didn’t make it. She passed away 19 days before her 25th birthday.

Ellie was one of the cousins we grew up close to, relationally speaking. We took many cross-country RV trips as a family. I saw snow for the first time on one of those trips to Yellowstone and we brought Ellie on her first visit to Disney World. After she graduated from college, we even discussed with her the possibility of interning for Hidden Gnome to get some real world experience. 

Her older brother Stuart is one of my best friends and a Cradle fan himself. I’ve spent a good chunk of the last couple months in Georgia trying to be there for him and his family. In the end, there was nothing we could do, which is probably the part that stings the most.

A little over a week ago, another member of our team, Lily, had her mom pass away unexpectedly. She and her husband Patrick, our art designer, are currently with their family trying to navigate that loss. 

Life is hard and it’s difficult not to feel anger when you lose a young cousin to cancer and your mother before you’re ready to say goodbye. The only bright side is the 24 years Ellie got to impact other people’s lives and the effect a good mother can have on raising an awesome daughter. 
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7 of the 12 members of Hidden Gnome are grieving in different ways right now. It’s times like these where being a family company is difficult, so apologies in advance for delays in some of our deadlines we’ve communicated. We’re all trying to get back in the proverbial saddle as quickly as we can.

The great part about being a family company is that we can be there for each other. Because of this job and the fans who support Will’s career, we have the ability to take time away and support our relatives when they need it the most. Sincerely…gratitude to all of you.

Cancer sucks and I have a whole new level of empathy for anyone who has or is currently walking through this. We’re all rooting for you! And remember, “A dragon is not ashamed of tears.”

-Sam

Since I’ve been working on The Pilot, we’ve had most of our beta reader team read at least one draft, so I thought you might be interested in hearing what they thought!
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Anonymously, of course. I wouldn’t want to embarrass them.
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“It was a bold choice writing this entire book without Varic and making the whole thing a flashback to Omega’s past instead, but it paid off.”
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”My favorite scene was probably the six-page instructions on how to craft and polish your own cabinets. Really made me feel immersed in the space fantasy universe.”
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”Too much Lemon.”
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”It’s about time! You’ve finally taken my advice and replaced the Bloopers with a PSA for a rare medical condition. Engorged Face Syndrome doesn’t get the attention it deserves.”
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”You broke the rules, Will. You failed to repost my review to all your social media accounts, so you will suffer my curse. Now you are doomed to wander The Halls until you defeat Gathmat, Duke of Rotting Things.”
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”This book tastes disgusting.”
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​”This science fantasy action-adventure novel is okay, but you’re really missing your calling as a writer of Victorian era teen romance vampire murder mysteries.”

Actually, this month has gone by pretty slowly.

In addition to being beaten with sticks, I've spent a long time working on The Pilot this month. We had a full Hidden Gnome meeting, where we hid a bunch of gnomes in a room and challenged visitors to spot as many as they could. And I've been playing League of Legends again, after a long hiatus.

Playing League was the hardest part.

Anyway, we'll be releasing news about The Pilot very soon! Then I get to work on a [SECRET PROJECT] that will remain [TOP SECRET] for the time being, but I'm looking forward to it.

And for now, since I finished a draft about fifteen minutes ago, I get to go collapse into my couch and eat popcorn! That's my favorite activity!

More soon! Thanks for reading!

​-Will

I've been hard at work on The Pilot for quite a while now, but "real life" has been beating me with sticks all year. The calendar keeps trying to insist that it's only the second month of the year, but I don't trust it. I've been beaten with too many sticks to fit in just two months. At least four months' worth of sticks.

Here's an example of a stick that's been beating our entire family:

My 24-year-old cousin was diagnosed a few weeks ago with what ended up being Stage 4 ovarian cancer. She's struggling to survive as we speak. I know that's a very serious shift in tone for this blog, but it is true, and things are still very difficult for her and her immediate family right now.

That alone is enough to make it a long year already.

But on a lighter note, I am making progress on writing! Book 4 of The Last Horizon proceeds on schedule, and an early draft has even gone out to some of the beta readers.

I also almost forgot to blog this month because time passes so quickly. And because I forgot this month only has 28 days. As the rhyme goes, "30 days hath September, plus the ones I don't remember. All the rest have 31, but when you know the month is done, February steals the sun. March and April steal it back, then May stabs April in the back. For August, that ungrateful hack."

-Will