August Newsletter/William Wilde Book 3 launch!

Hi OutCastes,

My semi-monthly update on what’s going on in my world. First off, book 3 of The Chronicles of William Wilde releases tomorrow, August 7^th, 2018. Here’s a short blurb:

William must summon his courage and return to Sinskrill. Great friends remain trapped on that terrible island, and he’s vowed to see them freed. But even with the aid of powerful allies, such as Rukh and Jessira, will his courage be enough against the terrible strength and magic of the Servitor?

Here are the links:
Amazon
Audible

I saw a few movies over the past few months. First, The Incredibles 2, which was delightfully charming. All the characters are back, and their relationships remain and grow deeper. Family is still the key, but my favorite scene is likely Jack Jack’s encounter with a raccoon.

Next, Avengers: Infinity War. It was mindless fun, and I enjoyed it, but I think part of my enjoyment was because I went in with low expectations. I still love the characters, but just once, I’d like to see them do something unexpected, like keep their cool until after the battle.

I also saw Mission Impossible:Fallout. I don’t remember a whole lot from this movie, except that it was fun and frenetic. I liked it for than Avengers but less than The Incredibles 2.
My favorite movie by far this summer, though, is one I saw on Netflix. Coco. I never gave this movie a chance when it was in the theaters because the trailers looked so dumb. But then my wife watched it, while I was reading Senlin Ascends (a fantastic book, btw). She had tears in her eyes at the end, so one day when I wasn’t doing anything, I watched it by myself. And I had tears in my eyes as well. It’s hard to describe why this movie is so good without ruining the plot, but it’s moving, funny, heartwarming without being syrupy, and grown-up in how it handles death, loss, and regret. It’s easily in my top 3 Pixar movies of all time, which is saying something given that studio’s track record.

A final note, and this one is personal. My father passed away last week on July 28th. He died after a long struggle, and his illnesses had been many years in the making. His suffering sucked away the joy out of most things. While I published my books, was happy with the success I had, often in the back of my head, I wished my father could have enjoyed it with me. He would have been so proud.
In the five years of his illness, it was writing that was a large part of my salvation. The act of creation, of storytelling while my dad slowly withered was a kind of blessing. However, while I tried to keep an upbeat tone online and in social media, that positivity wasn’t how I was generally feeling. I was grieving and am still grieving, and with his passing, some things have come into focus. I’ve finished book 4 of William Wilde. It only needs about 5-6 weeks of edits, and it’s done. Then comes book 5, and I’m not sure if I’ll get to that right away. There’s a deeper story I may want to tell first. It’s the story of my immigrant family and how we came to be in America. It’s one I’ve wanted to tell for years, and if I don’t start it now, I may not be able to tell it later since others in my family are also ill.
We’ll see. If that happens, it isn’t to say I’ll leave William Wilde unfinished. I know how that story ends, and I promise to finish it as I imagined and as I deserved, and it won’t be years from now. But I also ask for patience before I jump straight to it. I need some time to reflect on things and then decide what to do next.

Davis Ashura