Whew. We made it. I know it’s been a bit of a trash fire year, but there have been good moments. I hope Aurie and Pi have been a part of that. Here’s a list of some of the things that have happened, both publishing and other, and what will happen in the next year.
2017:
- Released books three and four of The Hundred Halls. Both Alchemy of Souls and Gathering of Shadows have been received well by readers and reviewers. I’m very proud of the 4.7 star Amazon rating and 4.6 star Goodreads rating.
- Had three new short stories published: The Entropy of a Small Town, The Minotaur’s Wife, and Bankrupt Memories for Auction.
Sold a couple of other stories: “The Stylized Unicorn Escapes Its Poster in a Seattle Teenager’s Bedroom” to Galaxy’s Edge, and “The Worth of Felines” to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.- I attended Archcon in St. Louis for the first time. Would recommend. Will be back next year.
- My wife and I got to see the last three shows of the 13-night run of Phish at MSG in New York. We’ve seen over forty shows, and these were up there with my favorites.
- Rachel finished a 108-mile hike from Denver to Breckenridge in July. Yes, I realize this wasn’t me, but I’m so proud of her!
- We celebrated our 20th anniversary in Jamaica at Couples Swept Away.
2018:
- I plan on releasing the final book in The Hundred Halls series – City of Sorcery in February. For fans of Aurie and Pi, don’t worry, there will be more stories about them at a later date.
- Which leads me to: plans for The Hundred Halls. I never intended for this to be one series only. I’ll be staying in this universe for quite some time. Next, I’ll be writing about other characters that have attended the Halls. Each character will get their own series, and when I’m done, there might be something for all of them to do together (hint, hint).
So now that I’ve mentioned the next series, here’s a little bit about it. Originally, when I conceived of The Hundred Halls, I wrote a different book first, but I wasn’t happy with it, so I scrapped it and started over with Trials of Magic. That original book was called The Reluctant Assassin and features Zayn Carter who we met in Web of Lies. Part of the problem with the first version of it, was that I wasn’t telling the story I wanted to tell. Switching to Aurie and Pi’s story allowed me to learn about the Halls so I could tell this one. I’m currently editing it, and I’m a 1000% happier with this version.- When will The Reluctant Assassin be out? I’m going to do a little something different this time. I plan on releasing the first three (or more) books of the series in the fall of 2018. That way you can binge your way through the stories without having to wait for me to finish the next one. If everything works out this way, I may continue to release series like this, but I’ll see what everyone thinks after it’s all said and done.
- But what will I do in the 6-8 months between City of Sorcery and The Reluctant Assassin? Good question. I would recommend joining my newsletter where I frequently send out more information about the Halls that you can’t learn anywhere else. During that time, I’ll be releasing one or two short stories about other characters in the Halls, but again, only to the newsletter.
- My convention schedule for next year will be light. I’ll be attending Worldcon in San Jose (Aug 16-20) and Archcon in St. Louis (Oct 12-14). If you’re going to attend either one, I’d love to meet you.
- SUPER SEKRIT PROJECT. It’s really hard for me not to spill the beans about this one, but we want to make sure it’s perfect before we release it. My only hints are that it’s something for The Hundred Halls and several people are working behind the scenes to make it a reality. Hopefully this spring I’ll be able to tell you more. I can’t wait!
That wraps up the review of 2017 and a sneak peek at 2018. Let’s hope this next year is better than the last!
