Writing Update: August Edition

I'll tell the truth here, can't recall when the last time I wrote a writing update. I might have missed the July one, but since there was little enough to update, I figured I'd cover everything that has been going on here. There's quite a bit, so let's start:

System Apocalypse

Craig's finished his own personal project so now he's started on System Apocalypse: Relentless 4. Hopefully we'll have it ready for around middle of next year. For actual releases, we have two coming up - the third and final book of David's System Apocalypse: Kismet series and then the first book of System Apocalypse: Liberty by Jason J. Willis. 

Right now, there's no further plans beyond two more books for Jason and however many that Craig is willing to write (probably another 3). KT Hanna just released her very successful Library Reset series and she's working on that one right now, so it'll be a few years before she returns to System Apocalypse, if ever. We're still hoping she'll come back. :P

A Thousand Li

Well, book 11 is releasing in a few months. The book itself is finished, waiting for Travis to record it later this month and releasing in November of this year. I finished writing and editing book 12 today, it goes to the editor on Tuesday and then, of course, there's a bunch of fixes to finish.

For those who follow along on Patreon, there's over 13,000 words added to the book since the first draft as I fleshed out certain scenes and altered the pacing a little more. There might be some more edits and changes after the editor comes back with their changes and comments, but I believe the series has achieved what I set out to do with it. 

I'm happy with the ending, and I hope you do too.

A Thousand Li Sequel

There's a sequel series for A Thousand Li that will follow right after the main series. It shifts tone slightly and scope, becoming much less progression fantasy and much more epic fantasy. I have a 12 book series planned out for this which will bring an end to the A Thousand Li world and my writing in it - at least for a while. It should take up a significant chunk of my time, either way.

I'll start posting chapters for that sometime in late August / early September, depending on timing and how I do with the initial chapters. This month is going to be very busy so I'm not entirely certain how much I can get written really (see below for why).

Magic Kingdom at War

My 4x LitRPG novella series continues to chug along. We're releasing a volume a month right now, with the fourth volume coming out on August 7, 2024. We have edited 7 volumes at this time, have edits for book 8 coming through mid-August and two more draft volumes done (for a total of 10). The current plan is to do around 12-14 volumes, the exact number uncertain as I'd like to end it on a proper note. 

I'm not entirely certain how much more of Magic Kingdom at War will be written past the first arc. Due to how crunchy the series is, there's significant backend work to make sure the numbers and units and everything is correct, much more than I actually ever expected. 

For a 'light' series, this has actually taken a lot more work than expected. So, we'll see. I am enjoying it though, so it's possible that there might be multiple years of releases. Part of that, of course, is the financial side - if we get enough success, it does make sense to continue past the first arc.

Climbing the Ranks

As mentioned previously, I have three volumes comprising the first arc written. Most of it is edited, we're waiting the last 1/3 of the volume to be edited, but volume 3 won't release till next year. We just finished the Kickstarter for volume 2 actually, so obviously, we're writing well ahead.

Depending on how things go with the release of volume 2, I'll continue adding more chapters to the free side. If it doesn't do well, we'll probably wrap up in volume 3 with over 650k words already written in the series. I do have ideas for the next few arcs, so we shall definitely have to see how it goes with the Benevolent Durians. 

Hidden Dishes

Not much progress on this. Brain has been eaten by editing and working on Magic Kingdom at War, so while I'm about half done with the third work in the Hidden Dishes universe, I just haven't had time to tackle more of it. I'm still ahead of the schedule, so we should still be able to release it in the March/April timeline for next year.

Convention Season Has Begun!

That's right, the reason why I'm going to be so busy is because convention season has begun. A reminder for those who don't know, this is my convention schedule:

- World Con (Glasgow) - August 8-12

- DragonCon (Atlanta) - August 29 - Sept 2

- Word on the Street (Toronto) - Sept 28 - 29

- Can-Con (Ottawa) - Nov 1-3

I'm also looking at the  World Fantasy Convention (Niagara) - Oct 17 - 20 since it's so close, though I'm not confirmed yet as either a panelist and/or attendee. Still, it's so close, it'd be silly not to go.

Anyway.

August in particular will be particularly busy, especially I'll be having a small vacation too after World Con. As such, I'm not sure how many chapters I'll have written of the ATL sequel, especially since editing and writing Magic Kingdom and ATL has taken more time than expected.

Additional Projects

We're continuing on with a few additional projects. The Toronto Indie Author Con is well on its way, we're just having some problems with our ticketing system. Once that gets fixed, we should be able to start selling tickets for it.

We have plans for multiple kickstarters next year, though we're in the midst of sorting out the printing of the A Thousand Li: the First Step deluxe edition. It's so pretty, but there's a bunch of work left to get done. We have plans to get books 2 and 3 done as a bundle next year as well as the System Apocalypse deluxe edition.

Beyond that, we'll do one last print Kickstarter for Climbing the Ranks 3 for sure. We already have the cover and some of the art work being done and I have to say, the cover is fire! As well as some of the sketches for the internal art work. 

Otherwise, that's really all the major projects we're planning. I do want to write a few more novelettes in the Power, Mask & Capes universe as well as the Eternal Night universe (especially since I want to finish the mini-arc I started in volume 3 of the Eternal Night world); but that's something in the future when I find some time.

As for other 'major' projects, I'm uncertain. I have a few ideas for a few LitRPGs, but also some out of the genre ones including a romantasy, another epic fantasy, more cozy fantasy and a standalone Gamelit work. What I'll end up choosing, we'll have to see. It will, frankly, depend on how I feel after I've done with the ATL Sequel.

Questions? Thoughts? Feel free to ask.