Sylvanus: Swords and Sons

Status: Writing

Sample Chapter

Sylvanus is a dark fantasy novel set in the world of Lucardia. It is a continuation of Koen’s storyline, told through the eyes of his younger brother.

Sylvanus rules Westgate from Runemaul, the ancient seat of his mother’s Anworth line, far from the center of his father’s power. But no distance is enough to escape the shadow of Emperor Vesper the Uniter, the conqueror who forged the empire and now seems to be leading it into an increasingly darker age.

When word arrives that Koen—Vesper’s favored son and Sylvanus’s elder brother—has returned after a three-year disappearance, the news shakes the empire. Believed dead, Koen’s return feels almost impossible. For Sylvanus, it stirs something he has not allowed himself to feel in years: hope.

Hope that his brother has finally come to his senses. Hope that the bond between them might still endure. Hope that together they might yet confront the man who shaped their world through conquest, blood, and will.

Set against the weight of empire, family legacy, and gathering ruin, Sylvanus is a story of brotherhood, inheritance, and the cost of resisting a father once hailed as a savior who now looms as something far more dangerous.

How the quest for this story unfolded is all below:

8/9/25- New story begins! 1,885 words

8/12/25- 8,232 words, moving along

8/20/25- 13,093 words. Broke 10k mark

9/5/25- Rewrote beginning. 24,763 words

9/29/25- 28,378 words. Koen is releasing soon!

10/1/25- Pause. Promoting Koen.

4/18/26- After focusing on Jezelle: Thief of Forks and a few other projects, returning to this book. 34,368 words.

5/1/26- 38,756 words. Slow as I get reacquainted with the story, but about to reach the end of what I wrote months ago, and will venture into new territory.

5/13/26- 49,336 words. Humming along. Almost 50K. Sylvanus is maybe two chapters away from finally meeting Koen after a difficult journey.

7/23/26- 60,065 words. Haven’t provided an update for a while, but still working. The middle is always the toughest. I felt some of my side-characters were falling flat, so I started from the beginning and pulled them out of the muck to shine a bit. That took some time, as I was 50k into the story. But I am back to writing and seem to have punched through. I’m getting close to the midpoint, and where the story will end is starting to materialize.

7/31/26- 71,658 words. Crossed the halfway point of the book, both in word count and story. It took longer to get to this point than I anticipated, but man, what a journey! The end is on the horizon. This is the best part of writing. The hump has been crossed. At this rate, this book will be done by the fall and likely published by the end of the year.

8/6/26- 77,703 words. I’m in the flow now. The second half of the book is developing nicely. I’m currently on chapter 17. My books tend to be around 30 chapters. I’m beginning to see the end on the horizon. This is the most thrilling part of writing a book!

8/8/26- 82,404 words. I just posted an update a few days ago, but tonight I ran into a funny situation. I was writing a very tender, delicate scene, and one of my characters just spat out the most inappropriate question. I wasn’t planning to go there, but this character couldn’t keep his mouth shut. It just shows how little control an author has sometimes. I have to leave it. It is so true to the character. Now, the chapter is taking a completely different path… here we go!

8/14/26- A staycation to work on house projects also means a lot of writing. Currently at 103,259. I am almost done with chapter 21. I have also roughly outlined the remaining chapters of the book. It will likely end at around 30 chapters and probably 130-140k words. I know how the book will end, which means it is just a matter of getting from here to there. I’m excited!

8/19/26- 122,046. Finished chapter 27. Will start chapter 28 tonight, already outlined. Then maybe 1-2 chapters after that, before the first draft is finished!

8/23/26- The first draft of Sylvanus is finished! I tried to complete the last chapter last night, but I just ran out of time. So, I finished it this morning. It is currently at 31 chapters, 468 pages, and 136,765 words. It will most certainly change in editing, but it will ultimately hover around 140k, roughly equivalent to Koen’s length. All told, it took about seven months to write. I hope to publish it late November or early December in time for the holidays. I’m a full week ahead of my schedule, so it should be possible.

9/2/2026- Been diligently editing. My developmental passes are complete (I think). I’m now on chapter 17 of my line edit for the 32-chapter book. The major editing will then be finished, and it will head out to my ARC readers hopefully this weekend. I will then start my final read-throughs. Everything is ahead of schedule, which is awesome!

9/9- Still editing. It is taking longer than expected, but that is a good thing. I am working through my list of crutch words to eliminate/modify. I’m currently on words like gaze, stared, looked, eyes, etc. I’m a very visual person and sometimes write like a movie director. Cutting these also helps me spice up my scene direction. The strange standout word I needed to cut this time was “beneath”. For some reason I had 336 instances of the word in the manuscript. In every book I write, there is one word that seems to take up residence in my prose. I cut it to 70. Still a lot, but much better.

9/13- On chapter 5 of what I hope is my final read-through. I have exited the jungle of tedium and stepped back into a beautiful story. The jungle ravaged me, leaving my eyes sore and my temper short, but I made it!

10/11- First round of ARC reader feedback received and applied. Draft sent back to ARC reader for review. The book is coming.