Summer has come to an end, and long days filled with sunlight and blue skies have slowly but surely faded away to the melancholic grey and gold of autumn (though today is pretty sunny, to be fair). Long walks through green fields have become jaunts through damp grass whilst leaves fall in orange drifts, and with the seasons many other things have changed. Tales From Esdaria smashed through 2,000 views a couple of weeks ago and is now steaming confidently towards 3,000, and I'm now firmly back at university, starting a new medieval history course that is set to
last for the next twelve months. Classes in medieval Latin and paleography are on the cards, as well as the chance to delve further in England's colourful past. Of course, though, this has implications for this blog, but as yet I have absolutely no idea what
this is going to mean for the amount of time I can spend producing
content. As far as this is
concerned, watch this space for any updates. Until then, I'll continue
to aim for one post a week.
The good news it that all of Stonesworn is now available. If you haven't read it already, the full story is available here, and if you haven't yet, I'd suggest skipping the rest of this paragraph as spoilers are set to follow. Some of the discussions and feedback I've had from a few of you readers has been pleasantly refreshing and enlightening with regards to the ending of Stonesworn, and I'm glad that Benyar's untimely demise (or was it?) has been able to spurn such fire from a few of you. I was also glad to see that Benyar's ill-working familial unit prompted such strong feelings from some readers and helped them really get their teeth into the story. Writing about the Halflings was a great and thoroughly inspiring experience, and the feedback I've received has been hugely positive (a big thanks to all who have shared their thoughts with me!) and as such I'm definitely considering more Halfling-related ventures. So much of fantasy writing is concerned solely with Elves and Humans, when there is such wonderful scope for other things. I still feel that Dwarves and Gnomes are an untapped vein within the fantasy world, one commonly overlooked in favour of more familiar-feeling characters.
The good news it that all of Stonesworn is now available. If you haven't read it already, the full story is available here, and if you haven't yet, I'd suggest skipping the rest of this paragraph as spoilers are set to follow. Some of the discussions and feedback I've had from a few of you readers has been pleasantly refreshing and enlightening with regards to the ending of Stonesworn, and I'm glad that Benyar's untimely demise (or was it?) has been able to spurn such fire from a few of you. I was also glad to see that Benyar's ill-working familial unit prompted such strong feelings from some readers and helped them really get their teeth into the story. Writing about the Halflings was a great and thoroughly inspiring experience, and the feedback I've received has been hugely positive (a big thanks to all who have shared their thoughts with me!) and as such I'm definitely considering more Halfling-related ventures. So much of fantasy writing is concerned solely with Elves and Humans, when there is such wonderful scope for other things. I still feel that Dwarves and Gnomes are an untapped vein within the fantasy world, one commonly overlooked in favour of more familiar-feeling characters.
I'm am also very pleased to announce that the enigmatically named StoryI and StoryII both now have working titles beyond Roman numerals, and StoryII is now a completed first-draft. StoryI - now upgraded to 'The Spire' - is being re-read and re-edited for the third time at this very moment, whilst StoryII - now called 'In Pursuit of Shadows' - is gestating on a hard drive somewhere. This is a process I undertake with all my writing; essentially I forget about it. Re-reading too quickly after production and completion is unhelpful, as I find it can be impacted by my own preconceived notions of how I things things within the narrative look. Obvious errors are missed, and given that the writing is so fresh within my memory, it's easier to swing towards an extreme: either loving it or hating it. Coming back at it with a somewhat time-forsaken view of the story can be helpful, as I return to it with fresher, more objective eyes.
Still, though, neither of these are even close to being released. Personally, I would prefer to have the third installment I'm planning completely written before I even think about doing anything with the first one, and that will take at the very least another twelve months to do. Until then, it will just be more short(ish) stories and lore posts, I'm afraid! The good news on that front is that I have plenty more short(ish) stories currently in the works to keep things going in the meantime.
Whilst on the subject of short(ish) stories, I have more good news! Over the next few weeks, I'll be releasing a few pieces of Lore that surround the fifth upcoming story, entitled Steel and Silver. This short(ish) story, which is set in the one-hundred and eightieth year of the Second Era of Imperial History (one year before the events in Of Fire and Shadow) will be released in four parts in a few weeks time. On top of that, it shall also see the return of a familiar character - but more on that closer to the time of release. This was not the original story I had planned for this month, but I got so into writing it that the other went unfinished!
Still, though, neither of these are even close to being released. Personally, I would prefer to have the third installment I'm planning completely written before I even think about doing anything with the first one, and that will take at the very least another twelve months to do. Until then, it will just be more short(ish) stories and lore posts, I'm afraid! The good news on that front is that I have plenty more short(ish) stories currently in the works to keep things going in the meantime.
Whilst on the subject of short(ish) stories, I have more good news! Over the next few weeks, I'll be releasing a few pieces of Lore that surround the fifth upcoming story, entitled Steel and Silver. This short(ish) story, which is set in the one-hundred and eightieth year of the Second Era of Imperial History (one year before the events in Of Fire and Shadow) will be released in four parts in a few weeks time. On top of that, it shall also see the return of a familiar character - but more on that closer to the time of release. This was not the original story I had planned for this month, but I got so into writing it that the other went unfinished!
That's all for now. Thanks again for your time and readings!
Rob.
No comments:
Post a Comment