the Author
August
4
27 Comments

More news

Posted in Audio books, Cast, DAW, The Dead.

I have just finished speaking with Khris­tine Hvam Kies, who is the narrator for the Cast novels in audio book. Or at least the narrator for the first one. So: people who were wondering who the narrator is, it’s her :). We had a long discus­sion about pronun­ci­a­tion of names, and the tonal quality of the various char­ac­ters and their speech, so I’m looking forward to the results.

Memory of Stone has been proofed and the entire set of six stories and intro­duc­tions should be typeset within the next ten days. At which point, I will finally have a page count total, and after that, a cover for a print-on-demand version (page count equalling spine width, without which a cover can’t be final­ized), which has been on hold forever while I work on the text. I will prob­ably format and release the ebook over the weekend, because I have spent so much time on the phone today I have seri­ously shorted the writing time, and the writing still isn’t finished.

Phone, you say?

My editor at DAW. Some time ago, I mentioned that I had written a YA; I’ve even read the prologue and the first chapter in public in a couple of places. It’s a contem­po­rary fantasy (my first at novel length), and I sold it to DAW some­time at the end of last year. People have been asking me when it will be published, and I’ve been telling them that the book isn’t going to be sched­uled until the second book is finished (and, as I jetti­soned the first 50k words of the first attempt, the second book is not yet finished).

However…plans, they always change.

Silence, the first book in a trilogy I am currently calling “The Dead”, although that’s prob­ably going to change as well, is now sched­uled for a May 2012 release, from DAW. So, Skir­mish is coming out in January of 2012, Silence in May of 2012, and Cast in Peril some­time between August and October of 2012. Skir­mish is finished. Silence is finished. Peril is not quite finished yet, but is in progress as I type.

27 Responses to More news

  1. cynthia emery says:
    August 4, 2011 at 11:19 pm

    I am so grateful for chapter 1 of the next Cast book! it will ALMOST keep me going until the book comes out, but I am almost more excited about the Cast audio­books! I will have to hide my ipod from my 3‑year-old grandson so I can listen in (rela­tive) peace and quiet. thanks for being not only a terrific writer but one who commu­ni­cates so much with those of us who read your books (and reread and reread…). cindy

  2. lyssabits says:
    August 5, 2011 at 1:03 am

    Three books in one year? Please, please don’t drive your­self crazy. Or you know, any crazier.

  3. Michelle Sagara says:
    August 5, 2011 at 1:08 am

    /bonk

    Ahem. Since two of the books are finished and one of them is 3/4s done (or it better be >.<), the writing won’t drive me crazy. The page proofs and copy-edits will, of course, make me pull all my hair out, but that’s about usual in these parts.

    As long as there is no unfore­seen cata­stro­phes, I’m about a third of the way through War. I break a writing day into two parts, and work on War and at the moment, Peril. When I finish Peril, I’ll start work on the 2nd of the dead trilogy, that being Touch. Or rather, I’ll start work on it again. I admit that I’m not looking for more work for the next year, though.

  4. Joey says:
    August 5, 2011 at 1:40 am

    I enjoyed your reading of your YA at … was it Denven­tion? Does the above mean the section you read is gone?

  5. Michelle Sagara says:
    August 5, 2011 at 1:50 am

    I think it was at Conflu­ence, and no, the section I read is pretty much exactly the same :). Some of the things in subse­quent chap­ters are gone, and some things have been changed, but — the opening is the same.

  6. Michelle Sagara says:
    August 5, 2011 at 1:51 am

    Ummm, it occurs to me that I’m wrong and you’re right. I plead writer-brain — I have only just finished the last of the words for the day, and I’m now trying to answer email — but, maybe I’ll leave that until tomorrow because god knows what the sleepy mind will *actu­ally* type.…

  7. RK Charron says:
    August 5, 2011 at 7:12 am

    3 new books!
    A contem­po­rary Fantasy!
    (Does Mr. Burns immi­ta­tion: “Excel­lent!”)

  8. Genna Warner says:
    August 5, 2011 at 10:30 am

    Fantastic. I have been wondering when Silence was going to be released. Most excel­lent news.

  9. Michael says:
    August 5, 2011 at 11:27 am

    I, for one, am always enter­tained by what your sleepy mind writes.
    Also, I am so stoked about your news. I love that waiting for your novels just got a *little* easier.
    Ques­tion: Under which name will the new trilogy be published?

  10. Hilda says:
    August 5, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    I said it before and wil say it again, I wish I have the magical closet or room where you do your writing. Yes, the one where you get a 48 hour day. Add to that the talent that allows you to write 3 or 4 different stories during the same period of time. We, your readers, are delighted you can do that. So much new to read!Question: books in your major novels series seem to be a year apart for publi­ca­tion. Is that purposely done or is it just the result of the publishing process?.

  11. Estara says:
    August 5, 2011 at 3:10 pm

    More = excel­lent, as long as you feel fine about it. You’re an auto-buy author for me ^^. I haven’t been disap­pointed yet (chal­lenged, yes, but not disappointed).

