Combined December Patreon/Public Update

Given it's December, I figured to just do a combined Patreon and public update. If you want to see the bog-standard public update, you can find it on my website or FB - I guarantee that you know about them if you're here.

The big news is that Heretic Spellblade 4's release date will be the first week of January. Although the book is actually shaping up pretty well, I'm worried that there'll be plot holes, pacing issues, or some other problem due to the many complexities it's trying to handle. I need both some extra time for editing, but I definitely want this book beta read (which will need extra time given Christmas/New Year).

Unlike my last few books, where the outline has fallen apart once I've started writing it, Spellblade 4's outline has held up well. I suspect this is because many of the big scenes in the outline have been in the works for a while. Some as early as Book 1, and many were envisaged when I rewrote Book 3's plot but didn't fit in.

What is a problem is the "glue" of the book. There are lots of characters, and I want to keep developing their arcs. Transitionary scenes between events chew up time, but prevent the book from feeling like a sequence of disconnected vignettes. I'm trying to tie up loose plot hooks from earlier books and answer lots of questions, while also setting up the plot for the remainder of the series.

Part of me does think this book may be too ambitious. The length of my books has been creeping up, and I suspect this book will go over 150k words unless I actively edit it down (I might, as I feel that it should be a punchier book once the action starts).

On the other hand, I enjoy writing this sort of stuff. Heretic Spellblade is a mash-up of a lot of stuff I enjoy, and Book 4 is the "war book" of the series, where everything is kicked up a notch. My last two books have done well enough that I feel confident taking an extra couple of weeks on this one, even though I know many people would prefer a faster release cycle.

In other Patreon news, I'll continue posting in batches. I feel a lot more comfortable posting this way, so I anticipate doing so for the foreseeable future.

For Messengers, I'll post more Billions chapters later in the month. Likely close to Christmas. I'm still not sure about the name, so I've changed the working title - cyberpunk is a difficult genre right now. It's a fun series to write, and more of a passion project that I'll work out how to market over time.

I also have a short story about Kadria's background in the works, but I may wait until after Book 4 is out (i.e. January). The final version may contain spoilers for the book, and I think it will be more interesting if I can include that extra stuff.

Schedule-wise, Demon's Throne 3 is definitely my next book, after Spellblade 4. I'm currently on the fence about the release date of Empire Reforged 3 - I want to redo all of the covers for the series to match the genre, and then put the book out with a new brand, but I've already delayed for ages.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays, etcetera. Spellblade 4 chapters will keep going up weekly, but otherwise, I'll see folks in January with a new book.