Ironically, my last newsletter (back in May) made reference to the fact that I was on an unintentional social media break of sorts. Well, clearly that did not change. The best laid plans, etc, etc.

So what makes this time different?

While I’m certainly here to give you some updates on things, but there aren’t a lot of them given this time the break included from writing as well. So, I plan on also updating you on what I have been up to, including a revitalized hobby.

As I said, not a ton of these—today was the first time I have written anything since mid-August. Oops! There are a few, however, worth flagging. I’ll start with the one I’m most excited about.

I still can’t fully believe it, but Pray For Him was nominated for two 2024 Indie Ink Awards and won one. It was nominated specifically for two representation awards, and it absolutely touched my heart that readers felt it deserving of them: asexual or aromantic representation and disability representation by a disabled author.

It won for disability representation by a disabled author. I was absolutely floored.

It’s probably pretty obvious that I feel quite strongly about disability rep, as a disabled author and reader. I’m always craving it, hoping to find it more in the books I read, and I include it in most of my works (not all my shorts explicitly include it, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that it informs all of my works regardless). So to win an award for that representation meant the absolute world to me.

(A bit ironic, of course, that I haven’t had the spoons to post about it on social media between burnout and migraine flare ups, but I digress.)

Thank you to everyone who has read Pray For Him, talked about it, nominated it, or otherwise to make this possible. I appreciate everyone who ever gives it a chance.

By now, you’ve probably all heard about what happened with itchio. This actually was right around the beginning of my burnout, which made it pretty overwhelming. Huge huge shoutout to H.S. Wolfe and Jun for helping me pivot, even if I’ve failed to fully embrace it.

All this to say: I now have a storefront via payhip, which you can find at https://shop.tylerbattaglia.com/

The links can also be found branching from my website.

There are a few free/PWYW options on my payhip. Otherwise, if there are ever stories or books of mine that you’d like to read but can’t afford or access, the contact form on my site is a perfectly acceptable way to ask me for free ebook copies.

Meant to be part of my official Payhip launch, I published another free/PWYW story on there: A House Built for Love. Because of the short length (1,200 words), it was intended to be only on Payhip. However, for ease of access, I plan on releasing it wider (along with Ghosts We Used to Love, previously an itchio exclusive). Until then, however, Payhip is the only place to find it.

This is a grief horror (a common theme of mine!) and a ghost story.

No substantial updates on my Works in Progress—I’m not yet ready to commit to publication dates for any of them. However, rest assured there are a few in the works. The plan for the next few are to be determined, but I am likely to do a mix of pre-warning (available for preorder) and spontaneous (no warning, surprise, here it is) releases.

I have an idea of what the next few works will be, but they have all been teased in previous newsletters (most of them in the last newsletter, in fact) so no need to belabour the point now if there aren’t material updates. Though I was almost done writing one of them, so maybe further news won’t be too far off…

Now, onto the more personal.

I don’t intend to make this section too long, since I’ve gone on long enough, but I thought it would be a nice change of pace to talk about what I am enjoying these days, if it’s not reading or writing.

Well, there’s also the other, less enjoyable side of the personal, like work being constantly busy and taking a lot of my time and energy, fighting with appliance companies, and my migraine count being up dramatically for the past few months—

But I’d rather talk about the more fun stuff.

My spouse and I have been working on some house projects. I learned how to refinish a bathtub, we painted some halls, I’ve been trying to upcycle an old shoe rack.

We’ve also been exploring our city by bike a lot more lately, though the time for that is waning. I’m not sure how much more time we have left before it starts to snow, and it’s rapidly becoming colder. My spouse had the idea for us to get ebikes, though, and that has really opened up the world for us. I enjoy biking a lot… but at least some of my chronic pain comes from cycling accidents, and sometimes it can be hard to go long distances or do all the things we want. Having the pedal assist and all in the ebike really ups the distance we can comfortably cover together. It’s been a lot of fun finding routes to discover new places.

Lastly, I’ve rediscovered my love for board games and it has probably graduated to special interest (or at least a hyperfixation). My collection is growing, I have new favourites (why am I discovering Wingspan so late?), and my spouse and I are playing more of them together. Finding out which games play well at two has been great. I’m planning to a Halloween board game night (an old tradition that I have been slowly starting back up after the past few years) and can’t wait to introduce more games to friends. I somehow hadn’t realized just how many games there are out there, and I’m ecstatic to be learning so much, figuring out new mechanics, and molding my collection into the types of games I really enjoy.

I’ll leave it there, but thought you might appreciate a brief glimpse of where I’ve been. Working, out with migraines, house projects, biking, and board games. Something like that.

Thank you to everyone who’s stuck around. I hope next time I write you there will be news proper.