Leaving for Germany tomorrow night!

As I promised, I've done all the writing and editing I can do up to this point. When I leave, I'll do some further work over there, as will my talented beta readers and editors while I'm gone.

That said, this is by far the hardest book I've written so far. I keep track of how much time each book takes me to write, so that I can predict how long the next one will take me. Sea and Shadow each took me a long time, so I assumed Darkness would take a similar amount of time. Nope, it took more.

As you might expect, I assumed Dawn would take the same amount of time as Darkness. Nope, more. Why? Because I have to look for contradictions not just between Dawn and Darkness, but between Dawn, Darkness, Sea, Shadow, and what I have planned of Kings and Killers. I've found discrepancies, messed-up timelines, characters who vanish for days without explanation...

Writing a series one book at a time, as it turns out, is much simpler.

I did learn one thing this time, though: writing Darkness first and Dawn second was the wrong way to go. It was an experiment, so I don't exactly regret it, but I'll write the next set of books together. Just like I wrote Sea and Shadow.

So I'm sorry, guys. Sorry it's taking me so long. The only thing I can say is that I've done everything I can up to this point, and depending on how the next phase goes, I'll have it out for you soon.

Thanks for your patience, and I promise I'm doing everything I can.

​-Will

No specific release date yet, so don't get too excited.

Just thought I'd update you as best I can, since the book is taking so much longer than I'd thought. As I promised in my last post (or the post before last?), I will definitely have all the writing and editing I can do finished before I leave for Germany in two weeks. So I'm still on track for that.

That means the release will be shortly after that, depending on how quickly formatting, uploading, etc. takes.

That's as close as I can predict it. These parallel novels get harder to write as I go along, because I have to make sure that every flashback and current story doesn't contradict anything I've said before, and also brings something unique and interesting to the table. It's a singular challenge, but I'm enjoying it! Restriction breeds creativity!

As a side note, the flashback storyline almost took up most of the book this time. I was doing backstory for basically the entire crew of The Testament, and if I had continued according to my original outline, literally 100% of the book would have been taken up by backstory. I trimmed quite a bit, but there's still a lot going on in those chapters this time. So look forward to it!

​-Willl

So this is kind of an aside, but I've missed at least two big fantasy releases while I've been chugging along on the book: The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher and Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson.

I've actually read a little Aeronaut, but I know that if I got too far, I'd be sucked in and lose several hours of prime writing time. Same for Sanderson. So I have to read things that don't interest me enough to distract me, like sci-fi.

But I'm sure there are some of you out there who have read one or both of these books, and I crave knowledge. How were they? How excited should I be? Does The Aeronaut's Windlass get better after the first couple of chapters?

​Tell me. Let me live vicariously through you.

I am, I swear!

I thought I was going to be able to get Of Dawn and Darkness out in September, no problem. Turns out it was a problem. I'm spending every day working on it, and I can GUARANTEE that I'll be done this month.

Why can I guarantee that? Because I'm leaving for a trip to Germany on the 28th. So all my writing and editing has to be done at least before then.

Sorry it's taking me so long, but the best I can say is: I'm going as fast as possible!

Instead of devouring me like a swarm of piranha, how about this: let me know in the comments what I can do to make this delay up to you. I can't promise I'll have the time to do it, but I'll try!

And in the meantime, here's the final cover for The Elder Empire - Second Sea, Of Dawn and Darkness.​