Book Updates

Well, it’s been a whole two months since I updated this blog. So much for all those quarantine goals, right?

And I have been productive. Just…not on the marketing/blog/building an audience side. I’m really working on that.

So, what have I been doing? Life’s been pretty crazy. Sure, I’m stuck inside most of the time. The freelance life has been rocky, but I’m hanging in there. I’m also working side-by-side with my husband. He’s a teacher and never went back after spring break.

Speaking of spring break, I’m so glad we took a mini-vacation before all this started. We went to Oklahoma City because one of my favorite fantasy authors, Anne Bishop, was doing a signing.

It was a blast! Who knew Oklahoma City was such a cool city. We went to the Museum of Osteology. I fucking love bones and skeletons. (My degree is in anthropology, after all!) It was awesome. Check out the picture of a walrus baculum (that’s a penis bone) in the photos below.

We also went to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. We weren’t expecting much, but it was an extremely well-done museum. We spent hours there and only saw maybe a third of the exhibits.

And then I finally got to meet Anne Bishop! I actually have a tattoo with a quote from her book, Sebastian: “Travel Lightly.”

Okay, so on to the books.

The Sage’s War

My editor sent back my manuscript of The Sage’s War a couple of weeks ago. I’m going to be perfectly honest: I haven’t opened it yet.

I need a bit longer of a break from Elandria. I love that world and those characters, but we’ve been together for three books. I’m not sure my eyes are fresh enough to look through my line edits.

However, my goal is to complete those by June 15th. That pushes my release to August 21st. It will most likely be an online only release. I’m also toying with having only an e-book soft release because of the pandemic craziness. I’m still deciding. If I do have a hard release, I might push it to the beginning of September.

But the final installment of Quinn and Amarice’s story is coming, I promise! And don’t worry—at some point, I’ll return to Elandria. I have lots of ideas for short stories and novellas.

Hell’s Revenge

I’ve been spending a lot of time on Hell’s Revenge. Having critiques regularly is helping a lot! It’s the first thing I work on every day. I’ve done a ton of research and keep finding more.

I’ve become obsessed with weird historical details, like bilge pumps on 17th century ships. I even downloaded a whole book on bilge pumps. (In case you don’t know, that’s the thing that pumps water from the bottom of the ship that inevitably leaks in. They’re mechanical these days, but they used to require constant physical labor.)

I’m almost done with part one of the novel. Soon, the piratey goodness will begin, and I am pumped. (Heh. No pun intended.)

I really want to do this book right. That means excellent covers, great layouts, and spending a lot of time building readership before I release. I also don’t know if I will get my same editor because she doesn’t do a lot of historical fiction, so I’ll have to vet a new editor. This is also a monster of a book compared to the Scholars of Elandria series. I don’t want to rush through it.

So, I’ve pushed the release till 2021. My goal is to have it to my editor just after the new year and release in April 2021. I also plan to have a huge pirate-themed release party, and that will take some time/money.

Other Updates

I’m putting this out there so that it really happens: I’m starting a writing podcast soon. This won’t be your average craft discussion. Keep watching my blog and social media for more updates on it!

Additionally, I’m working on a bit of rebranding. Keep an eye out for my new logo later this week/early next week.

~Krystal