writing updates

Archer’s Aim Weekly Writing Updates – 11/8

The latest developments for The Bow of Hart Saga, The Cursed Mage Case Files and more…

Today starts my second week back here on the blog. Restarting the blog and managing some of the business of writing took up much of last week. I’m kind of trying out this weekly update post for readers to be able to find specific information about my writing projects.

Here are my latest updates from the last week by series:

The Bow of Hart Saga is the current Denaria Cycle series.The Bow of Hart Saga – Sequel:

I’ve done a little more outline work and reviewed some of the parallel series, Empire’s Deception. There’s no expectation of starting any serious work on either project for a couple of months but I am working on general outlines and ideas to be ready to work on them when the time comes.

As indicated last week, I’ll begin work on the sequel of The Bow of Hart Saga in earnest with a few months. There will be at least one more saga, but I’m open to one or two more beyond this next one. But let’s worry about the next one first (see below for a bit about each possible saga).

Because there will be another saga, here’s the over-arching series title that I’m adding when the time comes:

The Denaria Cycle.

The next series title will be:

The Heir of Hart.

Here are the working titles:

Book 1: The Fires of Hart

Book 2: The Cursed Bow

Book 3: Hope of Hart

Book 4: Shadow of the Dragon

Book 5: The Broken Ties

Book 6: Dragon Rising

Book 7: The Goddess Rises

As for a further series in the Denaria Cycle, I’m thinking about a saga that heavily involves dwarves. This is another topic in which many readers have expressed interest. I think there is plenty of material for such a series. My series idea after that one would involve an invasion from a sea-faring people who use piracy as their main weapon.

I hope that gives everyone an idea of where I’m headed, just don’t expect anything from The Heir of Hart too fast. There are other books already in line for publication, actually very close to ready…

The Cursed Mage Case Files:

Volume 2, The Unseen Hand:

My current book project is still moving along at a steady pace in a final revision. The process is in the middle of re-writes at this time, followed by revision to bring each case up to consistency with The Order of the Dark Rose and each preceding case in this newest volume.

After all these changes, I expect to put the manuscript through three line edit process sandwiched between a mid-revision read-thru and a final one. It sounds like a longer process than it is as I expect to get through the revision part quickly if I can get some time to focus on it.

The line edits actually progress faster than you think and a read-thru can be done in less than a week, really a few days. However, my target date is sliding past the end of this month into December. I haven’t landed on that date yet, but then, the cover art has not arrived either.

When The Unseen Hand arrives, expect to find it in paperback, hardback (Amazon only) with merchandise available.

Regarding audio for the series, I haven’t approached an audio publisher yet, but if nothing works out with a traditional one, I’ll likely go with something like Findaway Voices. I’ll be in contact with a publisher or two and get some idea what to expect. Depending on those answers, there may be some audio appearing for this series during 2022. Of course, Volume 3, The Nine Jewel Heist, is due out in 2022 (fluid target date of late February or early March). Subsequent titles exist in my plans but have not been drafted as of yet.

The Cursed Hand Adventures (working series title):

A Charm in the Hand:

I’ve worked on this book off and on for the last couple of year and it is very close to going to my editor. I’m polishing it up for that next stage, although I’m still toying with putting into the Inkshares system (a crowdfunding publisher). I do have more of the series planned at this so I can begin drafting additional titles whenever I’m ready. Charm is pretty well developed so I don’t expect a long development time for it. This book is trending May of 2022.

The Lost Treasure Adventures (working series title):

All Things Forgotten:

Already through an initial editorial review, this book is well along in the process, but the world-building requires some work. I don’t expect this first in series launch before next summer if then. Subsequent books require more planning but I’m toying with ideas.

The Broken Shield Chronicles:

Working title: The Tower of Secrets

A work in progress, this series is in much the same shape as The Lost Treasure Adventures, needing some work on the world-building. This one is not quite finished in rough draft, with less than twenty pages needed to finish it. However, this BSC has a more complete plan. Both this series and the previous one are forms of LitRPG, so the extra work needed relates more toward the gaming part of each world. Again, this first in series launch should not be expected until the last half of 2022.

