A book is finished, and a new one starts!

Posted on March 9, 2018 (Subscribe to Blog)

I finished Warp Giants, the fourth book in the Sleep Writer series. It's now in the proofing stage, so if anyone is interested in beta-reading it over the next two weeks, please email me at keith@unearthlytales.com and let me know!

Meanwhile, I started Forest of Souls, the TENTH book in the Island of Fog series. It sounds weird to say "tenth book" after saying "9-book series" for so long. It was mid-2014 when I published Prison of Despair and Castle of Spells, so it'll be exactly four years by the time I publish this new one in the summer.

Getting started on it has been... interesting. I've had an outline for quite a while now, and though I want to change a few minor things, the story is pretty much set in stone (in my head). But writing that first line? It was weird. I couldn't touch pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) because I feel like a distanced relative returning home after a long time away and finding myself out of touch with the rest of the family. It's like I gave Hal and friends their freedom from my evil plotting, and they've been happily going about their business ever since, and now suddenly I'm back to give them more trouble.

But, just a few lines in, I relaxed and got back into it. It really didn't take long. A few months have passed since Castle of Spells (a month in novel time for every year in reality, because time passes slowly in a fantasy realm), and most of the shapeshifters are already thirteen. Abigail is about to be, so Hal is buying her a gift. Here's the very first part of the very first chapter, written literally hours ago this afternoon, and as yet unedited, so if you see any typos, don't worry about it...

"Has anybody seen Hal Franklin?"
The sound of his name being shouted across the market square caused Hal's ears to prick up. He stepped back from the dizzying collection of brooches, pendants, and necklaces and squinted into the morning sun, looking across the bustling market toward the east.
"You gonna buy that, sweetie?" the lady behind the stall asked.
Hal blinked at her, then realized he still held two pendants that he couldn't decide between. They were both tiny wooden carvings no bigger than his thumb, one of a dragon, the other a faerie, dangling from delicate leather straps. "I can't figure out which would be best," he admitted. "Abi's a faerie shapeshifter, but . . ."
"She's a faerie, you're a dragon," the lady said with a smile. "I know. Everybody knows. So which would she most like to have around her neck? Something that reminds her of what she is, like she doesn't know already? Or . . ." She tilted her head. "Or her loved one close to her heart?"
Hal felt his face heating up. "It's a birthday gift," he explained. "She'll be thirteen soon."
The lady nodded. "If you want my opinion, and if I were the lucky girl, I would like the dragon better. A constant reminder of her handsome and heroic friend."
"Hal Franklin!" the voice yelled, closer now.
He turned and scanned the crowd. Quite a few had stopped to look in the direction of the yelling. Something was brewing.

Since I'm writing this book and following up directly with Death Storm, the fifth book in the Legacies series, and publishing the two around the same time, I plan to write somewhere around 150,000 words by the summer. That's about 20 weeks away, which means about 7500 words per week. That's certainly doable if I can only find the time and energy, and if I can stop procrastinating. The good news is that I have Fridays at home now, so I can get some website work done and also some serious writing. I did 2500 words this afternoon, and I think I can do quite a bit more over the weekend... so we'll see how my goal works out!

The plan, then:

Forest of Souls (Island of Fog, Book 10) -- July 20
Death Storm (Island of Fog Legacies, Book 5) -- August 20 EDIT: Sorry, not happening! Maybe October 20 instead.

These dates are arbitrary and may shift, but it would be cool to meet those goals because I released Prison of Despair on July 20 and Castle of Spells on August 20 back in 2014. Neat symmetry, huh?

Having a plan means I have a reason to get on with it. It's always worked for me before. But of course I reserve the right to change the deadlines. :-)

Finally, for now, I found an interesting post about the dragon flight for anyone who's interested in such things. Enjoy!

The Physics of Dragon Flight

Right -- gotta get some writing done. Bye for now!

Comment by EVAN DABBS on Saturday, April 14, 2018...

Please work on the old Island of Fog series. I love it and reread in about 2 months. I NEED MORE BOOKS.

Comment by KEITH ROBINSON on Saturday, April 14, 2018...

I'm working on it, Evan! :-)

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