The Future of the Rymellan Series
Yesterday I sent Threaded Through Time, Book Two to my editor. At this point, I usually start a new non-Rymellan story, but I've decided to wait until after I've finished the Rymellan series.
This naturally leads to the question, "When will the Rymellan series end?" Last year I did an interview with Julia Rios of The Outer Alliance, in which she asked me just that:
OA: Your other big project, the Rymellan stories, which you publish quarterly online, has enough material to fill two books now, though only one volume is actually in print so far. How much more do you plan to write in that world?
SE: I hope to bring the series to a satisfactory conclusion at the end of Rymellan 3. As you mentioned, Rymellan 1 is already available in print, and Rymellan 2 will be available in early 2011. I expect to reach the end of Rymellan 3 sometime in 2012, so I'll stop publishing quarterly at that point. After that, I might publish stories about significant events that take place later in the characters' lives, but not quarterly.
Serendipity was in play here, because I'd only just sat down a few weeks earlier to contemplate the future of the series. For readers who were there at the beginning, the series started when I posted the first two stories (The Dance and The Military Academy) in March 2008. For me, it began back in 2007, when I started to write those stories. At my three-year mark around October 2010, I thought about how much longer I wanted to write the series. That's why I had an answer at my fingertips when Julia interviewed me.
Almost a year later, my answer still stands. In fact, I can now say that the March 2012 story will be the last one in the web series. The guesstimate I gave in the interview was pretty good, considering that I don't outline. But I knew at what point I wanted to end the series, and I had an idea of what it would take to get there.
Will March 2012 mark the end of Lesley, Mo, and Jayne? Probably not. In my answer, I also said, "After that, I might publish stories about significant events that take place later in the characters' lives, but not quarterly." That's still true. After finishing Rymellan 3, I have a lot more I can write about the triad and Rymellan society. If I do, I'll write standalone novellas (no more cliff hangers!) on a "when a story tugs at me" basis, and I'll make them available at eBookstores.
To recap:
1. I'm not starting anything new until after I've finished the Rymellan series.
2. The Rymellan series will end in March 2012.
3. After taking a break, I'll probably publish more Rymellan stories, but not to the web, and not quarterly.
Later.
