the Author
October
9
40 Comments

Cast in Eternity preview and sundry

Posted in writing, chapters, Cast.

It’s October 2022, and at the end of November, 2022, Cast in Eter­nity will be published. It was a book written entirely during Covid lock­down. I wonder if, a decade from now, I’ll remember that as clearly. I’m mostly hoping I won’t.

I try to post the first chapter of an upcoming book a month before release day. So: this is the post for that. The first chapter of Cast in Eter­nity is here, but you can also find it on the bibli­og­raphy page for the CAST novels.

***

I am contin­uing to write, both Sagara and West words. The Sagara words are for the as yet unti­tled Magic School book — but I am sad to say that my Magic School book is … not quite what I thought it would be. So far. Yes, it takes place in the Acad­emia, and yes, there is both magic and school, but, well.

The West novel, Hunter’s Redoubt, is in the final stretch for that book — which means that the last arc for the book has started. I had so hoped to be finished this book some­time in October, but I think it’s likely five or six chap­ters from the end, and in West terms that’s 50 – 60k words, not the 30k I was kind of hoping for. So, this book will prob­ably be as long as Battle was.

For those Cana­dians here, Happy Thanksgiving!

40 Responses to Cast in Eternity preview and sundry

  1. hsmyers says:
    October 9, 2022 at 11:45 am

    You do know that the only people who are upset by length are the publishers, right? The rest of us are chanting “More, More, More”!

  2. michelle says:
    October 9, 2022 at 11:48 am

    @hsmyers: Well, if the book was 225k words, it would be finished and people could read it sooner, maybe? I don’t plan on length because I can’t reli­ably do that – it’s still the one skill that I have failed to reli­ably develop. But usually the longest book isn’t the first one =/

  3. Nina says:
    October 9, 2022 at 11:57 am

    Lovely opening. My copy is all ready pre-ordered. I am so looking forward to the next adven­ture. Thank you for your wonderful stories.

  4. Pam says:
    October 9, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    So excited! Always look forward to your wonderful writing.
    Thank you!

  5. Sherrie Salinger says:
    October 9, 2022 at 3:36 pm

    I am more than ready for the next chapter, and the next..etc. Pre ordering is next!

  6. Doris says:
    October 9, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    Enjoyed the first look at the new book, can hardly wait for the book that I have already pre-ordered.… please keep writing, I enjoy your stories and look forward to following your adventures!

  7. Jules says:
    October 9, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    Wonderful news and I can’t wait. Thank you for the update!

  8. Kelly says:
    October 9, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    I’m already hooked!

  9. Susan Keyes says:
    October 9, 2022 at 7:32 pm

    I was delighted to be able to get Sun Sword audible from Audible (Amazon) this week — cheers!

  10. Elizabeth KW says:
    October 10, 2022 at 2:01 am

    Thanks for the first chapter! I’ve got the kindle and audible books pre-ordered. I usually read with my eyes first, but I reread with my ears, so both are important!
    You make each book as of as it needs to be, and I’ll wait for every one.

  11. Sivi says:
    October 10, 2022 at 3:29 am

    Thank you for the chapter, draws you in straight away. I’d already pre-ordered the book. Looking forward to the publi­ca­tion date.

  12. shirin says:
    October 10, 2022 at 5:37 am

    No time to read. But always happy when you post. More so when announcing a finished book. Though I agree with hsmyers.
    Lots of love and happy thanksgiving.

  13. Nanci Kennedy says:
    October 10, 2022 at 7:46 am

    You are a glorious EVIL woman! The failure to scroll to the next page after that last sentence was so cruel. LOL.

  14. Joyce says:
    October 10, 2022 at 10:42 am

    I learned my lesson on the last book so I will make myself wait, impa­tiently, for the book to arrive. Fortu­nately it is pre-ordered on Kindle so it will be here as fast as any book can. I am more than a little curious about how the Magic School book has gone astray; but, given the avail­able cast, I suppose that is not entirely unex­pected. Take care as you write your words and stay safe and sane.

