Ask the Author: Tony Corden
Answered Questions (88)
Tony Corden
Hi Doreen, the short answer is, 'Yes.' I apologise for being silent for so long. The last year and a half was complicated. I managed to contract COVID several times and suffered from what people were calling 'long COVID'. Besides the continual migraines, fatigue, and fuzzy thinking, my brain shut down over simple things like spelling and vocabulary. In the end, I had a two-three hundred-word list I had to go through daily to remember simple spelling like 'colour' (or colour for those in North America) and the meaning of words like 'microphone'. On top of that were several visits to the hospital, including an operation.
At the end of 2023, I decided to take an extended break from my day job (at least six months but more likely a year or two) and work on recovery. It's been three months so far, and in that time, I've found that reduced stress, exercise, a change of diet, and an acceptance of not having a task to do have helped me begin to recover. I finished three books in that time (Ida's Clan, the first book of a new series 'Tachyonic', and one of the series called 'Draconis', which I write under the name Ethan Stand). I'm also 60,000 words into the next book from Weaves of Empire and almost finished Book 9, 'War' of The Stork Tower.
Without the stresses, I'm really enjoying life. I plan to get Ida's Clan out in the next two weeks (finalising the artwork and waiting for some editing). While I'm almost ready to put out the series 'Tachyonic', I'll work hard to get 'War' out sometime mid-year as the next book. Add to this several breaks at the beach or the slopes, a probable course to learn wood-turning, preparing for a trekking holiday with my wife in Europe, making some shoe racks from recycled wood, and a dozen other things I've been planning to do for years but been unable to get to.
That's the longer answer. I've enjoyed writing more in the last few months than in the previous few years and hope to finish several projects and start a few more. I appreciate your interest, Tony.
At the end of 2023, I decided to take an extended break from my day job (at least six months but more likely a year or two) and work on recovery. It's been three months so far, and in that time, I've found that reduced stress, exercise, a change of diet, and an acceptance of not having a task to do have helped me begin to recover. I finished three books in that time (Ida's Clan, the first book of a new series 'Tachyonic', and one of the series called 'Draconis', which I write under the name Ethan Stand). I'm also 60,000 words into the next book from Weaves of Empire and almost finished Book 9, 'War' of The Stork Tower.
Without the stresses, I'm really enjoying life. I plan to get Ida's Clan out in the next two weeks (finalising the artwork and waiting for some editing). While I'm almost ready to put out the series 'Tachyonic', I'll work hard to get 'War' out sometime mid-year as the next book. Add to this several breaks at the beach or the slopes, a probable course to learn wood-turning, preparing for a trekking holiday with my wife in Europe, making some shoe racks from recycled wood, and a dozen other things I've been planning to do for years but been unable to get to.
That's the longer answer. I've enjoyed writing more in the last few months than in the previous few years and hope to finish several projects and start a few more. I appreciate your interest, Tony.
Tony Corden
Dear Mostfrantic,
Please don't see the lack of answers as something personal, as I've been mostly silent for the last few months.
Unfortunately, I finally succumbed to the dreaded COVID. It was over three months ago, and I'm still struggling to recover. Besides extreme fatigue and various associated pains, I've suffered from what I describe as brain fog—it is hard to connect thoughts to a concrete expression of those thoughts. My work requires me to speak to groups, which has been difficult—writing even more so. In addition, I've forgotten how to spell simple words such as 'colour' and have had to set myself vocab tests each day to relearn the words my brain seems to be no longer conversant with. Perhaps the most pernicious of the symptoms has been the assault on my taste buds—I can no longer stand the taste of coffee; I consider this a crime.
Even so, I'm over half the way through each of the next books in each of the series and am concentrating on The Stork Tower Book 9 at the moment. I apologise for the lack of responses, and I trust I'll be on the mend soon.
Blessings to all,
Tony
Please don't see the lack of answers as something personal, as I've been mostly silent for the last few months.
Unfortunately, I finally succumbed to the dreaded COVID. It was over three months ago, and I'm still struggling to recover. Besides extreme fatigue and various associated pains, I've suffered from what I describe as brain fog—it is hard to connect thoughts to a concrete expression of those thoughts. My work requires me to speak to groups, which has been difficult—writing even more so. In addition, I've forgotten how to spell simple words such as 'colour' and have had to set myself vocab tests each day to relearn the words my brain seems to be no longer conversant with. Perhaps the most pernicious of the symptoms has been the assault on my taste buds—I can no longer stand the taste of coffee; I consider this a crime.
Even so, I'm over half the way through each of the next books in each of the series and am concentrating on The Stork Tower Book 9 at the moment. I apologise for the lack of responses, and I trust I'll be on the mend soon.
Blessings to all,
Tony
Tony Corden
Hi Richard,
Thank you. You are right; I find it best to run with what's going through my head. I am planning to finish all the series.
