Howdy folks! Life sandbagged me once again, but that’s alright.
It’s been a bit since last I wrote an update – usually I post these in the middle of the month but it’s currently *checks watch* June 30th, so I’m a little late. The past few months have been kind of a roller coaster, so I don’t have much in the way of writing going on, but I do have plans? I think? Maybe?
What Am I Working On?
Hostage – The manuscript is back with the other Lowell and I’m now working on the cover for it. So far it’s still in the thumbnail stage while we figure out what looks good, where titles are going, and what style we could possibly use to continue out the series if we write a sequel.
Music – Somehow I’ve learned the basics of how to play guitar over the course of May and June, and have been working on incorporating it into my music. It has opened up a lot of new composition directions since I now also kind of know how to write for string instruments better than I did. I will always be a Brass person (can’t go wrong with Mordor Horns) but guitar is very relaxing… once you get past the hand-cramp stage.
The Dawnbreakers’ Saga – I’ve recorded and edited everything up until the video that will go up at the end of August, which will mark the official 3rd anniversary of the series! Everything after that point is currently in the planning phase, since I also caught up to all the stuff I had planned from the beginning three years ago. Thankfully I’ve got plenty of time between now and then to figure it out, and I can also take a month or so off if I need. Give people a chance to catch up, maybe make some silly videos like a Zaytest “okee” counter. 😀
The Asgard Series – Sequel is still in the noodling phase. The whole state of the world threw a massive wrench at my face in terms of, “Oh hey, I’m writing urban mythological fantasy set in the modern day how do I incorporate THIS mess?” I’m on the fence about whether or not to just ignore it completely and call it an AU where 2020 was a normal year. I’ve been given the advice to pick an arbitrary date five-ish years into the future but… bruh. I don’t even know what things will be like five weeks in the future. So I’m stuck-ish on that one for the moment.
Charge – Charge continues to be cursed. I got a fair ways into the story and realized it was kind of complicated for what I was trying to do with it. Sometimes stories just don’t work and that’s okay. I did learn some stuff and do some worldbuilding that I may be able to use in the Asgard series, when I come back to it, but for the moment, Charge will stay archived. It may come back into the light in novel form later on, but for sure it’s not going to work as a comic.
The Five Realms – I’ll be honest… I’ve learned a lot about myself, storytelling, and the kinds of stories I want to tell over the past year or so, and I think I’ve fallen out of love with this universe a little bit, which is something I never thought I’d ever say. Esper will always have a special place in my heart, but now, some roughly seven years after I sat down to write Revenant, I feel like I can do better. Which leads me to…
The Dragon King’s Council – I haven’t wanted to say much about this one because I kept working on it a little bit, then backing off again, then working on it, then backing off again, but I think this is actually going to happen. I know enough about the world, the magic system, and most of the characters that I can kind of wing it (heh – dragon puns) until I figure out what’s going on and where the end of this thing is going to be. Right at the moment it exists as a “noodle bin” where I keep all of my ideas for it, and as 220 pages of comic scripts. I’m considering trying to transfer that over into novel form (because it’s a Good Dang Story so far – lots of fun but with a serious side, it kind of hearkens back to the “bunch of D&D adventures” feeling that Revenant had) but I keep running into an issue with the first chapter – that is, since I wrote it for a comic originally, the beginning makes sense for a comic or graphic novel, but not necessarily a novel novel. Whatever I do with it, this one is going to be kind of on the back burner, simmering away, getting stirred every once in a while.
That’s all for this month! With any luck it won’t take me half a year to respond again. 😀 See you next time!