Daniel Ausema's Blog

  So, now you've had a chance to know a bit about the setting and characters of the Moth Plateau novellas. But what's the actual story about? There isn't exactly one overarching narrative. In fact, each novella stands on its own, in a way. It is...the story of this place, the stories of these characters.
1. Riding the Moth Plateau is the story of Druskan, investigating the death of one of his coworkers2. Pursuit and Moth Songs is the story of Rahel, the mask-wearing mystery, as well as Verlang and Peps, the bounty hunters seeking her3. Time with its Tricks is the story of Sakehin, the daredevil who ends up exploring the uncanny Misbuilt City4. Days of Sagebrush and Absence is the story of the priestess Milliva and an ecological disaster that causes the moth ecosystem to collapse5. Of Moths and Breaking is the story of Melle, returning to the plateau after the collapse and trying to get justice
There is an undercurrent, which becomes more pronounced as the series goes, of distrust of the oligarchs and powerful corporations of the world. It's a thread that's always been in the Spire City stories (which take place in the same imaginary world and around the same time period) and also looking around our own world...not a surprising thing to find making its way into my stories. So as much as there's a single arc to the series, it relates to that.
Does that mean you could read them out of order? Absolutely! I recruited beta readers to jump in at each of the novellas to see how it played out for them without having read the others, and I made sure any of them could be your entry into the series. That said, given the events of novella 4 and their fall-out in 5, I'd strongly recommend reading the first three (in any order) first.
But whatever you choose, give the series a look!

 At one point during brainstorming and planning, my working tagline for the Moth Plateau series was "Young Riders, but make it Weird." The story certainly evolved away from that as it went, but that (a TV show from the...late 80s/early 90s? about a group of pony express riders in the Wild West) is still a fair, tentative way to see the characters of the upper plateau, at least.

With that intro, here are a few of the characters involved in the series:

High Plateau

Mister Toberts: the closest thing to an authority figure on the high plateau, Mr. Toberts is in charge of the bike-riding messengers as well as the boarding house and assorted buildings that's the hub of what passes for community up here

Rahel: a mysterious woman who wears a plague-doctor-like mask, whether at the boarding house or out riding her bicycle to deliver messages and packages

Chark: a non-binary messenger who loves to tinker with the bikes and other devices, especially trying to find a way to lay down telegraph lines that won't be destroyed by the moths

Sakehin: a daredevil and incredibly unreliable messenger who is very sure of his own importance, frequently imagining ways to prove himself the hero

Dibern: a young inventor from a distant city who has come here to complete his apprenticeship, spending his time in the shop fixing the messengers' bikes

Milliva: a doubting priestess and hermit who takes her role--of offering comfort and familiar rituals for the devout of the plateau--very seriously despite her own questions

Shorpin Corporation

Druskan: a cattle agent who travels the plateau checking on the various herds owned by his bosses, accompanied always by a trio of the plateau's endemic moth hawks, tiny birds that prey on the moths

Llom: Druskan's immediate supervisor, he manages the handful of agents who travel the land but keeps a low profile in town to avoid undue notice

Verlang and Peps: former child labor factory workers until injuries and growing up made them unsuited to the work, they are now bounty hunters, sent by someone high up in the organization to track down someone who may have come to the Moth Plateau to escape

Master Sergeant Leeszin: sent by the Shorpin Corporation on a rescue mission, though his exact purpose in coming to the plateau is broader than the rescue and not entirely clear to the locals

Other

Melle: from Lepta City, she works as a guide despite her young age; she is very opinionated about how things are supposed to be and especially dislikes the Shorpin Corporation

This week (today as I write this, in fact) marks the release of the first novella in the Moth Plateau series, Riding the Moth Plateau, so it's fitting for me to give you a sense of the place, the plateau itself.

Each novella introduces you to the plateau through the eyes of its main character, so it isn't necessary to know anything more in advance. But here's the quick overview of the setting of these novellas, for those who are curious.

Moth Plateau is an impressive geographic feature of the inland, far from Spire City and the other locations that play a role in those stories. It is surrounded by steep walls of rock and hard-packed soil. The only known way up and down that escarpment is a series of switchbacks, a wide road that climbs back and forth. The switchbacks have pulleys and winched tracks for the steady flow of carts and wagons, but their primary purpose is to drive cattle up to pasture or down to market.

