EDIT: There's one important typo in today's story that I missed. Sorry! Simon says brothers when he should only say brother. There's just one. If you've read the story, you'll see what I mean.
    I'm just putting this out there for the purposes of clarification, so people don't think that Alin has a secret brother out there somewhere. He doesn't.

I told you June's short story would go out on the 21st, and technically it did! With two whole minutes to spare!

Look how truthful I am!

This month's story is a Traveler's Gate story called Steel Diplomacy, involving some characters you probably didn't know existed: a half-human nation to the north of the Badari Desert. They haven't had much contact with Damasca in the past few hundred years, but recent events have them...investigating.

Enjoy!

...and look for the next short story in about a week (July 1st)!

​-Will

First of all, because I know you've been waiting for this, June's story will be sent out on the mailing list tomorrow night!

Sorry I let that one linger for so long; first I was out of the country, then I was sick, then I was releasing a book. It's been a busy month. But you'll be happy to know that, despite June's being three weeks late instead of one week as I predicted, July's short story will be available on the first of the month, as scheduled.

Tomorrow's short story will be Traveler's Gate, but July's won't be. Will it be Cradle, Elder Empire, or something else? Stay tuned to find out!

In other news, Unsouled has surpassed all my predictions for how well it's selling. I mean, you guys are amazing. It's sold over 1200 copies in less than a week, and it's on track to sell more than three hundred copies today alone. This is a better launch response than any book I've written since House of Blades. 

I'll have to respond to that enthusiasm somehow.

Anyway, thanks for reading my books! Thanks for recommending them to your friends, for writing reviews, for bugging people on reddit to read them. It's almost overwhelming--I was trawling through Amazon yesterday, looking for a book to read, and in one of the top reviews of someone else's story, the reviewer mentioned me by name. He was including me in a list of fantasy authors that he thought had done great work.

That's mind-blowing. Equally astounding is that so many people out there enjoy my stories enough that they're willing to pay me for them. It's bizarre.

So from the bottom of my cold, green, shrunken heart, I thank you.

-Will

EDIT #2: It's live!

​EDIT: It's uploaded! The book is in Amazon's hands now. Leave me a comment here or on Facebook when/if you see a working link.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm currently preparing my newest novel (Unsouled) for upload! I'll be putting it up in just a few hours, which means it will be available tonight.

Unsouled is the first book in a series I'm calling simply Cradle, and I'm trying a few things differently with this story.

For one thing, I'm primarily following one character in chronological order. There are a few sections from a different POV, but 90% of the book is told from the perspective of the protagonist, Lindon. In Traveler's Gate I had Leah and Alin take up about a third of each book, and in Elder Empire I jumped around in time, but I'm keeping those things to a minimum here.

Second, I'm trying to fill in some details and progress a little more steadily than I have in the past. In House of Blades, for example, I skip some things I could have shown in scene, and Simon progresses very quickly from "completely powerless" to "murdering dozens of Travelers." In Cradle, Lindon will be moving at a more measured pace. If you wanted my books to fill in the books a little more and take it one step at a time rather than jumping ahead, this is the story for you.

Third, while I wrote this book primarily for fun, the series has room to grow as long as I want. In the TGT and EE, those series had planned ending points. This one doesn't.

It's about Lindon growing, exploring the world, and slowly becoming absurdly powerful.

If that sounds interesting to you, or if you enjoyed the preview I sent out over my mailing list last month, then check it out in a few hours!

Also, Unsouled is (by a little) the shortest novel I've written so far. I think it works better if the books are relatively short but they come out often, though I'm open to feedback on that.

Let me know what you think!

-Will

P.S. For those of you waiting for word on this month's mailing list story, I'm on it! I was in Central America, and then sick because I went to Central America, and then releasing this book. But it's coming very soon! Prepare thyself!

P.P.S. Also, House of Blades is on sale for free this week! Check it out!