Sam Branch and Rinn’s Run
I’ve been pretty terrible about posting to this blog, so I thought it was high time I checked in and let everyone know what’s going on.
First up, the audiobook version of Turns: A Samuel Branch Novel is now available over on Audible. It’s read by Paul Stefano, who also narrated Falls, the first book in the series. He once again did a great job, especially considering that the Covid pandemic was busy ruining everyone’s lives while he was recording this thing. Thanks, Paul! To shamelessly crib from the late, great Harlan Ellison, you’re a real mensch.
Now for an update on the space opera experiment. A little while back, I realized that my original ideas for Rinn’s Run were going to produce a book that was in the 150,000 to 170,000 words range. Long story short, that’s a LONG book. Like more than 500 pages long. 500+ pages of comparatively small print long. So, rather than slave away for another 3-6 months writing a book that even I consider too long, I decided to split the book into two parts. Now, before you start thinking that I’m just going to cut it off in the middle of the narrative, I’m not going to do that. I’m working hard to bring part 1 to a satisfying conclusion that will lead directly into book 2. You can read more about my thought process on all of this over here.
Right now, my tentative titles for the two books are as follows:
Rinn’s Run: Zeren Intrigue
Rinn’s Run: The Ikaren Gambit
If you’re wondering how close I am to finishing a first draft of the first book, the answer is very damn close. I think I’ve got about 7500 words left to write on it, which means about three or four chapters. I honestly thought I was going to finish it last week, but it just didn’t work out that way. So, fingers crossed that the first draft will be done sometime this week before Sunday rolls around.
As frequently happens to me, the more I wrote in this universe, the more ideas I had for it. So, right now I’ve worked out tentative plans for around 4 or 5 books that will all fall under the series title of The Rogue Bloodhand Saga. I haven’t ruled out the idea of more books, but the final number will ultimately depend on the reception the first few books get and sales numbers. Assuming we get to book 3, which I have some solid ideas for, its tentative title will be The Kessellian Affair.
Now, if you’ve read this far, you deserve a reward. So, there’s a sneak peak at a potential cover for the first book below. What do you think? Sound off in the comments.
