iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

As always, I can be replied to here, or on Insta, or better yet by email at author.jason.bustard@proton.me Be human. Support libraries. Read books Make art. All the best, Jason B.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I despise Meta, their CEO and their policies. I will be posting basic promo stuff on Insta for releases and to help promote others in my self-publishing co-op, but untouched artwork, snippets and other things that might be scraped for the robots will never touch that account.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I have, for better or worse, restarted an Instagram account. You can find me there @AuthorJasonB. I don’t intend to make that my primary social, but rather, I have found it increasingly difficult to get in touch with other local authorities and in some cases to sign up for local maker events.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Me reading my half awake notes on my phone’s notes app: “Make the pumpkin BIGGER!” “Heavy metal squirrel deathrace with little go karts” “Smilodon.” I wish I could go back in time and question my half-asleep self, because it sounds amazing but I have no clue what it means.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

All set up for an afternoon of D$D with my daughter and her friends. Running a TTRPG for middle schoolers is a lot like herding cats hopped up on caffeine, but someone has to train the next generation!

Photograph of a pile of TTRPG books behind a Dungeon Master’s Screen. Visible titles are the D&D Player’s Handbook and the One Shot Wonders adventure companion book.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I suppose they can’t let Florida have all the attention these days.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Done with my personal pass on the new book. One of my beta’s got back to me as well and another is in flight. Jason has editing to do!

A photograph of a preview copy of Old Mother’s Recipes by Jason Bustard with a pen attached to the cover and a pair of reading glasses laying across it.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

There is something deeply satisfying about re-reading words you wrote months ago and being completely amazed by them. “Did I really write that?” There is no imposter syndrome, friends. You brain is just adjusting to the fact that you are really good at something. Keep writing.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Still editing, also I am attending a funeral for a dear friend this week so writing has been hard. I have a lot to read though, including a beta for one of my favorite indie authors. I think I will do that instead. Stay cool out there, friends!

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

The neverending recycle of old IP is why I fell in love with Japanese manga. Yeah you might have a series that goes on for years, even decades, but at some point they all end. They aren’t afraid to kill characters when needed and leave them dead. And then they go a make a NEW story. Mad Respect.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

GTA. I played the pixel art top down orginal waaay back when and it was fun for an evening, but I never got into any of the later ones. Halo would be the other one. There were so many other good FPS and PVP games at the time that the entire franchise slipped right by me.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I live close to their world “breadquarters” in Milwaukie, OR. The bakery hires ex cons who can’t get work elsewhere because of their convictions. I go into their on site store to get the “rejected” loaves at a discount, lol. Damn, I’m old now.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

They feature prominently in Book 2, A Taste of Darkness and Life.

Cover for book 2 of the Seeker’s Kitchen series, A Taste of Darkness and Life, by Jason Bustard. It features Amandine and Fredderick exploring a cave filled with glowing crystal and mushrooms

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

In Beregoth, that would probably be the Mord (aka Dwarves). As a species that can not employ magic except through reguli, they have learned to study the world around them logically and with science of a sort. They know about physiology, fungi, toxins, even some bacteria.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

These stories are available to order wherever books are sold, or from your local library. Please support human artists and independent creators!

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

In book two, Amandine is pushed out of her new, comfortable life by events that threaten the food supply in the Gold Hills. She embarks on a journey to Anvilroot, the home of the dwarves, and along the way discovers things about herself that will change her life forever…

Cover image for A Taste of Darkness and Life by Jason Bustard. Makn character Amandine is exploring a dark cavern setting with Fredderick Stolm

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

My name is Jason and I make stuff up. Specifically a book series called The Seeker’s Kitchen. Amandine runs away from the Night Sisters and her training as a Bone Guardian because she wants to cook. While working for Chef Brutsche in Manor L’Eau, she finds one of his secret ingredients…

Cover image for The Fae Ingredient by Jason Bustard. Main character Amandine stands back to back with her mentor, Chef Brutsche, in a kitchen setting.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

All that said, please support human artists. And if you do read a book by an indy author (mine or anyone else’s!) please take the time to add that star review on the platform you bought it from or on Goodreads. They mean so much to us struggling to be seen through the algorithm. All the best, JB

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I am venting, obviously, but I am not looking for pity or handouts. I will keep writing until the stories stop coming to me. It’s just frustrating to spend so much time writing something and then be met by indifference and sometimes even hostility (how dare you ask for money, books should be free!)

