This may or may not come as a surprise, depending on how closely you’ve followed the fanpage. But just in case, I figure I’d make this official, as well as explain my reasons.
Blood of the Father is getting put on hold.
There are several reasons for this, but first, by ‘put on hold’ I mean delayed for about nine months as I write two other books. So don’t panic if you’re really eager for it. Now, as to why. Usually with a book I have an overall plan for the novel, linked together with a few key scenes I know will need to transpire. Beyond that I keep things loose, allowing myself some leeway should characters decide to misbehave (which they often do). With Blood of the Father…I have no scenes. None at all. I know what I want to accomplish, but I haven’t the slightest how I’m going to do it. This goes for nearly every major player in the story, from Haern and Thren as they go west to the Stronghold, to Zusa and Alyssa struggling to maintain control over their household, to Deathmask and Victor doing their little dance in Veldaren. It’s rare for me to have a book project before me yet feel so empty about what to do with it. That’s bad.
What’s also bad is that I couldn’t muster up excitement for it. That’s death to a book, at least for me. I know I could force myself through, and a good story would eventually come out, but the passion would be lacking from it. Anyone who’s read Broken Pieces should know what I can and do accomplish when I’m fully invested, and the passion is truly there. That’s something I really noticed working on the final two paladin books. I felt like I was writing something important, something special. I felt like I was writing a Half-Orc book.
Meanwhile, when I’m daydreaming in the shower about key scenes to the upcoming book, my mind never stayed on Blood of the Father. No, even without me realizing it I was envisioning scenes in the sixth Half-Orc book. I’ve been itching to get back to it for a while now, and as I finished up Broken Pieces I knew what I truly wanted to do. I tossed up a poll on the fanpage, and right now the desire for a new Half-Orc book is beating out Blood of the Father by more than 2 to 1. So I want to write it next, and so do the majority of my (voting) fans. So what does that mean?
The Prison of Angels, Book Six of the Half-Orc Series, is my current project, to be followed up with Book Seven. I’m already a few chapters in, and I have to tell you, I’ve really missed these two silly Tun brothers. Meanwhile I’m going to let the Watcher’s Blade Trilogy bake a little in my mind. I’ll get back to it, I assure you, but for now it’s time to go where my heart truly is. It’s time for Harruq and Qurrah to find their place in a radically changed world. I mean, you didn’t really think there’d be peace on Dezrel after the angels arrived, did you?
