the Author

Category Archives: chapters

Posted in Books, Cast, Elantra, chapters.

It’s come to my atten­tion that it’s already May >.<. May is the month before June. End of June is the publi­ca­tion date for Cast in Conflict. My brain still thinks it’s April because April is a better month to be stuck in with impending dead­lines. But it’s May. So: it’s time for the preview first chapter for the upcoming Cast in Conflict. I believe previews exist else­where now — I’m not sure how long they are, though, because the last book I gener­ally check for these things are my own — I mean… I’ve read the book multiple times by the point previews gener­ally go live. One of these days, Kaylin will have a good day. This one even starts with great promise… You can find the sample chapter here: Cast … Continue reading 

Posted in Elantra, Miscellaneous, chapters.

I have managed to fail to correctly step off a bus — on a day when there was no snow, no ice, no rain, and the side­walks were perfectly normal. Appar­ently I tripped over an invis­ible turtle on the way out. I landed on my left elbow and knee. This has, appar­ently, caused a compres­sion frac­ture in the elbow — although it must be minor because I was sent home from the hospital with an all clear, and someone phoned me 2 days later with a less clear – which is to say a phone call from an ortho­pedic surgeon letting me know that the intern on duty Monday evening missed a small compres­sion frac­ture in the elbow while looking at the X‑rays. Every­thing is there­fore being done with one hand — and as I’ve not finished neces­sary revi­sions, … Continue reading 

Posted in Elantra, Essalieyan, chapters, Mira, Books, Cast, DAW.

I am, for the moment, done with the Writing Process posts, in part because they were an attempt to answer a ques­tion which has cropped up in different ways over the last few years. They were an enor­mous amount of fun for me. I do have one more post — about the evolu­tion of process — but it’s half-finished, and it has been set aside in favour of taxes. Which is about as much fun as it sounds. Taxes are being done early this year because the annual writing retreat has been moved forward to the end of April. Which would mean I’d be in a different country at about the time Tax Panic sets in. So: early tax filing for me. Writing news: First, the next Cast … Continue reading 

Posted in DAW, Essalieyan, chapters.

ETA: First­born will be avail­able in ebook and hard­cover on the 19th of February, 2019. This is a hectic release month, the first time I have ever had two books published at essen­tially the same time. No, this was not partic­u­larly smart on my part, but I didn’t want to push either book back a month. It’s been three and three quarter years since the last West novel was published, and in the main, as a reader, I don’t care if two books I want are published in the same month. My pock­et­book might whine a little, but I am gleeful, because that’s just the way I am as a reader. Of other people’s books. Most authors can’t read their own books as if they’re readers, sadly. I posted the prologue last year … Continue reading 

Posted in Essalieyan, writing, chapters.

I’ve been going back and forth with myself (and possibly fret­ting at other people in my house­hold who were foolish enough to vacate the room after the first sentence). About what, you ask? About posting a preview chapter – in this case, the prologue – of War. I haven’t had the revi­sion discus­sion with my editor yet; I hope to do that after the holiday break. So the fret­ting is mostly whether or not what I post will survive in the published book. I mean, it’s not much of a preview if it doesn’t actu­ally serve as a preview of the book itself. It’s kind of a hopeful preview, but uncer­tainty abounds. Since the book is very very long in its current state, there are words that might not survive to reach … Continue reading