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Honestly, it feels like the only folks making money in the independent publishing scene are editors and artists, the books themselves are enormous money pits if you are aiming for any sort of quality. My LLC has been in the red for 4 years running, and if sales don’t pick up, book 4 may be delayed.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Editing for Book 3 continues! I am marking up my preview copy and another is with a friend who is doing the same. At some point it will go to an actual copy editor, but with a book this large, it will be quite expensive. I wish books actually made enough money to be at least self sustainable.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I have no idea what that is. The name sounds like what woukd happen if you encased a chipmunk in carbonite.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

So, completely unrelated to my books, but rather, one of my nerdy hobbies (I am a long time FF14 player). If you get the joke, we can be friends. If you don’t, we can still be friends, but magical adventures in Eorzea are off the table. #FF14

Photo of a custom coffee mug featuring the black sillouhettes of Gaius van Baelsar and the Ultima Weapon from Final Fantasy 14. Printed with the words “SUCH CAFFEINATION!” Angle 1

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

That’s so great! I am working on my 4th book, and getting that first box of author copies feels just as good, every time. Congratulations!

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Is it bad that I still haven’t seen this movie? I dearly love mythology and epic poetry, so I am familar with the story. What did Nolan’s version change that has some people twisted? Could it really be any worse than the Romeo and Juliet modern remakes (not a love story!!).

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I escaped the Empire only to end up in this strange place.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Karma is an underpaid intern at ChatGPT that has no fucks to give. Seriously, though all these AI companies are billions underwater, so dodging lawsuits they are likely to lose sounds like a good business strategy for them.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

As things proceed towards book three of Seeker’s Kitchen, I feel like I should remind those that follow me of the first two novels: The Fae Ingredient and A Taste of Darkness and Life. Both can be ordered or purchased wherever books are sold!

Cover image for The Fae Ingredient, by Jason Bustard. Characters Amandine and Chef Brutsche stand back to back in a kitchen setting.

Cover image for A Taste of Darkness and Life, by Jason Bustard. Characters Amandine and Fredderick are depicted exploring a cave filled with luminous crystals and mushrooms. Grendel the cat is poking his head out of Amandine’s shoulder satchel. Fredderick is using a spell that makes a blue light in his palm.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Party in the nonfiction G thru J isle!!!

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I would be writing this weekend, but unfortunately I have been detained as rebel scum.

A photo of Jason’s blue hat with a menacing array of Imperial Stormtroopers in the background.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

It’s beautiful in LA, which is weird

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Day 23: The water bottles have accepted me as one of them.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Recontextualize. “Now I make word salad.” Boom! You’re writing again!

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

A baker with big dreams, unrealized. Ancient sojourners with a sentient starship. A restless space pirate, seeking. Curses, romance, and adventure await Priya in this new sci-fi novel by Whitney Spradling! Release date: December 30th 2026

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I want to take a moment to shout out a cover reveal for one of my colleagues at Midnight Tide! Priya Vox always wanted adventure. She just never thought it’d come with a curse attached.

Cover image for “When Stars Fall Curses Bind” by Whitney L. Spradling

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Thank you for the kind words! I keep my beta-read circle pretty tight to people I know personally or colleagues from my co-op. I will be looking for ARC readers in December if you are interested?

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I have outlines for two more books after this one, but frankly, I’ll keep making them as long as I have fun ideas and places to take the story. I have a spinoff novella that will be featured in an anthology this October. “Godsworn” in “The Heart of Edler Horrors”.

Promo display for The Heart of Elder Horrors anthology, coming October 2026.

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Very briefly, The Seeker’s Kitchen series follows the story of Amandine, a teenager who runs away from the Night Sisters, a religious order devoted to the Goddess of Night, to see the world and decides that she really wants to become a chef. Book one and two are already out, this will be the third!

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Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

First proofs! 385 pages before copy editing. Plus 5 or so pages of notes I left in by accident at the end that I’ll need to yank from the final draft. Cover is a placeholder until art is done. Starting to get excited!

Photo of the book “Old Mother’s Recipes” by Jason Bustard. It features a generic cover as a placeholder for future artwork.

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Portland area folks: Set up and selling copies of the Seeker’s Kitchen series as well as A. Parise’s “The Fork” in support of Lobos Gym in Oak Grove (McLoughlin Ave). Come and say hello! There is a huge rumage sale with all kinds of great stuff!

Jason Bustard @authorjbustard.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Sometimes you just need a little Nurgle in your life.