It's been a while, so I thought I'd give you an update on my Reaper progress! There's only so much I can say without spoilers, so I'll be giving you as much information as I can without saying anything that will get me in trouble.

First off, I've finished the first draft and am working on storyline changes/improvements for the next one. The book right now is about 120,000 words, which I don't expect to change too much over the rest of the process. I'll be adding some things, but I'll be cutting others, so it normally evens out at this point.

That makes it a comfortable runner-up in length to Wintersteel, since WS is 144k words and the current silver medalist, Blackflame, is about 110k.

MOST MINOR OF SPOILERS, PROBABLY NOT EVEN A SPOILER, I JUST DON'T WANT YOU TO COMPLAIN:

Structurally, I'd say it's more similar to Blackflame, as the main reason Wintersteel was so long is that I had a full plot for both Lindon and Yerin. This time--while I of course do have some sub-plots--the majority of the book follows one storyline.

END "SPOILERS" THAT ARE ACTUALLY JUST ABOUT GENERAL STORY STRUCTURE

As for the release date, I can't comment. Learned my lesson on that years ago. I know when I think it will be done, but if I make that guess and then don't meet it, I will be whipped endlessly by gangs of stalkers wielding cat-o-nine-tails.

Cats-o-nine-tails? I'm not sure what the plural for that would be.

Here's the most I can commit to: we certainly plan to release Reaper in 2021.*

Finally, I really wanted to call this blog post "A Peeper for the Reaper." This is a Peeper. Play Subnautica.

-Will

*What? No, not the year​ 2021. We're releasing it in Dimension 2021, home of the Sentient Octopus ruling class. All hail Chancellor Skwirgle.

You all know what it means when I don't post for a while. It means I have gone into The Cave and hacked out hundreds more pages using my mystical typewriter.

But I know that when I go silent for too long, the speculation ripens. Is Will still writing? Does he have writer's block? Has he angered an ancient cabal of assassins who are after his life?

Therefore, I check in when I can to reassure you. I am always writing unless I tell you otherwise, I never have writer's block, and I anger some new ancient cabal every week or two. It's part of the curse.

The Reaper draft is currently longer than every Cradle book except Wintersteel, and I'm not finished with it yet, so it'll most likely end up Wintersteel-sized or a little shorter. Or so I expect. The beta readers might slap me upside the head and tell me I need to cut half the book.

That's never happened before, but you know. Could happen.

I don't know what that means in terms of release date--I haven't finished the book yet, after all, and more words means longer editing time--but I'll let you know when I have something concrete!

Until then, remember that when I go to my quiet place, it is always to write.

Or to hide from a cabal.

​-Will