It’s been a while, so I thought I’d better check in. I’ve been writing at least a couple of hours every day, working diligently on my new series. If anyone is interested in reading excerpts or snippets, I am posting around 1k word unedited excerpts from my WIP monthly on Patreon for subscribers at apprentice level or above ($5/mo). There are already a couple of excerpts up!
Before you cry out in anguish that I’m not working on Bel’s War III, rest assured that I will begin work on it before the end of the year. If all goes according to plan, 2023 will see FOUR new releases from me: Books 1, 2, and 3 of Serian Tales (yes, I’m working toward releasing an entire, completed, series all at once!) and Book III of Bel’s War.
If I’m being truthful, I do expect that Book III of Bel’s War will probably get pushed back to later in 2023 in terms of release- but I think the wait will be worth it!
Lastly, we are nearing the end of the audiobook journey for Descent of Ravens- I know it has taken us a while, but knowing as I do what an amazing job @isaacgrisham has done, it’s going to be epic when it comes out!
Just a brief update on what I have cooking in summer 2022 and beyond. First up, the audiobook for Descent of Ravens is on its way- we are in final edits and I hope to have it live on Audible by the end of the summer. Production for Will of Dragons is set to start after that.
I’m taking a brief break from the Bel’s War series so that my mind can stay creative with it- I plan to resume work on Book III sometime in Oct of 2022. For now, what I’m working on is a new series that should be fun and exciting.
I’m working on writing more than just the first book of this new series at once- that is, my current thinking is to write until the series is finished, and then release the completed series in 2023 all at once (if I can get all the covers lined up, that is).
My last update is that if you are looking for more regular updates or content, consider joining my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/ACAndrews), where I post regular blog updates and for $5/mo supporters and higher, a monthly 1k word excerpt from my work-in-progress or a short story.
Long story short: 2023 could end up being a huge year for book releases from me, if all goes according to [my evil] plan.
In the meantime, I wish you all a fantastic rest of 2022, and hope to see you [reading my new releases] in 2023.
I am working on producing the audiobook for Descent of Ravens, and I think I’ve got my narrator lined up. It’s not set in stone yet, but he’s interested, talented, and can do it yet this year. By the time we get Book I out on audio, Book II will be out- I am hopeful that just maybe we can get both books out on Audible/iTunes yet this year (maybe not, but hey, I’m gonna try)!
As of Feb 7, Book II of Bel’s War is officially done. I’m doing some cleaning up on it for the next couple of weeks, and then it’s heading into editing and beta reads through the end of March. My FB group got the title reveal, and the cover art is currently in progress!
I’ll do the last rounds of revisions and copy editing in April- with a “safe” release date on Amazon sometime in May, but I’ll move that date up when I know for sure the book will be ready for release.
There is light at the end of the tunnel… we’re at 115k words on Book II of Bel’s War (for context, Descent of Ravens was 128k words!). I have only a few chapters yet to finish, and a few other odds and ends before I do my first revision pass.
I plan to have this in beta reading by Late Feb/Early March, with a release date in May. Work on the cover, by the same amazing cover artist that did Descent of Ravens, is starting in early February!
I’ll do a title and cover reveal on Facebook in my author group, and in the newsletter announcement that’ll send out when a release date is finalized!
74k words. For context, Decent of Ravens was 128k words, so I’m over the hump- more than half done with the first draft of Book II! Yay!!!!!
Now that we’re back from seeing family over Christmas, it’s back to work…
To tide you over, here’s some cute pics of the furbabies from their adventures while we were away!
Caption: Nova (ginger w brown fleece) and Nala (black merle, blue fleece) at the boarding facility playground while we were gone. We couldn’t take them with us over Christmas, but we sure are glad to be home with them again!
I’m sitting at 54k words on Book II, and still haven’t decided for sure on a title. The story is coming along – the framework is in place, all that’s left is filling it in. I still anticipate this to be another 120k word book, and I am running a wee bit behind schedule drafting it, but I’m writing for a couple of hours every day at this point.
