My Theories About Series and Self-Publishing

An Instructive and Informative Listing of the Chal Shops of Tabat, being Pamphlet #4 of the second series of “A Visitor’s Guide to Tabat”, Spinner Press, author unknown.

While in Tabat, the visitor will want to try the drink it’s famous for: chal, salty fish and seaweed mixed with strong black tea in what is admittedly an acquired taste. The abundance of such establishments supplies the city dwellers with places to exchange thoughts and news. Many chal houses pride themselves on the antiquity of their brews, which may be years, decades, or in at least one case, centuries old.

Located at the edge of Salt and the Serpentine, the Dancing Cup hosts students from the nearby College of Mages. Go here to catch a glimpse of them showing off new spells and minor magics, particularly in the open air of the back courtyard. Their house chal is over a hundred years old, but they offer many variants, including cider and other fruit drinks. Open all hours.

Two chal shops near Tabat’s Arena are renowned: the Blade’s Savor and Berto’s. The fierce rivalry between the two often leads to free chal for customers willing to switch allegiance. Both shops frequently sponsor gladiators, many of which can be found drinking in one or the other. Bella Kanto and the majority of the Brides of Steel school can be found in Berto’s. These are the only shops you’ll find open during Tabat’s Games. Open all hours.

The Salty Purse, situated a block from the docks on Trade Way, claims a chal of over 200 years provenance, and serves only that, along with ship’s hardbread, doing a hearty business in the former, if not the latter. Open all hours.

In Tabat’s small theater district, actors and wealthy theatergoers favor the Fuchsia and Heron. The most expensive shop in the city, it subsidizes actors’ tabs and even pays a few to patronize it, ensuring a steady flow of Tabat’s most glittering figures. Open from the last afternoon bell till the last night bell only.

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Love the world of Tabat and want to spend longer in it? Check out Hearts of Tabat, the latest Tabat novel! Or get sneak peeks, behind the scenes looks, snippets of work in progres, and more via Cat’s Patreon.

• Hearts of Tabat on Amazon
• Hearts of Tabat on Baen Books
• Hearts of Tabat on B&N
• Hearts of Tabat on Kobo
• Hearts of Tabat on Powell’s
• Hearts of Tabat on Smashwords

#sfwapro

Last week, the guest posts were Kim Mainord with “Your Mileage May Vary”, Sandra M. Odell on fantasy podcasts, Ken Altabef on using Inuit mythology in his work, Rhonda Eudaly with “Writing is Only Glamourous Until This Face Appears,” and Raven Oak talked about “Linguistics in Fantasy — To Thee or Not to Thee”.

This week, we have John Johnston III musing on Fictional Characters, Pete Sutton will talk about succesffully crowdfunding an anthology, Jamie Mason will wax philosophical about Candadian zombies, Mercedes M. Yardley will discuss finding your literary voice, and to wrap up the week, J.T. Gill will tell you why reading fantasy makes you smarter. I’ll also be posting snippets from the sequel to Beasts of Tabat, which I’m working on right now, keeping you informed of any recent SFWA developments, and talking about point of view and being inside a character’s head. And finally — for online writing class news, either sign up for my mailing list at the bottom of this post, or keep checking this site.

What else is coming up in March and April? There’ll be some giveaways, including audio copies of my collection Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight, both hard and e-copies of my collections and the new novel, and some cool surprises. 🙂 You’ll also see “Documents of Tabat,” a number of small pieces of fiction, each of which ties into the book (they’re interstitial pieces from an earlier version of the novel), starting March 24 and continuing on weeks through April 21st. I’ll point you to the GoodReads giveaways when they come up, and at the end of the week, I’ll include a wrap-up of the various places I’ve guest posted and any places reviews or other mentions have occurred.

Some of you reading this have been with me since I first started writing stories set in this world; others are new to my words. Either way, I hope you’ll enjoy the novel that I’m finally getting the chance to lay before you, and I hope you’ll share some of the fun of the next couple of months.

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