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Mike Jasper

@michaeljasper.bsky.social
325 followers 156 following 786 posts

Fiction and technical writer, amateur farmer, avid reader, dad of two, indie publisher. He/him. Always working on 5 things at once. michaeljasper.net | michaeljasper.net/newsletter | www.patreon.com/MichaelJasper

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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
We took a ride on a train yesterday -- the Great Smoky Mountain railroad along the Nantahala River in western North Carolina. The name of the river roughly translates into "land of the noonday sun," because the river's down in a valley between steep mountain ridges, so you don't get much daylight.
The Great Smoky Mountain Railway: Black steam locomotive 764 emerges through drifting steam on a wooded railway track, its brass bell, flags, and red-and-blue emblems visible.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Mitch and I went to the Greensboro comic convention for a few hours today. SO MANY COMICS. And some writers were there, selling books. Highlight of his day was meeting actor Khary Payton from "Walking Dead" (he played Ezekiel). It was a fun time.
The "Walking Dead" actors on a panel at the Big Lick Comic Con -- Abraham, Annoying Negan Guy, CARL, and Ezekiel, with moderator.A shot of all the vendors at the comic convention.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Just wrote a bunch of words on a new story after almost two months of no new words (tons of copy-edits and website work, plus the craziness of my first Kickstarter). It took a while to get going, but it was NICE to write again. Also, I rolled over 100k words this week!
A progress bar shows 101,200 out of 180,000 words completed (56% done) for a word count goal. The bar is over halfway filled in blue.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
From last night, a double rainbow! Looks like the pot of gold should’ve been in our chicken coop. But I checked, and gold was NOT what I found…
A double rainbow shines over our farm, appearing to end right at our chicken coop. A Friesian looks on, unimpressed.More of those double rainbows. They were too big to fit all in one photo.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This ought to be a great collection -- his story at @brownhoundpress.bsky.social this year was great.
Cover of the collection Sarcophagus by R. Hunter Whitworth, featuring a red cliff over a blue ocean, done up in a sparse style reminiscent of 1970s book covers.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Cover to "Coal Ash and Sparrows" - a lost Contagious Magic story by Michael Jasper. Features a close-up of a sparrow on a fence.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Earth and sun and moon.
Sunset over Boone, NC
Full moon from last night, with some random clouds.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
We had a wedding at our farm yesterday! The daughter of our good friends wanted to get hitched at our place, so we let them use our field and our lawn to set up tents, chairs, an arbor, a mobile bar (woo!), a "Plush Flush" (fancy port-a-potty), and a dance floor. What a day...
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Installing this new light on our barn/tack room yesterday took WAY longer than it should have, because the "generic" instructions were horrible (if you can call an exploded diagram of the parts and a table telling you which wire to connect where "instructions"). But I made it work, dammit!
The ugly old bare bulb for our small barn, before I got a hold of it.The lovely retro-looking light fixture that took the place of the ugly old bulb, on our small barn.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Not a bad way to close out the day last night… #farmlife
Sunset at our farm, the sun lighting up the clouds and during them orangeCloseup of the orange sunset over the mountains.Sunlight through the clouds over the mountains.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
A quiet late-Friday afternoon, sitting in the rocker at the farm. (Posting a little late, but better than not at all!)
A view from our front "porch" (a slab of cement with two chairs) looking at our horse barn and the town of Boone, NC beyond that, with mountains and clouds above.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Looks like I'm gonna be busy, working with Brandon on stuff for a while. Talk at ya later! (I mean, dang, at least get the NAME of my book series right when you're phishing and/or spoofing me!)
Fake email from shitty phisher pretending to be author Brandon Sanderson.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Starting… tomorrow!
A hard copy of my novel The Finder, waiting to be re-read and marked up. A pen sits at the ready. The cover page is already marked up!
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Sunset after a busy day of writing fiction, writing tech docs, and then painting a barn. No complaints.
Sunset at our farm, looking west at the town of Boone, NC.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
This is NOT how I wanted to start my day in the farm. Dead mower. Refused to start. Spoiler alert: 3 hours later, I got it to start! Replaced the solenoid starter (attaches to the battery to wake the beast). #farmlifewin
The guts of our riding lawn mower—battery removed, tools everywhere….Another angle of mower guts, with the seat propped up.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
In farm news: we have baby chicks! One of our hens went broody, so we set her up in a coop by herself with fake eggs, then a night later switched out the eggs with a dozen babies. Instant family!
