April 2019 in which I pray for sunshine
What’s Going on!
Nothing much to report this past month, other than my wife and I sharing our 20th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going to Greenville, SC, which is flat out beautiful. The history of the place, how a southern dump became such a lovely city, is even more interesting and inspiring.
Let’s see. I’m done with Babylon 5 binging and am now working my way through Parks and Rec again. I haven’t yet seen Captain Marvel. The trailers didn’t interest me. I am interested in Shazam though. Same with Avengers Endgame.
As for writing, I’m in the middle of editing William Wilde and Lord of Mourning, book 5 and the finale of the series. It’s coming along, but man, the story sure has gone full epic. Two worlds, a mythical god, monsters that are thousands of years old, time traveling heroes. I think I threw everything I could into a blender and set in on kick ass. The book will be narrated by Nick Podehl.
I also sent a bunch of copies of William Wilde and the Necrosed, book one in the series, to a school up in Indiana, and they loved it, which makes me glad. One of them liked it better than Percy Jackson. Take that Rick Riordan! I know. I’m sure he doesn’t care.
After this series, I’m not sure what to write. I’m fascinated by Xianxia, so maybe I’ll give that a go.
What I’ve Been Reading
Like I mentioned, I’m fascinated by Xianxia, which is a type of Chinese fantasy in which a nobody practices sacred martial arts, seeking to overcome overwhelming foes on his way to immortality. There’s leveling and cultivating, and in this, it shares a lot of similarities with LitRPG. I first heard about Xianxi when I read Will Wight’s Cradle series. Speaking of Will Wight, Underlord, book 6 in his series dropped last month, and it was every bit as fun and fantastic as the first 5 books.
After I finish WW book 5, I think I’m taking a break from reading fantasy and reading about Hindu mythology and the craft of storytelling. I need a palate cleanser. Then we’ll see what I write.
After this series, I’m not sure what to write. I’m fascinated by Xianxia, so maybe I’ll give that a go.
Grab a book! Deeply discounted and all that!
I don’t have as much to offer this month, except this one from an author friend of mine, USA Today bestseller Alisha Klapheke, who has a new book out: Fate of Dragons, book 1 of the Dragon Rising series. For now, it’s only $0.99.
Dragons. Elves. And the last surviving human fated to save them from the rising sea. But Vahly is the world’s biggest disappointment. So far, she possesses no magic whatsoever.
When she finds an ancient scroll that mentions a human power ritual conducted deep in the homeland of the elves, she gathers her dragon allies and journeys to see the king of that forest-dwelling race.
Welcomed into a place more lovely than any dream, will Vahly find the truth about her people’s past and wake her magic or will a twisted and powerful elven lord destroy her chance at saving the world?
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Thank you for the update on book 5! I finished your outcaste series not too long ago and wanted to wait for the finale of William Wilde to get into it! They are fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed them! On another note Will Wights books are amazing!
Thanks again!
Hi Justin,
So glad you like William Wilde. The hardest part of writing the series is stopping Rukh and Jessira from taking over the story. They’re bosses and tough to corral. I really love Will’s Cradle series. It’s so fun, and part of me wants to give a story like that a go. The other part wants to write the sequel to the Castes and the OutCastes. Which one do you think I should do?
Davis
Hey Davis a big fan of both your series! though i admit i need to finish the last book for William wilde then i may reread the Castes book. That is a hard question you asked! see i want more Castes and the outcastes BUT i love the Cradle series as well like you heck when a new book comes out i go threw it so fast. I would love to see your hand at Xianxia books. Either way i am sure it will be amazing and hopefully on Audio like your other works so far.
Hi Stephen,
I’ll always try to make sure everything I do makes it into audio. Xianxia or Castes? Maybe I should embrace the power of ‘and’ by doing both.
Davis
Davis
Hey if your willing to let this greedy readier have both then i would say do it embrace the power!
However if you decide to only do one i have been thinking maybe start with a Xianxia and then Castes? both would be better though lol.
Either way thank you so much for making everything into Audio as someone who only listens to books i can say i and i am sure others are deeply thankful.
seems though i missed release of at least one book gonna have to fix that! keep up the great work!
A wholehearted thank you for the worlds you h’ave created. I finished all of your William Wilde books and after a week of processing and decompression from all the epic action, curiosity won over and I read the Castes and Outcastes series. In response to your question to Justin, I don’t think you can go wrong with your next project. I would LOVE to read more about Ruhk and Jessira in a sequel but I’m most excited for your next William Wilde book. Any news on release date?
(Im)patiently waiting,
James C.
Hi James,
You’re more than welcome. Writing these two connected worlds has been challenging and a joy, and I’m always grateful when the books resonate with others. The final William Wilde book has a preliminary release date of August 6th. That may change depending on my publisher. After that, I’ve thought long and hard about what I’m going to write. I vacillated a bit and realized I’m trying to ‘force’ a story just because I think the concept is cool, but it’s not what I’m passionate about. The story I want to write is one that started percolating during the writing of William Wilde. I’ll put a post up about it and send out a newsletter when I have my website updated.
Sincerely,
Davis
Thanks for the reply! It is so wonderful to see you interacting with your fans. Well I hope the warring ideas in your heart and mind eventually come to an armistice and enter pages for us to read. I was just wondering about something that I read in the History of Arylyn section at the back of Sons of Deception. The grouping names of elves and dwarves, are sithe and creche respectively. These are also the names of groups of Tigons and Baels. Are these groups connected by more than just name?
How was your July 4th? Hope you had an amazing day with family.
James
Hi James,
I had a nice relaxing 4th and a long weekend, which is why I’m a bit behind in answering your message. I hope you and your family had a good time on the 4th also. I think interacting with readers is one of the most enjoyable aspects of publishing. The question about the sithe and creche is a good catch. I wasn’t sure anyone would, but yes, there is a connection. Rukh created the dwarves and Jessira had a hand in what became the elves.
Davis
Davis
Hey if your willing to let this greedy readier have both then i would say do it embrace the power!
However if you decide to only do one i have been thinking maybe start with a Xianxia and then Castes? both would be better though lol.
Either way thank you so much for making everything into Audio as someone who only listens to books i can say i and i am sure others are deeply thankful.
seems though i missed release of at least one book gonna have to fix that! keep up the great work!
Hi Stephen,
Greedy readers are sometimes the best readers! As for doing both, I might got that route just to see if I can. It’d be hard as hell, but might also be fun.
Davis
Now that you are are almost finished the William Wilde series, we need a new adventure with Rukh and Jessira. At least 10 books in this series.
Hi Ken,
That’s a great idea, and Rukh and Jessira vs. Shet’s children would be 2-3 books. It’s not a secret to mention that they are Shokan and Sira in Earth’s past, so that’s another 4 books, and then on to Seminal, which would be around 5-7 books. I think I got the 10 books you’re hoping for covered. 🙂
Davis
I think you should rethink ending the William Wilde series. I’m 2 hours til finishing the 4th book. I could see this becoming a series like The Hardy Boys. You would definitely have the following. After reading the book 1 I was wondering if Earth was the past of Arisa. There were a lot of similarities that seemed to coincidental. But the rest of the series has denuded me of that notion. Hoping book 5 is released soon.
Hi Ken,
There are other stories I had that were related to William Wilde dating back to before I even started writing William Wilde. One features Landon, his brother. Another features Selene and Elliot. I hope to get to those one of these days. As for William himself, he’s got a fifth book that’s in the hands of Nick Podehl right now with a tentative release date of Aug. 6.
Davis