After a flurry of publication in 2022-23, 2024 was… not so busy. I was in a serious writing slump for most of the first half of the year, but things picked up the last few months.
I started the year having just finished the first draft of Wolf Chosen(which didn’t even have a title at that point!). I worked hard on edits and rewrites to prepare for its launch in May.
I spent all of the rest of the year tinkering with Chroma, the final book of the Dragontek Lore series. But I wasn’t getting very far.
Finally, as I’ve detailed in previous newsletters, I took a writing retreat in September. After that, I was able to focus much better. I completed Chroma and made plans for the next two books.
I’ve done the edits and revisions to Chroma since then, and it’s ready to go now (more on that in the next section). At the same time, I started writing the third (and final) book in The Certainty of Blood. I’m about 20% through the first draft right now. I took off a few days during the Christmas break, but I’m back to it now.
My record words in a year came back in 2021 with over 500,000 written. I haven’t gotten near that since. In 2022, I was on track for 300,000, but injured my hand in October. For the past two years, I’ve only written around 120,000. That’s enough to keep things going, especially since I built up such a backlog in 2021-22. But it’s not enough to meet my own standards. Which leads us to 2025…
First up is the long-awaited publication of Chroma. Unfortunately, I can’t say the exact date it’s arriving now. As you know, I postponed it to January 14, but… I don’t have a cover. I’m experiencing communication problems with my cover artist. But as soon as that’s resolved, I can schedule everything for sure. The book itself is ready to go.
I’m aiming for at least 250,000 words written this year, and hoping for more like 300,000. Here’s how that will break down:
I still have about 100,000 words left to go in the current book (The Certainty of Blood, book 3). My target publication for this one is early June.
After that, I’ll be working on a… somewhat secret project (though if you’ve been following me online, you might have discovered it). That book will be at least 100,000, and I’m hoping to have it published by October.
I’m currently undecided on which book I’ll be working on after that, but there are multiple possibilities. Whatever it ends up being, I should be able to easily write 50-100,000 words of it before the end of the year.
I say all this with no knowledge of what else might happen, of course. Things can and do change, as is evidenced by the past couple of years.
A nine-year journey has come to an end.
In November 2016, I took on the NaNoWriMo challenge and wrote the first draft of what would become Viridia, book one of the Dragontek Lore series.
Today, I wrote “The End” on the seventh and final book, Chroma.
What a journey it’s been. I’m a little emotionally wrecked right now, but I’ll have a lot more to say in next week’s newsletter. Thank you to all who have joined me along the way!
There’s still a lot of editing and revising to do on this final book, but you should see it very soon!
“The whole world’s gone mad, my son.” – King Durin III in The Rings of Power
Sometimes, it really feels that way. We look around the world and see political turmoil, wars, natural disasters, and clashes of cultures. Yet in times like this, a show like The Rings of Power helps remind us of better things and point us toward greater truths.
Themes of faith, hope, and love suffuse the show, revealing themselves through aspects of forgiveness and mercy, grace and redemption, light against darkness, good versus evil. This stands in stark contrast to so many other popular shows right now, shows that revel in nihilism and cruelty. So many seem obsessed with showing us descents into darkness without giving us any hope that anything can be different.
The Rings of Power chose differently. Before its debut, rumors spread everywhere about how dark it was going to be, and how it was going to be filled with that same kind of nihilism that other shows trumpet. But instead, it gave us a show full of values that haven’t been celebrated on television in decades.
Season one of the show set the stage, establishing the world and introducing the characters. In some cases, they were younger versions of characters audiences knew from The Lord of the Rings. In one particular case, Sauron, it was a wildly different aspect than people were used to. And then there were new characters and places as well. Season one set all this up, so that season two could explode. Season one walked, so that season two could soar.
If we hadn’t spent the time to get to know these characters, would we have cared so much about what happened to them in the second season? If we hadn’t seen Prince Durin’s relationship with his father in the first season, would we care so much when the son watches his father corrupted by one of the seven dwarf rings? If we hadn’t learned how Celebrimbor desired to create something glorious in season one, would we have truly understood the temptation he faces when Sauron (Annatar) goads him toward creating the rings? And if we hadn’t seen the powerful friendship established between Elrond and Durin, would that one scene have been as gut-wrenching?
Most importantly, would the moments of hope and redemption have hit as hard if we hadn’t seen what came before? Would Celebrimbor’s speech to Galadriel about “strength” have worked if we hadn’t seen her spending most of season one trying to succeed in her own strength?
There is nothing else like this on television right now, and there hasn’t been in ages. If you’ve avoided it because of the perpetual outrage generators on YouTube and other sites, give it another chance. Watch it without any preconceptions. Let the beauty of Middle-Earth wash over you (seriously, almost every moment of the show is spectacular). Invest yourself in these characters. Weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice. It will be well worth your time.