Currently, I'm halfway through Stork Tower book 9, almost finished The Weaves of Empire book 3 and halfway through Becoming Middle Earth book 2. To be totally transparent, I also have several other things in the pipeline.
For the Ethan Stand books, I've finished four more episodes of Liberty and between 50% and 90% on the next episode of each of the other series.
I'm forcing myself to write 500 words every day on the Stork Tower Series, and that's been good to keep me focused. One problem is I know what's next and have considered it so often it's harder to let it just happen. When I write, I try and let the characters say or act naturally, i.e., in character. Unfortunately, at times the end result isn't what I'd planned.
So, for example, when Leah was kidnapped, I'd planned for her to escape mostly unharmed. As the events unfolded, I considered how Nathan might respond and realised he was ruthless and capable. As such, it wasn't something where he would leave her free to find a way to escape; he would act immediately. This didn't change the overall direction I was going, but it did add some serious complications that transformed the next few books. Honestly, I think it worked out better than planned, and I hope that is what the end result will be for 'War'.
Tony
Thank you. You are right; I find it best to run with what's going through my head. I am planning to finish all the series.
Currently, I'm halfway through Stork Tower book 9, almost finished The Weaves of Empire book 3 and halfway through Becoming Middle Earth book 2. To be totally transparent, I also have several other things in the pipeline.
For the Ethan Stand books, I've finished four more episodes of Liberty and between 50% and 90% on the next episode of each of the other series.
I'm forcing myself to write 500 words every day on the Stork Tower Series, and that's been good to keep me focused. One problem is I know what's next and have considered it so often it's harder to let it just happen. When I write, I try and let the characters say or act naturally, i.e., in character. Unfortunately, at times the end result isn't what I'd planned.
So, for example, when Leah was kidnapped, I'd planned for her to escape mostly unharmed. As the events unfolded, I considered how Nathan might respond and realised he was ruthless and capable. As such, it wasn't something where he would leave her free to find a way to escape; he would act immediately. This didn't change the overall direction I was going, but it did add some serious complications that transformed the next few books. Honestly, I think it worked out better than planned, and I hope that is what the end result will be for 'War'.
Tony
Tony Corden
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Tony Corden
Thank you. In my head, they are connected, and the tie in becomes evident later in the WOE series. I hadn't planned for it to be released in episodes, but it seemed to fall into clear sections when I was writing, so I guess I embraced that. WOE Book 2 (The Way of Justice - WOE Parts 4-7) is finished and with the editors. WOE Book 3 (The Way of Courage - WOE Parts 8-9) is half-finished. I hope to finish The Stork Tower before November and then start on the second arc of Atherleah's journey. I'm also finishing another series (different universe), and I hope to have the first book out before mid-October.
Tony Corden
Yes, it's a future arc, and the tie in won't be until later in the WOE series. I'm about halfway through the last of the Stork Tower. I'm hoping in a couple of months, but I'm stuck in another book at the moment. I was laid up with the flu, which had me in bed for two weeks, and another story got stuck in my head.
Tony Corden
Hey Tyson,
I realise I've been a bit absent and I do apologise. My excuse (or reason, depends on my level of self-delusion) is that the last seven months have been insanely busy. Regardless of what the truth about COVID is, or isn't, it really upped my day job workload. Even so, my brain and I had continued to work on the Stork Tower series and I'd managed about fifty thousand words.
Seven weeks ago I had had enough and managed to take five weeks away from the day job (accrued leave). In those five weeks, I managed another fifty thousand which puts me close to the length of Nascent and half the length of Contest. The reality will be it's somewhere in between.
With the country (Australia) opening up a bit my job is returning to normal and I have hopes of doing about five thousand words a week which will put me finishing in about two and a half months. At the same time, I've also been writing under my other name (Ethan Stand). In some ways, that's been a bit easier as that genre focuses more on the Apocalyptic, end of world scenarios, and some of what we've seen happen has helped get the imagination working.
Thank you for the continuing interest,
Tony
I realise I've been a bit absent and I do apologise. My excuse (or reason, depends on my level of self-delusion) is that the last seven months have been insanely busy. Regardless of what the truth about COVID is, or isn't, it really upped my day job workload. Even so, my brain and I had continued to work on the Stork Tower series and I'd managed about fifty thousand words.
Seven weeks ago I had had enough and managed to take five weeks away from the day job (accrued leave). In those five weeks, I managed another fifty thousand which puts me close to the length of Nascent and half the length of Contest. The reality will be it's somewhere in between.
With the country (Australia) opening up a bit my job is returning to normal and I have hopes of doing about five thousand words a week which will put me finishing in about two and a half months. At the same time, I've also been writing under my other name (Ethan Stand). In some ways, that's been a bit easier as that genre focuses more on the Apocalyptic, end of world scenarios, and some of what we've seen happen has helped get the imagination working.
Thank you for the continuing interest,
Tony
Tony Corden
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Tony Corden
Hi H Rez,
My mistake. Thanks for picking it up. I think I've fixed that now.
