🌾🗡Meet A New Character! September Updates
- AiTommy
- Sep 17
- 3 min read
Hi guys! It's me, AiTommy✨️
I realized that every month I send out email updates that include not just shop news, but also behind-the-scenes stories, funny bits, and project updates. Once those emails go out, only subscribers can see them… which feels like such a shame!
So I decided to start turning my monthly emails into blog posts as well, so everyone can catch up. Let’s jump into September’s updates!
🛒 Shop & Shipping News
If you live outside the USA, you can skip this part! But for those of you in the States, there’s some important news.
As of August 30th, the Japan Postal Service stopped accepting merchant shipments to the USA until further notice, due to new tariff rules. Unfortunately, this means I can’t send out U.S. orders right now 😭
It’s a tough change for small businesses like mine, but I’m grateful we had a big shop sale right before this started. 🫶
I’m really hoping the regulations will be adjusted soon. Maybe small orders under $150 will become tax-free... I think it's reasonable for the U.S. government idk...
If that happens, I’ll definitely celebrate with another big sale, so please stay tuned!
📖 Novel Progress: The Princess and the Blade
The new US tariff situation even motivated me to work on my novel project!
Because once I put this project on Amazon or other bookstores, people around the world just go there and buy it, without worrying about import tax or VAT. This is a huge advantage.
So, about my original novel project, The Princess and the Blade.
I had received all the feedback from my beta readers, reread my script, and made some adjustments to the characters and storyline. Now I believe there is one single storyline that people can follow more easily, making the spring festival plot more relevant and the characters’ growth more straightforward.
Now I think my manuscript is ready. I’ll be working with a copy/line editor later this month (so excited about this 🥰)!!
In the meantime, I’ve updated the self-edited version on my website with a brand new chapter and some new characters.
If you’re one of my beta readers, thank you!! Your insights mean so much. 🙏
✨ Meet Francis
Francis is the son of an earl from the Kingdom of Peridotia. You can find him in Chapter 3 (and in later, still-unpublished chapters).
His name has a funny backstory. So, I decided to add a new trainee clerk character to the story and tried to figure out his name.
Then I remembered that I had been receiving spammy sponsorship emails from some AI company or whatever it is, and the sender's name was always Francis. I blocked the email, but another one popped up from a different email address, still the same name, Francis. So, I thought, why not use "Francis" for this character?🤣💕
Don’t worry, my Francis is annoying in a different way. He’s charming, a little arrogant, and has plenty of room to grow. In Chapter 3, he doesn’t get much spotlight, but you’ll see more of his personality in later chapters!
Oh, and I added a new chapter as well. I absolutely loved writing the scenes of Charlotte, Hoche, and Jack exploring the capital of Peridotia, and I hope you’ll enjoy seeing the city through their eyes too!(and some sweet/funny moments between them🗡🌾🥰)
📅 Publishing Plans
I’m aiming to publish Book 1 of The Princess and the Blade on March 1, 2026. It's the perfect time since it’s a story about spring and new beginnings🌷✨
I still have 5 months to prepare this launch, so I think I have enough time to hype up and help spread this story around.
The paperback will include illustrations, maps, and maybe even a playlist.
The ebook will be simpler but available through Kindle Unlimited as well as a cheaper purchase option.
⚠️ Please note: once the novel is published, I’ll likely archive most of the free chapters from my website (probably keeping only the prologue and chapter 4). So if you want to read them for free, now’s the time!
Thank you so much for reading and supporting my work. Your encouragement keeps me moving forward, and I can’t wait to share more of this story with you. 💖
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