Hail, adventurers! It has been quite a while since the last blog. There have been a few little updates here and there, but not as many developments as I’d hoped. Here’s just a little update of all the things.
Wheel of Fate
There’s currently two progress paths with Wheel of Fate. Where the cover is concerned, as we are easing into winter the cover artist has been able to get started on the layout. She had various color schemes and reference photos before now, and she compiled a catalog of various angles a couple weeks ago. Last week and this week have been for blocking the layout. We’ve planned out the design and blocked in the shapes of the characters. She is hoping to have the whole thing actually sketched out in the next few weeks. This will be the last of the covers that is front and back. I wanted the series to all match, and I would have loved to have all the books be front and back, but especially with the ambition of two releases each year, I have to make sure the artist has the time (and energy) to continue to complete the cover art. I should have a teaser for the WoF cover very soon!
As far as the writing goes, there continue to be minor setbacks. Issues with my wrist have prevented me from working effectively in general. I am hoping to finally have at least some answer for that issue next month. Until then, I am doing my best to work as I can and trying not to get too far behind my intended schedule. I had hoped to have the first draft finished by tomorrow, but that’s for sure not going to happen. I would still like to have it finished by the time I go back to work on Monday, but we’ll see how things go. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow were intended as full writing days, and I wrote one whole paragraph yesterday before both my computers were trapped in various update cycles, and today I have been distracted by the need to have our puppy monitored in the house longer than intended due to an unexpected issue. I decided because I am already so very far behind schedule today, I was going to work on another book project and write a blog update.
Aside from that whole cyclical mess, I have the entire rest of WoF blocked out scene-by-scene. I am so excited about some of the things that will be happening in upcoming chapters and I’m ready for Mara’s journey to come full circle.
General Tales of Ambergrove
There have been various little updates with Ranger’s Odyssey and Realm of Chaos this past month. Realm of Chaos stayed under 1000 in the bestseller list on Amazon for its main category for over a week after release and is currently resting in the low thousands. The public library copies have been handed out and should be added to the collections before the end of the year—-including Hoopla!
I have my first author event this Saturday. It is a local event a library is hosting for Small Business Saturday. I have a few copies of RoC, a lot of copies of the first edition of RO, and various props and things for my table. I had a runner made, I’ve printed off copies of the Ambergrove map on parchment paper, I have bookmarks from both books, I’m bringing my shield, my husband fixed my prop axe (with a wooden handle this time), and I have a Square account and card reader! I’m pretty excited for the event, and even if there’s a small turnout, it will be the first time I’ve been able to put myself out there as an author—-aside from when I ran into the fairy at the RenFest who purchased a copy of RO. I’m super excited for it. Plus, I’ll have all the things I need for a cool author table when I go to other events.
In additional local news, an independent bookstore recently reopened nearby. Large chains came in and drove them out when they were last open, but those chains have since closed and the bookstore came back this year. Man, is it a magical, wonderous place. It’s the absolute best bookstore I’ve ever been to. And, I spoke with the owner and they may be purchasing my books for the store! To my knowledge, my books have yet to be in a brick-and-mortar bookstore, and to have them in a bookstore like this one is a tremendous opportunity. The curator and fantasy specialist will read both Ranger’s Odyssey and Realm of Chaos and give the owner his feedback, and that feedback will determine if they purchase my books or not. I have had impartial feedback on Ranger’s Odyssey but no real feedback on Realm of Chaos. I’ve also not yet been in the position where someone’s experienced assessment of my books holds such sway. I’m excited for his decision but also so petrifyingly nervous. I hope to hear back from them by the end of the year. I would think that they may continue to purchase later books in the series if these first two are approved, but I’ll have to see how things go.
Finally, there will be a minor update to the website soon. I haven’t decided how I want to do it yet to avoid spoilers, but I will be adding a pronunciation guide (or guides, probably). Either I will create a new thread that is pronunciation by series, since most of the time characters won’t carry over series to series, or I will add individual guides to the end of each book page. I’ll have to think about it. I’d like to finish the WoF First draft before working on that, but it should hopefully be before the end of the year.
Anyway, chugging along with book and cover of WoF and big things keep coming for Ambergrove. I hope to provide another update in the next few weeks regarding the completed first drafts of WoF book and cover, availability in libraries and magic bookstore, and projections for 2022.
Until next time, adventurers!
Tales of Ambergrove 