the Author
March
27
22 Comments

Good News and Bad News & State of the Author

Posted in Elantra.

Bad news first: Tantor, which published the first 3 Sun Sword books in audio have declined to pick up the last three. I don’t have the general know-how to do the last three myself; it’s not, unfor­tu­nately, like writing =/.

Good news: I have sold 2 more books in the CAST universe to Mira. Since I’m working on one of them now — unti­tled, but CAST 16 — this means the next CAST novel is underway. After which I will work on the second Severn book.

I have been working on the unti­tled first novel in The Burning Crown, the series previ­ously referred to as The End of Days, but that involved rewrites of chapter one many times. MANY times. I have tried not to take this as a sign that the book hates me.

Toronto is pretty much shelter-in-place at this point — I imagine many of you are also at home and either telecom­muting (good) or not working at all (very hard). My actual work doesn’t change all that much, but I’m not heading into the book­store for two days a week at this point – the book­store has, like all non-essen­tial services – been closed. At this point no one is certain when things will end or return to the new normal.

Since I live under a rock, I felt that this wouldn’t affect me much – but now all of the people who live in our house (four of us) are at home all day, and I’ve become quite accus­tomed to having an almost empty house during the writing hours, so we’re all adjusting. Long suffering spouse is now telecom­muting; older son has been laid off without pay. But as he’s living here and hasn’t moved out he’s not looking at losing the roof over his head, and I know many people are.

We’re all healthy.

22 Responses to Good News and Bad News & State of the Author

  1. Jan Michael Barlow says:
    March 27, 2020 at 11:56 am

    Oh no!! I keep checking every Tuesday for audio releases to see if the 4th Sea of Sorrows is out. Well, I know many of your colleagues have audios produced by them­selves, espe­cially the endless vast sea self published authors. When you have time you can look into it. Then I am sure in the long run there would be more profit for you?

  2. Cherie Gardner says:
    March 27, 2020 at 11:58 am

    Glad to hear you’re all doing as well as you can be. Good Luck with the new books. Looking forward to them when they get out.

  3. K.W. McCabe says:
    March 27, 2020 at 11:58 am

    I’ve self-published audio­books: go to acx​.com. you can choose voice actors and decide how much you wasnt to split up the proceeds between you.

  4. Tchula says:
    March 27, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    I’m glad to hear you are all healthy and shel­tering in place. Dave, Talia, and I have been doing the same. Dave had been working in NYC, but since Google changed to a work-from-home policy, he’s been back with us in VA for a couple of weeks now, for which I’m very thankful.

    My optom­etry office has been shut­tered for 10 days now, my colleague is handling emer­gency-only calls at home, going in on an “as-needed” basis only. I’ve only been out to the grocery store once in the early morning hours, because delivery services are completely over­whelmed in our area and I can’t get service sched­uled. Fortu­nately, I can cook reason­ably well, and Dave isn’t a fussy eater. Talia will have to make do. ;-P

    Glad to hear the news about 2 more Cast novels. It’s nice to have some­thing to look forward to. So far, we are all doing fine being indoors – we are intro­verts and spend most of our days on our sepa­rate computers anyway, hahaha… I hope you are able to get in some good writing time, as well as some fun family time. Catch up on that Netflix series you wanted to watch as a family. Ah, fun times…

    Stay well and happy writing! :-)

  5. Laura Nichols says:
    March 27, 2020 at 12:37 pm

    Maria Grace, who writes Jane Austen fan fiction, is working with an audio­book reader to produce her books. You might ask her for advice. https://​random​bit​sof​fas​ci​na​tion​.com/​c​o​n​t​a​c​t​-​me/

  6. Shawn Foley says:
    March 27, 2020 at 1:04 pm

    The first part was not the news I was hoping to read, but such is life. I love reading your up date it helps me know I’m not the only crazy person out there and that I can get through writer’s block.

  7. Julianne says:
    March 27, 2020 at 1:12 pm

    I am glad everyone is safe and well and hope everyone will remain so. As a nurse I cannot stress how vital these diffi­cult restric­tions are. This disease is not a flu or polit­ical hype. Its real and can cause serious illness as well as over­whelm the hospital system. 

    Super excited for the next Cast novel, and even more ecstatic to learn there is another. Kaylin has become some­thing of a favorite to me and I’m both eager and sad to reach the end of her story. Michelle, you have said in the past there were only so many more novels. Are we nearing the end with 16 and 17? Or is it some­thing that you can only deter­mine as the story is written as well as reader and publisher interest? 

    I’m in between good series right now need to find some­thing good to take my mind off the world for a bit if I’m not at work spending too much time watching the news and looking at the covid tracker maps because I must like self flagel­la­tion or something. 

    So maybe I’ll prac­tice my crochet. The rest of ya’ll stay safe, be well, learn that hobby you’ve been putting off for lack of time.

  8. michelle says:
    March 27, 2020 at 1:18 pm

    @Julianne: my cous­in’s husband is part of the manage­ment team for the nearest hospital to where I live – so we do under­stand that this is not a polit­ical drill, not a fire drill =/.

    There are two novels that I want to write, and a sepa­rate ending. Although there might be three because of events in Wisdom. I’ve always had an ending in mind, but it would be diffi­cult to continue to write CAST novels once that ending is written, so I’ve been pretty deter­mined to write the stories that I still want to write in this universe before that point. Also: the end isn’t one book, but that will prob­ably surprise no one.

