Next update April 3
In this update – excerpts from my new short story collection! That’s the good news. The bad news is that I’m once again going to be posting a blog entry talking about how things are moving more slowly than I had hoped.
Let’s start with Chaos Unleashed, the third novel in my Chaos Born trilogy. Originally it was scheduled for a July 15 release. Sadly, that date has been pushed back to October 13th.
I want to be very clear – the reason for the change has nothing to do with me missing my writing deadlines! I know readers are waiting for this book, and I worked very hard to make sure I got it done ASAP. But as I mentioned in my last post, actually writing the manuscript is only part of the process of getting a book out there. Editors need to review the manuscript and give feedback. I need to make the rewrites they ask for. The book needs to be physically made: typesets and fonts have to be put together for the printer. The book has to be properly marketed, and it has to come out at a time when stores will want it on their shelves and promote it online.
I like to throw all of these other non-writing things that go into making a book under the umbrella of “production and marketing”. It’s an essential part of the process, and sometimes things come up that impact that actual release date. That’s the case with Chaos Unleashed. Sometimes shit happens. In this case, it happened and unfortunately the book won’t be out until October. But you can still preorder it now, if that helps! (Yeah, I know – it doesn’t help at all.)
I’m a bit frustrated by the delay, but I can’t actually say too much… because I’m just as bad. A Minor Malevolent Spirit and Other Tales – the short story collection I’m self-publishing – is also delayed because of “production and marketing”!
I really wanted the book to be available before the end of March; sadly that probably isn’t going to happen. So how much longer until it’s ready? Three weeks? A month? Six weeks? I’m not really sure, but I’m still pushing for an April release. Hopefully I’ll have a firm date with my next post in early April. (And, if I’m lucky, it’ll be available then, too!)
But even though we aren’t quite there yet, we are close enough that I can offer a preview of A Minor Malevolent Spirit and Other Tales. In addition to telling you all about the book, you can also read some excerpts – a teaser for the eponymous tale and a complete second story, along with author’s notes!
And, just to continue with the theme of stuff not being where I expect it to be, I’ll just add that I still haven’t locked down my schedule for Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim yet. I’ll be there, but exactly where and when are still up in the air. But I can promise there will be some book signings set up so fans who are there can come by and get my autograph. And, as always, I’ll happily sign anything I’ve worked on – video games, Star Wars books, non-SW books: it’s all good!
Okay, I guess that’s it for this non-update update. Hopefully next time I’ll have some actual information to share.