Deadlines

I heard from Joseph Hoopman yesterday that there was an essay that mentioned The Desert of Souls over on Tor.com, and lo and behold, there was. It pleased me mightily to hear nice things said about my book, both in the main article and in the comments section. It also saddens me a little, because on some shadow Earth Howard is hard at work on the fifth or sixth novel in the sequence. There were going to be nine, and multiple short stories in between.

There will definitely be more short stories, and perhaps, if the fates are kind, I can publish a few more on my own in between the books I’m writing for my publishers.

The essay was written by S.A. Chakraborty, whose own Arabian historical fantasy, The City of Brass, debuted just yesterday. I’ll be adding that to the TBR pile and wishing her far better luck than my own brave Arabians had in the publishing world.

In other news, I’m still working my way towards that December deadline for the first draft of book 2 of the new series. I’m at that point in composition where things are starting to click into place and where you can seize hold of things you weren’t sure about earlier and then tighten the thread into something better. It’s a good place to be. I wish writing always felt this good, where you’re sort of bubbling over with ideas and you can’t wait to sit down.

Before the book deals and all that I used to feel like this a lot more often. Sort of excited and hopeful and inspired and confident all at once. I’d like to be in this mindset more frequently. I’m not sure how to get there, but I’m going to be grateful I’m here, now.