Somehow, that doesn’t quite have the same ring as the State of the Sanderson, but I’m going with it.

As anyone who has followed this often-forgotten website knows, I’ve been struggling a lot with my writing productivity over the last few years. Blame it on my dad’s death. Blame it on working full time. Blame it on COVID. Whatever the case, I’ve had trouble writing and editing consistently over the last four and a half years.

This year’s updates

I’ve been very scattered this year. I have finished writing two books: the first book in a series covering the Great War that gets mentioned during my World in Chains series, and the first book in another series that covers the origins of much of the fantasy multiverse I’m working on.

I finished re-editing Empire of Chains, and I’m currently most of the way through re-editing Sunweaver.

Next year’s plans

Once again, optimism abounds at this time of year. I’m telling myself that I can finally finish the re-edits of every other book I’ve released and then, finally, release Sunlord, completing the Sunweaver trilogy.

I’d like to say I’ll get around to releasing the God War’s Chosen, but I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to promising too much.

Other than that, I’m going to keep writing and gradually building up my fantasy multiverse. I’ll try to update things here a bit more often, too.

Once again, I’m here for a long-overdue update on where things stand.

A few months back, I had all these ambitious plans for my writing career. Yeah, none of that has happened. I’m still writing. I’m still editing. But it’s a slow process.

So where do things stand right now?

I am re-editing my World in Chains series again. I’ve finished with the first book. This editing is focused almost entirely on tightening prose. I’m still proud of the story I originally put out, but like the perfectionist I am, I just can’t leave it alone. I’m hopeful that this editing will lead to providing the best reading experience possible.

I’m applying this same focus to the rest of the series and to my Sunweaver series. I may actually switch gears and focus on Sunweaver next because it has been way too long since I published the second book in the trilogy (April 2019). I don’t want to leave that series hanging too much longer.

If I’ve learned one thing through this whole process, it’s that I’m really terrible about sticking to my plans. But I am still writing. I haven’t abandoned my readers.

So, now I’m going to give a general outline of what I intend to do, but no specific dates.

World in Chains

The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th books still need to be re-edited. This is probably second on my priority list.

Sunweaver

I will do re-editing of the first two books, and then I’ll finally get the third book out into the world.

After that, I’ll turn my editing attention to my next trilogy: The God War’s Chosen.

I have completed drafting a few other series, including one set in the same world as World in Chains, and I’m currently working on another in that world. More details to come later.

As always, thanks for reading.

At this point, I still need to finish my proofread for Sunlord. My goal is to get that finished by the end of April, which should be very much achievable. This would make it almost exactly four years since the release of Fireweaver.

I can’t say that’s what I envisioned four years ago. Between my father’s death in April of 2019, my focus on starting my engineering career, and the general weirdness of the pandemic, nothing went as planned.

As a writer, I always fight a battle between ambition and reality. I would love to be able to release a book every two months like I wrote about recently. Unfortunately, I have a full-time job and other responsibilities, so I have to be more realistic about these things.

So, I’m aiming for a book release every four months. That means I will release Sunlord in April. Then my next release (Watersong, the first book of The God War’s Chosen) would be August. I would also fit in a Sunweaver boxset in the June timeframe.

Beyond that, I’m still trying to determine whether I’d want my next release to be the second book of The God War’s Chosen or perhaps the first book of my Essence Warrior trilogy. Both series are fully drafted.

Regardless of which order I choose, I have drafted enough books to have a release schedule outlined until August of 2026.

Then there are all the ideas I have in my head. More than anything, that’s why I want to write faster. I have all these stories I want to tell.

But I have to temper that with reality. It’s one thing to keep up a rapid release schedule when you’re a full-time author. It’s another to do it when you work full-time in your day job.

I feel like four months may provide the balance I’m looking for. I’ll always be able to reevaluate that plan.

As always, thanks for reading.

Today, I finished my revisions for Sunlord. When I think about the fact that it has been almost four years since I released Fireweaver, this feels good.

