What to write next?

Once the DRAGONTIARNA series has come to an end, it seems like I will have come to a sort of crossroads, and I need to decide what to write next.

After DRAGONTIARNA: WARDEN is done, I will have written 37 books with Ridmark as the main character (39 if you include FROSTBORN: THE FIRST QUEST and FROSTBORN: THE SKULL QUEST), which will be just over four million words and nine years.

After all that, I do feel like it is time to do something new. Here are some of the ideas I have been considering.

1.) A new epic fantasy series set in Andomhaim/Owyllain.

2.) A new epic fantasy series set several hundred years earlier in Andomhaim/Owyllain. I don’t want to do a prequel series, because I don’t really like prequels all that much. So if I do write a series set earlier in Andomhaim’s history, it will involve events that haven’t been mentioned in the FROSTBORN/SEVENFOLD SWORD/DRAGONTIARNA books to preserve dramatic tension. Like, if you read a book set in 1880s New York, you obviously know that New York survives to the present day…but you don’t necessarily know whether the characters will survive to the end of the book.

3.) A new epic fantasy series set in the Heptarchy.

4.) A new epic fantasy series set in a completely new setting with new rules.

5.) A new epic fantasy series in the world of Caina and the Empire.

6.) Take a break from epic fantasy for a while and start a new science fiction series. I hear Armored Space Bounty Hunters are popular!

7.) A new epic fantasy series about a mercenary company inspired by how much BATTLE BROTHERS I played in 2020 and how much MASTER OF MAGIC I have played in 2021 so far.

8.) Take a break from epic fantasy for a while and write more Cormac Rogan mystery novels.

9.) Take a break from epic fantasy for a while and focus on CLOAK MAGE. (I should note that I’m writing more CLOAK MAGE novels regardless of what I decide to do otherwise.)

10.) A new epic fantasy series in a more Dungeons & Dragons-esque setting than Andomhaim. This might cross over with some of the ideas above, especially #7.

So those are some of the ideas that I am considering.

I daresay I am richly blessed with choice. Twenty years ago, I could write whatever I wanted, but no one would publish it. Now I can write whatever I want and publish whatever I want, and I’m pretty sure at least some people will read it.

And on that topic, thanks for reading, everyone! Also, GHOST IN THE LORE is still on track for the 1st half of May.

-JM