FIRST TWO COLLECTIONS DONE

 

I have been desperately working on compiling my first two collections of short stories. Ultimately, because there’s quite a few short stories I’ve written, there are about eighteen volumes to come over the next few years. The first two of my fantasy world have been compiled and redrafted. One a collection of mostly random stories set within the main continental region my stories focus on. Four of them are a succession that provide a backstory to a novel I’m working on. Three are a succession of stories that work together as sequels. The first and last story act like bookends, relating to each other though set over two-thousand years apart (though the first story is set quite early in the history – the rest stretch out over about seven centuries). The other one is a collection of stories all relating to the life, death, and legacy of single character (covering about five and a half centuries). Each story a jigsaw piece from the perspective of others to tell a more complete tale. I’m quite excited to see that particular project finally completed, as they are stories written and published in anthologies out of order and over five years (as is the case with the other collection). Finally reading them all in chronological order for the first time as I compiled it was quite interesting. Other works will relate to this project. I’ve been tied to this chair for the last couple of weeks as I tirelessly (in fact I was very tired for most of it – but I punched on anyway) worked on these two compilations. Now that I’m done and free to stretch my legs, it is of course heavily raining.

The next collection would be the first phase of my sci-fi works, so I’ll get to work on that soon. Another fantasy collection set in the eastern lands of my world (Southeast Asian style continent – as opposed to the primarily Eurocentric style of the first collection) is getting close to being fully populated. I still need to write and publish a couple more stories in that setting before compiling it. My first horror collection is getting dangerously close too. Still finding anthological homes for some of those stories.

My second novel ‘The Sky is Made of Stone’ is on the editing list with Cloaked Press. Another novel I’ve completed is a little long for an author at my stage of “success” so I have to go through it again and probably divide into a trilogy, so that’ll be a project I’m working on. What will likely be my third novel is complete but still being redrafted between other projects. It should hopefully be ready soon. Then I’d like to get to work on sequels to ‘A Man called Boy’, ‘The Sky is Made of Stone’, and indeed this third novel. The first book has room for a sequel, the second leaves an opening for a sequel, but this third one won’t be complete without one. I’m curious to see how that all prioritises over the coming months.

Of course, I’ll still be writing lots of short stories in between. In fact, there are fifteen of the little suckers out there submitted to various magazines and anthologies, so curious to see how that all plays out too.

Anyway, that’s the update for now. My last one was about my dream diary collection of published stories since which my short story ‘Some of Us Could Fly’ was recently accepted in ‘Hostile Skies’ (Bayonet Books). Again, I’m always thrilled when an actual dream I had gets published.