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Put together some short-story covers this past week. I'm happy with them, but I'm totally biased. lol
The cover to "'Sang and Bones", a Finder Team prequel story by Michael Jasper, with the grassy peak of Grandfather mountain at the top, and a close-up of a ginseng plant with big old red berries.Cover to "Augie's Chestnut," a Finder Team short story by Michael Jasper, with a leafy green chestnut (we think and hope) pictured at the top, and the big blade of a chainsaw coming into focus below it in a kind of menacing way.Cover to "Always Find Her," a Finder Team short story by Michael Jasper, with a slew of gray and brown rocks pictured at the top, and an extreme close-up of a charm bracelet with a bigt heart and a key and padlock at the bottom.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
This month's story over at Patreon is tied in with my Current Novel (which is Almost Done). It's is a Bim & Hanky J mystery, from the Finder Team, and it's a great introduction to these two characters as they search for a missing teenager. Check out "Always Find Her" for FREE over at my Patreon!
Cover image for "Always Find Her", feature a tumble of rocks at the top and a close-up of a charm bracelet with a heart and a lock at the bottom. Author is Michael Jasper, and the text at the top says "She was taken, and only Bim and Hank can find her." In the middle, a text box states that this is a Finder Team Story.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
I never meant for this to happen, but I committed sourdough yesterday for the first time….
A bowl of sourdough on my counter…
The finished loaf of sourdough, brown and warm, on a pan next to a sharp bread knife!
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Got a new(ish) story live over at the Patreon! Details here: michaeljasper.net/2026/03/31/n...
Cover to the short story "Ozzy' Gonna Find You a Diamond Ring" -- a Finder Team Prequel Story by Michael Jaser. Features a huge chestnut tree, from the perspective of a small person looking up at it.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Yesterday's downpour turned into bright sunshine, and that lead to this:
A rainbow stretches across the sky, too wide to fit into my phone's camera, just off my side deck and above our driveway. A second rainbow is trying to take shape above it, just because it can.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
The nice thing about blizzard conditions outside is that I have no guilt about being inside all day working on my novel and other busy work on the laptop. In front of the fire... #cuphalffullbutfrozen
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Got a nifty lil chapbook in the mail from Appalachia Book Company. It’s tiny! But looks like a good read.
Chapbook of The Real Satyrs of Mt Airy by Steph Rantz. The book is about as big as an index card… remember those?
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Greetings from the tundra of western North Carolina (5 degrees, windchill of -20 this morning!). The horses were not pleased…
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Barn cats, doing what barn cats do best (might have to zoom in a bit…). #farmlife
Two cats one critter.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
So nice living in a college town!
A sign next to a restroom at a local bar in Boone, NC, with a mermaid on one side and a centaur on the other, with the word “Whatever” and “Just wash your hands” under it.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Baby steps in the new year...!
My trusty word-o-meter, showing just 7300 words so far, out of a goal of 180000 for the year. 4% there!
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
Rolled over the 100k mark for new words written this year! It's been a long time since I wrote this much (I had a 5+ year hiatus from about mid-2018 to early 2024). So excuse me while I brag on myself! :)
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Snow day!!
A snowy field with a horse off to the side in a winter jacket.A dog splooting in the snow.More horses in the snow…A snowy tree.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
I'll save ya a click:
Cover art for the short story by Michael Jasper entitled "Two Favors for the Man", a Finder Team prequel story. A foggy image of the metal Mile High Bridge at Grandfather Mountain is at the top, with an image of a black guitar at the bottom. Text at the top states: "Music on the mountain might never be the same..."
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
My 18-y.o. picked up @stephenking.bsky.social's THE STAND a month ago (at an actual BOOK store), and he's tearing through it as fast as he can. It's been a blast reliving the end of the world with him. Bonus: we get to watch the still-pretty-awesome 1994 adaption as soon as he finishes a section!
Cover art for the 1994 mini-series THE STAND, featuring a big image of Gary Sinise as Stu and Molly Ringwald as Franny, with smaller images of some of the other cast, on top of an image of a desert and mountains. It's still pretty awesome!
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
That said, I'm nerdily happy with how the covers in two of my series looked lined up on my website home page. Especially two of them... :)
Six covers from the home page of Michael Jasper's website for two of his novel series, the Finder Team and the Family Pack series. The last two covers create a full moon when they're next to each other. Because why not?
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Today’s yield, including a new blue one! (Plus a cute lil barn cat):
A handful of chicken eggs of all sizes, broken, green, and blue. Plus a little black barn cat in the background.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
The chickens do not live the early snow this season… 17 degrees here in the NC mountains this morning!
Half of dozen chickens roost on a wheelbarrow in a snowy barn, safe from the wind.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Forgot to post this from last week -- there's snow up there on Grandfather Mountain! We didn't get any where we are, but that stuff is on its WAY. Supposed to be a cold-ass, snowy winter here in western North Cackalacky. We'll see...
