Tag Archives: The Dwarf’s Legacy

Update on Book Four

19 Dec

Since several people have asked about Book 4, The Dwarf’s Legacy, I thought I ought to give you an update.

I just wish I had more to say about it.

The last couple of times I talked about it, I said the dwarf was giving me fits. I was stalled on a serious revision.

The good news is, I know exactly what I need to do. I’ve charted out what needs to happen and when and who needs to do what in order to get the book where it needs to go.

The bad news is, I have not found the time or energy to print the book out, pull it apart, scribble all over it and put it back together. The end of the year is a busy time in my work, and it’s been busier this year as I’ve scrambled to also support relief efforts in the Philippines. It’s rewarding — but also quite draining — to write and revise and update and edit again and again on such important topics, and it’s left with me with little time and even less energy to write.

I’m hoping that in one or two of my days off leading up to Christmas I’ll be able to get back to the book.

I believe I am still on track for a February release, but it most likely will be late February.

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The rest of the series

25 Sep

With all the news about The House in the Old Wood and Karia’s Path (books one and two of the series, The Day Magic Died), you might think nothing is happening with the rest of the series.

And you would be wrong.

The Hall of the Prophetess (Book 3): On track for November. All four of my critical readers have finished reading the final draft, and my designer is already at work on the cover, so as soon as the final review of Karia’s Path (Book 2) is done, I plan to:

  • Begin working through the critiques to revise the book, then start the final proofreading
  • Sketch out a map for my artist (though I still have to figure out what it will be a map of)

If all goes well, it could even be released in October. I’ll keep you posted, and I’ll share more about this book soon too.

The Dwarf’s Legacy (Book 4): Ugh. Stupid dwarf. This one is giving me fits. I spotted two serious problems with the draft: One key character came back after a betrayal, and there’s no way he would have been so trusted; and another character conveniently showed up just as he was needed and died when he was no longer needed. Ugh. Who writes this stuff? Oh, yeah, me.

So I am moving through a complete rewrite, but I’m just not feeling the magic, if you know what I mean. The primary reason is that I’ve been trying to do the rewrite while:

  • Finishing the second edition of The House in the Old Wood
  • Finalizing Karia’s Path and
  • Getting The Hall of the Prophetess ready for my critical readers.

Soon, however, I’ll be done with the first two. Once I have completed the semifinal text for The Hall of the Prophetess and turned that over to my wife for proofreading, I can really focus on The Dwarf’s Legacy (Book 4), starting with a list of everything I need the replacement characters to do. So, looking at that timing, I’m hoping for a January 2014 release.

The Day Magic Died (Book 5): I think this book needs only minor revisions, which makes an early spring 2014 release likely.

By the way, the book titles The Dwarf’s Legacy (Book 4) and The Day Magic Died (Book 5) are still working titles and subject to change. Especially if the dwarf keeps giving me grief.

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Books Two, Three and Four coming along

2 Jul

Where have I been?

Writing. Not writing blog posts, but writing more of The Day Magic Died series.

As I told you June 21, Book Two, now tentatively titled Karia’s Path, is out to a few critical reader for their input. I’ve heard back from two of the four. One gave me two-and-a-half pages of notes, which is very helpful. She even spotted an issue with the storyline, which gives me an opportunity to fix something I overlooked before I make it available to all of you.

The other critical reader I heard back from? Well, she got so caught up in reading Book Two that she neglected to take any notes. She enjoyed it that much. That’s great, but I sent her back to look through it again and mark it up.

So, two of four down, but three to go. No, I’m not going to rush them. I know you want to read Book Two, but I want to be sure the book is ready for you.

Back in June I also told you I was making progress on the revisions of Book Three, The Hall of the Prophetess. Well, guess what? I finished the revisions, and it’s now awaiting proofreading.

So what am I doing now? You guessed it – I’ve started on the revisions to Book Four, The Legacy of the Dwarf. Because to write epic fantasy fiction, you gotta have a dwarf, right? Well, maybe not. Anyway, I’ve just started. In fact, all I’ve done so far is write a new Chapter One. And I was just looking at it, and it seems kind of flat still.

Ah well.

At least everything is still on track to release Book 2 in September and Book 3 in November. I’ll keep you updated.

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