The new year will bring new challenges and new opportunities. Before we get into those, thank you to all the readers who’ve been so patient and supportive while waiting for The Wizard’s Cat.
Status
The Wizard’s Cat
Most of you know that the ebook has been released. I’m still waiting on the print proofs but will release that edition as soon as I can. The audio book will come from Podium. They have the manuscript and will let me know when they have something like a release. It’ll take a while but the wait should be worth it for you audiophiles.
Everything Else
Nothing much has changed in terms of my catalog. I still plan on more Ishmael, more Tanyth, and – of course – more Shackleford House.
What Am I Reading?
I read just over 3 books a week this past year – 155 in 52 weeks. Some were so-so. Some were great. A lot of them in a series. All but one, self-published. (That one was Loomans’s I’ve Got Time. Non-fiction on the zen of time management. Sometimes I have to make an exception to the rule, especially for non-fiction.) So, this month, rather than a single recommendation, here are five series I discovered this year and loved.
Eric Uglund’s The Good Guys series (16 books) took up a lot of April. LitRPG isekai tale that kept me turning pages like a madman, wishing I could play that game along with him.
Cássio Ferreira captured me in two different Hidden Class series – Handyman and Pacifist. The first about playing a game where you advanced through crafting and the second when you could do no harm. I loved the twists away from combat oriented litRPG.
Jaxon Reed’s Star Farmer’s 12 volumes took me back to Space Opera. It takes place mostly on a frontier planet as Tom Savage sets up a homestead on one of the “worst” plots on the planet. Hijinks, of course, ensued.
Victoria Danann’s Not Too Late series (8 volumes, so far) scratched my fantasy itch. Newly divorced Rita Hayworth (yes, it’s a running gag) inherits “a fine retail property with residence.” I love this trope. Mysterious inheritance of a spooky mansion, trunk of mysterious contraptions, or even Lovecraftian dire artifact that kicks off an adventure. Danann delivers.
Always RollsAOne’s Soldier’s Life (6 books) kept me busy for a long time. A gritty litRPG-styled fantasy where the main character, Eryk, finds himself in another world, apparently drawn there by some mystical means. It’s a classic overly powered, modern man tossed into low tech fantasy world but needs to keep his past hidden. It’s another Web Serial fiction brought to book form (Think The Wandering Inn, among many, many others) and I’m here for the next one, whenever it gets portaled over.
I also caught up with a lot of new releases in established series and explored a ton of book 1s that never took me to book 2. I revisited some new works by familiar authors and picked up on the recent works of authors I met in 2024.
All told, a great year for reading.
Looking Ahead
We start the year having just weathered a major remodeling job in the house between Christmas and New Year’s Day. We replaced all the windows and exterior doors. A very chilly couple of days here filled with the noise and stress of having strangers in the house. If you’ve ever had to move every piece of furniture at least 3′ from any window or door, you can understand the disruption.
The work is over. Like, The Wizard’s Cat, the results are good.
Now it’s time to think about what comes next. It’s probably going to be another Shackleford House. In the writing of the Cat, I found a lot of different stories that I thought might be good ones. Stories that weren’t The Wizard’s Cat, which caused me no end of difficulty.
I’m not soliciting ideas at this time!
What I’m doing is taking some time to not write so my brain can relax after literal years of wrestling with the story that I sometimes thought would never leave my desk. I’ll play some games, watch some movies, read some books. I don’t know how long. Another week maybe. Perhaps a month.
But rest assured I’m already letting ideas about what happens next percolate like hot water through perfectly ground beans.
Until next month, safe voyage.
Just ran across your Shackleford Serious read both of them. I really enjoy fantasy books. These were great as they were not filled with a bunch of mushy romance stuff. I will go back on Amazon and check out some of your other books! I used to live out on the Colorado eastern plains. We just move to Missouri at end of the summer. I enjoy reading usually 3-4 books a week so always looking for new-to- authors to sample.
Happy New Year and wish you the best in your writing career!
Sincerely, Theresa
Just finished The Wizard’s Cat after reading The Wizard’s Butler. I really enjoyed both books, much like a cup of coffee or tea – satisfying, warm and the perfect pick-me-up. Looking forward to exploring your other books and, if course, more from Shackleford House! Now, if only the Colorado weather would cooperate and bring some much needed snow or, at least, some colder temperatures.
Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy new year, Nathan.
Sar, enjoy your well earned rest!! Happy New Year to you and your family
Bought the Cat as soon as I saw it on Amazon. Looking forward to reading it!
