Greetings all! You may have noticed there has not been a lot of social media engagement, marketing, or writing updates on my part. I apologize and want to give two updates: One on why the delay and another on my plans going forward.
In regards to the former, life has been extremely busy for me. I am currently working two part-time jobs, averaging at a 50-60 hour work week between them. Each are exhausting and fulfilling in their own ways. Unfortunately, I am not left with a lot of energy at the end of the day for writing. Over the course of this year, I plan on transitioning into a single full-time job. Since the job I am transitioning to is with a campus ministry, it requires a lot of fundraising on my part. So I have pushing to get fully funded before offboarding from my other job. I am not going into too many details here as I try to keep that religious sphere separate from this storytelling one. Purely for legal reasons, not that I don't enjoy talking about religion with anybody and everybody. Regardless, I won't say any more on that unless you directly message me.
Additionally, my family has grown and shrank over the last year. My firstborn was born May 2022 and I am experiencing the joys of fatherhood. Working as much as I do, I try to be present with my family when home. I do not want to be a father who doesn't spend time with his kids and never sees them grow up. Thus, I try to be involved in her development as much as I can while providing for the family. It has been awesome seeing her grow a sophisticated taste in music and start dancing well before she was even a year old. A few pets have also died over the year, including a dog we had for fourteen years and my wife's horse.
All that being said, once I fully transition to working a single 40-hour week job, I will jump back into writing. I have been trying to focus my reading on stuff related to my WIPs to keep fresh ideas flowing and build anticipation for the coming series. So, without further adieu, let's jump into the real reason you are reading this: A much needed update on my writing, as well as a series roadmap so y'all can have an idea on what to look forward to.
I have two different series in the works, which will likely be split between instalments. The first is The Immortal, which already has a poorly edited (sorry, about that folks) first book out. The second series is under the working title Tales of the Kamikira. More on that later.
As a series, my goals for The Immortal are twofold. Firstly to tell a multi-century epic tale, showcasing the struggles of immortality, both emotionally and physically. Is being immortal really cool or is it a curse? You have only experienced a small fraction of the pain Benrethor will experience in the first book. He will get plenty of scars and 'mortal' wounds. He will also see a lot of his loved ones die, either violently or simply through aging. Secondly, I want to show just how diverse the Fantasy genre is. Each book will change subgenres while still being fantasy, so not every book will be for everyone. I personally will struggle to write the Romance one as that is the one genre/subgenre I avoid. BUT this creates a unique opportunity as a writer. By playing with this wide variety of subgenres, I get to heavily experiment with genre and force myself to go outside my comfort zone, really honing my craft. This also creates a series that truly has something for everyone, although the series as a whole is not for everyone. With that being said, here is the general outline for The Immortal series in terms of genres and setting:
Book 1: The War to Begin All Wars (Sword and Sorcery/High Fantasy)
Book 2: Along Came a Witch (Horror/Historical Fantasy)
Book 3: Project Black Waters (Treasure Hunt/Historical Fantasy)
Book 4: Project Union (Romance/Historical Fantasy)
Book 5: Project Rage (Mystery/Gothic Fantasy)
Book 6: Project Underworld (Crime Thriller/Urban Fantasy)
Book 7: Project Jiangshi (Wuxia/High Fantasy)
Book 8: Project Blood Moon (Vampire/Supernatural Fiction/Low Fantasy)
Book 9: Project Invisible War (Political Drama/Military Fantasy)
Book 10: Project Rebirth (Political Thriller/Urban Fantasy)
Book 11: Project Caedis (Survival Horror/Urban Fantasy)
Book 12: Project WW3 (Epic Fantasy)
Books 13-15: Ultimate Sandbox! (mix of the above in massive tomes)
As you can, see I have a general idea for each story. As for the nitty-gritty, let me peal back the curtain on some of the writing process. The first thing I start with the concept. In the case of Along Came a Witch, the concept came about through these questions: What if all the craziness going on in Salem distracted the world from a very real witch who is plaguing a small, isolated village? What if there was a witch hunter, who just so happens to be a magic user, hunting her? How would he take this threat down while remaining anonymous, even going so far as to make the very real magic seem fake?
Next I go into the worldbuilding. This is largely location and cultural building. As this second one is historical, this involves researching what the actual frontier was like during the 1690s and what things were like with the local Iroquoian tribe. Namely in WV, because why not make it somewhat local? What are the culture and beliefs of both the colonists and the Iroquois? Part of the worldbuilding also involves the characters. I like to have an idea of their strengths and weakness, both physically and morally before outlining. Wants, needs, and such. This helps me figure out what role they will play in the story and how everyone relates to each other. Then the outlining. I have already outlined and done a large part of the worldbuilding for the series, but my knowledge of writing and genre has grown a lot since I wrote it. So this is my first new step. Rewrite the outline to better reflect the larger narrative as well as the genre of each book.
