Howdy!
Summer is almost over, which means my brain can, in theory, stop going on strike any day now. Or, well, it could if not for the fact that I’ve got a month full of deferred dental and medical maintenance to deal with. It all needed to get done, but I’m also very ready for a few weeks of that just… not happening. Still, I keep plugging away at various projects. They’ll get done when they get done and I’m determined not to rush them.
The Refinery
Gil Girau Chronicles – Quality control pass on book 1 is more or less done, we’re in the final polishing and branding stage and I’ve found myself in need of more art than I expected. The general wisdom is don’t draw your own book covers but you know that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m at very least going to draw my own maps. Book 2 is in progress off and on, but I’ve come up against a worldbuilding-shaped wall, so I’ve mostly been working on filling in the gaps in my own knowledge. There might be appendices in the works — at very least explanations of The Creatures that appear as well as various words in various languages. The silver lining is that I’ll be a lot more prepared to tackle my next series without it taking four or five years to get a book out. I hope.
Salt 2 – Still in the quench bucket. I’m resisting mightily the urge to make a resource map for the continent because that’s the kind of nerd I am.
Raw Materials – I mentioned “Project: Strongholds” and “Project: Contact” last time, but the bin where I keep my free-floating ideas just keeps getting more cluttered. This is a good thing! I’ve taken the Sanderson approach to idea wrangling – write everything down, organize it vaguely, come back to it later and see what fits together.
Back to work with me! Or rather, balancing work and rest while my face (and also nervous system) heals. Stay hydrated, take care of your teeth, and keep on keeping on, y’all.