Okay, ladies and gentle men, time for an update on all things Ghost-y.

You may have noticed last time I said a thing about having the book done and submitted by the end of July. Well, that didn’t happen, but there are reasons, some good, some less so. Let’s begin.

I was talking to Inkshares around the time of the last update and mentioned my intention to submit at the end of July. Inkshares have a lot on their plate at the moment with a bunch of books in production and some behind the scenes changes, and they felt it would be in the best interests for my book if I took a bit more time to work on things, and not rush it so that when it came time to submit they could give it the appropriate attention. 

So what this essentially means is the book is about 95% certain to not be coming out in 2016 which, while disappointing, is best for the books future. Rest assured though, it will be coming as soon as humanly possible in 2017.

One side effect of this "take your time" directive was that my brain went into "oh you can put this off for a while" mode (among many other unhelpful modes)...and here we are: three months later and no finished draft.

This is a problem. For me. For you. For Inkshares. 

It is not, however, a problem without a solution and that solutions name is accountability. It’s all well and good to give myself deadlines, but if I’m the only one I’m beholden to, then I tend to fall between the cracks. So I figure having near on 400 people on my case should be a good motivator.

So, starting next Friday I’ll be sending out weekly updates that will include the daily word totals for the previous week. They’ll continue until the first draft is done (which is close mind you) and then I’ll reassess the schedule as things head into beta reading and revisions and such.

Current Stats

Word Count: 94,203

Chapters Finished: 27 of 32 

What’s Left: 23, 26 & 30 need to be finished and I have yet to start on 31 & 32 (though they are fully outlined)

Estimated Final Word Count: somewhere around 110,000

I’ll see you all next week. 

So it has again been a while between updates, but unlike last time, there has actually been some stuff going on. So I now present a multi part update:

Ghosts of War - I’ve gotten more done in the last 6 weeks or so than I had in the rest of 2016, so that’s a positive. Like, you can use 4 numbers to count the amount of words written. So I seem to be getting out the other side of this giant patch of writer’s block I’ve been in (NaNo did not work out...at all...), which is nice.

I’ve also set a deadline for getting a final draft into Inkshares. Plan is to get that into them by the end of July so that there’s enough time to get this thing into your hands before the end of the year.

Also, Inkshares recently launched their ’properties’ initiative which helps authors sell the rights for their works to people wanting to make TV shows, movies, audiobooks and the like. It’s a rather exciting thing for them to be doing and it’ll be interesting to see if anything comes from it for Ghosts.

LandFall - So this is my fantasy project that I hope to get to working on later this year. I had the idea up on Inkshares a while ago, but have recently bumped it into draft mode so I can put up a sample chapter. Also, while on a break day (read: lazy day), I made a mockup of how I’d love for the final LandFall book to look.

I will be pushing for this to be a 750 copy selling hardcover from the outset, which sounds...daunting...but I won’t be launching the campaign until I know I can get it done. I have some special plans for it.

You can check out LandFall here ---->;;; https://www.inkshares.com/books/landfall

CORE - You might be wondering ’What is this CORE you speak of?’ 

Well that’s a pretty good question actually, and one to which the answer is changing all the time. At it’s core (I’m sorry), it’s the story I threw into the Nerdist video game contest on a whim a couple of weeks ago. It’s a really small nucleus of an idea, which is why I put such a long funding time on it (it currently has 346 days remaining), so that I have time to, y’know, work out the whole story and write the damn thing...lol

And I have been working it out. I’ve got several characters in place, and a beginning and an end that I’m happy with. Now to just work out the pesky middle...the middle is always a problem. 

But, since I have to finish Ghosts, and all chances of winning the Nerdist comp vanished almost instantly, the pressure is off a bit on this one for now, however if you want to check it out you can do so here ---->;;; https://www.inkshares.com/books/core

Oh and here’s the (very, very) temporary cover for it.

So yeah, that’s the state of things as they are right now. I’ll do my best to not leave it another 3 months before an update. 

Until next time.

Hi everyone,

Firstly, apologies for the long time between updates, I’d lost track of how long it had been. 

Unfortunately, things have been slow to non-existent for the last month or so when it comes to progress. It’s disappointing, for me and for you guys too, but I’ve been getting over some exhaustion issues and writing has often been the furthest thing from my mind.

That said, it’s April, and Camp NaNoWriMo has just opened up, and I’m forcing myself to participate. So I’ve spent the last week or so getting myself reacquainted with the story and the outlines for the unwritten parts (have I mentioned I really like my ending?...because I do) and I will be forging ahead to get this first draft knocked out. 

I’ve also got an extended chunk of Ghosts in the hands of a few readers, so over the next month or so I should be getting some feedback that I can use to start shaping the next drafts.

Updates should be a little more regular while NaNo is going on, so keep an eye out for them.

Until next time.

Hey everyone,

There’s been a bit of a break between updates, but things are sort of at a point where weekly updates don’t really make sense anymore. So from now on they’ll be going out when there’s actually something to update you all about.

This is one of those times.

Some of you may have noticed that there’s a new cover. If not, well, there’s a new cover. 

Since Ghosts is being published under Quill, cover design isn’t something that’s......covered. 

To use my existing concept, I would have had to probably re-draw/paint the whole thing from scratch since it was just a cobbled together, photoshop thing. I wasn’t wholly confident in my ability to produce something publishable in that style, so I decided to try out some simpler designs.

What I’ve settled on is something that’s a bit more traditional, and feels like a more polished version of the very first cover I ever did for Ghosts. I’m pretty happy with it and I hope you all like it as well.

When I finished the cover I was in a bit of a creative groove, and in a move that’s part ’getting ahead of myself’, and part ’being prepared’ I did up some covers for the 2 sequels to Ghosts.

Here’s all three together:

What’s a Kylgor? Why does it have a shadow? And what’s in that shadow?

You’ll just have to wait until later in the year to find out...

Oh! I almost forgot... Writing is chugging along. Think of me like a duck on the water: Calm on the surface. Furiously flapping my feet at a keyboard beneath it. 

I will leave you with that image.

Until next time...

So earlier today I was asked by Cara Weston (if you haven't checked out her book, you should...--->;;; She Is The End ) if I had some idea of who would play the characters in Ghosts of War if it was turned into a movie or TV show. The answer is yes...yes I do.

So here we are, the main characters of Ghosts of War (and a few supporting ones) if it were to become a watchable thing (like...maybe a 10 episode Netflix series...yeah...that sounds nice.)

A few fun facts: 

• Jeffrey Dean Morgan was originally Cole way back in the beginning, until I decided he needed to be younger. 
• I may or may not have written Whil T'Qar specifically for Wil Wheaton... 
• I only 'cast' Gregor, Tobias and Kira in the last 6 months, and now I can't see anyone else being them. 
• Actually that's a lie, I recast Gregor, he was originally Anton Yelchin, but then JJ's Star Trek's happened and it felt a bit on the nose.
• The Oren casting will be obscure for most everyone, but guys, trust me...lol.
• You might have noticed that Whil, Martiss and Sharma are all new. I haven't yet formally introduced them but rest assured they have key parts to play in this book and the next two as well.

Until next time...