Mike Jasper
@michaeljasper
Fiction and technical writer, amateur farmer, avid reader, dad of two, chicken wrangler, indie publisher. He/him. Always working on 5 things at once. New novel THE FINDER coming Sept. '26!
Sunset after a busy day of writing fiction, writing tech docs, and then painting a barn. No complaints.
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
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!
Put together some short-story covers this past week. I'm happy with them, but I'm totally biased. lol
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!
I never meant for this to happen, but I committed sourdough yesterday for the first time….
Got a new(ish) story live over at the Patreon! Details here: michaeljasper.net/2026/03/31/n...
Yesterday's downpour turned into bright sunshine, and that lead to this:
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
Got a nifty lil chapbook in the mail from Appalachia Book Company. It’s tiny! But looks like a good read.
Greetings from the tundra of western North Carolina (5 degrees, windchill of -20 this morning!). The horses were not pleased…
Barn cats, doing what barn cats do best (might have to zoom in a bit…). #farmlife
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! :)
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!
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... :)
Today’s yield, including a new blue one! (Plus a cute lil barn cat):
The chickens do not live the early snow this season… 17 degrees here in the NC mountains this morning!
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...
The new barn cats on the farm have been busy training everyone and showing folks who’s the boss….
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...
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
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
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!)