A Quick Word About The Mage's Cradle Audible | What I'm Trying to Say Is . . .

A quick word on The Mage's Cradle Book Two and Three Audibles

Thanks to everyone who enquired about the audible versions of books two and three of The Mage's Cradle. Look out for the Audible version of book two (Dythan's Tower) to be released this August/September and book three (A Sister's Sacrifice) by December 2023. A friend of mine has convinced me to use my own voice and record them myself . . . here goes.

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What I'm trying to say is . . .

I've had an epiphany. It's simple, really, nothing earth-shattering. But it's a lesson we all seem to repeatedly need to learn. The epiphany -- better to take one's time and things well than rush and put out something that is . . . meh.

Let me back up just a little. First, exciting news -- after nine discovery drafts, I've just about finished the first completed draft of my next novel (tentatively named World Jumpers, but the name will change). Cue happy dance. I have to say, even I'm surprised about the ending. Now the editing rigamarole can start. 

Second, this experience was a great lesson in how to just write and worry about editing later on. Many writers I've idolized have stressed the difference between writing and editing and the need to split these into two distinct processes. I must admit that until I genuinely embraced that concept, telling the story was taking forever. However, once I did, I found the freedom to explore some wild and crazy tangents without second-guessing or judging what I wrote. True, I wrote a couple of chapters that ended up on the cutting floor. However, more importantly, I not only found the different character's voices, but a few unexpected twists, in the end, made total sense for the story.

Finally, the lesson mentioned above, take one's time, hit home when I finally got COVID (I've managed to avoid it for three years), and I was forced to slow down. Not that I was sick that long, and thankfully it was a mild case. What the bout of COVID did, however, was give me time to reflect. My story was getting to a place I was happy with, but it was not quite right. For me, getting sick forced me to slow down. It also gave me the time and space to be more thoughtful. One evening, I took the time to re-map out the entire story arch (which, to be honest, happened several times). A few decisions came from that -- split the story into two more digestible books rather than one large volume, and allow myself more time to produce a thoroughly enjoyable novel. 

What I'm trying to say is that I need to delay the next release of my next novel by another couple of months. I'll be working through the story with my editor, Oren (Robert) Eades, who will not only provide professional editing support but will also help me to finesse the text and the story overall. Also, if MJ, Theo, and Sid are reading this -- don't worry. I'm still coming to all three of you for additional first-read/editing support.

Thanks, everyone, for your patience. If you are curious, I've also updated the World Jumpers synopsis . It's still not quite right, but it's getting there -- and I still need my two-sentence elevator pitch.