Now I will turn my attention to proofreading all three books in the trilogy. I made some updates to improve Sunweaver and Fireweaver, and I plan on creating revised editions to coincide with the release of Sunlord.

Initially, I thought I could finish by the end of February. It’s still possible, but it’s more likely that I’ll publish Sunlord next month (March).

After that, I think I’ll go back to my cover artist to work on artwork for a Sunweaver boxset. That looks to be my next release, likely in the April timeframe. That would give me a bit more time to make sure the first book of my next trilogy, The God War’s Chosen, is in the best shape possible before releasing it.

I’m also strongly considering editing//revising all three books before publishing any of them. We’ll see. I’m still trying to figure out the right rhythm for everything. It’s good that I’m making more progress toward releasing books, but I don’t want to burn out.

With every new year, I reevaluate what I want out of my writing career. The last four years have been an exceptionally challenging time for me as far as getting books published. I’m rather ashamed to admit that I released Fireweaver, the second book in my Sunweaver trilogy, almost four years ago, in April of 2019.

That was shortly after my father’s death. For the rest of that year, I struggled with depression and financial worries. Thankfully, I got a good job in 2020, but then the pandemic hit, and that was a weird time for all of us. It still is for many people even today.

I’ve written and edited on and off over these last three plus years. Last year, I created the Enhanced Editions of all my Empire of Chains books. It wasn’t as good as publishing new material, but it felt like something I needed to do to give my readers the best experience possible. That, unfortunately, put the last book of my Sunweaver trilogy on hold.

It’s not that I haven’t been productive. I have a pretty large collection of finished first drafts that I need to edit into shape. Even if I haven’t been writing as consistently as I’d like, I’ve still been fairly productive on that front.

That brings me to Sunlord, the final book of the Sunweaver trilogy. I’m pleased to say that I’m hard at work editing it right now, and I’m aiming to finish it and release it toward the end of this month (February).

My goal this year is to put more focus on editing and getting books out there. I’ve formed a rough outline for what I want to happen in terms of releases this year.

February: Sunlord (Sunweaver, Book 3)

April: Watersong (The God War’s Chosen, Book 1

June: Godchild (The God War’s Chosen, Book 2)

August: Endlord (The God War’s Chosen, Book 3)

October: Essence Blade (Essence Warrior, Book 1)

December: Essence Tower (Essence Warrior, Book 2)

Is this an ambitious plan? Absolutely. Do I think I can do it? We’ll see. These books are all fully drafted at this point, and the editing process becomes smoother with every book I write. It also helps that most of these books are shorter than my World in Chains books.

Beyond that, I can outline a very tentative plan going into 2024.

February 2024: Essence Fortress (Essence Warrior, Book 3)

April 2024: Tome of the Ancients (The Erezhki Cycle, Book 1). This will be set in the distant past in the same world as my World in Chains series.

June 2024: Key of the Ancients (The Erezhki Cycle, Book 2).

August 2024: Light of the Ancients (The Erezhki Cycle, Book 3)

Beyond that, things get a bit murkier because I’ve adopted a new writing strategy that has increased my writing productivity. However, it makes it take longer to draft any individual book or series. I write multiple books at once. That way, if I get stuck in one book, I can switch to another and avoid having those days when I write zero words.

Based on my current progress, my next completed series is likely to be one of the following:

1. The Great War series. This refers to a conflict mentioned in my World in Chains series.
2. The Itari Cycle: This is even farther in the past of the World in Chains world.
3. The Sundered World. This is in the distant past of the Essence Warrior world, and it’s my intended first series in the entire timeline for all my worlds that share this particular universe.

The following two series could also be the next, but I’m not as far along in them.

1. The Last Sacrifice. This is set in the past of the same world as The God War’s Chosen.
2. Sun and Fire. This is set in the past of the same world as Sunweaver.

As of now, I’m not sure how long any of these series are going to be. I’m hopeful that I can finish one of them in time to continue the same release schedule I’m trying to meet.

