After a lengthy hiatus, the past couple weeks have been quite eventful! Whilst taking care of not one but two post-surgery babies, overdoing it and causing some significant setbacks with my wrist healing progress, loads of things have happened in Ambergrove.
Realm of Chaos
Book two of the Dragonwolf trilogy is now available in all libraries (I’m aware of) who have Ranger’s Odyssey in their catalog. It can be borrowed from any Indiana Evergreen library, and it is also available in Michigan and North Carolina.
Wheel of Fate
The cover artist has had some personal setbacks in the past couple weeks, but she has completed nearly half of the cover art for Wheel of Fate and projects to have it completed and ready for professional photographing by May 7.
I have completed the third draft of Wheel of Fate and sent it out to be reviewed. One reviewer already finished it and got back to me, and I’ve been prompted to make some revisions, but overall they were pleased with the conclusion to Mara’s story. I hope the rest of you enjoy it as well once it becomes available! So many things in this book have been planned since before the release of Ranger’s Odyssey, and it is so exciting to finally see some things come to fruition (others won’t be until my first standalone novel is released).
In addition to completing the draft, I have also completed the maps, files for the Family Green game download and QR code for the book, and my glossary for the back of the book. I decided to review some of my favorite author’s character lists to figure out how I would like to handle mine, and I settled on a mix of a few (it looks like she does a different one every time). I compiled a list of all referenced characters in the Dragonwolf trilogy, character descriptions with the least spoilers possible, and pronunciation breakdowns for some of the names.
I am now completely finished with Wheel of Fate until it is returned from my last reviewers (expected within a couple weeks). Then, I just have to review and apply final changes, record the audiobook (with the main goal of catching typos) and apply final final changes, and then all that’s left is getting the cover art and it’s ready for publication! We’re getting close now. There’s always so many other hiccups that could happen, but it should be available for purchase by June!
I’ve also updated the Wheel of Fate page with the back cover blurb and created the Goodreads listing! I now have my first full trilogy listed on Goodreads!
What now?
Well, I don’t read while I’m writing, because I don’t want to accidentally write something in my own book that I think is cool and original only to realize later that I got it from a book I just read. So, right now I’m taking a short break to read a book. I’ve got a new one picked out I haven’t read before: Walk the Wild with Me by Rachel Atwood—which seems to be an imaginative and magical retelling of the Robin Hood story.
I am also working in inputting existing worldbuilding materials into Scrivener 3. Scrivener is an extremely handy writing program, especially if you have lots of background information to keep straight as you go. (This isn’t a promotion or anything, but if you’re interested in the program, check it out here.) I had a computer issue early in the first draft of Ranger’s Odyssey while working with an older version of Scrivener and have been waiting to use it again until I was starting a new series, so here we are!
Later on this week I will begin blocking the first book of the Hammer and Flame trilogy, with a tentative title of Ember in the Forge. Because there should be little content to add in Wheel of Fate during my last rounds of reviews, I plan to start writing the first chapter of the second trilogy before the end of this month. So there’s lots on the docket for April!
As one adventure is coming to an end, another is beginning. I am so excited to share the end of Mara’s story with you and begin the next piece of the overarching saga.
Until next time, adventurers!
Tales of Ambergrove 