After this, comes the actual writing of draft one. Write the book. Stick it in a preverbal drawer. Don't look at it for three months. Don't think about it for three months (if you can). Take it out, now critique the crap out of it with fresh eyes. Cry at how bad this first draft is. Pat yourself on the shoulder, because it happens to everyone, then suggest fixes to yourself. Time for draft two. This is where I am currently at with Along Came a Witch. Last I touched it, I was about a quarter of the way through the rewrite, which is when things get super exciting. Because it has been so long, I will have to reread all of my notes and what I have written thus far. I anticipate this taking about a month or two before I resume writing.
Once hands hit keyboard, I expect it to take about six months (at least) before draft 2 is done. Then on to the beta readers. Unfortunately, I need to find these people. This will be done as the draft is coming to a close, just so they can have a good idea of when to expect the advanced copy. Once beta readers have finished, this is where things get expensive. Editing. Unlike The War to Begin All Wars, I will have three different humans edit Along Came a Witch. These will each be different from me (who will hopefully have already edited it) and each doing different levels. One will be a professional copy-editor who will make sure my voice and sentence structure lines up and the next two will be grammatical. Since editing is expensive and you don't make the big bucks in ministry, this might take a while or I'll play around with Kickstarter. While these edits are going on, I will be working on the third novel. Once the edits are done, it is time for all the fun stuff (cover art, ISBNs, formatting, etc.). I will also try to get an audiobook done for both Along Came a Witch and The War to Begin All Wars released simultaneously.
As a bonus, I plan on personally fixing the atrocious grammar mistakes in The War to Begin All Wars and adding in a glossary, since I have been told it would be make it more accessible. This will be released as a second edition simultaneously with Along Came a Witch. I will even have some fun deals and giveaways for a few lucky people. Obviously, this is all largely dependent upon budget, so it could take awhile before this happens. But it will happen, even if it takes ten years. If it does take that long, the rest of the series might already be mostly written, so you won't have to wait nearly as long between releases.
Now, what about The Tales of the Kamikira? Currently, I plan on Tales of the Kamikira being a five-book series. I am still outlining the story, but went ahead and wrote a rough draft of the first book to get the creative juices flowing and immerse myself in the world. I already know the series ending, the overall arcs of the main characters, as well as a series of locations and monsters I want to feature. The outline will be piecing it all together and further developing the side characters. I am excited for Tales of the Kamikira because it will be entirely Eastern. Not only will the setting be Asian inspired, but I want the storytelling to be too. This means playing around with non-western story frames, making this not only feel fresh in setting, but in style. Unless you are already into eastern media, which has some great stuff. Watch anything by director Bong Joon-Ho. It will also be fun making fictional names that sound Japanese/Korean/Chinese and are still able to be written in their traditional scripts (ignore some of the names on the map). Plus Yokai. I am a big fan of fantastical creatures and this will be a fun opportunity to showcase and write about some lesser known monsters. Even the dragons will be a far cry from what we westerners are used to and I am excited for it!
Not only that, but this will be a much more personal story than the Immortal. So I actually get to develop all the side characters across the entire series! That obnoxious buddy? In every book. The woman who can be a love interest, but I want to keep my options open and really develop her as her own character? In every book. The foil? In every book. The Chosen One (not the MC). Every book. That random girl who pops up everywhere, seems to know everyone, and is amazing at random skills? Every book! That insanely skilled fighter, who is longing for a fair rematch with the MC? Every. Book. The moral compass... well, he dies in the second book.
Like The Immortal, Tales of the Kamikira will need to undergo beta readers after the rough draft, then three levels of additional edits before querying. My plan is to have the first Tales of the Kamikira out after the fourth Immortal book. Afterwards, I am still figuring out the exact release schedule. I plan on having smaller, more contained series written throughout The Immortal's publication, just so I am not spamming you with the same world for thirty years (or however long it takes to write).
In short, I have not forgotten my writing nor abandoned these worlds. I am merely taking a break during a busy season of life. Come 2024, my hope is to resume full-force and have Along Came a Witch out to you in late 2025 or early 2026. I know it's a long wait, but I will make it worth it for you. Thanks for sticking through this with me!
Comments