So we’d be looking at October of 2024 to release the first book of the next series. Again, this is very ambitious, especially for someone who has gone more than four years since releasing anything.

But thankfully I’m at a point in life where I feel capable of giving my writing career the focus it needs. I’ve reached a stable place with figuring out how to work around my career in engineering. I’ve overcome the depression over my father’s death, as well as the strangeness of the height of the pandemic. Overall, I feel like I’m in a generally good place now, and I haven’t always been able to say that.

In the coming days, I’d like to reveal a bit more about the fantasy universe I’ve created. Again, it’s ambitious. I won’t deny that Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere has been a huge influence on me. I will never claim to be Brandon Sanderson. There is only one Brandon Sanderson, and he is extremely talented. But I do love the idea of having a shared world. Those who have read Fireweaver have probably seen some of the connections between worlds, and that’s just the beginning.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your patience as I’ve worked through a lot of roadblocks over the last few years.

Right now, I’m still working on the final book of a trilogy set in the distant past of the World in Chains world. I’m about 30,000 words in, and I anticipate the book coming out at roughly 100,000 words. I also have a few other projects that I’m writing as side projects for when I get stuck on the primary project. Ideally, I’d like to move to a writing model where I always have multiple stories I’m drafting at once.

On the revision front, I’ve completed all revisions for Empire of Chains, The Shadowed Land, and The Gilded Empire to create “Enhanced Editions” of the books. I’m currently a little over 20% through the new revision of The Winds of Time. I have finished the proofread of Empire of Chains, and I’m almost finished with the proofread of The Shadowed Land. Once I’ve completed revisions and proofreads for all four books, I will republish them with the new versions.

Technically, I’ve already republished Empire of Chains, but I’m not really going to promote it much until the entire series is ready. At that time, I will update all four books, as well as the four-book boxset. As of now, only Empire of Chains is available in paperback form, but I do intend to get paperbacks for the other three books in the series.

After I finish with the enhanced editions for World in Chains, I will work on creating enhanced editions of the first two books in my Sunweaver trilogy, and then finally publishing Sunlord, the final book in the trilogy. It has been almost three years since I’ve published anything.

After the Sunweaver trilogy is published, I will turn my attention to The God War’s Chosen trilogy and the Essence Warrior trilogy. Both are completely drafted but largely untouched since I wrote them.

In the meantime, I have big plans for my whole fantasy multiverse. I’ve laid out a timeline for all the series I’m setting in the four worlds you’ll visit in World in Chains, Sunweaver, The God War’s Chosen, and Essence Warrior. These four worlds are all part of one particular sector of the universe with a common mythology and a lot of interconnections. Think of it as sort of like Sanderson’s Cosmere but with the interconnections being a bit more obvious.

That being said, every series stands alone. While they tell a long and interconnected history of this sector of the universe, they all feature their own main characters. You will see a lot of characters appearing multiple times. Inevitably, whatever order you choose to read my books in, there will be minor spoilers. At the same time, though, I leave enough to the imagination that there’s room to enjoy the stories no matter what order you read them in.

As always, thanks for reading.

Yesterday, I finished the second book of the series I’m currently drafting. I anticipate one more book in the series. I think this climax was one of my most epic I’ve written so far. It’s going to be a while before this series sees the light of day, thanks to my huge backlog of books I need to revise.

On that front, I’m making good progress on the enhanced editions of my World in Chains book. I’m halfway through the third book. The first book did have a few changes to the story, but nothing that will leave you lost if you’ve already read it. The rest of the series is getting more of a cosmetic fix than anything, though there will be a few changes to some of the background details about the world to fit better with the fantasy multiverse I’ve developed.

Again, none of these details will be major issues that affect the core premise and story. They’re my way of making the story shine the brightest it can.

