What next?

For exactly six years, I’ve been riding a writer’s high, pumping out book after book. In that time, I’ve published ten works or over 1.2 million words. I’ve created a dark and complex world with varied geography, tangled politics, thousands of years of history, its own gods, and the religions that fester around them. More importantly, within these tales, I have hundreds of named characters, some I know so intimately that they are like family. It has led to four ongoing series, all separate but intertwined within my larger Lucardian universe. At the core is a yarn that matters. And, the number of stories I have to tell in this world is immense, almost 30 book ideas.

But recently, I’ve lost the push.

I have three projects open on my desktop right now: The Monk of Thanatos (sequel to The Novice of Thanatos), Sylvanus: Swords and Sons (sequel to Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest), and a new project that takes place after my main Absolution of the Morning Star series, The Last Knight of Norn. But for the life of me, I can’t get myself to continue on any of them. I’ve been working on The Monk of Thanatos for over a year now. I also need to finish the AMS series…ugh.

I love the world I created, and I love the characters even more. But for the first time on this journey, I think I’ve caught writer’s block. It is not that I don’t know where to go or what to write; it is that I just don’t have the drive to do so. Some of this has been because of the real world and a day job that has been absolutely hellish. At the end of the day, I’m exhausted. But I can’t blame it all on that.

My last four books, Duke Rhime of the Spire, Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest, The Novice of Thanatos, and Destiny of the Daystar, have all struggled to find an audience, and although Jezelle: Thief of Forks was just released last weekend, it appears to be heading in the same direction. In fact, my sales have decreased dramatically across the board since I started six years ago, and my overall engagement has slowed. I always thought that if I worked hard at something, there would at least be slow growth. Instead, it feels like the opposite has happened.

There are many factors involved in that, and it is somewhat comforting to know it probably isn’t the writing itself. Still, it makes it hard to keep going, especially when several of these series have found so few readers. Self-publishing has taken some major hits, and the system many of us depend on feels increasingly broken. Every time you think you’ve found your footing, something changes, and you’re back at the beginning again—especially now that the whole thing seems to be shifting toward pay-to-play when we’re riding a wave of inflation under the shadow of a recession.

I don’t want this post to become a complaint session; the writing world is what it is. But I could use your help as I try to figure out a way out of this creative rut. Below are the paths before me. I’ve tried to rationalize each of them a hundred different ways, tried every trick I know to get motivated, and still feel stuck. The worst part is, the longer I’m not writing, the more miserable I get.

1. Continue with The Monk of Thanatos. It is the furthest along at 57,000 words, which is about halfway done. I have struggled with this one. I am not sure why. I’ve already scrapped it once and started over. Maybe part of the problem is that I’ve known where it’s going for so long that the energy has gone out of it. I’ve also not sold a Novice of Thanatos since early December, not even a single page read. I thought it was a neat premise, but maybe I was wrong. It raises concerns that I may be chasing a story that few want to read.
2. Continue with Sylvanus: Sword and Sons. This is about 28,000 words in. It is a direct sequel to Koen, continuing his saga through the eyes of his younger brother. I have some passion for this story, and it is a new gateway to the main series. However, Koen never got off the ground, and I am not confident it ever will. Being traditionally published, I have little control over its trajectory, which means the sequel will largely be for my own sense of accomplishment and to fill a gap in the overall story. There is value in that, but it can still feel deflating.
3. Keep moving forward with The Last Knight of Norn. I’m only on chapter three, but because it sits outside the main series storyline, it gives me more freedom and a fresher starting point. I could also try to publish it traditionally, if I’m willing to take on that road again. My hesitation is whether it feels marketable enough. It’s post-apocalyptic, and that can feel like crowded territory, even if the medieval setting gives it a slightly different angle.
4. Continue with the Absolution of the Morning Star series with Dusk of the Demon. My best-selling books are the first three books of this series, especially Dawn of the Lightbearer. The problem is, Destiny of the Daystar, book 4, has been a flop thus far. In hindsight, I probably should have made the story a trilogy. You lose a lot of audience by attrition in a six-book series. I do need to finish this series eventually, as it is the core of my world. Perhaps because the series is not finished, people are scared to start it, traumatized by what J.R.R. Martin is doing to them with A Song of Ice and Fire.
5. Try something completely new. I have a few pages of a story that has promise, but I worry about starting something new when I have so much left unfinished. I have two books to write in the main Absolution of the Morning Star series, two in the Consort of the Spire series, one and a half in the Order of Thanatos series, and perhaps one and a half in the Koen saga. I’m developing a pattern as I struggle to find something that sticks. I know myself. I start writing this story; it blossoms, and suddenly, I have another unfinished series.

Well, my cards are all on the table. Seeing it in total is giving me anxiety. Perhaps I am just a little overwhelmed by the size and complexity of what I’m trying to create. I never envisioned that when I started writing Dawn of the Lightbearer, it was going to grow into this behemoth of a world. I wish I were Jezelle and could be a thief of my forks, but I’m not as strong as she and could use some help from you. What do you think I should do? I’m all ears.

Cheers!