Looking back: year 11 in the books

Every year I look back on the path my writing has taken me.

It’s never what I expect. It’s always a surprise. There are heroes and villains. Triumphs and setbacks. Sometimes it’s hard to tell just where the path is going or why it took this turn or that. Sometimes you wander into the briar patch and wonder if you’ll ever emerge. The untamed wilderness of words hounds and harries you.

And yet it is a good thing to recall the battle. Undaunted by the slings and arrows. Reasserting my grip on my sword for the next push.

Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. And so here is my examination. Come walk with me as we retrace our steps back through all the circus and silence that was 2023.

Get ready for lots of thorns.

It’s a bit drafty in here

This last year will forever be marked by one thing. Drafting Grimbriar. I think the first draft came in just under 150K words. Most writers aim to cut when they edit. Not me. I’m writing fantasy after all. New worlds don’t dangle on a string. They need roots and branches and vines and buds. 150K words? We’re just getting started.

And so I rolled up my sleeves and got to work weeding the briar patch. There were many thorns to be uprooted. In fact, I was rather unthrilled with the story on the first pass.

But I stuck to it. Piled on the band aids and kept working.

I fleshed out some scenes and shifted the tone and dialogue where I thought it needed it. And then I went back and did it again. And again. And againandagainandagain. With each successive foray into the manuscript the text grew.

And grew and grew.

When all was said and done, some seven drafts later, the book stood at 168K thorns, er, um words.

That comes out to about 506 pages. The longest thing I’ve ever written.

Reading and re-reading and editing a work of that size took a lot out of me. Yet, by God’s grace I felt myself growing as a writer. This was the hardest, most demanding thing I have ever written, but I made it through to the other side.

The major changes done, I shipped it off at last to be proofread for errors by my wonderful editor.

To market, to market to buy a fat pig

Then the horrible, dreadful, fateful hour struck. It was time at last to kill the beast and fling it to the public.

I worked on the blurb again and again until finally arriving at one I did not loathe. And then I swapped out all my banners on social media (I find the one featured here particularly fetching) and put the new book on the home page. I sent out missives to those on my newsletter list. I ran some ads.

And then I sat back and waited for the sound of rose petals hitting the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

I’m still waiting.

But the book is out and several kind people have mentioned that they expect to find copies of it under their Christmas tree. And that warms my heart to hear.

Greasing the wheels

Though 2023 was essentially the Year of Grimbriar, I did manage to sneak in another project at the very end.

As I sat twiddling my thumbs waiting for the proofreading copy to come back I decided that I had probably had enough time to heal from all the wounds incurred during my prickly pilgrimage. So I took up the pen once more and started work on a short story. Just to grease the wheels and keep my gears from grinding to a halt.

It is set in the world of The Swordspeaker Saga. Unlike the series, this one takes place in the distant past, approximately 800 years before the events of the current series.

It focuses on an odd pair of companions, one at the beginning of many great adventures and the other at the end of many sad ones. One old and bereft, one young and full. And through the unfolding of their story I delve into the lore surrounding the War of the Shattering and what happened in its aftermath.

That’s all I’ll say about it for now. It’s currently about two-thirds done. I hope to finish the first draft sometime in January, if not before.

Whenever I get it in suitable condition, I will offer it as a free download to those on my newsletter mailing list. So be sure to sign up so you won’t miss it!

Looking to the horizon

So, there you have it. Year 11 in the books.

What’s up ahead? Why, work on Mountainfall, book 4 of the Swordspeaker Saga, of course.

I have not yet started and, given the amount of time it took to get the last one to print, I’m not optimistic that it will release in 2024.

I’ll be honest. Truesilver sold pretty well for a couple of years but the shine seems to have worn off. And sales of Rimewinter and Grimbriar have been far less than what is needed to sustain a series.

So while I fully intend to write the next book, I may take my time with this next one. But who knows? A lot can change in a year. Perhaps the series will begin to take off again or some other opportunity present itself. I do have ideas for a stand alone novel and a sci-fi trilogy that have been rustling about in my brain for some time, but for now at least, to the mountains I go!

To those true fans of the series and my writings, I am eternally grateful. A thousand thank you’s. I wish I could send you all an enchanted sword of your own or, at the very least, a helping of snow glaze.

But for now, pages are all I have to offer. And you’ve got quite a few of them to enjoy so I’ll take my leave and slip quietly back into the night.

May you have a very bright and Merry Christmas.

I’ll see you next year and between the pages until then.