May 24, 2020

The Changing Winds...

Hmmm it has been a little break. Remembering to post regularly in an irregular world is challenging. Still, I have been writing. I can't not write...

As recorded earlier, All We Have is awaiting a publisher response, Girlie has a rejection and will now move to the next prospective publisher, and Dragon Queen is on temporary hold after Book One draft completion and several chapters into Book Two.

Simultaneously - who said I have ADHD? - I'm working on a very old project that was written as a solitary book but will now be expanded into a trilogy. The original The Last Wizard has been edited and is now ready to be re-published as Tamesan's Song: The Last Wizard Book One and I am four chapters into Chasse's Song: The Last Wizard Book Two. For years, readers have asked for a sequel and I always had notes for a series, but life events in the mid-nineties interrupted the project and I never returned to it.

The first book focussed on Tam's struggle to break out of the mould set for girls and women in her village against a much darker backdrop of the lies of her culture. It was/is a coming-of-age story for a strong female character.

The second book sees her brother, Chasse, caught in the aftermath of Tam's discovery of a dragon on the mountain above her village, also coming to terms with his masculinity in a world that can be dangerous. Tam's continuing story becomes a backdrop for Chasse's tale and challenges to protect his family.

The third book - Jaysin's Song: The Last Wizard Book Three - focuses on the youngest sibling coming of age as he discovers why he has always been different to other children and why he will usher in the future age.

It has been interesting and difficult to rekindle a very old but favourite world and tale. I have reacquainted myself with the Harbin culture and beliefs, its geography, its isolation, the events of the first book that set the second one in motion, and the characters. Now, a mere 14000 words into Chasse's Song, the first draft is still feeling awkward, recapturing a style and language and atmosphere I'd forgotten for twenty-five years, but it is beginning to take shape.

I've invited Kirsi Salonen to create covers for the rebirth of the original novel and the fresh projects. Robert Stephenson contracted Kirsi to design the renewed Andrakis covers back in 2006 when we first moved that series to Print-on-Demand. Kirsi creates imaginative, dynamic and intense work. Check out her site: http://www.kirsisalonen.com/

Next entry I will focus on the development of Chasse's Song.