Starship Blackbeard

My two existing series (The Righteous and The Dark Citadel) will be wrapped up in the first couple of months of the year, so it's time to start something new. The first book of Starship Blackbeard is now on pre-order, written and waiting publication. I've got a rough draft of book two finished, and a rough outline for book #3, so this thing is serious.

It's got pirates! And spaceships!  

This project has been a little bit of a secret as I've worked on it. I've been writing some dark stuff with the end of the world aspect of The Righteous Series, and the final climax of the fantasy series, and I wanted to do something fun. Of course I can't resist digging into characters, either, so it's not pure brain candy, but yeah, it is a little bit.

You can grab this book on pre-order now, and book #2 should be available in February, right before War of Wizards, the last book of The Dark Citadel.

Hell's Fortress Live and Available

Those of you who have been patiently (or not!) awaiting the next book in the Righteous series need wait no longer. Hell's Fortress has been officially released into the wild. Early feedback is positive, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

After this, only one more book to go!

Some Fun New Projects

After eight books with Thomas & Mercer, I've officially signed with T&M's sister imprint, Lake Union, to do two historical novels. Crow Hollow is set in 1676 Massachusetts in the aftermath of King Philip's War and will be published next May. The Crescent Spy takes place in New Orleans during the Civil War. No official date on that release yet, but it looks like November, 2015.

My new acquiring editor is fantastic, and they've given me my old dev editor, which is great. It's exciting to be trying some new stuff and maybe expanding my readership a bit. But I'm going to miss the team at T&M and hope to eventually do more books with them.

Those books are both written already. I'm currently working on the fifth book of The Dark Citadel Series, War of Wizards (you can preorder that here), and something that's a bit of a change of pace for me. I don't want to talk too much about that yet.

Wolves of Paris in Audio

One of my favorite books, The Wolves of Paris, has just come out in audio. I've been fortunate to have the extremely talented narrator Rosemary Benson do both this book and The Red Rooster in audio. She does a great job with the voices of both male and female characters, and her work has a certain gravitas that lends itself to historical work. Check out the sample!

Transitioning

We're only a few weeks out from the release of the next book of The Righteous Series, Hell's Fortress, and only a few more months after that until the final volume comes out. I'm excited about how they turned out. The last book, especially, is one of my favorites in the series.

It's funny how I'm feeling a let down that's mixed in with the enjoyment of having finished the story. After eight books, these people feel almost real to me, and seeing their story end is more difficult than I expected. I could almost walk through Blister Creek blindfolded; it feels as real to me as the actual small town I grew up in.

Meanwhile, I've been hard at work on other projects. I've signed up with Thomas & Mercer's sister imprint, Lake Union, for Crow Hollow, my historical set in Colonial New England. My acquiring and developmental editors have been really excited about the book. Lake Union might be taking on my Civil War Novel, as well. No official word on that, yet.

Beyond that, response to the fourth book of the Dark Citadel has been strong. I'm working on the fifth book, War of Wizards right now. Check out the cover. It's pretty cool. Sales are still nothing super thrilling, but they've picked up little by little, which I really appreciate. Instead of just a labor of love, it feels like something that won't be a financial sinkhole relative to other projects. That definitely makes it easier to pick up the pace of the writing.

The crazy thing is that this series will be wrapping up shortly, too, and I'll have more time to turn to other projects than I have in a long time. I've been managing to slip in side projects, but I've had to work around obligations.

The Warrior King

I've received a few emails from readers, so I know that Amazon has been doing a good job of getting the word out about the fourth book of The Dark Citadel Series, but in case you haven't seen it yet, here is where you can pre-order The Warrior King. I'd love to put up a pre-order page on B&N and iTunes, but the final book has to be loaded for that to happen and the book is still in drafts and won't be ready until pretty close to the release date.

The final book of the Righteous Series is delivered and with my developmental editor. This is not Hell's Fortress, being released this fall, but is scheduled for February, I think.

By the time summer rolls around I will have written four books in nine months, so I'll be taking a little R&R/research. I'm going to fill a longtime dream and travel to Ireland for three weeks. I'm hoping that traipsing around all those castles and ruins will give me some inspiration for the fantasy books as well as recharge the creative batteries.

Once I get back I've got a couple of different projects to attack and hope to finish 2014 as the most productive year ever.

Update on Writing Projects

Now that I'm a few weeks past the release of The Gates of Babylon, I've settled back into my writing routine. I've received a few emails lately wanting to know what I was working on next.

I have a good solid draft of the book I was working on over the winter, a historical thriller set in Boston in 1676. That was fun and different to write. I've also done three chapters and an outline of a Civil War spy novel that has been a lot of fun to work on. Both of these projects are being shown to my publisher for a project to work on after The Righteous series concludes next year. They said they were interested in historical stuff, so I jumped right on it. I read about 1,800 pages of Civil War stuff in two weeks and my head is about to burst.

Now I've got to pivot back to working on the eighth, and final book of The Righteous series. I should finish that in June. Book #7, Hell's Fortress, has a rudimentary page up on Amazon (no cover yet). That book is all finished with only a final round with my copy editor/proofreader before it's done.

After I finish the final book of The Righteous series, I'm going to swing back to my fantasy series again. Sales have picked up a little bit. Nothing to write home about, but it no longer feels like a fool's quest. I'm going to try to finish it in two more volumes, but I might need one more after that, depending on how things go. My head is bursting with ideas, and it's mainly a question of staying focused.

The Gates of Babylon Release

I'm excited that book #6 of The Righteous series, The Gates of Babylon, is finally available. I know a lot of my readers have been anxiously awaiting the continuation of the story, and early reviews are very encouraging. The story takes a bit of a new direction and while I felt good about it, I'm also too close to the story to be the best judge. I'm glad to see readers are also connecting.

If you're looking to give The Righteous series a try, the first book is currently only $2.99 for the Kindle. Where's the risk in that? :)

I've been asked a few times about the length of the series. There will be two more volumes. Book #7, Hell's Fortress, is already finished and in edits with my publisher. It has a release date of October and both my agent and editor have been really excited about it, so I'm hopeful my readers will also connect. I'm currently working on the final volume of the series (exciting, but a little sad, too), which I believe will be called Blood of the Faithful. My goal is to bring us in with as strong of an ending as I am capable of writing.

Of course, I won't suddenly stop writing. I have a bunch of other projects to work on, including a couple of historical thrillers, more books in the fantasy series, and hopefully, two more books to turn The Wolves of Paris into a trilogy. I just need a few more readers so I can justify it financially.

Be a Character in The Righteous Series

Here he is, the youngest member of the Compound, drawing the name of one lucky reader who will be arriving in Blister Creek at the end of the world. I'm getting ready to start work on the final book of the Righteous Series (don't worry, the other two are done and on their way!), and offered members of my new release mailing list the chance to become a named character in the series. I was surprised and pleased by the response, with over a hundred people offering themselves up as sacrificial victims.

The winner is Whit McQueen. Sounds like an ex-military guy to me, boots worn from hoofing it across the Southwest as civilization coughs up blood. Hungry, desperate. I haven't quite figured out how he'll end up in Blister Creek, or what he'll do when he gets there.

This was kind of fun. I think I'll do it again in the future.