First things first, I’m about 40,000 words into An Elegy for Hope, but this book is a beast and while writing it is fun, it’s requiring just an absolutely shocking amount of research and the going is slow. I’m aiming for publication early in 2020, hopefully in January or February. This book expands the world a bit, and while characters in Seraphina’s Lament do play a role, and they do appear and have POV chapters, the bulk of the story will be told from other characters.

It’s been a journey, and to give you a feel for what kind of research this has required, I’ve had to do a lot of reading on the history of concentration camps, and the Russian side of World War II. I also have a ton (TON) of sensitivity readers, the bulk of which are either polyamorous, nonbinary, or are, or work with (caretakers), nonvocal individuals.

So, it’s taking time. I am being slow, and very careful. I’d rather go slow and get it right than rush it.

On the side, I’ve started writing another project. I didn’t actually expect it to go anywhere, it was sort of a thing to do to let my writing mind have some space to run while I gnawed on ideas and issues with An Elegy for Hope. I was working on it a bit the other day and realized that I’d sailed right past 50,000 words and was nearly to 60,000, so it’s basically a book. I also realized that I really like it, and I think I am going to pursue publishing it.

This one has been a lot easier to write (in some ways) but a lot harder in others (I have never written in first-person before, and adjusting to it has been a huge challenge for me. For one thing, I can’t pop around the way I can with multiple third-person POV chapters.). The rate things are going, Of Honey and Wildfires should be publishable sometime around November (I’m guessing, and this is, of course, if no more health drama falls on me).

So I guess I’m announcing that I should in a soon-ish fashion, have another book on the market.

Let me tell you a little about it.

Of Honey and Wildfires basically tells the story of one woman’s radicalization through the eyes of her slave (Apparently I’ve got a thing about slavery. I think it’s tragic and fascinating to learn about, and write about.). This book is set in a secondary world that is bound by caste and tradition, complete with an economic system based on slavery, and a magic system built on the human body. It’s completely unrelated to Seraphina’s Lament and etc.

The book takes place in a city called Heart, which is run by four crime families. Due to the fact that I am absolutely obsessed with weaving history into my books, I’ve been taking a lot of the inspiration for this one from ancient world slave systems in Egypt and Greece, primarily, and the caste systems that are derived from these models. It’s been really interesting to research. I’ve also been reading a lot of books on radicalization, mostly on the radicalization of women surrounding Isis, because there’s just a ton of very new, very informative, very candid stories surrounding that. And as for the magic system, it is… well, it’s really dark and morbid and has required a TON of research into prehistoric cannibalism.

You’re welcome.

So, with all that said, Of Honey and Wildfires is happening. I’m going to probably focus most of my current writing efforts on finishing it up, and I’ll keep you updated as to the progress of it, and various estimations and timeline details when I get them a bit more ironed out.

If you want to see some snippets from this, here are two. Just keep in mind, they are first draft, and completely 100% unedited (I do absolutely zero editing AT ALL until after my first draft is complete).

So that’s what I’ve got in the works. Hopefully, I’ve wet your whistle a bit, so when I start talking about this more, someone out there will care. And of course, I will update you with some stuff from An Elegy for Hope as well. In fact, here’s a snippet from that book, just because I feel like sharing it with you.

And… that’s about it. There’s some snippets, my writing progress, some things to look for in the near future and… yeah. I should have another Deep Dive post up this week, this one will probably be about Stalin’s collective farming, and an introduction to his Five Year plans.