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Community for science fiction and fantasy author/artist M.C.A. Hogarth.
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November 07, 2021
Weekend Timeline Foo: Alysha, Eldritch, and D-Pers

I am trying to solidify some of the timeline stuff, for those of you who get itchy when things are off. You can tell me if my numbers feel wildly off.

  • Liolesa's got an entire timeline section now: https://peltedverse.org/wiki/index.php/Liolesa_Galare#Timeline
  • Hirianthial's birth year got pinned at 11 years before Liolesa's.
  • I have chosen the earlier date for Sword and Strand, which means Alysha will have been born in 434 BA. That makes her 47 at the time of the war, and since she took command of the Stardancer in... 465? I think? Then we've got 16 years of history between her becoming a captain and the events at Selnor. That's a lot of time to cover, so I feel like the series needs a lot more in terms of books/events before we get to the convergence of Alysha with the Chatcaavan stuff.

I am frowning a bit at the D-per section, now. I would like to figure out when the first D-per was successfully coded but it looks like they are a really recent invention (maybe the 400s?). Sydnie's mention of them in "Precious Things" will have to be treated as a 'these are the precursors to the existing D-pers," which is fine, it gives the history some stuff to build on ("we were originally called d-pers because we were AI expert systems that were simulating engagement and not fully fledged people, and when we became the latter they wanted to change the name but we said 'no, we like it, thanks.')

But I have Maia's birthdate at the 430s somewhere (which makes her about as old as Alysha!). That doesn't strike me as unrealistic, since the technology is sophisticated, even for the Alliance, but I'm wondering if I ever said anything that made them seem older.

This makes the Acron/Crispin issue a lot more relevant, since it will have happened recently.

Anyway, if my brain is missing stuff, feel free to call me on it. I've been in and out all weekend, but I'll get to any responses on Monday.

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October 27, 2021
Cursive Practice Video, to Relax

Or at least, I intend it to be relaxing. Hopefully it delivers.
4:22 minutes

Materials:

00:04:27
Overview of the First Oil Paint Experiment

In which I talk about the paper, the paint, and the experience of oils versus gouache. Fun stuff, will do more.

Thank you Locals supporters! Your contribution to my art war chest here is what's powering these experiments and videos. For now I'm keeping them public but I may start doing some subscriber-only videos if you all are interested.💖

00:03:35
Video Review: Oil Painting Papers

My initial review on receipt of the three oil paper products I ordered: the Canson pad, the Rembrandt block, and the Arches single sheets.

00:01:54
November 09, 2021
Alysha Misc

Thanks for your comments yesterday on the business post... all very provocative, in a good way. I'll try to respond to all of them today.

Some Alysha misc now, since I'm gearing up for the results of the Kickstarter!

Petrov is giving away coupon codes for every book in the Alysha series (and has some leftover coupons for Marda and the business book). You can pick those up here (and please do! The books are bought already, someone should use them!) https://twitter.com/PetrovNeutrino/status/1457344535843987461

Our own @JudasComplex sent along a sample of the Faith in the Service audiobook, which I've attached for your delight! I... haven't had a chance to listen to it. Don't ask me about my past week and a half or so. Putting it here will guarantee I get to it.

After hearing the amused comments during the livestream, I went ahead and added all the ship type illustrations I have inked from the 90s to the wiki. Glory in the rampant adorableness of their anthropomorphic stylings! See those ...

Alysha Misc
The Jaguar's Heart 7: We Are Not a Monolith

A little comedy today, at least in the link. Transcript follows.


Hi, all. Welcome to this episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.

A while back I was introduced to a comedy sketch about Cuban coffee by a Mexican comedian, Gabriel Iglesias. ( The sketch begins with him greeting all his fellow Latinos and then backing up to say ‘but we’re all different, aren’t we’ which is a segue into a demonstration of how different Hispanics speak Spanish.

It is hilarious. First, because I am a Spanish speaker and a linguistics hobbyist, and his portrayal of various accents resonated with my experiences in trying to make sense of them myself… Not always easy, since from culture to culture, slang and accent are often totally different (and sometimes grammar! Spaniards use a grammatical construct that has died out in many other Spanish-speaking countries, the plural “you.”)

