The year is almost over, and what a year it’s been.
This January, I self-published The Wolf of Oren-yaro, half-expecting a handful of readers and not much else. You form a narrative, you understand, that may sometimes not be accurate in order to protect yourself. I’d been convinced mine would be silence. Indifference. Confusion. And so inside that bubble, I created my art without too much expectations. If it paid a few bills, I’d be content.
Instead, the response has been…overwhelming.
I’m not sure where to really start this without rambling. But when I launched The Wolf of Oren-yaro, so many people rallied to support and talk about it. Friends I had made the past year went behind my back to organize a massive giveaway, and somehow, that got the book into enough hands. It was strange to see strangers talking about my work; to be randomly tagged on Twitter or Reddit by someone who enjoyed my books and the characters. To be screamed at, in joy and frustration and love.
This did not at all fit the narrative I had built for myself.
So I’ve spent most of the last year in shock. Waking up to news–like coming in fifth on a poll in r/fantasy, when I’ve sold nowhere near the numbers or been around as long as the others who placed. Being voted in book clubs. And others. Other news. People reaching out of nowhere. Somehow landing an agent, the wonderful Hannah Bowman with whom I’ve wanted to work with for years.
I’ve been making such small, gradual steps up the mountain, so used to the toil now that I didn’t even realize how far I’ve come. Even now, I’m convinced I’m dreaming. And if I wake up, I wouldn’t even be angry–it would still have been a really, really good dream.
I want to take a moment to thank all the people that have been so instrumental this year. You know who you are. I will never forget what you’ve done for me.
So, onto updates.
An Elegy of Heroes, the omnibus for The Agartes Epilogues trilogy, will be launching on January 16, 2018. It will be available as an ebook, and on paperback and hardcover.
The new paperback for Blackwood Marauders will also be available at around this time, complete with new cover by Mon Macairap. There will also be a hardcover edition, featuring the original cover by Ash Navarre (which is so beautiful up close).
I have limited stock of The Wolf of Oren-yaro and The Ikessar Falcon in paperback, and very, very limited stock in hardcover. Let me know via DM on Twitter if you’re interested in purchasing a signed copy.
I will announce tentative dates for my upcoming novels very, very soon.
