While I realize this title could refer to a number of things, including the current political situation, or the threat Islam poses to the civilized world, today I’m choosing not to talk about last night’s terror attack in Manchester, England (because there’s nothing to say that I and other intelligent people haven’t already said. No, I will be talking here about what is next for me and my writing, which isn’t as simple a matter as it might normally be.
As some who follow me on Twitter might’ve seen, I currently live in Israel, which I moved to last August. That being the case, I am planning to do military service (at age 26, soon to be 27, I technically am exempt from service, though for reasons I may elaborate on in a future post, I am choosing to voluntarily serve.) That service will last a year and a half. This will, of course, impact my writing, as the time available to me will be greatly limited. However, I do not intend to completely drop off the map for that time, as I do expect to have at least some internet access, by which I’ll be able to keep up somewhat of an online presence. But also, thanks in part to spending a few years writing while trying to get published in the traditional manner, I have several writing projects in progress now, which I will briefly elaborate on in order of their progress toward publication readiness.
The first, and furthest along, is the first in a planned 4 book epic fantasy series, titled The Dragon Hand. This book is actually pretty far along, and is nearly through the editing process (working once again with Ben Zwycky, who did a great job on A Greater Duty.) For a time, I intended for this to be my next release, as I had been hoping for an August draft date. However, March/April, it became clear that that was not going to happen, with November being the likely date. That being the case, The Dragon Hand is going to be pushed back to be my released some time around the middle of my army service, likely sometime next summer (summer 2018).
The next book in progress, currently in my final solo revision (awaiting beta readers & professional editing), is a standalone fantasy I wrote last year tentatively titled The Scarred Princess. While, as I said, this is a stand-alone story, it actually takes place on the same world as The Dragon Hand, and in between that book and the second in the series, so it’s in one sense a spin-off, but it does truly stand on its own as well. Given my plans for my Fall release, and it’s tangential relation to The Dragon Hand, I will be aiming to release it at around the end of my service (sometime in the Spring of 2019.)
So, what do I plan to release in the Fall, then? That, dear readers, would be the sequel to A Greater Duty, tentatively titled A Looming Shadow. I am currently most of the way done with the first draft, and the early/middle parts of the book, which will likely need the more revision, have gone through my small writing group, so I’ll have a bit of a head start on revisions. It is a bit ambitious, but I’m putting on the afterburners to get this one ready and out before I start my service, so as to minimize the time in between books of the series. Additionally, if I manage my time well enough and things go well, I will hopefully complete most, if not all, of the necessary world-building (it’ll become clear why that’s needed for the third book in the series) and outline for the series’s third book, which I will launch right into upon the completion of my service, with the goal of releasing it in the fall of 2019.
So, to recap. Expected release dates for my next several books:
A Looming Shadow: October/November, 2017.
The Dragon Hand: July/August 2018.
The Scarred Princess: May/June 2019
Sequel to A Looming Shadow: Fall 2019.
It is an ambitious goal, to get all of these books pretty much ready for release, aside from cover art (which I can more easily correspond about with limited time for online activity), by the hopeful start of my service in November, but I fully believe that I can and will make my deadlines, and have A Looming Shadow ready and out by then. It’s been very fun to write so far, and takes the story in a different direction while still very much being a proper sequel to A Greater Duty.
That’s all for now; I should be getting back to writing, so I can meet my initial deadline of finishing the first draft by sometime in June, getting this likely final round of edits back to my editor, and continuing to revise The Scarred Princess so I can get it out to beta readers soon. (And by the way, if anyone is interested in beta reading, definitely let me know.)
And, of course, be sure to pick up my first book, A Greater Duty, today! I’ll be seeking beta readers for its sequel before too long.
Writing, Ascendant 