Announcing... New Ian Mac Roy Story! And Other Updates...
Hint: I'm writing again, and it's a good thing.
Happy Tuesday, threes of fans! I hope you all had a lovely Memorial Day weekend. Ours was quiet, but I was okay with that. We have had so many trips and events these last several weeks that a quiet weekend was welcome.
I am coming to you this week with some announcements and updates that I have been eager to make for some time, so let's get right to it.
A New Ian Mac Roy Story!
I am so happy to announce--FINALLY--a release date for my second Ian Mac Roy novella: The Heart of the Goddess: An Ian Mac Roy Adventure. Here's the cover, designed by the fabulous Robyn Hodgdon:
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, acts of God, zombie apocalypses (apocalypsi?), pandemics, or the collapse of the government and all civilization, I intend to release the full novella in e-book on June 27, 2023. As usual, the e-book will be available on Amazon, Smashwords, and all distribution channels that Smashwords will send it to. Watch for more details on pricing and ordering.
For those who don't want to pay for it, I'll be publishing it as a serial story on my Substack starting on July 7. So you have options--you can pay for it and read the whole thing at once, or you can get it FREE one week at a time every Friday starting on July 7.
I'm so excited to finally be done with this story. I started this one shortly after finishing the first adventure years ago, but then it just sat on my hard drive for...ever. I probably drafted the first chapter back in 2012 or so, just before I went dark. I wasn't even sure what it would be about. I'm trying to get over the whole self-recrimination thing, so I won't bemoan the passage of time any more than to just say that life got in the way A LOT. BUT--it's finally nearly done, and I hope you all like it.
My plans for Ian continue to evolve, but since he showed up in Bloodbonded, I know I have a limited amount of time to send him on adventures before he has to go help his sister out. I have one more in mind for him before the events of Ravenmarked, and I am hoping to get that one finished by the end of this year. HOWEVER--that depends a great deal on what happens with Soultainted...
Restarting Work on Soultainted
I am incredibly happy to say that I have restarted work on book four of The Taurin Chronicles: Soultainted.
I do have something of a rough draft that I'm working from, but it's quite a mess, so the jury is still out on whether I'll stick to it or if I will start (nearly) from scratch. I drafted this book a good while back, and a lot has changed in the story since then. However, I think that, after wrangling Unquickened into something of a coherent novel, and having that one still fairly fresh in my head, I do have a better picture of where this fourth book will go. My goal is to finish a readable draft by the end of the year--something I can send to beta readers and an editor. I don't think this goal is impossible, but it will require me to actually work on the freaking thing.
I don't have a cover, formal release dates, description, or any other details for Soultainted yet, but I can tell you that this one will focus largely on Logan Mac Kendrick and his past. The thing about Logan is that he has a lot of past to deal with; he's been alive a very long time, and he has both his memories and the memories of the body he inhabits to deal with. This fact presents me with two opportunities. First, I get to explore the redemptive arc of someone who genuinely believes that he is irredeemable because of his long history of bad behavior. Second, these fragments of his memories can help fill in a lot of knowledge gaps about the history of Taura and why the world is the way it is.
The hope for this book is to publish it sometime in the middle of 2024. Again, all disclaimers about the end of the world apply, which may be entirely appropriate for an election year.
The New Approach
This year has not gone exactly as I expected or hoped it would so far, but oddly, I'm not too sad about that. Maybe I'm just coming to accept that this is life, and we don't have nearly the level of control we think we do.
In any case, I intended to refocus on my commercial writing this year and try to build up my client base and income, and so far... Well, all I've really managed is a new website. Part of the problem is the aforementioned busy season of travel and such, but also, I'm sort of rediscovering fiction, and I have to say... I'm not too sad about that.
Right now, I have one regular client that provides me with a decent part-time level of work, and I may have a couple of occasional clients with projects here and there through the rest of the year, and honestly, that's enough. It covers the expenses of publishing new fiction, gives us a little room to help our younger son with his college expenses, and allows me to put a bit of money in retirement.
As for fiction, my current approach is to sort of alternate between two projects. Right now, that means drafting the second Ian story and editing/rewriting Soultainted at the same time. As soon as the second Ian story is done, I'll alternate between drafting the third one and editing Soultainted. I think I may need to have two projects going at once, because when I'm stuck on one, I have options without feeling like I can't do anything. Interestingly, Rick Rubin suggests this approach in The Creative Act.
Is it possible that I'm finally achieving some level of balance with all this writing nonsense?
Balance or no, for the moment, I'm writing again, and I guess that's a good thing.
Next week, I'm going to delve a little more into Rule #2: Move Every Day from my Ten Rules for 2023. I have some thoughts about what this looks like as I head into my mid-50s and beyond.
See you next week!