So UnCONventional has been in print for a long time – as the first print collection came out way back in 2010. The first four volumes of the book came out in 6″ x 9″ editions, while the rest of the series came out as larger 7″ x 10″ editions. The first volume was also pretty light on bonus features, as it was the first book I ever put out and didn’t necessarily know what I was doing.

This always bothered me, honestly, so I decided to do something about it.

As of today, the original four volumes of UnCONventional have been removed from the market, and replaced with a single collected volume. It’s 7″ x 10″ like the rest of the series, has new additional commentary (along with the existing commentary and bonus materials updated for 2024), and it’s just nicer. Also, where it would have cost $75 to buy books one through four the old way, this collected volume is cheaper at $60 US.

Now if you just want the commentary and other bonus features and don’t care about having the book in print (or if you already have these comics in the original print version and just want the new stuff), there is a PDF version of the volume for sale in my Patreon shop for only $12.

So yeah, same comics as before, just a new print edition, and its available today. Not super exciting. Not like the next bit.

(I think that was a good transition)

Super Awesome Action Heroes has been around in one form or another since 2006. The Second Edition went into print back in 2020, and we’ve been running Stormwood & Associates and The Meatgrinder on it pretty successfully. But I found a few flaws in the book that needed improving, and rolled out an online appendix to correct those flaws. Well, earlier this year I decided I needed to update the print version to reflect those rule updates too.

So yeah, on September 17th Super Awesome Action Heroes Second Edition Revised comes out. The print edition will still cost $7 the way the old one does, and honestly if you already own the book? Just download the free expansion. It’s like 99% the same rule book, just with the information on that page sprinkled in.

But, uh, if you don’t own the book and want it? That’s the version to get. That’s going to be the only version available from now on.

But yeah — you know how I said September 17th? That’s just for the print edition and Kindle edition. If you only want the eBook, you can actually buy that right now for $3 on my Patreon shop. Or, if you’re a Patreon supporter even at the $1 level, you get the eBook version included as a part of your Patreon benefits.

So, yeah. That’s the news for today with “books made by Trae.” There will be Mia Graves Book 3 news in the next couple of weeks, but we’ll save that for another day (like after I have some cover art to share with it).

See you then.

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There’s a small easter egg in today’s Peregrine Lake that you may have missed. On the wall in the guest room of Lynn and Megan’s cabin, there’s a photo from their wedding. For UnCONventional readers, this should look incredibly familiar – because it’s Ethan’s redraw of one of my favorite moments from the entirety of that comic (as well as the cover to the Chapter Six book).

I specifically asked Ethan if we could have that as a “photo” in Lynn and Megan’s cabin, and they did not disappoint. I gave them the original art layers – which is why you’ll notice the background is still the altered photo from the original image.

And I just… I just love it. One of the most amazing things about working with Ethan on Peregrine Lake has been seeing the things I imagine realized in a style so different from my own (and with so much more skill than I have myself). It’s just amazing.

That’s all I really have to say. I just wanted to share this weird tiny detail with y’all because it makes me happy. Here are the two images side by side (click them for higher resolution versions):


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So, y’all, I’m going to be at Anime 414 this weekend in Milwaukee down at the Baird center. This is a first year con by a for profit company that runs these things in other states. They’re running an anime con like it was a comic con, and the whole thing is kinda hilarious in a way.

This is the first time this con has happened, and it could go great… or not great. If you’re in the area, and want to find out with me, come on down?

The hours are:
August 10th 2024 – Saturday: 10AM-7PM
August 11th, 2024 – Sunday: 10AM-5PM

Yeehaw, kids. Yeehaw.

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So just for fun, I decided the most obvious piece of merch for Peregrine Lake — the generic tourist t-shirt. If you ever go to a gas station in a random small town, you’ll definitely see something like this. So why get a generic T-shirt with a real town’s name on it when you can get one with a fake town’s name on it?

Obviously this is available on a T-shirt, but there are a whole bunch of other products too — like totebags, coasters, and mugs.

I honestly just did this because I thought it was fun. No real plan beyond “Oh that would be nice to have for myself.” It’s neat!

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Hey everyone, I know I announced it a couple of months ago, but I’m excited to tell you that Bloody Damn Rite, the sequel to my novel The Witch and the Rose, is now on sale on Amazon! You can pick it up in both paperback and Kindle ebook formats (and it’s also available on Kindle Unlimited).

If you liked the first book, I think you’ll enjoy where the series is going. It picks up a year after the events of The Witch and the Rose, and there are vampires in it. I tried to come up with a clever way to work that into this post, but I’m writing this quickly before work this morning so I’m just flat out saying it.

There are vampires in this book.

This installment has a bit more action than the first book, but the tone is the same (and Mia and Riley are still Mia and Riley). And maybe a piece of that past Mia tried to leave behind her in Boston is about to show up in her new life in Parrish Mills.