I’m also no longer certain that this is a trilogy. It might yet be, but it now seems plausible to me that it might need a fourth book to get to the end in a satisfying way. I’ll just have to see when I come to it. The story always ends up being at least twice as big as I first imagined it, with new ideas, threads, even new characters popping out of my head to bring Sadrim to life. So it will be what it will be– three or four books, either way it’ll work out.
In other news, Turi is a butthead and Rio remains ridiculous.
I just got an editorial review from IndieReader for DoR, and it was lovely.
As of today, I’m sitting at about 30,000 words on Book II of Bel’s War. My imaginary schedule had me completing it by the end of December, and off to beta in January. I may still get it to beta in January, but it will be late January. That should still leave us on track for a release date sometime in the Spring, hopefully April or May 2022.
Writing the middle book of a trilogy (I think it’s still a trilogy?) turns out to be much harder than writing the first one. It’s more interesting in some ways- the story is coming together, but there are so many threads to weave together, and I find that the more I let it percolate the better the result is. In some ways, I’ve had to plan out book III now in order to chart how everything will fit together.
That, and I have to keep going back to the first book to see how I did X so that I can stay consistent (seriously, how many times do I have to re-read my own book?).
That being said, I’m having a fun time imagining what Turi and Rio get up to, and how the war goes. Demari gets his own adventure, and Sarina discovers there’s more to Trosika than she imagined (and that the Ishima aren’t quite done with it yet!).
My first author bio mentioned an ancient and grizzled cat… who then promptly died at the ripe old age of 15, leaving me with no pets to include in my bio. The actual heartache of losing a companion I’ve had with me for a huge chunk of my life aside, to be truthful the house felt pretty empty without some other sentient being sharing it with us. I mean, we keep aquariums, but that’s not really the same (not that some fish don’t have darn cute personalities… but its hard to snuggle a fish.)
A couple of months ago we started scouring the Humane Society website, and looking at other shelters and rescues in the surrounding area. We started by adopting a 5 year old mix who was utterly terrified by the pound environment- she was huddled in the corner and barely responsive. She’d been a stray in Arkansas for along time, and when she was caught, they shipped her up north (I didn’t realize how often shelters ship dogs back and forth across the U.S.?) to where I live.
After about three months, she’s finally coming out of her shell, and just started sleeping on our bed this week, and she’s finally coming to us for attention and affection. Meet Nala…
Nala has a black merle coat, which is just gorgeous, and glass spots in her eyes (spots on her irises that are white)- those are characteristics only of a few species of dogs, including Australian cattle dogs and catahoula leopard dogs (both of which are much bigger than she is- she’s only 28lbs). So whatever kind of mix she is, she’s a very pretty girl…
And just last weekend, we traveled to a rural shelter a ways away from us to adopt Nova, who is a 5 month old Beagle mix (although mixed with what.. I’m starting to think Chihuahua =) Nova is adorable, loving, and OMG does she smell good (why do puppies smell so good???). Seriously. Go smell a puppy. They are awesome.
The sweetest thing is that Nova has really helped Nala to open up. Before Nova came along, Nala pretty much wanted to run outside in the yard, or sit quietly in her bed with a giant “DO NOT DISTURB” sign hovering over her head. Since seeing the puppy interacting with us, she’s decided that maybe some affection isn’t a bad thing, and she’s starting playing with the puppy outside, and snuggling with her. It’s amazing…
Now, if only Nala and Nova could help me finish sorting out the plot for Book II.
I’m in the last leg of this journey for Book 1, finally. I’m within days of finishing up major revisions to the manuscript, which will include adding a new chapter near the end. Otherwise it has mostly consisted of improving the “stitching” that holds the text together, and working on strengthening my characters and their relationships.
I’m super excited to send this off for final copy edits! I should be able to send this to the formatter by the first week of August, and may even be able to move up the release date if everything goes according to plan!
