My new book next to a stack of revisions.
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IT’S DONE.
After three long years, I’m happy to finally say my latest book is complete. This is something brand new and completely different from the Arena series, but I hope it’s still something all of you will enjoy.
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What’s It About?
It’s second-world fantasy, 1940s level tech, set in a dense metropolis. I call it “Dresden Files meets Sin City.” Here’s a quick summary:
When a series of murders targets their city’s peacekeepers, a cop, a politician, and a soldier must solve the case and circumvent a war, all while battling two breeds of monsters: the ones inside the city and ones within themselves.
It’s tentatively titled: When Gods Fall (I say tentatively because publishers often change the title). I frequently call it “Haven City” because that’s the planned series title and the name of the city setting in the book.
Here’s a quick collage I did BECAUSE PICTURES ARE PRETTY.
The gritty fantasy noir novel of my dreams…
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What Took You So Long?
ALL THE THINGS.
My life became unexpectedly busy and unpredictable in the 2+ years since Gauntlet hit the shelves.
Part of that busyness was due to “life” things. I got engaged, married, sold my house, and then moved from Canada to the USA (my husband is American), which took about 14 months of immigration. Between the wedding and the move, I felt like my entire life existed inside color-coded binders of endless paperwork.
The other part was me spending the time to “find myself” as an author. I started and abandoned three other novels before I finally settled on this one. It has tons of world-building and characters, and utilized some literary techniques I’ve never tried before (like rotating 3rd person POV). I had a lot to learn while writing this book and wanted to take the time to “get things right.”
And those other novels I started and abandoned aren’t lost. One of them is beginning to resurface in the creative center of my brain now that Haven City is finally done.
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What’s Next?
My husband is reading it now for a spelling and consistency check. Once I make those corrections and do one more read-through myself, it goes to my agent. He’ll read it, recommend changes (if any), and then we’ll be sending it out to publishers.
One thing about publishing: no one is in a hurry. So, it might still be a while before we know if a publisher actually wants the book, let alone if it’s going to be published. I will be posting updates (when I have them) on social media to keep you all in the loop.
There’s always a chance that traditional publishers will pass on the book. Having two books already traditionally published doesn’t guarantee anything. Publishers need to pick up what they think is viable for them in the current market. I’ve spoken with many other authors who’ve received rejections that said, “This is a great book and we could have done a lot with it ten years ago but the time has passed.”
If this happens with my book, it will be okay. At some point in my career, I would like to go hybrid.
For anyone who doesn’t know, a hybrid author is someone who publishes a mix of traditional, indie, and self-published books. So, if this series doesn’t get picked up by a traditional publisher, I will be looking at my options with indie publishers, or possible publishing it myself. Time will tell.
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Anything Else?
Yes.
THANK YOU.
Thanks to each and every one of you for supporting my career thus far and cheering me on when things got low. When the Arena series got dropped by my former publisher, it was a tough time for me: both emotionally and in terms of my career. But you all stuck with me, helped to pick me up, dust me off, and get me going again.
All your messages, tweets, etc. of support helped push me through to the end and kept me going when I felt like giving up. You are a big part of the reason this new book exists and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done.
As I said before, whenever I have updates on the new book, I will be posting them on social media. I’m most active on Twitter, but you can check Facebook as well if that’s your preferred poison.
That’s it for now. Again, thank you for all your support through writing this book and as soon as I know more, you’ll know more.
Now, onto the next book!
