The second trilogy

Posted on May 15, 2011 (Subscribe to Blog)

I'm now into the closing chapters of Lake of Spirits and am already at the length of the other three books. At this rate I'll be 25 pages over. This isn't a major problem, and in any case I'll probably lose 10 pages during editing because I'll find trains of thought that need training and chunks of wordiness that need to be less wordy.

I'm at the stage where I start to panic a bit. I mean, it's all come together nicely in the end and I'm pleased with it, and looking forward to these last chapters... but at the same time I'm thinking, "Is it any good?" Then again, I had the same worries with the other three books so hopefully it'll be all right.

As the novel has progressed, I've had a few extra fleeting ideas about the fifth and sixth books, and these are starting to come alive. The first three books were a trilogy within a series, and now it's looking more and more certain that books four, five and six will be a trilogy also. Certainly Lake of Spirits will end on a cliffhanger, and I believe the fifth installment will too. I'm pretty hyped up about it and can't wait to finish the current book and get stuck into the next.

But I also have another book that I want to edit and finish, and that's The Impossible World, which I wrote last November. The feedback I've had for my completely unedited first draft has been generally positive but with some suggestions about areas that need fixing. I totally agree, and that's going to take a bit of work -- but I think the end result will be worth the effort, even if it means delaying the fifth Fog book.

If Lake of Spirits is ready to go in July, I might be able to get the fifth book out around Christmas or New Year... and then the sixth book around Summer 2012. A book every six months or so seems to be working out nicely for me. :-)

I haven't yet settled on a title for Book 5, but will let y'all know when I do.

Comment by ROGER ESCHBACHER on Monday, May 16, 2011...

Excellent! I'm currently enjoying "Labyrinth of Fire" and am looking forward to reading the rest of the books.