Category: Fantasy Novels Update

I remember taking some beginner classes many years ago to learn to juggle (lots of fun) and this feels a lot like that – just with less dropping of things. I do like working on multiple projects at the same time… however, recently it’s been a bit insane!

I’m making great progress incorporating beta-reader feedback into Power Awry (Wild Heritance, book 2). Filling some holes and making the plot tighter – I’m pleased with the final shape the story has taken. The cover is in the final stages – almost ready!

Trial Run (Wild Heritance novella) has slipped easily into the beta reader phase, and is almost done with that. Next will be any last revisions and finalizing the cover.

Book 3 of the Wild Heritance series has a title: Power Redeemed. I haven’t been working as much on the draft recently because book 2 and the novella have been taking most of my attention. Still, the draft is approaching that 50,000-word mark! That’s is roughly the halfway mark for the book.

And then, on top of all this activity, are all the new ideas that have come to me. I’ve taken side trips to research aspects of two non-Wild Heritance fantasy novel ideas, decide on some character names, change some character names from what I had decided on originally, figure out some plot points, and even get the very beginnings written. I’m also hoping to jump into revisions soon for the first novel in my fantasy trilogy. The draft is done – I’ve just let it sit for a time while I concentrated on the Wild Heritance series.

Wow, a month since I last posted! It’s been crazy busy – so many “real world” things to take care of. Nothing bad, just a lot, and time-consuming, and sometimes frustrating. Still, I’ve made some writing progress, too. Yay!

Book 2 of the Wild Heritance series is now with the beta readers. The waiting is so hard. I keep wanting to ask how it’s going and what have they found that I might need to do some further work on, but I don’t want to bug them. I’m just eager to do any re-writes/fixes that I need to, so I can get the book published. It’s so close….

To keep from bugging my beta readers, I’ve been working through some revisions in the Wild Heritance Novella. It’s now very close to being ready for the beta readers. I could probably send it out any time, but I want to do one last read-through before then.

I’ve also been working on the draft for Book 3. The ideas for the story are coming together well, and I’ve even gotten some of them written down. If I assume that Book 3 will end up being about the same length as the first two, I can say that the draft is already about 10% done!

And finally, naturally, in the midst of working on the Wild Heritance series, an idea for a completely separate, unrelated, new fantasy novel has pounced on me. I’ve already got a strong start on the draft and know a lot about how the story will go and I’m enjoying some interesting research for the world building.

So… plenty to keep me busy!

(I hear that title above sung to the tune of “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof!)

I’ve finished running through my “word edits” for Wild Heritance Book 2, giving me a better feeling about the strength of the writing in this story.

Next I plan to tackle revisions that include fixing some contradictions and continuity issues I noticed. Some are internal to this book’s story and others are related to details in Duplicity of Power and the novella. I also plan to tighten the story; I’m pretty sure, while doing my word edits, I spotted some places where I repeated some details unnecessarily.

I’m pleased with how Book 2 is coming together. Looking forward to getting it ready for beta readers. Early 2019, I hope.

I haven’t yet returned to work on my other series (the NaNoWriMo drafts), but I’ve been getting some good ideas for revisions to the draft that I finished in November. And I’ve got some new ideas to help get book 2 of that series going – I now have some good notes for the plot. In this series, I have multiple magic systems. So I’ve mainly been absorbed with figuring out how they all work!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks since my last post – mostly with non-writing stuff. But I’m still making progress.

The draft for Book 2 in the Wild Heritance series is coming along. I’ve been able to write 500 to 2000 words many days recently, so I’m happy about that! I’m approaching 70% completion on that draft – based on my estimate that it will be roughly the same length as Book 1. And I’ve written a couple of the early scenes in the draft of Book 3.

I’ve been letting the Wild Heritance Novella sit after my last revision run-through. I was finding that I had been in that story too much and was just glossing over the words when I was supposed to be reading them. So I’m taking a little break from that.

Ideas for my other fantasy series, my trilogy, have been floating around in my mind. Important pieces for the first book are slowly coming together for me – especially how the magic will work.

Hoping to get back to more consistent writing very soon. I really want to get Wild Heritance Book 2 finished!