I also loved it because the Cuban coffee part is real. I grew up with Cubans. I know how we are....

The Jaguar's Heart 7: We Are Not a Monolith
The Jaguar's Heart 6: Hatespeech

One of the most common things I hear (and say) right now is "the asymmetry is the story." Here's one about how none of us are innocent of the sins we hate in others.


Hi, all. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.

It’s been weeks since the Baen’s Bar incident and I’m still thinking about it... because the longer I do, the more I feel, overwhelmingly, that it’s obvious that the problem is deeper than “this forum was saying stuff that offended us.” We have to back up to the glaring fact that people on opposite sides no longer consider each other human. Nothing I say will matter because the people disagreeing with me don’t think I’m human. They have denied my humanity; they have not bothered to listen to my beliefs, or have fake-listened to them in that way that people do when they’re so ready to prove you wrong that they’re only using your speech to provide talking points for their own ideas.

We have forgotten how to listen.

Increasingly, we have also ...

The Jaguar's Heart 6: Hatespeech
September 21, 2026
Back in Time... Monday? North Point

Yes! Because tomorrow I am launching the kickstarter, so I don't want to clutter up your feed. So for your pleasure today, here is a color pencil piece from 26 years ago. Look at the water! And goodness, how hard I worked on those dark and forbidding cliffs. But I think my favorite thing is her hair, caught up in the jeweled caul.

I hope this one brings some beauty to the start of your week!

You can see it here on the gallery: https://mcahogarth.org/gallery/image/56-2000-055-NorthPoint

Wednesday Share: The Elemental Series

https://mcahogarth.org/gallery/image/123-2019-42-ElementalJahir

Today's Wednesday Share is a little different... in this case, it's the first of a series, and you can see the other 6 pieces (plus a false start) linked from the annotation in the gallery. (Bonus: there's a link to another, similar series of Peltedverse Tarot images in the artist notes section).

I was inspired to do this one by the song Elemental from the Tears for Fears album. I was thinking of what the elemental symbols of each of the major Eldritch saga characters was, so I decided to chase them down. For instance, Jahir's has the unicorn, the amulet, the sword of state, the caduceus, and the net/spacetime of the seer!

If you're interested in seeing the rest of them, go check them out! Share your favorites if you feel like leaving a comment!

My Thirtieth (!) Kickstarter is live!

How wild is that? This one is fun because it's a "choose your champion" style competition between tea and coffee! And my daughter is participating to raise money for her college food budget with a design of her own! AND it will run through my birthday!

This might be more excitement than I can handle, honestly, lol. Anyway, come check it out!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mcahogarth/tea-dragon-vs-coffee-dragon-drink-sticker-campaign?ref=o2nj4z

September 18, 2026
Freebie Short: Sister Prissa's Philters

Returning to the freebies, here's the fantasy short I wrote for Raconteur Press's Goblin Market anthology. One of the things I love most about the Le'enle is that they're a meta-genre species: because they are immortal superbeings who choose to live among mortals, they are as at home in a scifi dystopia as they are in an urban fantasy as they are in a fairy tale. For this story, I chose to return to their medieval-fantasy-esque roots to tell a gentle story about magical inventory.

Okay, it's not about magical inventory. But I did have a lot of fun designing Prissa's potions, and I hope you enjoy reading about them.🧡

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September 11, 2026
Freebie Short: Tapa's Adventure

This one was originally published in Raconteur Press's anthology All Will Burn 3, the theme of which was "parents will do anything for their children." Most people went super-serious with that theme. I decided to go slapstick, and set this one in the Peltedverse. It's about the Guardkin, and eventually it will go in the Forecourt collection I'm planning. But for my locals supporters, here's your dose of fun for Friday!

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September 08, 2026
Present Time Tuesday: The First Qenain

Instead of going back in time with an image, I'm going back in time with a practice, which I uncovered while scanning all these sketchbooks: when convention season came 'round, I would try to finish a bunch of artwork to have new things to hang at the shows! And it created such delightful clusters of lovely work that I decided: well, hey, it's convention season again, I should do this thing!

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