Writing Update

Good morning, lovelies!

I thought I'd give an update on what I've been writing and the status of various manuscripts, because a lot has been going on. 

First things first: the science fiction novel Citadel is still set for a summer 2023 publication. I'm still waiting on an editor from Blackstone Publishing, and I imagine I will continue to wait for a while, seeing as the publishing industry moves at a snail's pace. My agents did tell me to have an outline, synopsis, and first couple of chapters of book two ready by the end of this year, though, and a complete working draft by publication day, so that we can launch right into that if the first book sales look good.

Next: Demon Crown, book one, which I'm thinking of naming The Trail of Black Glass. This is an epic fantasy featuring vampires, Mages, and an empire of people with angel-like powers. I showed this to my agents over the winter break, and the response was basically, "We love it, but you also have a rewrite it." Which is about what I expected, so that's on my to-do list.

I just finished writing the rough draft of another epic fantasy novel, tentatively titled The Necromancer. It's about three hundred pages of garbage that I'm going to run through several stages of revisions before I even let you guys see a sneak peak, never mind give it to my agents. I talked about this one on Discord a little bit: it's a classic "girl runs from abusive situation and winds up in a community that actually loves and fosters her, and when the abuser comes for her she beats the shit out of him." Except the abuser is an emperor and both he and the survivor are necromancers. Easily one of the tropiest things I've ever written outside of fanfiction (and I love it). 

And finally, the project that I am currently researching: Prophet of Nobody. This is probably the one my agents are most excited for, as Greek Mythology re-tellings are getting hot. 

You probably know about Cassandra: Trojan princess cursed by the god Apollo to be able to see into the future, but nobody will believe her visions, eventually goes insane, gets raped at least once by Greeks, and is hacked to bits by Clytemnestra when Agamemnon drags her home as a war prize.

And you definitely know about Odysseus, who, during his many adventures, briefly took the name "Nobody" to trick a cyclops. 

Basically, I'm writing a version where Cassandra will use her visions to escape Troy--rather than get assaulted and swept away--and disguise herself as a Greek, smuggling aboard a ship...which turns out to be Odysseus's. And after the cyclops incident, he becomes the only person who believes her visions. 

So yeah, Prophet of Nobody is basically a fanfic re-write of the Odyssey with Cassandra in the middle of the action.

I have a pretty good grip of Greek Mythology, but I'm still diving into research--especially the more historical elements for some realism points--before I go into outlining and drafting it. 

To summarize:

Citadel - waiting for line edits from Blackstone Publishing

Citadel Book 2 - tentatively approved, first draft will likely be started in late summer

Trail of Black Glass - need to implement agents' revisions

The Necromancer - first draft finished, needs hella revisions

Prophet of Nobody - research and outline phase

This is gonna be a fun year. :)