Status Report:
How’s the writing going?
Glad you asked. As you may be aware, I have two projects underway currently. The larger project entitled Storm Cloud Rising, has been in progress for quite literally 20 years. When finished, the entire story will span several volumes, and branch off into a number of parallel stories a well. I have had the entire primary story arc sketched out in varying levels of completion since the very beginning. The first two volumes in the series have been in a very-nearly-mostly-almost done condition for several years, and this last year I finally was able to get volume one to a place where I was happy with the text, and ready to move forward.
So, here’s the rub. I was going through a final series of technical edits when I decided to take a peek at my notes for the final volume and to my chagrin, I discovered that the ending as originally planned just didn’t make any sense. There was no sound reasoning behind the characters decision making and several big questions were left unanswered. I’m happy to say that I have fixed the issues, but to do so required some larger changes in the first volumes (Yes – the same ones that I said were finished, but now totally aren’t.)
As a result, this is where we are: I am combing through what has already been written with the new changes in place. I’m checking on continuity and looking for unintended consequences of the changes. Once that is complete, I’ll be able to set volume one loose for some beta reading. (with the understanding that it would still need a few passes for technical errors.)
When last reported, the cover art for the Storm Cloud series was in a bad spot. It looked weak and for lack of a better word, janky. I’m pleased to report that after rethinking the idea, and attacking in a slightly new direction, the cover has landed in a good place, and I’m in a holding pattern with that until I have something to actually wrap a cover around. The map is a work in progress, but I’ve got a solid draft (which you may have seen on my Instagram).
But wait, you said you have two projects going?
Yes. Yes, I do. The other is a short novel – Rise of the Red Hand. This book is a prequel to the Storm Cloud series, focusing on one character. I wrote it to serve as a promotional piece – a reader magnet so to speak. An electronic version is available for subscribers to my newsletter, and if you have somehow missed out on that, Click Here. The cover art is complete, as well as the map. I did some “just for fun” promotional print copies that have circulated around and I’m pleased to say, received some good reviews. The next step for this is to get it through the Kindle / E-book formatting software and make it available on Amazon. Also need to put together a file for a print version, but that process is admittedly a bit vague to me at the moment. Once it’s there, I can pursue other marketing options.
If you have already read Rise of the Red Hand and haven’t had a chance to share your impressions, I’m always open to feedback. I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can reach out to me either thought the contact tab on my website or via Instagram.
