As you’ve come to expect – La Musica:
Ulrich Schnauss was one of my biggest musical influences going through college. I love this fellow’s music. Despite his signature style as immediately recognizable, he also owns a shocking breadth of tonal flavor. This is one of my favorites of his, from one of his best albums.
Well, Mark Peters is also there in this one, so good for him, too.
Let’s talk about big books, shall we?
Kell Battles on to Write Fiction but Dang
I’m going to be real with you. It’s been slow.
I’ll go ahead and bet an Eversea relic saying you’re tired of me giving you the same ol’ excuse of “Uh my work is just so hard” but the reality is that it is, and it’s 100% my own fault that it’s that way.
I’m an ambitious analyst, and to fulfill my (quite numerous) set of life goals before I ride on from the ephemeral upon my pale horse, I understand I must work hard, and not set my sights on the typical leisure of the day. While this of course includes writing The Work and filling our days with Minion Bloodshed and Awkward Interpersonal Conversations I must admit I am also but a single individual with a time-consuming job, and many responsibilities that I must honor. I recognize that this must change for me to be able to grab all the time I need to write, and so I am working very hard and scheming great schemes to attempt to retire early simply to write.
I will no longer delude myself into thinking that the books will do the job for me at this stage. I do not have enough out for most readers to see the great tapestry, and as such they will simply read a single, pretty good book or book series, unawares to the machinations happening behind the scenes waiting to intrigue them.
Ever since I missed my first deadline with Soot Knight’s third book (still coming, by the way) I’ve realized the weight of my responsibilities have increased several times in the past few years, and that the little picture of a small lad writing away into the dead of night, tea at his side and cringy anime OSTs playing in his earbuds, are now well and gone.
I began writing with an upwelling, unstoppable passion that, praise be, delivered five complete books before I had even ventured to become formally published. I was secure in the assumption that I would build the great kingdom of literature with my signature on it, and then people would come and enjoy it. Reading book series that had inconsistencies; things that could have been solved if all the books were completed before publishing any of them, was a source of grave discomfort, and something I internally swore to myself never to do.
Now that I have built the scaffolding for my cathedral, I realize that the foundation was the easier part. The universe is in my mind, but now the great labor of the work begins. I have to be very, very detailed and cautious about how I move forward, lest I dishonor the wishes of my past self, haha – the fool.
Sappyness aside, writing is still satisfying, but now more than ever it is work. This is the kind of work that requires a lot of concentration, and this special brand of concentration finds itself in short supply after the strain of a good day’s work.
I just wanted to ping in with you in case you were curious why things are suddenly taking so long. I think I can bounce back, but it’s going to take a little while to return to where I was in the past two years, sending out several major releases each year with several short stories as well. Thank you for your understanding and support – you’re the one’s that make it so worthwhile.
Now, then, about what has been going on:
VOIDTHRONE
Oh yeah, this has actually been going pretty well.
The Courts Divided’s fourth book was originally Bloodkeep’s second half, considering how monstrous that manuscript was, but with some skillful literary sorcery I’ve been able to separate the books with little disturbance to the readability. The January 20th release is still looking very likely, so I’d like you to hold me to this one. I have a lot going on in January, but I’m also confident I can hit the deadline by that time.
We’ll find some rather immense intrigues revealed amidst the chaos and terror of The Thirteenth Lunar House, as well as the biggest “hidden in plain sight” secrets of the story I’ve shown to you thus far. Sure, automatons are awesome, fairies are fine, The Captain is a… a’slapptain, but I have some revelations beyond this den of vampires that will make your head spin.
If you’re among the extra perceptive bunch who will pick up the extreme secrets inside these pages, I salute you, you must have read a lot of my books!
Here’s the cover:
Damn, The High Overlord’s lookin’ fine today, but I really feel like he’s still only halfway in his design. Perhaps for newer covers he should look meaner? Scarier? More animal? Who can say. Maybe I just need to run an art competition for when we do an “official” print run or something.
I hope you’re looking forward to Voidthrone, because it’s going to kick your ass with a fine dose of existential dread, and I don’t say that often about my books.
In this one you’ll have:
-The very hyped battle with history’s greatest vampire (Dracula? Who the heck is that?)
-Scout Minion having actual feelings that aren’t sarcasm and malice
-Chaos having actual negative feelings
-Order having many more actual negative feelings than her usual
-Meeo potentially playing her hand at long last in order to [REDACTED][REDACTED][REDACTED]
-Aoline… oh the poor dear I’m not even going to tell you
-Kell Inkston (hiya!) getting his face beat in
-A brief glimpse into the dark infinite, that which our intrepid heroes have (mostly) been kicking blindly and without respect for its power
-…Wait a second…. he’s not supposed to be there?!
Oh yeah, it’s going to mess you up – I hope you’re ready. Deep lore emotional rollercoaster train all ABOARD *toot toot*
…Excuse my enthusiasm. I’m really extra excited for this one.
You can preorder VOIDTHRONE for a deep discount to reward you wonderful loyal readers by going over to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WLZJ5WR . Enjoy!
Parting comments for this week
Happy Holidays!
I love this time of year. Nothing like meditating on gifts and thankfulness by descending into the materialist hell that our corporate overlords continually inject into our nervous system through television, social media, and everything leading up to our dreams – don’t worry – dream advertisements are only a few years away.
Remember, the pleasure of ownership is a falsehood. It is far better to retain the power of one’s finances and simply go to a library.
“While we may not be blessed with all the candy we want, we can eat the fresh, clear breeze, and drink the beautiful peach-coloured rays of the sun.” – Kenji Miyazawa(?)
Poor advice for some of you, I’m sure, but I’d like to think a few of you will jive with me on this one.
Take care. Do not eat the black sand. Do not surrender your mind to the comfort of the false karass.
Until next time,
Kell
Coffee... WRITING!... COFFEE!! 