The heights of the Moth Plateau are not named symbolically--their most dominant feature is their moths. Clouds upon clouds of moths swarm the land, making travel impossible without specialized rituals, pets, or equipment. The only animals to endure the moths without special accommodations are the cattle, which thrive on the grasses here.

There are various locations on the main plateau that you will encounter as you read, but the most notable aspect of land is what was left behind by a mysterious culture long ago. These ancient ones knew how to repel the moths with a building material that even the mad scientists of the modern era have failed to understand. They used this to create the foundations for the singular city on the plateau, Lepta City, and some scattered buildings elsewhere, as well as a strangely haunted ghost town that the people today avoid.

And most importantly they created pathways through the prairie, walkways where a traveler can escape the swarms of moths. These walkways, however, move, shifting unpredictably even as travelers walk them, so they are useful but far from reliable.

In the interior of the plateau, another escarpment rises, forming a smaller but still substantial upland area, the Upper Plateau, criss-crossed by locomotive rails, though no train has ever run on these tracks. It is home to many moths, yet more herds of cattle and their tenders, as well as miners and recluses. Connecting these scattered people are the bicycle-riding messengers whose stories form the center of this series of novellas.

More on those riders and the other characters of the Moth Plateau soon!

Coming...very soon, so I'd better start getting the word out. This is a series of weird western-fantasy novellas, starting with Riding the Moth Plateau:

The Moth Plateau is a land of cattle drives and cowpokes, of bicycle-riding messengers and recluses hiding from their pasts, and (most of all) of moths. Swarms of moths turn the dead into mummies and the open prairies into a claustrophobic stillness.

The series is made up of five novellas, with the first releasing in exactly one week. Several members here have helped beta-read one or more of the novellas, for which I'm enormously thankful. I have the landing page for the series up now, which so far includes pre-order links for the first and second novellas. I can't promise nothing will change, but if all goes according to plan, then the later novellas will each release a month after the previous, so the whole series will wrap up in June. 

 Not poems about New Years, just on/near the start of the year.

First, there were two poems that technically came out on the last day of the year in the third issue of SpecPoVerse. "Six images in the mist" is a horror (ish) poem of the spooky things a person sees from their rowboat. There's meant to be a bit of a Wallace Stevens "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" feel to it. "The Unpredictability of Space Rocks," meanwhile is an SF poem, but on a planet more like Italo Calvino might imagine than what a scientist would propose as plausible. 

Both poems are available at that link, and in the upper right hand corner there should be an option for "Readings" where you can hear me read them both.

The very next day, another poem of mine was published, in the new issue of Kaleidotrope. "The Palms that Tear Through Human Thought" is a sonnet, with some minor playing around with the structure. It was inspired by artwork that another poet shared as a possible prompt, an image (not AI-generated!) of a plant with leaves or fronds that morph into human hands at the ends.

As always, this issue of Kaleidotrope is full of excellent and unique stories and poems, so give the whole issue a read.

Trying to catch up on various news items from the past few weeks, I'm happy to announce that this story came out in the January issue of Sally Port. "The Sea Harvest of Moonlight" is a story I wrote to experiment with the kishotenketsu narrative structure. What's that? Writer Stewart C. Baker has a great intro and worksheet to this non-Western way to structure stories.

As for the story itself, it's a story of villagers who have returned to their former home after fleeing a war, of fantastical beings that ply the river, and of some of the village children trying to do their part to restore their families.

Sally Port lists it as a YA story. While I didn't write specifically with that in mind, it's fitting. One of the common examples people will give for kishotenketsu structure is Studio Ghibli films, so go into it with that vibe in mind.

Give it a read and let me know what you think of it!

These are the poems I had published during 2025.

Some quick links to them: "River of Naming" in Orion's Belt; "Lesser Zodiacs" in Merganser Magazine, and (again) "In the Sloth Tunnels, at a Time of War" in Small Wonders are all freely available online at this time.

The other three require buying a zine or anthology: "The Truth About Trees" in Star*Line 48.2; "The Voices Calling Us Back" in Star*Line 48.3; and Defeating the Drageon-Wizard Lord" in Limerick in Chains.