  12. Roger says:
    August 5, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    Is the HOUSE WAR sequence going to be five books? Skir­mish is the fourth and House War being the fifth? Thanks

  13. Michelle Sagara says:
    August 6, 2011 at 12:00 am

    @ Michael: Silence is a Michelle Sagara novel.

    @ Hilda: It’s a result of the publishing process, in part, and a result of the writing time. The West novels are longer, and often take longer to write, but in theory if nothing goes wrong, I can manage to write one West novel a year. I write one Cast novel a year. The publi­ca­tion schedule roughly follows the writing schedule, with time built in for the various stages of editing, copy-editing, page-proofing, etc.

    @ Roger: The plan at the moment is for five books. Skir­mish is the fourth, and it will be out in January of 2012. War is currently in progress.

  14. Kat says:
    August 11, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    All of this makes me more excited than I can reason­ably express. Thank you for being such a great author and communicator. :)

  15. Hilda says:
    August 11, 2011 at 7:52 pm

    I’m now completely immerse in the Sun Sword series. The series has an incred­ible number of very inter­esting char­ac­ters (some of them magical), and I keep going back and forth to clarify many issues and misteries. Still, they don’t seem to have an end in these books. As far as I can tell, their Book 6 was published in 2004.
    In here you are listing your future books. You are already working in #6 of the House War series, which, I think, you expected to be the last. I really would like to know what will happen to: Isladar, Telakar, Elena, the Cities of Man, Yollana, Adan, Meralonne, the Winter Queen, Anduvin, Teresa, Auralis, Kallan­dras, Celle­riant, etc., etc. What are or were the Allasani? I know we will read a lot more about the char­ac­ters that surround Jewel very closely, like Avandar, but I’m not sure about the rest of them. Without you giving away your book, can you tell if we will read more of these char­ac­ters, or would there be a final seventh book to the Sun Sword series? If this is a “no,no ques­tion, I’ll under­stand. I’m late to your website and late to your series.This may have been discussed before. Love your books. Thank you.

  16. Michelle Sagara says:
    August 11, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    @Kat: The funny thing is that I’m not gener­ally consid­ered one of the authors who is enor­mously commu­nica­tive on-line — so thank you very much :).

    @Hilda: Now that you’ve finished The Sun Sword (and it defi­nitely sounds like you have), Skir­mish will answer some of those ques­tions. Skir­mish starts pretty much the day Jewel arrives at the Terafin manse after her strug­gles in the Dominion. The char­ac­ters who left the Dominion with her also arrive with her.

    The Allasiani were the immortal servants of Allasakar when the gods walked the world, and most — if not all — are kialli, or demons, now.

    The last two volumes of the House War series follow the Jewel/Terafin thread of the Sun Sword to its conclu­sion. After the House War, there’s one final arc in the world, which I refer to as The End of Days arc — and it’s in that that the various other char­ac­ters who are returning will return: Kallan­dras, Kiriel, Telakar & Elena, Auralis, Anya — and absolutely, Isladar.

  17. hjbau says:
    August 12, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    So does that mean there won’t be any Jewel in the End of Days? That might be too spoilery of a question.

  18. Auraya says:
    August 13, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    @ hjbau Can’t be. After all, the oracle told Jewel that Kiriel would know when Jewel had to take the Oracle’s path. (To gain her soul crystal) I doubt that’s going to happen in Skirmish/House War.

  19. Aaron says:
    August 13, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    So, no “Black Gauntlet” prior to “End of Days”? Or, are they now combined?

  20. hjbau says:
    August 15, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    I don’t remember what you are talking about the Oracle and Jewel and Kiriel, but i will take your word for it. I just remember Michelle saying that there would be no Valedan or Diora in the End of Days which surprised me, so now i wonder if there will be Jewel in it or of her story will end with the last House War book.

    Like i said, prob­ably way too spoi­lerish of a ques­tion to get an answer. Though in the Essealieyan series Jewel has been in all three series, the Hunter books, the Sun Sword series, and the House War series, so i would see it as a possi­bility that she would continue on in what­ever comes after though in a different role. There are the char­ac­ters that seem to be part of the greater arc of the series and then those that just exist more within certain books.

  21. Michelle Sagara says:
    August 15, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    @Aaron: I think of The Black Gauntlet as the End of Days arc, but in the house­hold, gener­ally refer to it as the End of Days arc.

  22. Michelle Sagara says:
    August 15, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    @hjbau: I think it is a little too spoi­lerish at this point. I person­ally (obvi­ously) don’t mind spoilers about my own books (because I know the end), but I know readers don’t like them, some to the point of rage. That said, Jewel’s dispo­si­tion is the reason I’m writing these books — she can go one of three ways, and at this point, they would all work, story-wise, but will have different conse­quences for the future of the final books.

