Greetings from Outer Space!

4/25/2018

"Will, are you dead?"

Yes.

As many of you know, I sometimes lock myself in a pod and blast off to orbit Mars, where there are no distractions and I may write in pure, sweet isolation. That can mean that I don't answer emails or blog comments for like three weeks (cough, cough) at a time, but I will catch up when I return to Earth, I promise.

This is my equivalent of crunch time, so I've been getting a ton of writing done this past few weeks. Write, write, write, all day long.

When I return, I'll have more to say! Once my eyes are dim and my hands are withered claws from the uninterrupted marathon of keyboard-smashing.

-Will

EDIT: Also, looking at the votes for short stories, Cradle has clearly won!

So...actual short story, or would you prefer a deleted scene / excerpt from Ghostwater? Let me know in the comments!

(Don't judge me, EE fans. I wrote some GW scenes way back when I was working on Skysworn.)

68 Comments

DesprateFan

4/25/2018 05:27:06 am

I knew you weren't dead Will :D

Will link

4/25/2018 05:33:45 am

I will never die, not while writing sustains me!

...unless I, you know, literally die.

Daniel?

4/26/2018 06:05:59 am

A short story about how lindons family are doing or a gw excerpt.

If writing sustains you you must writd more. Lets do two stories!

Greg

4/25/2018 05:29:51 am

Well now you've gone and raised our expectations!

I want to five more novels written by the end of the month!

Will link

4/25/2018 05:33:18 am

Done! And they'll all be dedicated "To Greg."

Greg

4/25/2018 05:36:26 am

That's the spirit! You have five more days so that only means you need to write one book per day!

If you work continuously without sleeping, eating, or drinking, and making sure you only type final-draft quality words you could get away with only writing 4166.666 words per hour continuously for the rest of the month!

Will link

4/25/2018 04:30:04 pm

That's all? Well, better make it six books then.

DesprateFan

4/25/2018 05:33:24 am

So which group is trying to murder you Will? The great elders from the dark and creepy places? The Anti-core-split sect? Ancient malevolent creatures from the edges of the Way? Talking humming birds from golden cities?

Will link

4/25/2018 05:34:45 am

The Martians, man. They're all like "Get out of our upper orbit, foreign scum!" and "Your floating pod is an eyesore!" and "Your highly advanced brain and symmetrical digits offend us!"

Ravi

4/25/2018 05:37:16 am

Hey man...did you bring back that "stuff" from Mars for me?? I know you've got it! You've got those delicious stories!

Ravi

4/25/2018 10:37:25 am

Also, I vote short story.

Alfred

4/25/2018 05:38:09 am

Wait, so you're not using this time to sail around Florida as a pirate/ninja for research purposes?

Will link

4/25/2018 04:30:32 pm

That's just what it's like to live in Florida.

Rick

4/25/2018 05:39:58 am

A deleted scene from Ghostwater could be cool.

It seems like you've got a lot on your plate writing a book every day for the rest of the month, so we probably shouldn't pile a short story on top of that.

Will link

4/25/2018 04:30:45 pm

That was my thought too, Rick.

Sancus

4/25/2018 04:41:22 pm

Agreed.

4/25/2018 05:41:09 am

Well, speaking from a purely tactical view, I want a new short story! since... well lets face it, those deleted scenes will still be there and are likely to show up at some point! A new story on the other hand, might end up being unwritten otherwise;)

Tick Tock

4/25/2018 06:16:41 am

Preference foe short story in cradle setting.
Also preference for many new books soon *chomps at bit*..
Hoping the 2x arent mutually exclusive!

kaden

4/25/2018 06:33:06 am

Alright can we get a story about something new or interesting i.e. a path/person, that hints at something in the plot but in a very subtle way?

Maybe we could learn more about the path of the kings key?

Path of the NinjA

4/25/2018 06:59:01 am

I would ask for a ghostwriter excerpt, but if there are 5 books/month coming out, then I'd prefer a deleted scene :)

Maybe the original of Sally??? Or maybe eithan's most intense cleaning day to date?

Something about the mysterious reaper?

Tom

4/26/2018 12:10:39 am

Wait, so by a ghostwriter excerpt do you mean that Will should hire somebody to write a short story that he outlines for them but publishes under his name or a pseudonym of his choosing?

I mean, that could still totally be interesting and would certainly take less time then writing it himself, though I would rather have Will's ghostwriter be a fellow fan.

Maybe if a particularly talented Will Wight fan-fiction author makes an appearance that would be more viable. As it is now the ghostwriter would have to read all of Will's books to understand his magic systems which would spike the price way up.

Calder Marten (actually Jeremiah H)

4/25/2018 07:59:51 am

"Must I choose, or can I have it all?"

I can't imagine Shera not wanting to kill me, so what's with this banging her head on the table?