  15. michelle says:
    October 10, 2022 at 11:38 am

    @Susan: Thank you! The Sun Sword audio is entirely due to the Patreon; people had asked before, but I didn’t have the money to hire the narrator, and I don’t have the compe­tence to do the sound work neces­sary to do it myself. Since the Patreon did well, I had more money than I thought I would, and I wanted to put that money back into the West universe – so the first year of Patreon, prac­ti­cally, paid for the three audiobooks.

  16. michelle says:
    October 10, 2022 at 11:43 am

    @Nanci: It’s why I don’t read preview chap­ters T_T. I’m not very patient, and the thing that should follow the last page of Chapter One is… Chapter Two. It’s also why, for a long time, I didn’t post sample chap­ters — I assumed everyone was like me. But people do like the preview because not everyone is the same :).

  17. michelle says:
    October 10, 2022 at 11:44 am

    @Joyce: The magic school book has gone astray because while all of the back­ground issues are the same, my inten­tion to start with Robin as the view­point did… not go well. I think I started from his view­point six times. And then I moved to Serralyn. And that also didn’t work. And then I moved to the second view­point of the book — because there was always intended to be two — and that *did* work.

    But… she’s a little bit odd.

  18. michelle says:
    October 10, 2022 at 11:45 am

    @Everyone: thank you so much! I try — now — to get the preview chapter up in the month before publi­ca­tion month, and it’s nice to know that people still really look forward to and read them.

  19. Joyce says:
    October 11, 2022 at 10:25 am

    And now I really am curious about the magic school but very keen to read it. Dare we hope for it next summer?

  20. Aquilegia says:
    October 11, 2022 at 6:49 pm

    I also cannot read sample chap­ters. They just make me angry that I must wait. I know that the entire book is written. It exists out there in the universe, taunting me. 

    @Michelle I remember that Robin spoke of a friend that he hoped could come too. Is the POV char­acter his friend?

  21. Emile says:
    October 11, 2022 at 8:55 pm

    Thanks for the chapter! I’ll be gnashing my teeth until the book arrives. And your discus­sion of the magic school and its “odd” point of view defi­nitely has me curious…

  22. michelle says:
    October 12, 2022 at 10:27 am

    @Aquilegia: Yes, it’s the friend Robin mentioned.

  23. michelle says:
    October 12, 2022 at 10:28 am

    @Joyce: I’m not sure of pub dates for the book because it is not finished yet >.>. And it has no title — that’s some­thing that’s being discussed.

  24. Andrea says:
    October 16, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    I’m always torn on reading previews, because they’re always great, so they often make the wait even harder. But still, I’ll read every scrap of Chron­i­cles of Elantra mate­rial that I can get my hands on, so I usually do read them. Plus, they provide mate­rial for spec­u­la­tion and theo­ries, and that helps fill the time until release.

  25. Andrea says:
    October 16, 2022 at 10:22 pm

    Oof, that was indeed a cliffhanger. So Inter­esting though! 

    Also, this isn’t specific to this preview, just related to previews in general, but I think I like it best when we’re lucky enough to get two chap­ters for previews. Two chap­ters seems to be a good length to get a chunk of the story and for things to get exciting, but also not end in a decent place.

    For this preview, I know Mira/Harlequin (I think it was them) often release slightly longer previews that include an extra chapter. So going to haunt their website for the next month to see if they do, lol.

  26. Andrea says:
    October 16, 2022 at 10:26 pm

    Ooh, they have Chap­ters 1 – 3! Hope no one mids if I share the link: https://​preview​.aer​.io/​C​a​s​t​_​i​n​_​E​t​e​r​n​i​t​y​-​N​D​Y​0​N​z​U​x​?​s​o​c​i​a​l​=​1​&​r​e​t​a​i​l​=​1​&​e​m​a​i​l​c​a​p=0

  27. Taen says:
    October 26, 2022 at 8:22 am

    I like previews once in a while, but for long series it can make the wait very frus­trating, so I will hold off and wait for the full book — not too long now anyway! ( As a complete aside, I was happy to see the Severn books promi­nently displayed in the Barnes and Noble in union square in nyc, but grum­bled about the lack of any of the West books, so they placated me by ordering in some more copies of War 😁 ) I never notice the length of the West books, they hold me completely enthralled until I’m done, and I’m perfectly content with that.