Tony
My mistake. Thanks for picking it up. I think I've fixed that now.
Tony
Tony Corden
Hi Lee,
I'll see what I can find out. Off the top of my head, it probably has something to do with the use of some enhanced text I used in several chapters. I've sent off a query to see what the reason may be.
Tony
I'll see what I can find out. Off the top of my head, it probably has something to do with the use of some enhanced text I used in several chapters. I've sent off a query to see what the reason may be.
Tony
Tony Corden
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Tony Corden
Hi Oyedele,
It's uploaded and now we wait for Amazon. Sometimes it takes five minutes, sometimes a few hours.
Sorry,
Tony
It's uploaded and now we wait for Amazon. Sometimes it takes five minutes, sometimes a few hours.
Sorry,
Tony
Tony Corden
Hi Sonnet,
Yes. I'll upload it sometime on the 14th. Hopefully early but I still have a few things to do to get it ready.
I hope you enjoy it,
Tony
Yes. I'll upload it sometime on the 14th. Hopefully early but I still have a few things to do to get it ready.
I hope you enjoy it,
Tony
Tony Corden
Hello Mari'Ah,
My family is doing well. My middle child is working as a snowboard instructor in Japan for three months and I'm trying to get in shape to visit before the end of the season. Also, being a grandfather is an amazing privilege and I'm loving it.
I finished the manuscript and sent it to the people who help edit it. I hope to get it out early-February but it may be mid-February.
Tony
My family is doing well. My middle child is working as a snowboard instructor in Japan for three months and I'm trying to get in shape to visit before the end of the season. Also, being a grandfather is an amazing privilege and I'm loving it.
I finished the manuscript and sent it to the people who help edit it. I hope to get it out early-February but it may be mid-February.
Tony
Tony Corden
Hi Doreen,
I had some very enjoyable holiday. They weren't as relaxing as normal but I'll trade a week at the beach with most of the family, including the granddaughters for just sleeping in. I was able to get two weeks off work and just sent the manuscript to be edited. I hope to get it out by mid-February at the latest. I'll have a better idea after the editors get back to me.
Tony
I had some very enjoyable holiday. They weren't as relaxing as normal but I'll trade a week at the beach with most of the family, including the granddaughters for just sleeping in. I was able to get two weeks off work and just sent the manuscript to be edited. I hope to get it out by mid-February at the latest. I'll have a better idea after the editors get back to me.
Tony
Tony Corden
Hi Josie,
My holidays were very enjoyable. Not really relaxing but I'll trade a week at the beach with most of the family, including the granddaughters, for relaxing. I was able to get two weeks off work and just sent the manuscript to be edited. I would hope it will be out by mid-February at the latest.
Thank you for your kind words,
Tony
My holidays were very enjoyable. Not really relaxing but I'll trade a week at the beach with most of the family, including the granddaughters, for relaxing. I was able to get two weeks off work and just sent the manuscript to be edited. I would hope it will be out by mid-February at the latest.
Thank you for your kind words,
Tony
Tony Corden
Hello Steven,
The finished manuscript is with the wonderful people who help me edit. I'll hopefully finish the cover today. I'd expect to be able to get the book out by the end of the first week in February but it may be more like mid-February. It turned out a little longer than expected (170,000 words) which will increase the editing time.
Tony
The finished manuscript is with the wonderful people who help me edit. I'll hopefully finish the cover today. I'd expect to be able to get the book out by the end of the first week in February but it may be more like mid-February. It turned out a little longer than expected (170,000 words) which will increase the editing time.
Tony
Tony Corden
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Tony Corden
Hi Pingger,
The finished manuscript is with the people who help me edit. I'll finish the cover today, and I hope to get the book out by the end of the first week in February—but it may be more like mid-February.
I hope you enjoy it,
Tony
The finished manuscript is with the people who help me edit. I'll finish the cover today, and I hope to get the book out by the end of the first week in February—but it may be more like mid-February.
I hope you enjoy it,
Tony
Tony Corden
Hello Kitap,
I don't mind the questions at all and would have responded quicker if I had had a date in mind. The finished manuscript is with the wonderful people who help me edit. I'll finish the cover today, I hope. I'd expect to be able to get the book out by the end of the first week in February but it may be more like mid-February. The reason is its length, I took several weeks off work after Christmas and was able to get into a better rhythm for writing.
Thank you for your interest,
Tony
I don't mind the questions at all and would have responded quicker if I had had a date in mind. The finished manuscript is with the wonderful people who help me edit. I'll finish the cover today, I hope. I'd expect to be able to get the book out by the end of the first week in February but it may be more like mid-February. The reason is its length, I took several weeks off work after Christmas and was able to get into a better rhythm for writing.
Thank you for your interest,
Tony
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
Jul 21, 2025 05:42PM · flag
Jul 21, 2025 05:59PM · flag