Outside my window, leaves are finally turning lovely shades of brown, red, and yellow, then dropping to the ground as the cold autumn winds remind all of us that winter is just around the corner.
Autumn is by far my favorite season. This year, it also seems a particularly perfect time to transition back into writing the Saga of the Broken Gods.
My original intent, back when 2021 started, was to alternate between the Last Sword in the West series and the Saga of the Broken Gods. Life had other plans. When I started the second book in the saga, I quickly found that I wasn't happy with where the story was going. I didn't feel like the characters were growing in the way I wanted.
When I hit such a roadblock, I generally find there are two ways around the problem. I can either push through or take a step back. Both methods have their appropriate uses. In this case, I couldn't stop thinking about the book that became A Sword Named Vengeance. I knew what I wanted that story to look like, and so I simply continued the adventures of Tomas and Elzeth.
But that story is done now. It's been proofread and my advance readers are dilligently hunting for any stray typos. At the end of this month, it'll be out.
It's time to return to Hakon and the band. Their story has been stewing in my mind for almost half a year now. I've got more pages of ideas, schemes, and plots than I'll ever be able to use. It feels good to be back.
On Monday, I'll begin the actual drafting.
But first, I need to reread the first book.
It's not something I have to do often. Typically, I don't have much problem shifting between one world and another. But the saga is different. There's more backstory and history to that world than anything else I've written.
So I'm reading and taking notes, putting everything into Obsidian (a knowledge management program I've been obsessed with lately).
I love being back with these characters. I love being back in this world.
And I'm excited to share more of it with you!