Writing & Release Update - May 5, 2021 (Patreon)

Been a bit since I did a writing update, so I figured I should get on it before I forget again. Lots to update.

A Thousand Li

The Second Sect (A Thousand Li 5) is scheduled for release on June 1, 2021. This is set-up to do a simultaneous release for the audiobook which will show up on May 17, 2017 for pre-order as well.

I will be working on book 6 (the Second Storm) after I'm done with my current writing assignment. Expected release of that is end of the year, December 1, 2021.

System Apocalypse

Currently, I'm working on book 11 of the System Apocalypse, Forbidden Zone. This is the second last book in the series, after which System Finale will complete the entire work.  I'm actually doing quite well with this and am at 70k words, with early first draft chapters arriving on Patreon right now. 

We are shooting for a September release of book 11 and a March 2022 release for book 12. I might choose to write book 12 immediately after book 11, writing it in conjunction with ATL 6 to speed up release. It depends on how I feel about both.

They are 'heavy' series, so it's hard to jump between them sometimes but we shall see.

Broken Council, book 10 audiobook I have been told is now scheduled for an early June record by Nick Podehl. So I'm hoping it'll come out soon after that if ACX approves it fast.

Eternal Night

Another Day, Another Plot (the second novelette set in the Eternal Night LitRPG universe) was released earlier this month. As always, those who want to read it (and any of my other shorts) for cheaper can pick it up by subscribing to my Patreon. 

Currently, we're providing both audio & ebook formats for all shorts to all patrons. Yes, even the $1 ones. 

Powers, Masks & Capes

Work on the third novelette for this series is stalled. I started working on the Mystic, and then felt something was off with the voice and stopped. I'll see about returning to it in a bit, probably when I'm done with AoB 8 (see below) or when I'm done with Forbidden Zone. 

Adventures on Brad

Adventures on Brad is going to be continued (and finished) in 3 more books. We have completed the first (rough) draft of book 7, with book 8 halfway complete at the moment. I'm working on this at the moment with my other works, with the last book 9 hopefully finished towards the end of the year.

The goal right now is to do a rapid release of the books to the general public at the end of the year starting in late-December and finishing in February 2022. Expect to see pre-orders appear as we complete work on it all in the various retailers.

Exclusive Short Stories for Patrons

The six month gap between exclusive release to Patrons is over, so we'll start releasing shorts again on a monthly basis soon. There will likely be a small gap for when we released in April the Blue Screens short on the website, but otherwise, we'll be seeing shorts as voted on by the patrons released every month from now on.

And for those that don't know, yes, we do exclusive (for a period) shorts for Patrons. They also get to vote on the shorts that I do each month. This month, we're doing another A Thousand Li short about Soul Kittens.

Tao Plot Bunnies

I've got a few plot bunnies that have escaped their enclosure. One of which I'm working on right now, which is an entirely new series. It's only 20k words in and it's only getting a few hundred words every week, so it might be a while before we see anything. AoB is my focus a bit, but I'm bouncing around a bit with writing (see below for reasons). 

I also have a few other plot bunnies going on that want to escape but I'm keeping a tight hold on them for now. I do have a plan for another series if something I'm looking at opens up, but till I know for sure, I'll keep them penned in.

At least till I knock off a few major side projects too.

A Note about my Writing Process

You might notice I mention about 3 (4 if you count the shorts) writing projects on the go right now. That's... about right, with another 2 (PMC and Eternal Night) stalled. It might frustrate you, as a reader, if you want more ATL or SA books out faster. I get it.

However, you wouldn't really get more of those books if I stayed writing on those works. I've been recording my writing numbers (for the last year), and an interesting fact appeared.

January - 71,160 (5 projects)

February -  62,426 (3 projects)

March - 60,407 (2 projects at the beginning, plus editing, then 5 at the end)

April - 67,968 (6 projects)

May - 24,045 (current - 6 projects)

When I started writing across multiple works, on the days where I hit 2+ projects, I actually see a much higher word count. I push out 2-3k on the main work, and then I get in another 500-1000 words across the other project(s) I'm working on.

What happens is that I finish up the scenes that my brain knows needs writing, then rather than push ahead and try to figure out the next scene in the same work, I jump to another project which I know that scene for. By the time I get back to the main project the next day, I've already figured out that (major) scene, so I can just write.

In this way, my total numbers (when I'm not ill) hit between 3-4k a day. Then I take some days off, 'cause I'm ill or tired which drives my numbers down. Or, you know, I take the occasional weekend off.

The good news is that overall, we should see more work showing up (all these side projects like AoB, PMC, Eternal Night, plot bunnies, etc.); just much later since it takes me a bit to write them in this way rather than keeping focused.

Co-Author & Secret Projects 

Oooh, so there are also a few secret projects that I haven't mentioned. Some are work I've sold to others, some I'm hoping to sell. We'll let you know once the release dates for those are announced. It's why you see some of those projects up there are in the greater numbers than what you expect.

Also.... I have a few co-author projects cooking away. We'll let you know more once we get actual books finished. Co-author projects take more time since we often work with them on our off times, but some of these authors are super cool. 

And that's it. Questions?