Hello everybody. The world is a tire fire right now, and
what I’m up to, writing-wise, is rightfully way, way down anybody’s list
of concerns. But a few people have checked in, and so I thought it a good idea
to give y’all an update.
I’ve got several book in the works – most writers I know
like to work on one thing at a time, because most writers I know are smarter
than me. Or more normal. Or something. But I am me, and writing me has lots of
ideas and a short attention span. So I’ll just give you a rundown of those
books that have an actual word count attached to them, and then an estimate of
how long I think they’ll be, which’ll give us a good idea of how close they are
to being done. They’ll still need editing and such, mind.
Amra Thetys Book 6 (no title yet): around 9,600 words
out of an estimated 75,000 (around 12%). After having to re-write book 5 five
freaking times to get it to where it didn’t suck, I’m being cautious with
Amra and Holgren’s sixth outing. Of course I can’t say much, but I can promise
you that in this book, they’ll spend approximately 99.9% of their time in close
proximity to each other, rather than apart.
Armor of Faith (The Skin Walker War, Book 3): 29,000
words out of an estimated 75,000 (around 38%). The two previous books in this
series clocked in at roughly 50,000 words each. Book 3 will be heftier, because
there are lots of characters and lots of stuff going on. For better or worse, I’m
still trying to do epic fantasy at a sword & sorcery scale, so no lavish descriptions
of feasts and such. This is the book that will likely be finished first this
year.
Blood in the Cut (Amra Thetys spin-off): 11,000 words
out of an estimated 80,000 (around 13%). Amra’s childhood friend Theiner is still
a crime lord in Bellarius, which is still royally screwed up. But like
Littlefinger said in that show that had a disappointing ending, chaos is a
ladder. And Theiner, or rather Moc Mien, is very good at climbing. This is my
Peaky Blinders with magic book. It will almost certainly be a standalone.
Evil Overlord: The Makening: The first book of a planned
trilogy. 50,000 words of an estimated 80,000 (around 62%). It’s comedy, and/or
satire, following the boy who eventually becomes Gar the Pitiless, Evil
Overlord beyond compare. It’s very sweary, and there aren’t really any good guys.
It’s the closest to being completed, but I’ve put it on pause because the state
of the world is such that lately I’ve had a hard time finding the funny in terrible
events. If I can get the black comedy mojo back, it will get finished pretty
quick.
Jessep’s Day Out: You may remember Jessep, the
long-suffering acolyte of Lhiewyn, high priest of Lagna. He’s appeared in the
Amra books, and of course in The Last God. I, uh, I decided to make him
the star of a choose your own adventure style book. It’s 80% plotted (gods,
what a tangled nightmare) and has maybe around two thousand words written. But it’s like
writing three books in one, and keeping everything straight is quite involved,
so I try to only work on it when my brain is not mush. Anyway, I hope folks
will enjoy the humor when all is said and done.
Tomb 2: Folks have been asking for the next
book, which I am very pleased about. I’ve basically just finished plotting it
out, but have not yet gotten into the first draft. As soon as either Armor
of Faith or Evil Overlord 1 are finished, I will begin the draft. I’m
really looking forward to telling the Concubine’s story.
So there you have it. That’s what I’ve got going on in the
writing realm. I’ll be honest with you, though – I wrote very little in April
and only just returned to something like normal the second week of May.
Covid-19 has upended the world, and anxiety and worry over the state of things
put a harsh damper on my creativity for a time.
I’m finding my way back. I hope to have something new to
offer you in about three months or so. In the meantime, please stay safe. Be like Gran from the Croods.
