Castle of Spells on the horizon

I had to give up posting on my blog over the last couple of months. I was just too busy working and writing to muster the energy to write here as well. Plus I went on a cruise!

The cruise was great. We spent eight days at sea, visiting three islands along the way, and I often sat on the little balcony overlooking the clear blue ocean while typing on my laptop. Yes, I was busy writing Castle of Spells (Island of Fog, Book 9), and I got quite a bit done while I wasn't stuffing my face with "free" food.

So what's the status of the last two books in the Fog series?

Book #8, Prison of Despair, is finished except for some minor edits. This book is on course for publication on July 20th, just over a week away! All those who have beta-read it, please consider adding your review to Goodreads now and then to Amazon when it's published.

Meanwhile, I'm about two-thirds of the way through Book #9, Castle of Spells, and naturally this hasn't yet gone out to beta readers. I expect (hope!) to send it off around August 1st. I'm still aiming to get this published on August 20th, which will be exactly a month after Book 8, so this means beta readers will have only two weeks to read it and get it back to me so I can do some finishing touches. Two weeks seems to be plenty of time for most beta readers, though.

So -- July 20th and August 20th, my two deadlines for the final two books in Hal's story.

I want to reiterate that there will definitely be more Island of Fog books, just not from Hal's point of view and therefore not part of the main series. They will be one-off "Island of Fog Tales," following various characters that have cropped up in the series. Want to see what happened to Thomas all those years alone in the woods with manticores? How about Queen Bee's struggle to form the Swarm? Or Miss Simone's creation of the Shapeshifter Program? I see endless possibilities for these shorter, one-off tales. They will be self-contained standalone stories, but fans of the series will enjoy seeing how they tie in with the series.

I'm off now to continue editing Castle of Spells. I'm running through the first seventeen chapters before writing the final five. I expect the last one or two chapters will be kind of a wind-down period. I don't want to end on a cliffhanger or have anything unresolved. The series really is ending, and I intend to do it properly.

*wipes eyes*