Dragon Metal News: It's 2026 Now

Hey you! I wrote a thing, read it. 

First off, a few Dragon Metal news items. Fitting, as this is the Dragon Metal monthly newsletter or whatever. 

1. Book 4: I finally finished content edits to Book 4: Demons of Dark Metal! It only took 13 months. Oye. I blame my broken shoulder last year, that pretty much stopped my writing for several months. Anyway, Book 4 is about 115K words at the moment but still needs copy editing. My copy editor can’t start until April, but I should still be able to meet my planned release date of Black Friday 2026!

2. Dragon Metal Origins and Substack: Okay, so…I originally planned to release a series of e-novellas with backstories of supporting characters. I got one of those done, Dragon Metal Origins: A Brother’s Fire, and that’s it. I actually have several smaller ones written, though, so…here is my new plan. 

   
   

   I am going to post short stories and such under the Hidden Track on my website dragon-metal.com and on my new Hidden Track substack: thejmichaelwhite.substack.com 

What’s the difference between Hidden Track on the website vs. Hidden Track on substack? Nothing, I’ll put the same stuff on each. There might be a lag on substack at first, as I am still getting it set up and have some old content to copy over from the website. 

(Oh, and for email notifications, one will come for each post on substack, whereas with the website, you will just get one monthly email with a roundup of new stuff and etcetera). 

(Oh, second oh, there is technically a paid tier for substack, but I don’t have any paid-only content yet, only the free stuff, and I may just keep it that way). 

What this means for Dragon Metal Origins-- Once I have a few short stories and novellas and such out online, I’ll publish e-book and paperback collected editions with those stories. 

Expect new short stories and other stuff on the Hidden Track under these subheadings: 

• Dragon Metal News: For news. About Dragon Metal. 

• Character Issues: Character bios. 

• Metal Myth: Lore drops, glossary entries.  

• Storytime: Short stories, vignettes, and novellas.

• Extra Metal: Extra stuff like character playlists, deleted scenes, early sneak previews, etcetera.

• Random Shenanigans: Random rambling about comics, books, TV shows that have nothing to do with Dragon Metal. Probably cat pictures or something.

3. Visual branding and such: My new cover for Dragon Metal Book 1 is available now on Amazon, with the revised cover for Book 2 in progress (to be followed by Book 3, and Book 4, because that is how numbers work). Books 1 through 3 will all have new covers by the time Book 4 comes out in November. I’ll have a bunch of fancy illustrations to share via the Hidden Track in the meantime. I’ve also made some small adjustments to the website, please take a look if you need something to do while procrastinating about that thing you are putting off that you should totally be doing right now. 

   
   

   Look, a new logo:

Wow, that was too much news, and let’s be honest, I am probably just talking to myself at this point. 

Let’s move on to Other Stuff - More Stuff!

What I’m watching: This is my spoiler-free review of the Stranger Things series finale: 

Oh my god oh my god oh my god! That one part with the thing! That thing, with the stuff, and how it did that other thing! And that character, the one with the character traits, and the struggles they overcame! And the resolution to the plot!

…

Okay, you caught me, I haven’t actually seen the finale yet. I am writing this newsletter a few days before it is posted, and the finale isn’t out yet. I will either see it on Netflix or in theaters. I have tickets, but the theater is sold out and that will be A LOT of people so I may just stay home and order movie theater popcorn delivery via Doordash. 

 What I’m reading: I have made a super important decision that definitely impacts you, the reader. I am going to stop buying single issue comic books, and instead, just buy collected editions. Otherwise I will go bankrupt. This way, I will only go broke, not fully bankrupt. 

This is important news and significantly impacts your life. 

Oh, I will still subscribe to DC Universe Infinite to read individual issues digitally, because I am a responsible adult. 

What I’m gaming: Still nothing. I bought the Diablo 4 expansion and played as a Paladin for a few minutes, but that’s about it. Not saying it wasn’t fun, but my attention span doesn’t seem to support games at the moment. 

What I’m Eating: Holidays are over so I need to stop with sweets. I have ONE box of white chocolate oreos to finish first, though. They will be gone in one sitting. 

What else?

Ummm…

I don’t know, man, I’m tired. 

Let’s call it a day. 

End blog.