As you've no doubt already heard, we have about a year left before the release of my new book, Overworld, in April 2027.

But, of course, you knew that. You saw my elementally appropriate Pokémon shirts. 

Not only have I been writing this book for a while already, but we're in the middle of the editing process now. Since this is my first project with Tor, or any traditional publisher, I've gotten to learn a new editing process. A much cooler one.

Most people don't know this, but Tor edits by printing off the manuscript and having each author hike it up to the top of an active volcano. If you recite the chant correctly while tossing it into lava page by page, Tor alchemists can reconstitute the ash into a version of the book with no errors.

If you do mess up the chant, sometimes you'll end up with the wrong "their." Or an extra "ring like a bell."

My usual editing process involves sailing out into the deep sea and using a printed copy of my manuscript as bait to hook a fish, then grilling and eating that fish so I can taste the typos. But I'll try it their way this time.

So, does that mean you'll have to wait another year for my next book? No!

Not unless something goes horribly wrong, anyway. Like the volcano rejecting my gift.

The Commander is still slated for release this year. In fact, as many of you have already noted by looking slightly to the right, I finished a draft of it a few weeks ago.

But then it was back to editing Overworld! And now it will be back to writing another draft of The Commander. Then editing The Commander. Then writing The Sword. Then maybe editing The Commander one more time, depending on what the volcano says. Then releasing The Commander. Then editing The Sword. 

And so on and so forth. They call that The Circle of (My) Life.

​-Will

Archeologists have debated for centuries: what exactly was Will Wight up to in March, 2026? After examining fragments of pottery and some ancient runes, I believe I have a hypothesis.

I suspect that, over the month of March, I wrote a rough draft of The Commander.

I know, I sense your skepticism.
"Where's the evidence?" you ask.
"Is Will Wight even real?"
"Did you do any carbon dating?"

Trust me, I was skeptical myself. But when I compared the text chiseled into the stone tablets of the mausoleum where Will Wight once lived to the funerary urn containing my ceremonially liquefied body, I can come to no other conclusion. I must have written the first draft of The Commander during this time.

Of course, it's tough to do an archeological examination of my own life so many centuries after my death, but that's the kind of dedication that real history requires.

​-Will

I've officially started work on The Commander!

Of course, "started" is a bit of a fuzzy concept. I'd done some initial work on The Commander last year, along with The Pilot, but now I'm full-on writing the book.

What did I write in between? I'll share more details on that when I'm allowed to. Currently, your security access isn't high enough.

If my new, secret manuscript were in Resident Evil 9, it would be hidden behind two doors, one of which is opened by a horse-shaped crystal and the other by a crystal-shaped horse. Top security, that's what I'm saying.

But for now, it's back to the open ocean for me, where I will return to The Last Horizon while on the deck of a ship. A regular water ship, not a spaceship, unfortunately. I've only written while on a spaceship once.

​In preparation for The Commander, I re-read the existing four books, which was pretty fun. It's always hard to read your own stuff, but I don't get to read enough about wizards flying spaceships. So it's a welcome break from what I normally read: arcane tomes written in languages that only exist in dreams.

If I were a Resident Evil 9 character, I would end this by saying something like "I sure am glad to not be getting eaten by zombies right n--"

-Will

P.S. You get no points for guessing what game I'm playing.

This month has been one of the most eventful months in the history of Hidden Gnome! But I’m not allowed to talk about any of that, so I’m going to talk about Terraria.

Instead of letting you know about how we [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] for [REDACTED] number of penguins, I’ll instead tell you what I’ve been enjoying this week: the new Terraria update.

​Terraria is one of my all-time favorite games, so whenever they release a new content patch, I do another playthrough with my friends.

This time, I’m running summoner, because they added a bunch of whips to the game. And whips, as we all know, are the summoner’s secret weapon.

Currently I’m roller-blading around the world, dressed as a butler for [REDACTED] reasons, with six summoned spiders crawling around to defend me. My whip is made of fire and makes enemies explode when my minions attack, and I have a pet treasure chest mimic with teeth that I can keep items in.

Truly this is the world we’ve always dreamed of.

-Will

P. S. When you hear our big news in the next few months, you can think back to this moment and know what I was talking about.

P. P. S. Also I’ve continued stitching Elder Empire together! That’s been fun.

P. P. P. S. Back to work on The Commander soon…very soon…assuming my jury duty next week doesn’t get out of hand.

P. P. P. P. S. Oh no, the jury duty is for a series of dragon rider murders. I might have to stick this one out.

Boy, it's been a full year!

We started off with Threshold, continued with The Pilot, and ended with the Unsouled + Soulsmith animatic. We also went to more conventions than we normally do, adding MegaCon, Dragonsteel Nexus, and the animatic premiere onto our normal DragonCon event.

On top of that, there were a lot of things we worked on this year that I can't talk about publicly yet, but I'm continuing work on my new book, the fusion of Elder Empire, and I'll be resuming work on The Commander in just a few weeks.

All that might not sound like a lot to you, but it's been one of my busier years ever. I've spent a lot of time away from home this year, and it feels like the intensity just keeps ramping up.

Which is awesome! It's so cool to look back over the year and think of all the fans I got to meet. Honestly, the animatic premiere was a big highlight for me. And it gave me great pleasure to spy on all your reactions to the animatic online.

Safe to say that, anytime you watched it, I was in the corner watching you watching it. And some of you noticed me, so you were watching me watching you watching the animatic. Watchception.

I published my first book in June 2013, so 2025 was my 12th year of being an author!

Thanks for twelve years, and I hope you enjoy what we've got for you in 2026!

-Will