fbpx

December writing update

by Dec 10, 2020Wonderings32 comments

It’s a slow time with the holidays and all. Plus, I’ve got the first few drafts of Memories of Prophecies hammered out, so I get to relax for a bit. Memories is the sequel to A Testament of Steel, and it’s off to the editor right now. Fingers crossed it passes muster.

So a little about what I’ve been up to while I’m waiting to hear back from my editor, I decided to outline a series that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. It’s a sci-fantasy set in the 24th century and the MC is someone who has failed at his life’s ambition in the past. This is the story of his road to redemption.

I’m not sure how far I’ll get with it before I decide to kick it into gear and outline book 3 of Instrument of Omens, but right now, it’s a fun change of pace.

What else? Let’s see . . . Work has been an ongoing challenge with a new EHR (electronic health record). The less said about it the better.

To take my mind off the work related problems, I watch sports whenever I can. With Covid, I’m watching a lot of old games. I already know how they end, but there are the crowds and excitement, and it’s just a reminder of what life once was like and will hopefully be again. For live sports, I watched some MMA. Israel Adesanya, the MMA fighter with the coolest nickname-the Last Stylebender-completely outclassed and pasted Paulo Costa.  That was cool.

And my football team, the Cincinnati Bengals, looked like they were turning the corner. Their rookie QB, Joe Burrow, was playing lights out. Awesome! And then, just like that, it’s all gone. Burrow tears an ACL entirely due to typical Bengals luck (bad) and incompetence on the part of the coaching (also a typical Bengals quality). I’m still pretty grumpy about that. Stupid Bengals. Sure would be nice to be a Steelers fan.

So now I have to take my mind off my stupid Bengals sucking like usual, so I turned to the old reliable: books.

Bryce O’Connor and Luke Chimlenko’s The Iron Prince is a big, bold escapist sci-fantasy adventure that leans on the “broken boy destined for greatness” trope and hits it out of the park. Love it!

Will Wight’s latest Cradle should be on everyone’s list. If you haven’t read it yet, you should.

Sarah Lin’s Street Cultivation 3. It’s a progression novel, and about a future where chi and purification have been monetized in modern times by large corporations. I enjoyed the entire series. It’s fun and popcorny, but Sarah does a great job with the characters. Simple things, but they live, which is really cool. I expected to love the world-building and premise, but it turned that it was the characters I liked the most about the series.

I also read A Deal with an Elf King, by Elise Kova. It’s a romance, but I’ve always been a sucker for a good romance, and this is most definitely a good one. Every 100 years, the elf king visits Luella’s small village to find a bride. The unlucky woman is taken into the land of the Fae where she will never again see her family. This year, the unhappy task falls to Luella. The characters are sharp. The dialogue is witty (I wish I could write dialogue that well), and the happy ever after is never in doubt with a few twists I didn’t see coming.

That’s it from me!

32 Comments

  1. Larry

    I’m so excited about the sequel to a testament of steel

    Reply
    • Davis

      Always glad to see a reader excited by what I wrote. The sequel is coming along, and it should hopefully be out in March 2021.

      Reply
      • Martin Wells

        Just finished “A Testament of Steel” . Wow you knocked it out of the park. I can’t wait for your next installment! I had not read your past works so I downloaded “The Castes and Outcastes” collection. Thank you for sharing your worlds!

        Reply
        • Davis

          Hi Martin,

          I love baseball, so a baseball analogy with a book as a home run is always going to be welcome. Thank you for that! Book 2 should hopefully be out in March 2021. And thank you for picking up the Castes and the OutCastes. I truly hope you enjoy it. You’ll also quickly learn who/why Cinder grows so rapidly in his skills as well as a few other things. Happy reading!

          Davis

          Reply
        • Tim Carter

          What is your expectation on the publish date for memories of prophecies?

          Reply
          • Davis

            Right now, it’s on schedule to be released in March.

            Davis

      • Kerry Keown

        Hello Davis, any update on this release?

        Reply
        • Davis

          Hi Kerry,

          Thank you for reaching out. The next book, Memories of Prophecies, should be released on March 25th.

          Davis

          Reply
      • Matt

        Can’t wait. Testament of steel was awesome

        Reply
        • Davis

          Thanks, Matt! The best part is the sequel comes out on March 25th!

          Davis

          Reply
    • Jon bourke

      A testament of steel was 2020’s second from top spot for me. By a whisker beat out by the iron prince. What a ride both books were.

      I am very excited to see what happens to cinder and I want to thank you for helping me stay sane during lockdown.

      Reply
      • Davis

        That’s not a pretty phenomenal place to be! Second to Iron Prince, which is a fabulous book. Can’t wait for the sequel to that one.

        Reply
  2. Mike

    A Testament of Steel was one of the best books I read in 2020. Can’t wait for the sequel!

    Reply
    • Davis

      Wow! That’s very high praise! Thank you! As for the sequel, it should hopefully come out in March 2021. Happy New Year!

      Reply
  3. Robert Paulson

    I’m eagerly anticipating the sequels to Testament of Steel. It’s seems impossible for you to write a bad book/series and I hope that you keep on publishing further series after this one.

    Reply
    • Davis

      Thank you, Robert! That’s awfully nice of you to say. Also, the sequel to A Testament of Steel should be coming out in March. Have a Happy New Year and stay safe!