Other works:

There are other ideas which I have not even been touched aside from a very basic idea. However, one has been waiting for years with more development and a rough draft already started. The Denaria Cycle will come ahead of these and will likely elbow in past some of the other books. The goal with several series is to present readers with some different fantasy content.

Conclusion

I’ll be back with more updates next week and develop an updated WIP page to better express longer range plans with each series. Hopefully, all the behind the scenes information is interesting to readers and lets everyone know what to expect. The sequel to The Bow of Hart Saga will grow in importance as I complete the next several projects. Future posts in this series won’t be so extensive and focus on immediate project updates rather than long-range plans, though I’ll include the latter from time to time as developments arise.

Thanks for stopping by today to read more details about my writing updates. Feel free to share this post wherever you like. Also, leave your thoughts in the comments section where I’ll respond as soon as I’m able.

Looking for more about my books?

Visit the The Bow of Hart Saga Series Page

Or See These Related Pages:

Visit the Archer’s Aim Press Online Store

Discover the World of Denaria

Read the series FAQ

View the series maps and read how they were created

 

Where I’ve Been & What’s Coming Up – I Hope…

It’s been a while since posting here on the blog. I’ve been struggling with health issues all year, so the summer was very busy in that regard. I’m still on a long, slow mend, but making a little progress. I’m heading back to some rehab, but it’s not as bad as last March.But rather than dwell on health, I prefer to share some of what’s going on with writing plans. The schedule is now jumbled, so I’m updating that on the news page. Also, I’ll get to a major shift in priorities in an upcoming post. Suffice it to say I’m going back to my writing roots. I’ll get into why and what it means later.

But rather than dwell on health, I prefer to share some of what’s going on with writing plans. The schedule is now jumbled, so I’m updating that on the news page. Also, I’ll get to a major shift in priorities in an upcoming post. Suffice it to say I’m going back to my writing roots. I’ll get into why and what it means later.

My immediate plans are to complete work on The Unseen Hand, Volume 2 of The Cursed Mage Case Files. My hope is to release it by Thanksgiving though it looks like that schedule may slide some.

The good news with the upcoming book is the artwork. I’ve ordered the cover from my artist and hope it will arrive within the week.

The delays with this book have been many and mostly physical. Energy and focus have been a big problem all year. This improved to the point where I could spend more time on it. However, all the backlog of the year of working in fits and spurts left me far behind on other needful tasks, some of which will be announced here in the coming days.

I made a lot of progress on all fronts out of my stagnation. Then my health dropped another major distraction on me. I developed a sudden eye infection. I was unable to keep my eyes open and had to make an emergency visit to the local eye hospital on a weekend. Then there were frequent drops, treatment, and more appointments.

This emergency kept me from working on the book for over a week. Oddly, or maybe not so odd in the end, I had an eye problem when I published The Bow of Destiny in late 2015. It turns out these were related. I was diagnosed with rosacea affecting my eyes. The ophthalmologist told me it’s often diagnosed from eye issues.

Now, I’m getting back in the swing more but still working around post Covid limitations. I’m getting better at working around them, but still have to do “working breaks”. But I’m making steady progress. This post is a good sign of that fact. I’m managing what feels like a new normal. As a result, revision of The Unseen Hand crawls forward.

I’ve even been able to make a few plans about other books and begin some much needed changes to the site as well as update books. Announcements are coming about multiple changes and developments and I think everyone will like them all.

My sincere hope is to launch more entertaining books for readers. If only I don’t have any more setbacks with health.

All that being expressed, I’m sorry I haven’t posted more here. I truly have been consumed with health concerns and just haven’t had the energy and focus to spend time on Archer’s Aim, let alone a new book. Things are progressing, just not as quickly as I’d like. Stay tuned, I’ll get to the next launch and more books beyond in due time. More to come about other holdups in the near future. In the meantime, please see the News page for some updates as I get back in the proverbial saddle, even if it’s with limitations.

Also as a closing note, I am catching up on lost time this week with several posts. The schedule will settle down next week.