Hello, adventurers! There’s been a lot of progress with Realm of Chaos the past few weeks (and a little with Ranger’s Odyssey), and I’m so excited to share it with you!
Ranger’s Odyssey first, because it’s shorter. I have forty-eight copies in a tub right now for my library campaign (is that the right term here?), and things are moving along! I haven’t heard from many libraries, but a library in Kentucky is considering adding Ranger’s Odyssey to their collection, and a library in Tennessee is adding it to their collection! I’m going to keep on reaching out to other libraries in the hopes that these other forty-eight books will find homes in different states. It’s definitely a lofty dream, but I’m so excited to try it out!
Regarding Realm of Chaos, I’ve finished my near-final review! This review wasn’t finished until AUGUST last year! What does this mean? Well, I’ve completed three full rounds of revisions based on my own desired changes, feedback from others, and necessary editing. The first draft was about 75,500 words long, and this near-final draft ended up at 86,000! I made 11,000 revisions to Ranger’s Odyssey over the course of the revision period. With nearly that much added to Realm of Chaos just in the word count, it’s hard to tell how many changes I made this time. (Actually, it’s impossible. I tried to pull that information, and it froze the computer.)
I just uploaded Realm of Chaos to Booksprout for the ARC reading program. This means that there are now 50 copies available for advance reading! If you’d like to sign up, you can read Realm of Chaos RIGHT NOW instead of waiting until October! In exchange for this free advance copy, you are agreeing to leave an honest review when the book comes out in the fall—it’s a win for everyone! You may find the ARC copy here.
If you choose to participate in the ARC program, what you’ll read is almost the final version. Because I found the typos in Ranger’s Odyssey after a read-aloud for the informal audiobook, before I consider it finished, I’m going to do an oral read of Realm of Chaos probably around August. Final minor revisions will be made at that time, and then the book will go to the publisher. It’s good to leave some time between revisions, because it allows time to forget the little details of the story. I’m sure it’s egotistical to think, but there were quite a few moments that made me laugh when doing this last round of revisions, just because I forgot I was the one who wrote it.
Anyway, this means that Realm of Chaos is basically finished! I just have a few more little things to do for it, and then later on this summer I’ll begin writing the first draft of Wheel of Fate! Mara’s saga is nearly over, but I’m just as excited to bring you the stories of Ember in the next series.
For Realm of Chaos, there are two other things left to do. First, bookmarks for libraries and preorders. I have full-size art of each individual companion from the front cover, and there will be four collectible bookmarks for this one! (Or you could just pick your favorite.) Those will be available earlier this year as well, because they will be included in preordered copies in the fall. Keep an eye out for the final designs!
Otherwise, we’re having some difficulties with the final cover art. The type of scanner the artist used for Ranger’s Odyssey isn’t working this time, so we’re looking into other options. That’s the downside of having a poster-size cover, though it does look great on my wall next to the other one, is that it’s really difficult to find the one we need.
The good news is that the cover is FINISHED—also months early! I even got together with the artist a couple weeks ago and hashed out the details for Wheel of Fate. We did the color studies, and she did the first sketches. She’ll be taking a break before delving into the cover in full.
Big things for Ambergrove! I’m so excited to be where I am with this series, and I’m so excited for you to read Realm of Chaos, the conclusion to Mara’s story in Wheel of Fate, and all the other tales of Ambergrove I have planned, for that matter. I’ll leave you with one of the scans we were able to get—the current choice is between too dark or striped, until we are able to scan it properly, so here’s the too-dark one.
Until next time, adventurers!
Tales of Ambergrove 