Thanks for the Cat. I look forward to more stories from Shackleford House. However, Tanyth is the series that I read repeatedly. Of course, I can say the same thing for Shackleford. Thanks for both.
I just finished reading my Christmas present, The Wizard’s Cat. So good! Thank you for persevering, it was worth the wait and I foresee more great stories to come. I like the characters and, of course, Shackleford House. You invented something magical.
I hope you had good weather during your window replacements. Thank you very much for the “Cat” I love all your series and reread frequently, and relisten on audio. I cry every time, Tanith and Ish and now Shackleford House. Here in the south of the UK we do not often get cold weather, so your TOMMW bring home to me how different it can be.
Here’s to a fruitful 2026, Nathan, many thanks once again, and continued good health to you.
I also read through soldiers life recently and really enjoyed it. The magic system is fun. I found that I like the system in his world sphere series a little bit better even and would suggest checking it out if you enjoyed soldiers life.
The Cat was a great read for half a book. Get back to work man! I’m predicting that enough time in the house and Roger might grow some talent after all!
On my fourth read through of the clippership series. Wishing for more. Thanks and have a great year.
Hi there, you’re a new author for me. I just finished reading both the Shackleford adventures. Can’t wait for next installment, the characters are realistic and there’s no overwhelming end of the world doom looming. It’s both interesting and relaxing, thoroughly enjoyable. I’ve been reading sf&f for 60 years so it’s a bit ironic I haven’t read your work before. BUT, better late than never! 🙂
Mr. Lowell (formal, yes; we haven’t met),
Thank you. Your resilience is amazing and inspiring. I decided to go back to school in mid life, and one thing that I am experiencing is that challenge and resistance provide opportunity and strength. So when you mentioned that Wizards Cat gave you lots of ideas that weren’t Wizards Cat, I marveled at the satisfaction I got from observational bias.
In short, I’m glad to hear you survived the cat fight. Looking forward to reading your newest!
-Jeremy
Note to moderators – please remove this note; and please remove the non-text icon from my previous message. I intended to use the shrugging man emoticon, however, the text interpreter in this platform inexplicably converted it to a gender icon? That wasn’t my intent.
-Jeremy
Add me to the list of those eager for more Shackleford House stories! Im thoroughly hooked now, and really enjoy Gideon.
Thank you for the cat book. I’ve enjoyed and appreciated your writing style since Ishmael. The ‘coming of age’ rang so true. I’m not sure there’s a phrase for the back end of life but you’re capturing it with the Wizard characters and that resonates as well. And I now make better coffee.
Came across The Wizard first, stayed for The Wizard’s Cat, and was thrilled to see that it has only just been released!
I can’t wait for the next Shackleford nstallment(s), and hope there will be more Cat and non-talent magic.
Thanks for sharing your 2025 top reads, and taking away the tedious work of “what do i read next? “. Will get to them once I’ve finished your Solar Clipper series.
May I suggest you have a good editor run through ‘Working Class’? There are a number of continuity errors in it which are trying hard to spoil the story, on top a fair bit of repetitive iteration. Sorry to bring it to your attention in this way but better here than as a review.
Dear Nathan Lowell,
I seldom write to authors although I read a lot. I’m very taken with how you write. The way you develop characters is almost stunning. I’m reading along enjoying a story and suddenly realize how much I care about the character. My first read by you was the Butlers Cat. It caused me to go and read the Butler. Then I discovered you wrote a series about Ishmael. I admired the development and soon fell in love with him. When his second love was killed I was so upset I refused to read the next book for awhile, the pain was so great. And of course I was pleased at the final love on the “vacation”. I’ve been mourning the end of the series and thrilled to see you plan to write about him again. I loved the way you handled the nasty characters on the two ships first captained. It made me wonder if you’ve worked with juveniles yourself or if you’re just an empathetic man who doesn’t judge by appearances and knows a lot about handling people. Kudos to you. You have one very staunch fan.
I just discovered you and was so happy to read Shackleford and being a woman of a certain age I really loved Tanyth. You are a wonderful world builder and storyteller. I look forward to reading more.
No, thank you! The Wizard’s Cat was recommended to me just before Christmas, so (of course) I had to find the book that preceded it and read it first. Since then, I’ve read all of your series (yeah, I love space opera, too), finishing with the third Tanyth Fairchild. I now have only “Salt” left to read. Thanks for the books! I look forward to your next books, as well.