  23. hjbau says:
    August 15, 2011 at 11:15 pm

    Thanks for the response Michelle. I am sorry for getting annoyed with the comments about the Hunter society. I was just more annoyed with another author then with your comment which did in the end leave open other possi­bil­i­ties then how you thought of it. I do always enjoy reading your comments.

    I could defi­nitely see how the answer to my ques­tion would be too spoi­lerish because we have not yet seen enough of where Jewel will go in Terafin as well as after that. Jewel’s dispo­si­tion is the reason you are writing these books. Interesting.

  24. Michelle Sagara says:
    August 15, 2011 at 11:26 pm

    @hjbau: the comment about spoiler rage was in no way a refer­ence to the list response. I’m aware that there are some discus­sions about books that should be left to readers, because I read a lot as well, and book discus­sions at the store can be quite heated. I try to avoid step­ping into those, but obvi­ously, I’m not always successful.

    Spoilers are an entirely different kettle of fish; it’s not so much about me step­ping in and squashing discus­sion as ruining the reading expe­ri­ence for the first-time readers who hate spoilers.

    And yes — I started The Black Gauntlet, got about 150 pages in, and real­ized that I was either going to have to arbi­trarily decide what the outcome of the House War was, or write it. Arbi­trarily in this case is a bit harsh (on me); I could see two clear outcomes, but without actu­ally writing the book, either would work. In writing, the alliances and clashes always shift the path the story takes (for me).

    But in only one case was the answer going to have an impact, so I would have had to decide on one, period.

  25. w-b says:
    August 22, 2011 at 11:20 pm

    I know I joked about being frus­trated about the spoiler but I loved reading it it just makes me eager for more :) it’s a self torture that well I can’t seem to resist LOL but I love the spoilers. But it makes me think and wonder and want more so it’s a good thing :) As for commu­ni­ca­tion you are amazing at letting us the readers know what is going on and I am entirely grateful because while you say you are not one of the most comminica­tive writer as far as I can tell you are one that commini­cates the most about the things that will happen as far as dates and such. I love the updates and have your blog tagged so I can read it regu­larly even if I don’t comment all that often, It is late and I am tired so If this is not as much in the making sense depart­ment as I would like I am sorry. I just wanted you to know in the end that we appre­ciate all of the effort you put in in keep us, your fans, informed and updated. usually I find out the hard way :) as in months after the fact now I can keep updated as in months before the fact I love it!! Your stories are one of my top re reads and it is such that I can alway find some­hting new that i missed the first, second or even third time around. In fact I found somthing recently that I had missed in all of my re reads before. What all of this wordy comment boils down to is you are a gifted writer and you take the time to respond to fans it means the world to us. Which explains your dedi­cated foll­wers. thank you.

  26. hjbau says:
    August 30, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    Oh no. I didn’t think that your comment was a refer­ence to the list. I don’t think that people think like that. Your talk of spoiler just made me think of the other thing and i wanted to apol­o­gize for that because i feel like there was a misun­der­standing on the list that for me has to do with what i consider canon and what i do not and not really any annoy­ance at all at the actual comment.

    I wouldn’t have mind your comment in the least if it would have been consid­ered one thought on the matter. It was more the idea that because you commented we could then stop discussing the issue that both­ered me. I think at times people consider every­thing an author says about her work as canon within the universe. And regard­less of what issue is being discussed about the book i just like to keep the discus­sion open.

    Person­ally i don’t mind reading your thoughts on things about the books. I actu­ally think you do a great job of being on the line between spoiler and not spoiler. I just thought in this case the comment was presented by whomever posted it as a conver­sa­tion ending response which is why i did not read it at first.

    Though after reading the comment it was in the end not a conver­sa­tion ending response. I think you diplo­mat­i­cally left the conver­sa­tion open by writing the response in that you always consid­ered their rela­tion­ship that way. I actu­ally agree with you that i always sort of thought that there was a sugges­tion that that was the rela­tion­ship between the three. I hope that made sense though i am not sure that it did.

    About spoilers. I just avoid them, but even if i were to come across a spoiler i wouldn’t be too both­ered by it even though i would rather not know ahead of time if i read some­thing spoilery it happens. Minor spoilers don’t bother me at all because i think gener­ally i can see where i story is leading though you do a great job holding suspense and surprising me. Like i have said before you do a great job writing char­ac­ters and furthering your plot through the char­ac­ters. The plot leads where it leads because the char­ac­ters are real enough, well formed enough, that they do what they would do. It is great.

    So you have started writing Black Gauntlet? I know it makes me happy that there are more West books in the making. I know i am so ready for January or ready for posts containing chap­ters of Skirmish.

    -Heather aka hjbau

  27. Hilda says:
    September 2, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    Now that these two wonderful series soon be coming to an end, I wonder how would you handle the series of outcomes, suggestions,futuristic hints, or matters you have so cunningly seeded along the way in your books. Series from other authors I have read, as good as they may be, do not have those hints that leave me waiting to see what the author will do with them in a later book.. When you write them, do you keep a list of them and make sure in the last book all those matters will be resolved or clarified?

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