Happy Lunar New Year!

If you don’t know, this past Wednesday was the Lunar New Year, and my wife and I celebrated by eating hot pot. As usual, we ate way too much. It is not a meal conducive to portion control. We dressed in red from head to foot, cleaned, and did not leave the house- all Chinese customs. I work from home on Wednesdays, so it worked out well. With work being crazy for both of us and my wife finishing up her doctorate while I’m writing novels, we sometimes don’t spend as much time together as we should. The interactiveness of hot pot forced us to focus on each other. The world has been crazy for a long time now. It is good to take stock of what is truly important.

For me and my writing life, the year of the snake seems auspicious. I am wrapping up my editing of Duke Rhime of the Spire, and snakes play a pivotal role in that story, as the heraldry of Duke Rhime’s house is a coiled serpent. I’m very excited about this story as it differs from my other works. It’s still a dark fantasy, but the scope is quite focused, and much of the book takes place in Eldenspire Castle. My prior works have been about physical quests, but this journey is more internal as Evaline negotiates the creepy microcosm of Eldenspire and unveils the mystery of the duke at its center.

I hope to finish editing Duke Rhime of the Spire this weekend and start preparing for querying. There’s a bit of a rush because Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest is now with my editor at Grendel Press. Soon, most of my attention will shift to making that book successful. I am incredibly excited. If all goes well with the editing process, Koen could be out in as little as two months if I did a good job getting them a clean manuscript. That is a big if, but I am hopeful and committed to getting this book out ASAP. It’s been collecting dust for over a year, and I am excited to get this epic story out into the world!

As for the Order of Thanatos series, The Novice of Thantos (book 1) moves closer to self-publishing. I stopped sending out new queries and am waiting to hear back from those currently in the ether (about 28 remaining). I will give it about one more month before shifting gears. I’m ok with it. I’m over with getting frustrated or discouraged. So many obstacles are outside my control, and the odds are stacked against me. As I said in my last post, you can’t win the lottery if you don’t play, but it is still the lottery. It may not be the right time for this story to be traditionally published, but that doesn’t mean it is not a good book and won’t find success. I am also still working on book 2, The Monk of Thanatos, when I have time. It is currently at 27,000 words. I have a pretty good outline for that part of the story, so it should move along quickly when I can devote the lion’s share of my energy to it. It remains my next project. I plan to bang out the whole series this year.

Energy is hard to come by these days. The world is in flux, and it has influenced everything. Work has been a bear, eggs are $8 a dozen, and the media is filled with hate and discontent. It is hard sometimes to tear my attention away from all that and focus on my fantastical worlds as they feel so insignificant in the scheme of things. But that is where I find joy, which is what I need most right now, or so I tell myself. I sometimes feel like I should do more, but then I think that writing, even in fantasy, expresses the human condition. It is an essential documentation of the subconscious and a piece of the puzzle of this life. That is important, and it helps me conceptualize the craziness.

Well, that is my update for now. I know that reading a book might not be high on people’s priority list right now, but if you need an escape and gain insight into this human’s struggle with finding meaning, I’ve got you. Come join me on my journies!

Cheers!