Sunday, November 29, 2015

Update on Books 11 and 12

I have several updates to provide for readers. But first of all, thank you again for your patience. My kids have finally reached the age where I can find some time each evening to write, so my new release schedule should be more regular now.

Book 11
I received it back from my editor and spent about two weeks going through suggested edits and rewrites. I am excited to say that tonight I clicked "publish", and it should be live some time tomorrow. I will post again to confirm that it's live.

I had a great time writing this book, but I will admit that it was possibly the most difficult one to write. The story is building up to the epic conclusion, and I had to find the right place to stop this book and start the final book, and after much consideration, I think I found the best place.

I think you will notice by now that the covers to 10 and 11 look very similar. My cover artist actually created a panorama picture of the 12 Champions, and then divided it into 3 covers for the final books. I can't wait to unveil the full image, but I need to wait until we get closer to the release of the final book when I can unveil that cover.

Book 12
I am moving along through the first draft at a steady pace. I can't really give a percent of completion because I am not sure what the final word count will be. I am approximately 50,000 words into, which equates to almost half of a typical DOMA book. I am thinking that this book will come in around 120,000 - 140,000 words, so I'm probably a little less than halfway through.  My goal is to finish the first draft before Christmas, then deliver it to my editor. That will put publication at some point in late January. I will update you when I finish my first draft and can then give a better estimate for a release date.

I realized tonight that I haven't announced the title. I can't believe that! :)  The title for Book 12 will be Champions of the Relics. It's a fitting title since the struggle against Nerina really comes down to those 12 characters. Of course everyone else will play a significant role, but my main 12 have a specific responsibility that they must take care of.

So I hope you enjoy Moonstone Dagger, and I hope even more that it makes you more excited to read Champions of the Relics.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the Reviews and Comment section of this blog.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Sorry for the delay!

First of all I want to apologize for the delay in Book 11 and the absence from my blog.

About two years ago, just after publishing Book 10, my partner and I were finally able to fulfill a life long dream and become parents. We were placed with a little girl who had just turned one, and she has been such an amazing blessing. I took a few months break from writing, and just as I started working on Book 11 again, we got another phone call. CPS had called to let us know that our daughter's birth mother had just given birth to a baby and they wanted to place him with us. Of course we said yes.

With a toddler and now an infant, my writing had to be set aside. Our son had quite a few issues at birth, so he took more time than a typical newborn.

We just celebrated his first birthday and now I've made it my goal and mission to squeeze out time to finally get back to writing.

I'm happy to say that Book 11 is back underway.  I'm still working on the first draft, but I've carved out a block of time at night after the kids go to sleep and before I go to sleep and so far that has worked out rather well.  I'm almost halfway through the first draft, and I'm hoping to have it published by Thanksgiving of this year.

The other good news is that Book 12 is completely mapped out, so there won't be much of a break between the two. While my editor has Book 11, I will start on Book 12 immediately. I'm hoping to have the final book in the series published around Christmas of this year. So far I have had two good weeks to write and I'm hoping to keep that up.

So about Book 11. The title is Moonstone Dagger, and I think it's going to be a good one. Some really awesome (and sad) things happen in the books to our characters, and I think you will feel the pace starting to pick up. Story time-wise Book 12 picks up immediately after Book 11, and I think you will get that same sense of urgency that the characters are feeling as they race towards the finish line.

I promise from this point forward that I will be better about updates about Moonstone Dagger, the 12th book, and future projects related to this world that I have created.

I will try and post a copy of the cover for Moonstone Dagger. I'm pleased with it so far, and hope to have a final copy soon.

Thank you again for everyone who has messaged me in the past few months. I hope the final two books are worth the wait, and I appreciate you sticking with me through this.