It's been a good year for poetry. My chapbook Ephemeral Village was published in late 2024, but it was nominated for an Elgin Award this year. And as of now, I've written some 15,000 words of new poetry this year, hopefully poems you'll 

Was it only a poetry year? Not entirely. I just sold another short story last week, and I have at least one more due for release in early 2026. There are several others in the final running for an acceptance, some of which I may learn the decision before the end of the year.

Also this year, don't forget that I released the brand new Spire City Episode 0 (also here) as a new opening to the series, and a few months later I released the new Spire City Omnibus (also here), which includes that episode 0 as well as the three original books (seasons) that trace the story of Chels, the mad scientist Orgood, and the infection that is turning the people of Spire City into animals.

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As far as new writing, I've written 10 new short stories, ranging from flash through nearly novelette length. I've written 15,000+ words of poetry, most of that on a novel-in-verse project I'm currently working on. And I've revised a variety of earlier stories and poems.

Work continues on an interactive fiction game set in Spire City. I also have all five Moth Plateau novellas revised, beta-read, and polished. I should be (rapid) releasing those in early 2026.

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What else to look forward to, besides the novellas and (hopefully) the IF game? I have various stories and poems that are accepted and should be coming out in the new year. Some of them already in January, so watch for them to come out soon!

Not to wax maudlin, but I am so appreciative of all the readers and writers who continue to be a part of this journey with me. May 2026 be a year of amazing words, toppling all things cruel, and lifting each other up!

I think I've had more poems published this year than I got around to posting about. (Subscribe to my newsletter and/or follow me on Bluesky to make sure you don't miss anything!) I'll take a look back at the full year and should be putting up a review of everything I had published this year sometime soon. So you won't have to miss anything.

In the meantime, I had one new poem come out this past week! "In the Sloth Tunnels, at a Time of War" is in the December issues of Small Wonders. It's a free verse poem inspired by a scientific article suggesting that ground sloths may have excavated certain tunnels in Brazil. It's possible they are naturally occurring, but I'm team ground sloth, until convinced otherwise. Cause look at these creatures:

Check it out (and the rest of the issue)!

 April showers bring May...poems? Or, well, given the lack of rain for most of April around here, maybe it's April droughts that bring poetry. Anyway, I've had two poems come out this month!

The first is "Lesser Zodiacs" in Merganser Magazine. Their fifth issue was published at the beginning of the month. The idea for it was sparked by some art another poet shared, where the artist imagined zodiac-style art for constellations that don't get to be part of the usual signs. I confess to paying little attention to the recognized zodiacal signs, but (so?) I had a lot of fun imagining the other signs that might go under-appreciated.

The second poem came out in the middle of the month--"The River of Naming" in Orion's Belt. This one came from me being playful with linguistic terminology and the water cycle. The stanzas alternate here--not in meter or form (it's free verse) and not in point of view or other things I might usually play with in fiction writing, but in voice and register, with the alternating stanzas addressing some "fisher of words." Which is fun. I think.

Enjoy, all you Readers of Words!

Here is Spiral, the beetle a writer friend crocheted for me recently! I've been playing around with different ways to photograph them, so watch for more images floating around social media, my newsletter, and more!
For now, Spiral is inviting you to check out my new store on itch.io, https://danielausema.itch.io/. What is it? Well, the main goal of the page is to give people a way to buy ebooks directly from me, skipping Amazon and other vendors. I have some of my Spire City stories up there now for people to buy and will be adding more over the coming few weeks.
Episode 0 is one of the stories that's already available, so if you haven't bought it from Amazon or the other sites, consider buying it direct, and you'll learn how it began--before the infections, before the found family of the Weave, an urchin alone, "On the Streets."
But that's not all! ("But wait, there's more"...) Spire City itself is worth your time, worth playing around in and experiencing for yourself, with your own imagination. To give you a chance to try out some role-playing in Spire City, I put a 2-page one-shot TTRPG for you to try out. "Spire Songs & Steam Gears" is based on the very simple-to-use Lasers & Feelings system.
And it's free! Check it out--and if you try the game with your role-playing friends, let me know! I'd love to hear how it went and what could be better!