July 2022 Newsletter

Hi everyone,

I’m writing this on July 4th, so for those in America, Happy 4th! Of course, by the time I post this, it’ll be after July 4th, but I hope everyone had a good time anyway.

I’ve been continuing Blood of a Novice, book 1 of The Eternal Ephemera. It’s been an interesting and humbling process. I honestly thought I was at the point in my writing career where I could largely edit my own work for story/plot, and part of that is true. But it’s also not true because like most every other person, once I’ve done a lot of work, I don’t want to go back and redo it. It’s like if you framed a house and had to frame it up again. Part of you is like, “Isn’t it good enough?”

Well, Blood of a Novice was good enough, but that’s not what I want with my name on it. I want the best I can do, and I’d always had a bad feeling that the early parts of the story just didn’t work. That’s where the humbling part comes in.

The truth was that early section just didn’t do Cam Folde (the main character) justice. The alpha readers largely agreed, and after hearing from them, especially my sister, who is my best/harshest critic, I bit the bullet and rewrote chapters 5-9. And those changes then require light edits going forward through the rest of the book. However, the end result is that Cam is a much better character, especially early on, and the book itself is far stronger and a lot more fun. Again, especially early on.

Once again, here’s the blurb:

Cam Folde will shake the very fabric of creation… or see all his hopes turn to ash.

The son of the town drunk, Cam never figured on letting his family name hold him down. He always strove to dream bigger, to fight for something better, to achieve more than what everyone else expected of him.

But, as they say, ‘once a Folde, always a Folde’.

And when a fateful decision to rescue a friend leads to disaster, Cam soon sees every neighbor’s door slam shut in his face. Fortune’s favor is lost, and he spirals away from his hopes and ambitions; his fall finally ending at the bottom of a bottle where his life slips ever more rapidly into ruin.

It is only when two powerful Masters of Ephemera arrive in his small town that Cam is offered a chance at redemption: an opportunity to attend the Ephemeral Academy, the very school where the next generation of Masters are trained. There, Cam must grow beyond his self-imposed failures and fight to achieve the greatness and heights he’s always sought.

And there, Cam will discover that though the Path into Divinity is as steep as it is arduous, there are more fearsome things than man that often brave its perilous climb…

And here’s the temporary cover art, btw.

I’ve uploaded all the changes to Patreon, so if you’re interested, you can check out the story.

There are some more edits to do for the book, but the gooder (I like that word) news is that I also finished a science-fiction short story. It’s for an upcoming anthology. I’ll have more on that when I’m allowed to discuss it.

And then best of all, since I’m nearly done with what should be the next to last edit of Blood of a Novice, I’ll get to start on a new project. Of course, before starting this project, I have to re-read three large books and take copious notes from them. That will probably take me about three weeks, and after that comes the outlining. Only then will I finally put pen to paper, or in my case, fingers to keyboard. All in all, I figure to get started on the new project in early-mid August.

And what’s the name of the new project? Well, I don’t know the actual name, but the book itself is Instrument of Omens 4. I’m pretty pumped about getting it started. It’ll also be on Patreon, probably starting in the fall.

Talk at y’all later!

Davis