Go read the book and find out.

(Note: There is a non-Amazon version available with the ISBN 979-8-3302-2037-3, which is identical in every way — just off of a different printer. You can directly order that version too.)

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Book update time! Back in January I published my first (non-graphic) novel, The Witch and the Rose (which you can buy here). I made it pretty clear that it was the first book in a series, and that more books would be coming.

And yeah, it’s time to reveal that next book.

I’m excited to announce Bloody Damn Rite, the sequel to The Witch and the Rose and second book in the Mia Graves series, will come out June 11th on Kindle and paperback. Additionally, you can pre-order the Kindle eBook version of the book right now and it will be available on your devices immediately on June 11th.

So yeah! If you want some queer contemporary fantasy set in, of all places, an Indiana college town… I got two books for you.

There will be more.

(Also, just a reminder that Peregrine Lake is now live too! Go read our awesome webcomic!)

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If you follow me on social media you likely already know this, but I figured I should toss it on the blog for good measure too.

For those unaware, the webcomic Peregrine Lake (written by me and drawn by the talented Ethan Flanagan) will officially launch on April 16th and update every Tuesday at peregrine-lake.com

I promised the follow up to UnCONventional was “coming soon” four years ago. Well, “soon” finally got here.

I know I actually talked about it back in January as arriving this spring, but it’s actually “this spring” now. Frankly, I’m incredibly excited to show you guys what we’ve been working on for the last year, and bringing you the story that I’ve had in my head for so much longer.

As I’ve said, this is a follow up to UnCONventional, but it isn’t required reading. Peregrine Lake takes place ten years after that comic’s end, and only Lynn and Megan carry over from that cast. This is also a very different comic tonally. Peregrine Lake is a “Northwoods Gothic” tale that follows a young woman named Bev as she inherits her late uncle’s house outside of the small town of Peregrine Lake, WI. That’s the short version.

I hope you guys end up liking it as much as I do.

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The final comic of UnCONventional may have gone up in 2019, but the final two chapters still weren’t out in print form… until now! That’s right, I’ve finally put out the collected chapters nine and ten in paperback form!

So yes, you can click on over to Amazon right now to pick it up. Has it been four years since this was supposed to come out? Yes. But it’s here now, and that’s what counts. Re-live the pre-Covid con scene! Finally see typo free versions of some of these comics! Read random commentary about what inspired certain storylines and strips!

It’s fun! And remember, Peregrine Lake is coming soon too!



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So now that The Witch and the Rose is out and available for purchase, I thought I’d get around to making a nice little post here telling you where you can buy it!

For those who (somehow) missed it, my debut (non-graphic) novel The Witch and the Rose is now available for purchase. It’s a contemporary fantasy novel. It’s got a witch, it’s got queer people, it’s occasionally a little spicy, it has the occasional bleed through of my witchcraft opinions… it’s fun! It’s the first book in a series, and I think folks will enjoy it.

So let’s talk about how folks can buy it!

For one, it’s on Kindle (also, if you pay for Kindle Unlimited, you can read it right now for free), but there’s also a dead tree version too. While eBooks are exclusively through Amazon right now, the dead tree version comes in two (identical) forms. First off, there’s the version listed on Amazon. This is the fastest way to get it, and probably the version with the cheapest shipping (since it qualifies for Prime).

I know some folks don’t like Amazon though, which is why there’s a separate Paperback edition done through a different printer. You can either order that directly, or booksellers can order via ISBN 9798869132666.

Those are all the ways you can pick up the novel. So, to quote the eminent critic Jay Sherman, “Buy my book!”

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So I talked about it before, but I’ve been on a bit of a creative push lately. Because of that… stuff is actually coming out. And if I don’t tell you about it, how will you know to look for it?

First off, my first (non-graphic) novel, The Witch and the Rose will be out soon. And when I say soon… I mean soon. As in before the end of the month of January. It will be available in both paperback and Kindle, and it’s a bit different than the stuff I’ve written before. This falls squarely into the contemporary fantasy genre. We’ve got magic, we’ve got ghosts, we’ve got… some sex? Yeah, this one is a bit more ‘mature’ in content than anything else I’ve ever written.

So, uh, keep that in mind.

But it’s fun, and I liked writing it. And (as people who follow me likely already know) I’m deep into writing sequels.

The other announcement is that Peregrine Lake is finally happening. I announced this comic in 2019… and then it just didn’t materialize. The big change here is that I’m no longer drawing it. I’m still writing it, but I’ve handed art duties over to the incredibly talented Ethan Flanagan. Their art pairs with this story a thousand times better than what I would have been able to draw, and I’m super excited. Right now we’re targeting a spring release (though that may shift).

But I genuinely love everything we’ve been working on for it, and I think you will too.

So yeah, that’s what’s happening.

Update: The Witch and the Rose is now available for sale in both paperback and Kindle editions.

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