  9. Melanie A says:
    March 27, 2020 at 3:29 pm

    I love your novel, and a never ending adven­ture, these days I’m tele­working at home for who knows when, everyone take care

  10. michelle says:
    March 27, 2020 at 3:41 pm

    @Shawn: for me, if I hit a patch of writer’s block, it usually means some­thing struc­tural is wrong. Some­thing that I’ve written some­where in the book needs to be fixed before I can continue to write. That’s been my expe­ri­ence over the years, and when I figure out what’s wrong, I can write again.

    Or, you know, write dozens of chapter ones =/

  11. Marcia says:
    March 27, 2020 at 4:00 pm

    I have been watching for the next book on audio. I only listen to audio, because I have never been able to sit down and read a book. I espe­cially can’t read a book that’s not hard cover. Don’t know why just can’t sit there and do it. I was really hoping to have all of your books on audio. Such is life though. I am on my sixth round of listening to your cast novels, can’t wait for the Severin. Thank you so much for the world you’ve created.

  12. Peter says:
    March 27, 2020 at 4:38 pm

    FWIW: For people who really want to listen to books, but cannot listen to sun sword 4 – 6…

    Kindle will read Sun Sword to you. I have a Kindle, and really like the computer gener­ated voice. It’s perfect for listening to a book while walking or in the car. (The free kindle for PC appli­ca­tion also reads to you, but I don’t like the avail­able windows 10 voices as much.) 

    There is also a much more diffi­cult way to have your phone read to you using a screenreader. 

    You do have to purchase a kindle eBook. I like the kindle reader enough I’ve repur­chased most of the Elantra and Cast novels I had in paperback.

  13. Kerry aka Trouble says:
    March 27, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    Glad to hear you’re all doing well. It’s a big change for a lot of people. I’ve been working from home for the past 2 weeks since I can log on from almost anywhere. The joys of working in computer software.

  14. David Youngs says:
    March 27, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    Are you going out on your balcony and reading excerpts at the top of your voice?
    Sympathy to your son.
    I have a stack of books beside the couch, but I got started re-reading the Elantra books.

  15. Joanna says:
    March 28, 2020 at 12:13 am

    Thank you for the update! Yay on two more Cast books! I am very glad you and your family are healthy and well, all things consid­ered. Maybe your son will discover new talents and passions in this inde­ter­mi­nate interval.

  16. Zia says:
    March 28, 2020 at 10:38 am

    I’m sorry to hear the rest of the Sun Sword books didn’t get picked up for audio. I’m person­ally not a fan of audio books but I am sad to learn there is one less way to enjoy any of your books.

    I am defi­nitely excited for more Cast novels! They’re always on my “preorder as soon as possible” list which means the Severn book (though he’s not a fave char­acter) has been on order for months. 

    I hope writing goes smoothly on all projects soon since some of them are chal­lenging at the moment.

    Also glad to hear your family and you are safe with all things consid­ered. Hopeful your son either finds some­thing new he enjoys, or if he enjoyed his previous employ­ment, an oppor­tu­nity in the same area arises.

    I work in the finan­cial side of things so I’m consid­ered essen­tial. It’s been busi­ness as usual (with some panicked visi­tors) so far for me with my insti­tu­tion being the only open lobby in my area. Despite all the concerns in the world, the number of full grown adults who don’t cover for coughing/sneezing never fails to surprise me. 

    Thank you as always for posting an update on the state of things. I hope you and your family continue to stay safe and well.

    Also thank you for creating so many different novels that are part of my mental well­ness blanket of support. I’ve been rereading all of them at work/at home and they’re always the perfect escape from however the day went.

  17. Joyce Ronquillo says:
    March 28, 2020 at 11:19 am

    I’ll read as many books from Elantra as you care to write and will be bereft when there are no more. Recently a ques­tion was posed on FB about which fictional world we would like an extended stay in. The expected places were on top, of course, and I would like some time on the TARDIS but my choices were Disc­world and Elantra with Elantra on top. 

    Really glad you are safe and well, the cities are the worst hit and Toronto is a big one. Take care.

  18. Vance Marker says:
    March 28, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    Glad to know you and your family are ok! Praying for all of us… there are no “unim­pacted”. Have been rereading First­born and War! 

    Stay safe my friend!!

  19. Katie Meeker says:
    March 29, 2020 at 12:00 pm

    Yay for more Cast books! Will we ever hear more about the role of Erienne that was started in the first two books and then all but dropped?

  20. Anna says:
    March 29, 2020 at 4:30 pm

    Happy to hear that the Cast books are comming along. Hope the other series gets picked up by others! <3
    Please stay safe
    Hugs from Sweden

  21. Tyronne Lorne Hodgins says:
    March 30, 2020 at 4:34 am

    I under­stand, as I think a lot of us do, how different life has become since the majority of us are staying at home. It is diffi­cult as it is such a different lifestyle. I wonder if this situ­a­tion, is in part, why you have strug­gled with chapter 1. In any event, I am happy that you are working on the new series and that it is coming along. I’m also certain that you will find an audio publisher for the last books of the Sunsword series. The story is simply too good!

  22. Samuel Nadasky says:
    April 12, 2020 at 4:54 am

    Oh dear, as audio books are my preferred format, that is indeed bad news. I did sort of suspect it consid­ering the number of audible rate­ings they got compared to your other works in the same period of time. Time to politely email tantor that their deci­sion has displeased a long time listener of their house. 

    I hope other options open up to finish the series in audio some time in the future. 

    I am happy to hear that more CAST books are coming as it is always a delight to find the noti­fi­ca­tion that they are avail­able for preorder. 

    I hope your son quickly bounces back after that new normal you mentioned finally arrives. 

    Stay healthy and try and find time to laugh when you can we all need it now more than ever.

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