What am I doing?

As I haven’t updated the website in a while, I thought I’d drop in with a blog post and give everyone an update on my current writing projects.

For the better part of the past year and a half, I’ve been working on a major epic fantasy novel. The novel is my answer to the question: “If you were going to write a big-ass fantasy novel, what would it look like?” So far I’ve written about 47K words. (I know, I know, I’m a slow writer). I also have a novella (novellete?) in hand that is set in the same world as the major epic fantasy novel. I finished the novella–entitled Last Performance at the Three Dragons Inn–before I ever wrote word one of the novel. I’ve toyed around with the idea of releasing the novella as a stopgap while I finish my current projects, but, every time I give it serious consideration, I know in my heart of hearts that it would be better if I wait until the novel is finished before deciding on how to best introduce both projects to the world.

Does the novel have a working title?

Yes. But I’m going to keep the title to myself for now. It’s had a working title from the outset, but last month I made a small change to the title that I’m quite pleased with. I feel 90% confident that the current title will stick.

What are you willing to share about the project at this time?

Not a lot. But I’ll share a little. The setting is medievalesque, with twists. There are three POV characters. The book indulges my deep love of trees. A lot of the conflict in the book is driven by two separate religions. And yes, there are dragon(s).

Okay, moving on. Five years ago, when I was writing Book One in the abandoned trilogy that shall not be named, I began breaking up the project by working on a genre-busting fantasy novel with literary pretensions. Excepting one year when I set the novel aside entirely, I have continued to work on this book as a side project, and, amazingly, I’m getting fairly close to finishing it. The novel is divided into three parts, and, as of this blog post, I’m perhaps 1/3 of the way through Part III. I’ve written 57K words and I think it will wrap up somewhere between 70K and 80K.

I usually work on this novel one-to-two sittings a week, so it’s slow-going. During the past summer I made quite the dent in it, as I was able to carve out enough writing time to work on both projects once a day, but, when the teaching year resumed, I had to cut back. I tried (for a short time) devoting my energies to finishing this project before returning to the epic fantasy novel, but my psyche didn’t appreciate that particular decision, so I quickly reverted to keeping this novel as my side project. I think there’s an outside chance I’ll finish the novel by this summer, but, if not, hopefully it won’t be too long thereafter.

Does this novel have a title?

Oh yes. I love the title. It’s one of my favorite things about the book. But I’m not going to share it. Not yet.

One last bit of business. For those of you who are fans of The Deer King series, I want you to know that I do intend to return to the series at some point. But, for the time being, I’m giving my heart and soul to the two projects above. Once they’re finished, then I’ll make a decision as to whether it’s the right time to jump back into the world of The Deer King.

Okay, that’s it! Thanks to everyone who keeps up with my writing life. I hope you are all doing well in this crazy, topsy-turvy world we live in.