So much to write, so little time.

The Order of Thanatos has surpassed 50,000 words! I am currently working on chapter 13. I plan to complete the book at a tight 100-120k (a more marketable range), so we are around halfway. The first draft will be complete in July (barring any significant setbacks), and the book will be ready to publish by the end of the summer. My inlaws will be visiting from China until mid-September, making me busier than usual, so I’ve built some wiggle room into my schedule. I hope it’s enough.

Admittedly, my pace has slowed since the weather has gotten nicer. In March, I wrote 25,009 words. For April, it was 22,556. This also has to do with some research time. For the last chapter, I had to dig deep into human anatomy and medieval medicine- all fascinating but time-consuming. My wife and I joke that I’ll be a knowledgeable medieval physician when I finish writing the Order of Thanatos, and my search history is getting questionable. I have a strong stomach, but some of what I had to research pushed it. I hope my output will increase once my characters are moving again and not bogged down with a significant injury. We’ll see how it goes tonight. 

Now that I am moving along with this project and fully understand the scope of the story I want to tell, I’ve decided Order of Thanatos will definitely be a trilogy. I just can’t say all I want to say in ~100k, but after trying to “sell” Koen, I realize how difficult it is to sell a book that is anything more than that. As of right now, my current project will likely be called Order of Thanatos: Novice. The second book will have something to do with the word Monk, and the third, the word Confessor. These words nicely outline the development of my main character, Mishal of Gaven Hill. This first book covers his journey to Thanatos, where he will study to become a monk of the order. The second book will take place in the ancient temples of Thanatos and deal primarily with his schooling in the ancient practices of the dead. The third will be Mishal going out into the world to apply his trade, inevitably leading him to be the ear of a powerful deathbed secret, the impetus to him sharing this tale with us in the first place (it is written in first person). 

I’ve got my work cut out for me. After completing Order of Thanatos: Novice, I will continue writing Destiny of the Daystar, book 4 of Absolution of the Morning Star (AMS, currently at 21,894). After that, I’ll see how I feel before choosing my next story. I have some options. I can either continue with book 5 of AMS (Dusk of the Demon), book 2 of Thanatos, work on Sylavanus, the possible sequel to Koen (this largely depends on how Koen does), or embark on one of the twenty other stories I want to tell in Lucardia- perhaps a stand-alone dealing with Jezelle before she meets Erikson Gray. Just so much to say and so little time to say it!

Anyway, that’s an update to what I’ve been up to. I’m still sitting on Koen and doing my best to get it represented or traditionally published. I’ve received a few nibbles, but nothing is stable yet. I remember now why I went the self-publishing route 😉 But I’ve given myself a year, and I will keep trying. If the weave of my fate leads elsewhere, then Koen is all ready to self-publish in January.

Cheers!