I'm always in an awkward position at this point in the writing process, because the book isn't far enough along for me to mention, and I can't talk about my many secret projects lest I lose my government contracts.

So since I can't discuss work, I turn to you: how should I waste my non-work time nowadays?

I haven't read a new book in a while, so I'm open to suggestions on that front. I have books piling up on my Kindle waiting to read, but I'm always willing to make that list longer.

I've also heard good things about Resident Evil: Village and Returnal, but I haven't checked them out myself yet. Subnautica: Below Zero was so good that I kept playing it after beating the story, which by the way had a fantastic ending. In case I hadn't recommended that enough recently.

I also watched through Ted Lasso, which I enjoyed despite knowing literally nothing about soccer. I was pretty sure it was played in a rink.

I'll let you know next week what I end up consuming in the limited amount of time I'm allowed to stop typing. Whoever makes the winning recommendation will have earned my undying respect.

Second place gets an actual dragon egg.

Third? A half-punched Krispy Kreme frequent customer card.

​If that's not enough motivation, I don't know what is.

-Will

...nobody's asked me if I've played the new Subnautica: Below Zero yet.

Maybe it's because the answer is obvious. I definitely have. I took a day off last week because it was coming out.

​I know a lot of fans have some nitpicks, especially compared to the first game, but you know I love Subnautica. And does it have that Subnautica spirit? It does, so I loved it. Big fan.

Anyway, in news you'll be more excited to hear, I've been working on planning out Reaper the last couple of weeks. I'm planning to start writing Monday.

In fact, I've been doing some planning work on the next three books.

This is probably the most fun part of the writing process, but it's nerve-wracking, especially when you're preparing to wrap up a series. Lots of pressure.

And you know where else has lots of pressure?

The bottom of the ocean.

Play Subnautica.

-Will

Hey now, look what hit #13 on the month's New York Time's Audio Best Seller list: it's Bloodline!

That was a pretty cool surprise to hear about randomly. I had no expectation that we were going to hit any NYT Best Seller list--or even that we could, since ebooks sold exclusively through Amazon don't count toward the NYT's list.

I had to be summoned out of Cradle to hear the news. I was feverishly trying to take notes as Little Blue recapped everything they'd been up to since I last visited when all of a sudden a ring of glowing runes appeared around me. I struggled to stay, but Lindon didn't want to interfere with the summoning ritual, because he was too busy memorizing the script for his own use.

I was cast back into the disused missile silo where I live, and there I found a bunch of unread emails telling me we'd made the New York Times Best Seller list.

I have to say, that's one of the better reasons to use up a dimensional summoning scroll.

In all honesty, "New York Times Bestseller" was never a title I thought about, not even when I was daydreaming as a kid. I don't think about titles or lists or awards or anything like that.

I dream about stories, and about people enjoying those stories. Everything else is just busy work.

...but having said that, it's still pretty cool. Because reaching lists like these, and especially hitting #1 on Amazon, means that there are a lot of you out there enjoying the stories. I get to tell the stories I want to tell, and people like reading them. A lot of people.

Awards or no awards, I get to do everything I dreamed about.

So thanks for making that dream come true!

-Will