Early this year, I wrote a short story which was a better way for me to express what I’ve felt over the last year–the last eighteen months, really–than screaming at people.
I published the rest of my The Agartes Epilogues trilogy in spring, a move which has caused a lot of confusion (as if the series doesn’t do this enough already). Why did I publish two books on the same day without building up hype on the first book?
I don’t have any easy answers except that I just wanted a fresh start, I just wanted it all to be over with so I can keep going forward. I knew the challenges I faced with that series. I knew it from the very beginning–even before I ever wrote that final draft of Jaeth’s Eye. If you can’t easily create a blurb that makes sense, you’re in trouble. The fact that I even managed to take it this far is still amazing to me, to be honest.
When the criticisms come, I try to keep in mind that this was an ambitious project that taught me a lot, that people still like the series despite its faults, and that we wouldn’t get anywhere if we didn’t dare to try great things, even if the attempt fell short. How many teenagers plan and start writing out a series that dare to compete on the same grounds as more established fantasy authors? Especially considering the challenges? English is still my second language, after all. I had to write hundreds of thousands of words before I ever got to a point where my writing became readable. And then to write stories in a world I built from scratch, with characters that feel alive…
Maybe what I see as my failure might actually be a success. I don’t know. It remains a frustration for me–that my ambitions end up crippling what is otherwise perfectly serviceable writing. That I wrote with good intentions, but good intentions aren’t enough.
I planned Annals of the Bitch Queen years ago, before I ever published Jaeth’s Eye. The first scene I ever wrote for it was the restaurant scene–where Talyien and Rayyel were making spiteful remarks towards each other–and for years it remained the only scene I had for the series. I was crippled with fear over how to take that project into completion. At the time, I felt like I didn’t have it in me to write a coherent epic fantasy story, let alone finish it. I had been dabbling with contemporary standalones during that period, too, because Birthplace felt like a smashing “success” in that at least I was able to finish it within a reasonable period of time (even if people hated the main character).
That was what finishing The Agartes Epilogues gave me: confidence in what I can do, in the genre I felt most at home in. I tore into the Bitch Queen not just with good intentions, but with every intention to use everything I learned from the previous series. Which isn’t easy, you know, because it required confronting some deep-seated anxieties and personal demons.
It also required acceptance that I may never write novels that people will be able to easily recommend to their friends, that they’ll just be a sort of “niche appeal” thing that can be good but are never great. I can’t lose sight of why I do this because I keep trying to chase after shiny things or validation or approval. I can’t change myself, I can’t change my writing or make people interested in the things I care about. What I can do is learn to do it all better. I can take what was given to me and run it to the ground. Who cares if I do it in silence? Or if people knock down the castles I painstakingly, lovingly built with just a few careless words or gestures? This begins and ends with my fulfillment as an artist. Everything else is…an added bonus.
And that’s how I wrote three fantasy novels this year. Three long fantasy novels. 120k, 190k, and 110k words, not even counting the short stories and my attempts at a novella. That’s more work than I’ve ever done in a single year before. The fact that this year also showcases my best work to date is confusing to me. I feel blessed by the writing gods, despite my lack of sales and relative obscurity, still. A productive artist is a happy artist. Or maybe a suffering artist is a productive artist. I don’t know. I’m just going to ride this wave while it lasts.
What’s in store for the upcoming year? Lots! Obviously, the first thing is to finish off Annals of the Bitch Queen with a third book, The Xiaran Mongrel. Then I have a new series, and more to plan, and…you know what, I’m going to make a chart to help everybody envision my madness…
Main Series
- The Agartes Epilogues – Core series and plot, messy introduction to the world.
- Jaeth’s Eye
- Aina’s Breath
- Sapphire’s Flight
- Annals of the Bitch Queen – Set approximately 30 years after the events of Sapphire’s Flight. “Technically” a sequel to side events from the second act of Aina’s Breath and the epilogue of Sapphire’s Flight. This series focuses on the Jin-Sayeng royals and is the recommended starting point for new readers to get introduced to my writing style and the world.
- The Wolf of Oren-yaro (January 2018)
- The Ikessar Falcon (mid 2018)
- The Xiaran Mongrel (late 2018)
- The Second War of the Wolves – Follow-up trilogy to Annals of the Bitch Queen. Multi-POV madness. Currently in planning stage.
- The Hero in the Ricehat (TBA)
- N/A
- N/A
- Ferral’s Footnotes – Follow-up trilogy to The Agartes Epilogues, which revisits the main (surviving) POVs from that first trilogy and adds a couple new others. Mostly revolves around the renewed Dageian-Gasparian conflict and the Gorenten uprising. Currently in planning stage.
- Elian’s Heart (TBA)
- N/A
- N/A
- Chronicles of a Wandering – Upcoming series, no distinct timeline yet, set in Herey. Dark/horror fantasy inspired by colonial Philippines.
- The Wanderer’s Gift (2019)
- The Wandering King (TBA, tentative 2020)
- Shadow of the Sun God (TBA, tentative 2020)
Side Series (B Adventures)
- Blackwood Marauders – A series of standalones focusing on the trials and tribulations of Yn Garr Industries’ B Team mercenaries, with a plot that runs closely alongside The Agartes Epilogues.
- Blackwood Marauders (April 2018)
- Tale of the Dogeater (TBA, but possibly 2019) – Prequel standalone for Jaeth’s Eye, set hundreds of years ago. Featuring appearances of the necromancer Naijwa, and the errant mage Jaeth.
- The Shiu-uin Legacies – A series of standalones focusing on Mahe Amiren, with a plot that runs closely alongside The Agartes Epilogues.
- Lament of the Ice King (TBA)
Urban Fantasy/Horror
- Black Dog Series – A sort of genre-bending horror/urban fantasy series set in contemporary Philippines that starts out YA but will probably be ret-conned as adult fantasy as the main character grows up.
- Birthplace
- Birthright (TBA)
- Rebirth (TBA)
- Under Del Pan
- Uncle Benny’s Crabbing Log
So in short, the plan is not to spontaneously burst into flames from all the writing next year. Also, based on the date of this scheduled blog post, I have about ten days of vacation left. Happy Holidays, everyone!
