So I have good news, bad news, and new news.

The bad news is that I forgot to put up a blog post yesterday. This was largely due to the fact that I completely forgot it was Saturday.

The good news is that I forgot it was Saturday because I spent the vast majority of the day writing. I got lost in the writing. Yeah, productivity!

So here's the new news:

When I announced that The Traveler's Gate Chronicles (a collection of Traveler's Gate short stories designed to show off some of the Territories that never really got the spotlight in the trilogy) would be released as a Kindle Serial, some of you brought up some great points.

The most common question I got was, "How do Kindle Serials work?" or some variation thereof. The second most common question was, "What about people outside the U.S.?"

Apparently Kindle Serials are only available on Amazon.com, not on other Amazon domains.

As a result of this confusion, I have decided to make things simpler, faster, and hopefully easier for everyone.

Instead of releasing the Chronicles as a Kindle Serial, with one new short story every two weeks between now and City of Light, I'm going to release them as three normal (short) Kindle books.

Each of the three mini-collections will have three short stories inside it, and I'm going to sell them for $0.99 each (which is the cheapest I can make them).

The first book of the Chronicles, entitled Tower of Winter, will contain stories about Helgard, Avernus, and Lirial.

I'll be releasing that collection this month (hopefully as early as next week; fingers crossed), the second collection next month (before Christmas), and the third collection in January.

Part 1: Tower of Winter, November 2013
Part 2: Gardens of Mist, December 2013
Part 3: The Lightning Wastes, January 2014

Let me know what you think in the comments!

I have heard your voices and made my decision: I'll be leading off the Chronicles with a story exploring Helgard, the Tower of Winter.

This means that those of you who voted for Option A were correct, and shall be spared.

On a related note, I know that some of you were concerned about the delivery of the Chronicles through Kindle Serials, particularly those of you who live in the United Kingdom, where apparently serials don't exist.

In that vein, I have an announcement. An announcement that I will delay until next week.

I am going to spend this next seven days in a furious writing frenzy, and in one week I will make an announcement with regards to The Traveler's Gate Chronicles. Stay tuned; same time, same channel.

Incidentally, every second is a constant battle to resist playing Cookie Clicker. Send help.

Once more, I have returned!

Sales have crossed the 46,000 mark, well on their way to 50,000. I stand in awe of you, and the zeal with which you press my ebooks upon your unwitting friends. You are an inspiration to salesmen and advertising agents the world over.

On the writing front, I'm steadily chipping away at both City of Light and the paperback version of The Crimson Vault. The paperback is on the way, I promise you that!

As far as The Traveler's Gate Chronicles goes, the writing is the easy part. But that brings me to my topic of the day:

I have three short stories that I'm considering putting first in the Chronicles, and you may get a peek at one of them next Saturday. I can't decide, however, which of them I should put first in the collection.

I thought you might help me make up my mind.

So, which of the following stories do you think should come first?

A.) This is a story that takes place in and around Helgard, the Tower of Winter. There may be some familiar concepts and landmarks, but it's narrated by a new character, and it takes place long before House of Blades. Here are the pros and cons of putting it first.
    PROS:
    --I set the right tone for the rest of the collection. If I start off with a familiar character as a narrator, a new reader might expect every story to be told from the perspective of someone they know, and that won't always be the case.
    --It's a very different look at Travelers and Traveling than you get in the Trilogy proper.

    CONS:
    --The connection to House of Blades and The Crimson Vault might not be immediately apparent to new readers, who do not have the benefit of this blog for their edification and betterment.
    --The information you get in this story, while compelling and interesting, has no obvious relationship to the main plotline of the Traveler's Gate Trilogy. It's just a look into another corner of this universe.
    --There's no Valinhall. This may actually be a good thing, since most of the stories don't deal directly with Valinhall, and we wouldn't want to start readers out on the wrong foot.

B.) A story in Denner's past, dealing with his upbringing in the Dragon Army and how he became the guy who dealt with flying creatures of all sizes.
    PROS:
    --It starts with a somewhat familiar character, and deals with Valinhall, so the reader starts out on firm ground.
    --The background is very closely related to the plotline of the Trilogy.
    --Lots of swords and sword-fighting.

    CONS:
    --I don't want people to expect the rest of the collection to have lots of familiar characters and revolve around Valinhall. For the most part, the Chronicles is about exploring the aspects of the Traveler's Gate universe that we DON'T get to see in the Trilogy.
 
C.) The story that motivated Valin to rebel against Damasca and form the Dragon Army. Also, why he called it "the Dragon Army."
    PROS:
    --This story holds lots of explanations for things I haven't yet explained in the Trilogy.
    --No Valinhall, just an explanation for how/why Valinhall was founded.
    --Valin's a fun, interesting character.

    CONS:
    --I still plan on doing a Valin novella at some point, which would likely reuse some of this exact same content.
    --Same drawbacks as the Denner story: it features a somewhat familiar character in Valinhall.
    --I haven't written this story yet. The other two I'm just putting the finishing touches on, but I still haven't begun this one. I know what happens, of course, but I haven't put pen to paper.



So I'm interested to know your thoughts. I plan on including all three of these stories in the Chronicles (the first two for sure), but I wanted to know which of these you would want to see first.

Let me know in the comments, you brave soldiers.