      Reply
  4. Patrick Boutier

    TofS was an absolute delight! I can’t wait to see the sequel appear 🙂 If you’re in need of Alpha/Beta readers, I do volunteer 😛

    On a side note, I really liked Iron Prince too. Unfortunately, its 2 authors are not really good at following up on their different universes. Still waiting for the sequel to A Mark Of Kings, almost 2 years and counting…

    Reply
    • Davis

      Glad you loved it! The sequel is actually out with the alpha readers right now, and I hope to have it out to beta readers in early February and their critiques should be back by the end of February so the book can be out and available in late March. As for Luke and Bryce, they’re actually friends of mine, and when beta read Iron Prince, I got 100 pages into the book and told them that they had a series that had the potential of Cradle. They didn’t believe me, but I felt that strongly about the storytelling. And the good news is that they are in the process or writing the sequel to A Mark of Kings as we speak.

      Davis
      PS And if you’re serious about wanting me to add you to the beta reader list, simply email me through the contact form on the website and let me know for sure.

      Reply
  5. Patrick Boutier

    Craddle is good but falls somewhat into what I call the too-long-series trap. After the 3rd book it felt a bit stale. Even the best authors fall into that one. And yes I read the whole R. Jordan’s Wheel of Time…

    I agree with you, Iron Prince has enormous potential. Can’t wait for the sequel! As for the A Mark of Kings sequel and TofS sequel, this is great news.

    Reply
    • BRANDON P

      Cradle gets better and better the more you read. Book 8 was one of the best books I read all year.

      Reply
      • Davis

        I love Cradle. I always tell people that if they want to read a fun, wonderful read, you can’t go wrong with Cradle. Or Kings of the Wyld. Or Orconomics. All great reads.

        Reply
        • Maggie Miller

          I read a lot of kindle books. Most all of them are full of typos and poor grammar. It’s worse when the errors are in continuity and clarity.

          Your Testament of Steel is well written, well edited, and continuous. I believe I found one error in the entire book. The story flows, is moderately challenging to read, and entertaining.

          Thank you. I’ll be looking forward to the next book.

          Reply
          • Davis

            I’m glad you enjoyed it, Maggie, and I’m also glad you only found one typo. I’m terrible at typos, which is why I have to have 3 people read behind me to catch them all.

            Davis

    • Davis

      Cradle is like comfort food for me. There is just something about it that I just love.
      I keep bugging Bryce and Luke to write the sequel to Iron Prince, but they HAVE to get the sequel to Mark of Kings out first.

      Reply
  6. Steve Girling

    Just wanted to say a huge thank you for the stunning Testament of Steel – its the first book that I have read and then also listened to the audiobook the second it came out. Cant wait for the follow up.. On a par with the nightblade series by Ryan Kirk. If you think the Bengals are cursed try following Leeds United FC. All the best

    Reply
    • Davis

      Wow! That is high praise. Nightblade is legendary. As for my poor Bengals and your poor Leeds United. Sigh. Here’s to those of us cursed to love teams that always seem to disappoint.

      Davis

      Reply
      • Steve Girling

        SO the big question is – in all the fantasy books you have ever read / written who wins the tournament….

        Ryuu?
        Druss?
        Kvothe?
        Al’Lan Mandragoran?
        Cinder?
        Tenakka Khan?
        Samwise? 🙂

        add as many others as you can think of here obv 🙂

        My money would be on Ryuu pre book 2 of TOS…

        Many thanks for taking the time to reply.

        All the best.

        Steve

        Reply
        • Davis

          Great list! I am going with Cinder because of obvious reasons. But Samwise might take it all because he’s incorruptible. Druss would also be a good challenge

          Reply
  7. Cornell Bourgeois

    I so enjoyed A Testament of Steel and I am so looking to March to read Memories of Prophecies. On the Bengals, let’s hope Joe Burrow is back. We in Louisiana much enjoyed his play at LSU.

    Reply
    • Davis

      Hi Cornell,

      Glad you liked Testament so much, and thankfully, March isn’t too far off. It’ll be here before you know it.
      I loved watching Burrow in 2019. I especially loved the Burreaux jersey. Early on in Covid, with no sports, I watched every one of LSUs games from that wonderful season. Here’s to hoping the Bengals know enough to build a good O-line in front of him this offseason. If they do, I think Burrow can be a special player.

      Davis

      Reply
  8. Joe

    Hi Davis,

    Any idea on when the audiobook will be released? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Davis

      Hey Joe,
      I don’t have a firm date, but I think Nick starts recording at the end of April. Beyond that, I’m not sure when the audiobook would be released, but I imagine it would a few months afterward.

      Davis

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sign up to receive the first chapters!

Subscribe to Davis Ashura's newsletter and receive special offers as well as updates on new and upcoming books. You also get the first several chapters for download on PDF and audiobook. Enjoy!

A-Testiment-of-Steel_Davis-Ashura

Get the first chapters

right now!

(PDF)

Subscribe to Davis Ashura's newsletter and receive special offers as well as updates on new and upcoming books. You also get the first several chapters for download on PDF and audiobook. Enjoy!

Subscribed! Check your Inbox and download now.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This