Writing Update: November 2024

Been a bit since I did a writing update, and while there's a lot going on in the background, not as much is happening up front for readers to pay attention to. There's a few things where I'm still waiting for an official update (contracts, etc.) that are happening on the backend that I can't speak of beyond very vague posts like this; but I think it's pretty exciting.

In general, though, I won't mention things until I get the contract signed (and hopefully money in pockets); mostly because this world is always a little more complex and filled with disappointment. So it's best not to get hopes up.

Anyway, let's talk writing updates!

A Thousand Li

A Thousand Li: the Fourth Fall is out on Amazon and Audible. We're still doing very, very well and I am, once again, thankful for all my fans who have read and picked up the work. Do leave reviews, talk about it in other reader spaces, that's how we grow the series.

Many of you also realised that book 12 is already written and posted in Patreon in its draft format. I've seen a bunch of you coming along, so hi! Have fun reading book 12 and catching up on the finale for Wu Ying.

And yes, even some of the next sequel series is out on Patreon. You can read it by joining us here... ;)

In other news, we're very, very close to getting the deluxe edition printed. Sorry it took so long, there's a lot that we're learning about printing with a real printer, including the number of proofs / digital proof fixes/etc. that go into things like this. Just getting the end sheets the right colour is a pain and a half, so it's been fascinating learning all these things, but we're just waiting for the final paper proofs to arrive before we confirm printing.

At which point it'll be another 6 months before it arrives on our doorstep. 

Oof.

The System Apocalypse

Head of the Class and Fool's Last Dance are both doing quite well for their respective series. I'm happy to see both works out in the world after working on them for the last year. For David, the third Kismet book is the last one for a while. I'm not sure he'll be returning to the series anytime soon, as he - like KT - have their own writing careers to pursue. 

Jason and Craig are both working on the sequels of their next book, so I am looking forward to seeing the first drafts in the next few months. Both are busy with their real jobs too (and real life); so it's been a little slower than we would have preferred, but those are being worked on.

Beyond that, that's really all the news we have that we can discuss publicly for the System Apocalypse. There are plans for some things happening in 2025, once we're closer, I'll let you guys know. :)

Hidden Dishes

Well, volume 3 of the series has been written, edited and sent to Dreamscape for recording. We are on track for a release next year, and we'll be picking up ARC readers and doing the usual song and dance. Having fun with my cozy cooking fantasy series and will have to start writing volume 4 soon. Plans for it to be 6-7 books long continue apace, with one release a year only.

Magic Kingdom at War

Yup, this is the constant release 4x series. I have to admit, the series has not done well at all. Unfortunately, whether it's just the format or the sub-genre, it has seriously underperformed. In fact, recent releases have done even worse than normal; so while we have 11 volumes written for the series, I might be cutting it short at 12 volumes. I was planning on doing a few more, just to tie it up, but with sales dropping even further; I can't justify taking time writing other work to keep putting it out.

I'll wrap it up as best I can in volume 12, but if we don't see a major shift; it'll likely be left 'hanging' somewhat, because a 'true' ending would take too long to write up. Sorry for any fans of this work, but there just aren't that many. 

Climbing the Ranks

Climbing the Ranks continues to do well for us. It's a lot of fun to write, the book is free on Starlit Publishing, it's my wide series whose entire focus is dragging more readers onto Starlit Publishing and having fun writing about Malaysian culture and a Tower there. Book 3 chapters are already releasing on the main site, book 2 itself releases end of this month on Amazon.

The plan (currently) is to start writing book 4 in January, when I have time to focus on that. It'll mean that new chapters will continue to appear on Starlit Publishing, and book 3 will get another Kickstarter too, just like book 2. I'm super happy with the series, can't really complain about it at all and I have a rather insistent fan at home who wants to read more about the Benevolent Durians. ;)

Secret Projects 1 & 2

Alright, otherwise, I have two secret projects I'm working on now. It's partly why I'm dropping Magic Kingdom at War, because I just don't have time to finish it up properly if I want to work on these secret projects more, and I really do.

The first is nearly done - it's just in the final editing phase. Once that project is done, it'll start going through the various processes needed to get it ready for publishing, though when that'll happen might be a bit. There are things in the work.

The second secret project is a LitRPG one. I have a really cool world building idea and mean to do it, so the only question is when I can get it written and released. The current plan is to get as much written as possile, if not complete by the end of this year so that we can shoot for a late 2025 release. Maybe a little earlier if possible, but that's going to be super tight.

So....

Yeah. Lots of writing to do.

Other Thoughts & General Plans

Convention season is over. That was exhausting. Next year, I have at least 1 that I have to do (my own, Toronto Indie Author Conference) that happens in late April. That's taking a bit of time to organise, but it should (hopefully) flow well. We've already started getting lots of sales, and I'm hoping to see more; as well as, of course, speakers.

More to be added as we get more attendees and speakers confirmed.

For 2025, my convention list is... rather full. Frankly, I'm heading down to the States twice for non-convention related reasons already, and I'm seriously considering how much time conventions and all these events have 'cost' me in terms of writing time (generally, with pushing to catch up, I hit my 50k for the month this year; but I should be at 60-70k. If I'm not traveling it's often 70k. So... it basically, in these 3 months where I'm running around doing conventions, the cost of all this is like... 40-60k words. That's a full book or half of one of my epics.

That's not even counting the financial cost of doing conventions. Generally speaking, each convention can run between $2-4k depending on hotels, flights and food. So, doing 7 in a year adds up fast....

So, while I have been saying I might do LitRPGcon and Dragoncon and all that... I might just not. Or choose only a few specific ones to do and stay local.

Anyway, just a heads up.