Thank you to everyone kind enough to request The Wolf of Oren-yaro ARCs! (And an extra layer of apologies to the people I somehow missed because *kicks website several times, and then once more for good measure*). I am now closing the window for physical copies because monies for postage, I is running out.
The first set of ARCs are on their way, and I have a new order coming in. I’ll mail out the rest once I receive that.
And now, even though I’m technically on “vacation” mode, I’m already thinking about the 2nd draft of The Ikessar Falcon, along with the unannounced WIP which I am going to start working on in October. I’ve also been rambling like a madwoman on story mechanics and structure and whatnot, stuff I really don’t understand myself but which I try to, every day since I first started this.
My writing is this endlessly evolving thing, a puzzle I keep trying to solve but which I know I never will.
Last night, I got to thinking about my approach to The Agartes Epilogues, and the stuff I tried to do with that trilogy…what worked, what failed. Too ambitious, some have called it. And yeah, it may have been. Too much, certainly, for a young writer to really know what to do with.
But I tried. God knows, I tried. I bashed my head over and over again into that brick wall until I somehow managed a semblance of a story. Eight years to complete Jaeth’s Eye. Two years for Aina’s Breath. A year for Sapphire’s Flight.
You learn a lot, going on a journey like this. Most involved me looking honestly inside of myself–what I’m trying to accomplish with this, why I write at all. And I learned lessons only the hard stories can ever teach you, tear off pieces of my soul into something remotely entertaining (or at least a punching bag for somebody else’s ego). Tortured artist, yadda yadda. No one wants to hear it. So I write. It takes the edge off. My anti-drug, ever and always.
I also learned to let go.
There’s…five other series, on top of the one I’m releasing for most of next year, on my roster. Yes, five serieses, not novels. I told you I was crazy. Some will consist of fun, standalone books, which I’m going to try to write more of to make sure I’m not drowning in epics all the time. And none of this makes sense to me except maybe moving forward, writing the next book, the next series, the next adventure. I don’t want to get stuck in a rut like before.
I guess I really don’t want to solve the puzzle at all.
