Hi everyone! I apologize that it’s been a while since I’ve checked in. As you can imagine, publication timelines have taken a hit along with everything else during coronavirus. Books that should have come out this past year, are now gearing up for release this summer and fall, and late fall books are being pushed into next spring. A large part of this past year has been learning to roll with and make the best of what life throws at us, so it’s all good! And now, finally, I have an exciting announcement for you! The Seclusion II will be released as part of next winter’s catalog on MARCH 1, 2022!
Now that it officially has an ISBN and ordering info is starting to be circulated to book buyers and libraries, it should become available for preorder through major outlets in the near future. We’re starting to put together our marketing and event campaign, and a great perk of a release next March is that maybe by then, we can celebrate in person once more!
On a personal note, as some of you may know, I’ll be starting my MFA in Writing through Vermont College of Fine Arts this summer. I’m incredibly appreciative to have two years to put my fiction writing front and center and to learn under such respected voices in the field. And no, this doesn’t mean I’ll be moving to Vermont. It is a low residency program with a couple of visits a year and the rest from home as I juggle working, writing, and being the parent of two kiddos.
On the author-event front, I’ll be participating in Library Journal’s Day of Dialog on May 6th alongside a panel of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers, so if there are any librarians on this list, please tune in!
It’s been such a long time since I sent out an update I wouldn’t blame you if you’re asking yourself, "Robert who?" right now. Fair enough, I’ve been negligent in my posting to both this blog and sending out newsletters, but I haven’t stopped writing (I promise).
I’m here to thank you for your patience and provide a brief update before diving back in to finish this book. So, firstly (and most importantly), those of you who backed my novel here on Inkshares are no doubt wanting to know how the book is going and when you’ll get your copy? The great news is I haven’t been slacking off and am still diligently working away on the manuscript. I’ve commented on this before, but it turns out writing a book is hard (who knew, right?) and I had a lot to learn if I was to produce a book worthy of your amazing support. Since Inkshares picked up the book, I’ve been incrementally transforming both my first draft and myself into something I can be proud of. I won’t lie, it’s been a long, drawn-out process thanks to day jobs and family responsibilities, but we’re in the home stretch: the world of Blood Capital is more real than it’s ever been, we have a cast of characters who are interesting to explore, and we’ve honed in on a plot that can take us on a more rewarding journey.
Looking ahead, I still need to finish this final draft. To help speed that up, I’m looking at all the ways I might claw back extra time. I took all of December off from my day job, which made a huge difference. Now, I need to power through the last chapters. After that, we’ll polish, copy-edit (fix typos and poor grammar), pull in some beta readers, and then prepare for release. The exact date of release will depend on a bunch of things, many of which are outside of my control, but I’ll endeavour to keep everyone informed.
Beyond Blood Capital, there’s a bigger world to explore, so you can be sure I’ll start work on a sequel. With the experience I’ve had writing Blood Capital and the lessons I’ve learned, I expect (hope?) that will be a faster project 🙂
Thank you again for your support—I’m sorry to have gone for so long without providing an update (I’ll do better moving forward).
Thanks!
Robert.