The Certainty of Blood is on sale for $.99 this week only! If you haven’t gotten a chance to read this one, now is the time!
I love exploring the natural world, hiking or biking. Unfortunately, I rarely get the chance to do so, since I live in a large suburb next door to the fourth-largest city in the country. Also, it’s the Gulf Coast, so it’s flat.
Last week, I took a solo retreat in the Texas Hill Country. My cousin let me stay in a log cabin on her property. That in itself was glorious. Every evening, I could watch spectacular sunsets over the hills. And a couple of hours later, I could look up and see the Milky Way and so many, many stars.
But it gets better. I was staying a short drive away from a State Park, and a State Natural Area, both of which have extensive trails. I went on a nice bike ride at one of them, and a fantastic hike at the other.
My primary goal for this retreat was to jump-start my writing. It has not been going well for the past year. In fact, it’s dropped off 80% from my highest output.
I’m happy to report that part of the retreat was a great success. I started the week with a set of tiered goals. Tier 1 goals were a challenge, Tier 2 goals were difficult, and Tier 3 goals were highly unlikely, but I added them to the list anyway.
For the book I’m currently working on, Chroma, the final volume of the Dragontek Lore series, I solidified the outline and wrote over 10,000 words in five days. I made contact with my cover artist, and we are now firmly on track to launch this book in December.
The next book I plan on writing is the third book in The Certainty of Blood trilogy. I’ve been struggling with the basic plot line in my head for months. Over this week, I was able to sketch out a solid (but very rough) outline. I’m excited about developing it further as soon as I’m done with Chroma. The current target launch date is June 3, 2025.
In fact, I wrote down a full writing/editing/publishing plan for the next two and a half years. I even wrote a rough outline and character list for the novel coming after the two listed above. All in all, I achieved all of my Tier 1 goals, and two out of three of my Tier 2 goals.
Writing = Jumpstarted
Hey everyone. This week, I’m out in the far reaches of the Texas Hill Country on a personal retreat. I’m focusing on my writing. I hope to make significant progress on Chroma, plot out the third and final Certainty of Blood book, and generally plan out my writing for the next couple of years. Stay tuned!
At any given time, I have 6-10 story ideas bouncing around in my head. Usually, when a new one pops up, I make a note on my phone, including all the details I’ve just thought of, and maybe even some ideas about the opening scene, etc. Then I put that note in a folder and try to ignore it until it’s time to start thinking about a new book.
These ideas come from everywhere. Sometimes, they just pop into my head. Sometimes, it’s a small piece of a half-remembered dream. Sometimes, it’s a few words I see online somewhere. Or an image. Or even a sign on the road. Anything can spark ideas.
Right now, the brainstorms are even more… intense. Not because of the number of ideas, but because three of them won’t stop competing for imagination usage.
My primary focus right now is (or at least should be) writing the final Dragontek Lore book, Chroma. After the hurricane, I’m starting (hopefully) to get back into the rhythm of writing every day. I know where Beryl (the character, not the hurricane) needs to go; I just need to get it down.
At the same time, ideas are swirling about the third and final book of The Certainty of Blood. I may have to stop at some point here and write the opening scene, just because it won’t go away from my brain.
Finally, a new idea popped up a few days ago, sparked by a comment on Facebook. Someone said they’d love to see a story like this, and now I can’t stop thinking about it. As I said above, I’ve written a note to myself, but.. it’s so much fun, I want to keep thinking about it. But I can’t. Not yet. Next year.
This is the brain of a writer. Combined with walking into a grocery store, meeting a guy I’ve known at church for decades, and being totally unable to remember his name.
Whew! What a weekend! Comicpalooza 2024 was the best ever. Here are a few highlights!
Got a corner booth again. I don’t know how much of a difference it makes, but I enjoy having the space.
Author group photo before the doors open. These are all local authors, except for one honorary local guy from Washington state.
All of the rest of us on the Fantasy Worlds panel listening to Jim Butcher explain how sleep deprivation resulted in a novel series.
Me, Aparna Verma, Gabriela Romero Lacruz, Jim Butcher, and Rose Garcia. (What am I doing here with these big names??)
Empty boxes! I sold out of The Certainty of Blood and sold more books than any con ever. Can’t wait until next year!
Today is the day!
Wolf Chosen, my 12th novel and the sequel to The Certainty of Blood, is now available (in ebook, paperback, or hardback)! Today is a day of celebration. Tomorrow… I have to get cracking on the next book!
I recently recorded an interview with Tricia Copeland of Finding the Magic book Podcast.
You can watch on YouTube here, or listen on Spotify here.
(Wolf Chosen is coming!)