Sean K

4/25/2018 08:48:20 am

I want the deleted scene AND a story involving Fisher Gesha! If the deleted scene involves her, then just that i suppose.

Honestly anything works! Deletedscene is easier for you, so go with that!

OrenVelciter

4/25/2018 10:01:30 am

Hey Will,

Once you come back from outer space, I recommend checking out the book Aching God by Mike Shel https://www.amazon.com/Aching-God-Iconoclasts-Book-1-ebook/dp/B07C9DBKB6 Its a sort of dark fantasy book with horror elements that I thought was a very well written debut by a new indie author.

As far as short story... If its something somewhat substantial with new or info or a fight, I might prefer Ghostwater. if not, an actual short story

Tievel1

4/25/2018 10:38:46 am

Ghostwater please! Preferably something we can speculate for weeks on end about.

Zhanzy

4/25/2018 11:21:28 am

Ghostwater deleted scene please !!

Your Benevolent Dictator

4/25/2018 11:53:41 am

I would like the full scene of Lindon looking at path’s from Blackflame. If not that then gimme a slice of life short story of Lindon and Yerin just hanging out and dealing with normal problems like boredom or not knowing what flavor of ice cream to get

Will link

4/25/2018 04:31:37 pm

The slice-of-life one is the one I really want to write. I keep feeling like the Cradle characters don't have enough downtime.

Reyna

4/25/2018 06:08:13 pm

Please????

YBD

4/26/2018 07:04:36 am

Then pleeeeeeeease do it

I Need an Idiot’s Guide to the Willverse

4/27/2018 06:12:46 am

*In Darth Sidious’ voice*

Do it.

Daniel young

5/1/2018 12:07:43 pm

I like that idea

Dan

4/25/2018 01:25:53 pm

This one's humble suggestions are:

1. How about recreating a scene from one of the books, but choosing either Ortho's, Little Blue or Mercy Akura's point of view?

2. What's Elder Whisper up to?

3. What happened to Lindon's Sister/Family?

Decadakon

4/25/2018 02:21:36 pm

Ghostwater scene please! Something we can speculate on and on and on and on and on and on about.

Sir Wolpertinger

4/25/2018 02:46:22 pm

Definitely an actual short story. I really want to see more of the amazing world that you've created Will. Ghostwater scenes will just want me to have the next Cradle book out, so just a short story from the world would be awesome.

Kevin

4/25/2018 03:08:49 pm

Oh, i’m Judging.

Will link

4/25/2018 05:54:22 pm

I see what you did there, Kevin.

Geoff

4/30/2018 06:33:38 am

I see it too. Amd am impressed. And annoyed i didnt think of it..

Little Bo Peep

4/25/2018 06:10:59 pm

I’d prefer a short story, but I know you’re writing new stuff quite frequently…seeing as you’re writing a book and all. So, to make it easier for you, a deleted scene will probably be best…unless you stick it in another book. Then it’s not really deleted anymore.

The Wrath of a Thousand Nerds

4/25/2018 09:53:32 pm

WILL
11/16/2016 01:17:03 pm
Thanks, Luke!

Mick: I'm planning on including a magic system glossary for each of my books on the site, and then including a link to the page in future ebooks. That way, you have access to the glossary, but it doesn't take up space at the end of the book.

Where is my glossary Will? It's been a year and a half. I AM ANGRYYYYY.

Jk, I'm pretty chill. I just thought I'd remind you of this idea of yours in case you forgot.

kaden

4/25/2018 11:50:21 pm

Accurate name considering up until last December that was the comment format of every EE fan out there struggling to be heard.

Also I don't remember ever hearing abut a glossary of any sort until today and I have been an active member of this community for almost 4 years now

Nickolas Cage

4/26/2018 12:12:49 am

Tom up above actually had a really good idea. Instead of having to write the stories yourself, you should solicit fan-fiction. That way lots of amateur writers are submitting their work to you for free.

Then you use the best, highest quality short stories as blog posts or emails. Minimal work on your part but maximum results. Assuming you don't get mobbed with trash-tier fan fiction that is.

random name

4/26/2018 08:16:58 am

Actually a short story from lindon's sisters point of view would be great! Maybe they heard lindon leave the school or something and shes worried etc etc! Unless whats happening with his family is a spoiler?

Hufdud

4/26/2018 02:55:07 pm

So Will, what you’re saying is that my assasins failed? Again. Man, why do I pay those guys so much?

The real Kevin

4/26/2018 04:08:54 pm

Whatever gets us (the rest of) Ghostwater fastest! I mean, I'll certainly read OKAK when (it? they?) come out, but I just want it done so you can get crackin' on Cradle.

If you feel like you need a week outside of the EE world, I'd love a new story, maybe something about Suriel or Ozriel pre-Abidan or Abidan pre-judge time.