  28. michelle says:
    October 26, 2022 at 10:38 am

    @Taen: SWORD AND SHADOW had the best cover ever. I love that cover. So, maybe that was why it was more promi­nently displayed. 

    I have never mastered the art of writing to length. Not even the short stories, which were supposed to be half (or less!) the length they were when they were turned in. It’s the one skill I totally lack, no matter how much I’ve tried to master it. CITY OF NIGHT was the shortest of the West novels — but it was just… short. It wasn’t me trying to make it shorter. 

    But: I’m grateful to note that my readers have never complained that the books are too long and should have been cut by the editor :)

  29. kristal says:
    October 30, 2022 at 2:42 am

    Have been rereading all the CoE books since the 2nd wolf book came out every month so far. Love love love Severn and can’t wait to read this one

  30. Andrea H says:
    October 30, 2022 at 2:08 pm

    You’ll certainly never hear complaints about length from me! As a super fast reader, your books were the among the few I felt were long enough for me to enjoy prop­erly when I was younger. I wish printing books with more pages didn’t cost more money, because then they coul be even longer!

  31. michelle says:
    October 31, 2022 at 7:08 am

    @Andrea H: I am finding, as I research costs for things on the Patreon side that length does impact every­thing — which is prob­ably why publishers prefer shorter books. Or natu­rally shorter books. Even the CAST books would not be consid­ered short in this market — I only consider them short because I have the longer comparison =/

    @Kristal: Thank you — this one’s a CAST novel, though >.>

  32. michelle says:
    October 31, 2022 at 8:10 am

    @Andrea H: But it occurs to me as well that one of the things I’ve been so lucky about in my readers is that they *don’t* complain about length or tell me I should have cut the parts they don’t person­ally care about, etc. I’ve been really grateful for that.

  33. Shafi says:
    November 5, 2022 at 7:12 pm

    I love having the preview. End up rereading many times. Hate to wait for the full book (so hard to wait). Once released, I end up reading the whole book in one go at a time, regret it after­wards because (sigh) there isn’t another to follow. The end up re-reading the series. I love your books.

  34. michelle says:
    November 6, 2022 at 10:38 am

    @Shafi: Thank you! It took me a few years to realize that other people were actu­ally inter­ested in preview chap­ters, but I did realize it, and I’m happy when people are happy to see them :)

  35. br60103 says:
    November 7, 2022 at 9:25 pm

    Michelle: Can you tell us what stage the printing is at? Has it actu­ally got to ink on paper?
    (In other words, will we see it on time?)

  36. michelle says:
    November 7, 2022 at 11:48 pm

    @br60103: the book has been printed, and will make its way to book­shelves before the 29th of November (which is the on sale date).

  37. br60103 says:
    November 8, 2022 at 7:01 pm

    Thanks. Having read the begin­ning, I can’t wait for the rest.

  38. Helen Copping says:
    November 9, 2022 at 1:36 pm

    Love your books do you think you will do another about Severn ? I have both of his on audible too and love them
    Hope in future more cast ins will be audible as seems only begin­ning and end at present x

  39. Mary Allen says:
    November 19, 2022 at 11:20 am

    I read the first chapter again and am so glad I only have a few more days to wait for the next book. I started the series over and am at Cast in Wisdom. I think Cast in Wisdom is one of my favorite books because of the humor with Night­shade. Thanks so much for hours and hours of pleasure.

  40. Joyce says:
    December 30, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    Hi, Michelle! Amazon says our next book from you will be called Shards of Glass and be released at the end of November. Is that the magic school book? There is a preorder avail­able but the price is much higher than the preorder for Cast in Eter­nity so I will wait to see what’s what. Hope you are well and in a happy writing space.

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