An amateur photo taken from the passenger seat of a car of Grandfather Mountain covered in clouds, with a dusting of early winter snow. A sign for a "Gold and Ladieswear" store on the sire of the road reads "We're Open! You Don't Know What We Got Unless You Come In." True.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
The new barn cats on the farm have been busy training everyone and showing folks who’s the boss….
A gray cats peeks his head through a taped-open cat door while a black cat rests in her cat crate. Both wait for more food. Photo by Philip Holman.A tiny black cat faces off against a huge black Friesian horse. The cat is not afraid. Photo by Philip Holman.Two barn cats stare patiently at the humans inside the warm house.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Current read: Chuck Wendig's THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS. My first book by him. The writing is top-notch, very visceral and sharp, but still somehow humorous and smart. But man, the book is dark. Like one of those nightmarish horror movies that makes your skin crawl, but you can't stop watching...
Book cover for A STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS by Chuck Wendig. In a sickly yellow forest, a spiral staircase stands alone, leading up into nowhere.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
Mitch and I hung out at a B&N in Charlotte yesterday--I worked on my novel and he browsed and got sucked into Stephen King's THE STAND. Mission accomplished. #bookstores
A teenager with earbuds and a squeezable pint-size dinosaur sits at a table in the Barnes & Noble cafe and devours The Stand by Stephen King.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
First fire of the season, October 24, 2025:
Our stone fireplace with an orange fire just getting started inside.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Scenes from the farm, mid-October version…
Clifford the dog gets nose to nose with little Willow the cat. The cat is not afraid.One of the horses we are boarding broke through a temporary fence and got it stuck on her snout. The other horses look on, confused.Willow the cat hangs out in the grass, surrounded by a bunch of chickens, peacefully.Clifford the dog looks into a car, very very curious.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Went to the Boone, NC, No Kings yesterday, with my friend Lynette (a journalism prof). The crowd of about 600 folks got a ton of supportive honks and waves. Just a few middle fingers and shouters — it’s amazing (and kinda sad) how mad MAGA folk are… #NoKingsBoone
Lynette in a bear costume holding a No Kings sign, and me in my yellow shirt, just glad to be ther.The crowd lining Blowing Rock Road in Boine NC.More shots of the No Kings crowd in Boone NC.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
#NoKingsBoone
A sign from today's No King protest in Boone, NC, that states: "America: Rejecting Kings Since 1776". Nice handwriting, me!
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
I recently helped my artist friend and painter Jack Hamrick update his website, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Please go take a look, and see if there's any of his art you might need for your wall: www.jackhamrickart.com (Sorry, you can't have this one, which was a gift for my wife!)
Impressionistic painting of a Friesian in front of a colorful background.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Just got this beautiful book dropped on my front porch: Red Light Properties: Unfinished Business by Dan Goldman. Even the packaging was top-notch.
The boxes for Red Light Properties: Unfinished Business by Dan Goldman.The hardcover of Red Light Properties: Unfinished Business by Dan Goldman. Even the packaging was top-notch.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Time for baby chicks! We got 15 of 'em this week (after the neighbor's dogs got loose and killed 9 of our full-grown chickens, including our rooster). Circle of life and all that, I guess...
Half a dozen day-old baby chicks in our coop outside.More baby chicks, huddled together in the coop under the heat lamp, with food and water nearby, plus a feather duster to make them think Mama Hen is here...
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
I’ve been working on an “All-time Favorites” playlist (I should call it a mix tape) of my fave songs — the only rule is just 1 song per artist. This is harder than I thought. But it’s so nice to just hit Shuffle on this bad boy… 93 songs and counting. (I have it sorted by Release Date)
Screenshot of the last few songs in my Apple Music playlist of my favorite songs of all freaking time. Currently at 93 songs, 6 hours, 53 minutes.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
I'm this old:
Screenshot of a classic text game with the key text being:

West of House
You are standing in an open field west
of a white house, with a boarded front
door.
There is a small mailbox here.
>_
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Brought the grill out of hibernation now that the temps are in the upper 50s. We got some steak, some turkey burgers, a pair of veggie burgers, and some Writer’s Tears Irish whiskey on the side. Woo! #springsprung
A grill with various types of meet getting cooked, plus all the stuff next to it to make it all taste good. Including a glass of whiskey.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Another great photo of the farm from my friend Philip. I do t know how he does this with just an iPhone….
Two horses in their winter coats stand next to each other in a shadowy field of yellow grass.
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Mike Jasper @michaeljasper.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Woke to ice on everything. Including Zoe…
Dozens of icicles on a wooden structure, with a foggy background.Our black Friesian horse Zoe with her winter blanket on and a second mane of ice hanging down as she eats hay for breakfast.
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