Once I finish with World in Chains, I plan to give the same treatment to the first two books of my Sunweaver trilogy, and then I will revise the third book and finally release it. I feel bad that it has been almost three years since I’ve released a book, but these last three years have been tough for all of us, so I’m trying my best to be patient and understanding with myself.

I’m glad that I’ve rediscovered the passion I feel for writing.

As always, thanks for reading.

I’m making steady progress on the Enhanced Editions of my World in Chains books. I’m already done with the first two books and moving through the third. Thankfully, the later books in the series won’t take me as long as the first did.

After that, I intend to move on to my Sunweaver books. The first two books will receive Enhanced Editions as well, and then I can get on to revising Sunlord and finally releasing it (only three years since the previous book).

After that, my plan is to move on to my next two completed trilogies: The God War’s Chosen and Essence Warrior. All the while, I’ll be writing as well.

It has been almost two years since I’ve posted on here. Some people, like Brandon Sanderson, might use the stress of the pandemic to become more productive as writers. Until late last year, I was the complete opposite

Between the stress of the pandemic, the insanity of politics, and still coming to terms with a new career and the loss of my dad, I struggled to write. The mere thought of sitting down to write (or edit) exhausted me. This cut into a lot of my plans.

I haven’t released a book in almost three years. I never thought that would happen to me. When I’m writing, I’m a fairly fast writer. But I also struggle with mental illness, and this period of time has been tough for me, as it has for many people.

When I last provided an update, I was working on a major revision to Empire of Chains. I hate to say it, but I’m still working on it. It is just about done. At this point, it just needs a proofread. I’m also working on the other books in the series, and my plan is to update the books and jump into marketing them once I have them all ready. I may also run through my Sunweaver series first as well. I’ve grown as a writer in many ways, and while I’m still proud of the books I’ve put out, I want to see them shine the way they deserve to.

If you have read all or part of either series, don’t worry that you’re missing out on something if you don’t read the enhanced editions, as I’ve come to call them. The core details of the world, plot, and characters remain the same. Most of the changes revolve around making the existing scenes more exciting for the reader, along with a few background worldbuilding details to make sure I have consistency between all the books I’ve written. So far, every series I’ve written is set within the same fantasy multiverse. As I’ve gone along, I’ve made tweaks here and there, so I’m updating my currently published books to make sure they’re more in line with everything I’ve established in this multiverse.

So, what are my plans for the near future?

First, I intend to finish the enhanced editions of all the World in Chains and Sunweaver books that I’ve released. Then I will release Sunlord, the final book of the Sunweaver trilogy.

After that, my plan is to edit and revise my third series, The God War’s Chosen. I’ve already written all three books.

Following that, I will turn to my fourth series, Essence Warrior. Again, I’ve already written all three books. I just need to revise them.

My fifth series, which I’ve tentatively titled War of the Ancients, is set in the distant past of World in Chains. I am currently in the process of drafting the second book in a likely trilogy.

I also have a couple other series I’ve made a start on, but it’s probably going to be a while before I pursue them as more than secondary projects when I feel stuck on my primary project. One of them is set in the same fantasy multiverse as my other series, while the other is separate.

In the end, I have something like thirty books tentatively planned as of now, so I have no intention of abandoning this whole writing thing. Thankfully, I’ve gotten my mental health to a place where I can write again. Writing is also great for my mental health. I guess you could say it’s a virtuous circle.

Here’s hoping I don’t take almost two years before my next post.

As always, thank you for reading.

I’m currently a few chapters into my major revision of Empire of Chains, and I’m enjoying the process. It’s been fun to revisit these characters and take the opportunity to make an even better book for readers.

This new version will be even more action-packed than the original, and I do love writing action scenes. I’m also really excited to get to the reworked ending I have in mind. Thankfully, it won’t result in major changes for the rest of the series. It’s more a way of making the ending even more exciting.

I’ve learned so much about myself as a writer in the last few years, and I’m eager to take all those new lessons and use them to make my first book something I can feel even more proud of.

So far, I wish the revisions were going a bit faster, but that should come in time.