Or a compromise for the EE crowd—the story of Suriel banishing the Elders to Asylum.

OTOH, if you're just humoring us and would need to take productive time away from OKAK, just put a bit of polish on a Ghostwater deleted scene and get back to work.

P.S. since you actually seem to be responding here—I asked this before but it seems you weren't posting responses on the last blog post—is there another level we haven't seen yet or were you counting sage (or just miscounting) in saying there were 5 levels between Eithan and the Monarchs?

Will link

4/27/2018 09:09:55 pm

I've been going back and forth on the number of ranks and how to describe them. I knew generally what they were, but I've been messing with them behind the scenes for a while.

So it could either be that I was counting Sage back then or that, at the time I answered the question, there were five ranks. I don't really remember.

Bridge

4/26/2018 05:21:01 pm

Now that you have written a xianxia novel you have to write a story in alliterative verse (Like Beowulf).

metalHand

4/27/2018 06:24:58 am

Both ! We want a excerpt from GW and a short story.

Between how do you find Mars ?

TBoy

4/27/2018 09:46:51 am

Elon Musk is probably furious that Will got to Mars before him.

Cage

4/27/2018 09:46:24 am

Will are you going to be watching and reviewing Avengers Infinity Wars like you did for Star Wars?

Will link

4/27/2018 09:08:31 pm

Well, I waited long enough for Star Wars that spoilers weren't much of a concern, because anyone who wanted to see it already had. Also, my review for Infinity War would be pretty short: "It's great. See it."

That said, they do some cool writing things that I'd like to talk about. And there are some mistakes worth talking about too, just nothing that hurt the movie for me.

EndanDrachon

4/27/2018 01:27:00 pm

I'd like to vote for a short story, but if you just do a deleted scene you could spend more time working on the actual books...

stephen eric sorensen

4/27/2018 02:06:00 pm

Thanks for all of your hard work, Will

Cheesemaster

4/27/2018 02:44:07 pm

How about something with jai Long and hai Chen and their trip to the scared valley.

cheesemaster

4/27/2018 02:46:39 pm

Sorry spell check I ment jai chen

Icoret

4/27/2018 04:05:07 pm

Slice of life Cradle story has my vote. We get so little of those characters in relaxed settings.

Devin

4/28/2018 12:04:53 pm

A scene from Ghostwater, pretty please. Also, if Ghostwater is a new path for Lindon, ideally the scene could be Lindon training and messing up, while Eithan laughs at him hysterically. And then Yerin kicks Eithan down a hill or something.

Walter

4/29/2018 07:43:51 am

I reread from soul smith through skysworn again this week :( skysworn is so short!!! Can’t we just get a Will-clone? I need GW!

Travis

4/29/2018 11:15:01 am

I have absolutely loved the Travelers Gate and Cradle series. Can’t wait for book 5 of Cradle. Keep up the great work and know that I will be anxiously waiting to devour it.

Paden

4/30/2018 11:13:54 am

ghostwaterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Oskar

5/1/2018 03:15:36 am

Excerpt from the Ghostwater.

PrinceK

5/1/2018 12:10:25 pm

Love an excerpt from GhostWater.

Personally, think Suriel's marble needs more screen time. Like maybe one of Lindon's sacred arts is a magical slingshot that shoots the marble as a makeshift boomerang. Oh its on fire too, and lets add lightening in the background. And the slingshot is cursed, and pink. With Swords

garbagiel the completely normal fellow human being

5/1/2018 02:02:37 pm

How about a short story about a blade of grass or insignificant shrub ascends to stupidly high levels against all levels of probability

Sect Uncle Bai

5/1/2018 06:26:44 pm

There's actually a story exactly about that blade of grass becoming a god-like sacred artist on RoyalRoadl.com

Tom

5/2/2018 10:33:40 am

I remember reading somewhere that the copper ball/library chapter in blackflame got shortened a lot just before release. Would be great to see the lengthier version with more paths described.

Ronald

5/2/2018 10:43:40 am

Yeah I'd be okay with a bunch of deleted scenes from previous books.

THE RAGE

5/2/2018 10:42:46 am

I kinda get the feeling that Will is just buying time with this second post.

I bet he realized he hadn't done a short story in a while so he put that up as a blog post, but then he suddenly realized he had a ton of writing to do, and now he's trying to delay us as long as possible.

The covers are probably coming in for the Elder Empire and Will needs to finish revisions on the early books on top of finishing OKAK, and he needs to publish something else because otherwise he'll have no new titles for the first have of 2018. And now he's got a Cradle short story on the line and fans hungry for Ghostwater kicking up a storm.

I bet Will is having a panic attack right now.

Will link

5/11/2018 12:00:15 pm

Pretty much.

In which we ramble on.
And by we, I mean me.