Alright, a quick post to say hi, how are we all doing, and look, I have goodies!
First, I’m doing NaNoWriMo again this year and so far it’s going well. This is a surprise because creatively everything has been terrible for a long time. I’m determined to turn it around, though, and as of yesterday I’m ahead on the wordcount track. Fingers crossed this will last. Hopefully I’ll have proper updates about it all soon.
Second, I’m about to start posting the second Aquila’s Originals book – Outcasts of Aquila. A lot later than planned and slightly slower than my usual serials, but it is coming, er, today actually. Surprise!
This time around I’ll only be posting once a week, on a Wednesday, at least for the first few months. This is because I haven’t had a chance to clean it up as much as I would usually like and I only have a chapter and a half of the next book, when usually I’d like to have finished that before I shared this one. But baby steps, baby steps.
Hopefully you won’t mind the slower, rougher updates and I might even be able to turn my mind back to this world soon.
For now I hope you’re well and here’s to more Overworld adventures!
Warning: a lot of waffle lies ahead. Skip to the last few paragraphs if you just want to know my plans. (No, not plans, I don’t make plans any more. Vague intentions? Nebulous thoughts? Hopes? Yeah, probably hopes.)
Hello, everyone, I hope you’re doing well.
It’s been a while since I last did one of these. Sorry about that, but life, as I’m sure we’re all feeling, has been pretty rough lately. These last two and a half years have been particularly tough, dealing with depression, losing my grandmother, helping deal with her house, battling some legal things and then losing my dad suddenly at the end of last year. To top it all off, I have ME/CFS (I’ve had it since I was 11) and it’s been hitting my really hard of late.
It’s been a while since I last updated, so I thought not only was it time to catch up, but since it’s a new month and I have a new Overworld series about to begin, why not have an Overworld October?
Changes have been afoot for me. Mages of Royas Bay has finished and I’ve shut down my Patreon (for various reasons). Hopefully this means I’ll have more time to post here. Starting tomorrow with a brand new book from a brand new series, set in a very familiar world.
Misfits of Aquila Aquila’s Originals Book 1
On a world cursed to be covered in clouds, the elite eagle-riding Rift Riders rule the skies. Five years after the events of the Wingborn series, a new class is ready to join them – but this year’s crop is unlike any other.
The first Ihran to ever to train as a Rider; a rebellious princess in hiding; an atheist cast out of a deeply religious society; a student from the land where Riders are banned – and Rhiddyl. The Riders have never trained anyone quite like her before.
But it isn’t so easy to reach Aquila, the Rider’s legendary home. First they must pass the selection school and face the Choice, where they will be united with their eagle companions in a bond that will last the rest of their lives.
No pressure.
Welcome back to the Overworld. A new adventure has begun.
If you’ve never read an Overworld book before, don’t worry. While some of the background characters might be familiar to longtime readers, this is a brand new series, no prior knowledge needed. Jump right in and (hopefully) enjoy!
But this isn’t all I’ve been working on. Oh no. Four years after the first Overworld ebooks were released, I finally have something long planned for and promised on the way…
PAPERBACKS!
If you’re an old school reader and prefer to hold real books in your hand, I am finally about to have something for you. They’re not ready yet and still need a fair few tweaks here and there – I haven’t even ordered proofs of the last three yet. But they are coming. Finally.
I hope to have release details about Wingborn over the next few weeks, with the others to follow on a roughly monthly basis after. But books! Real books! Ones you can hold in your actual hands. I might even go completely wild and release the Dragonlands too while I’m at it.
But that’s probably a project for next year. Right here and now it’s all about Misfits and Wingborn, and I might even throw in a few extra stories, deleted scenes and drabbles in if I’m feeling so inclined.
Possibly a paperback giveaway, if anyone’s interested?
We’ll see. I have no real idea what Overworld October will entail, so feel free to make requests. For now, though, I shall hope you’re all staying safe and well, and taking care of yourselves and your loved ones. I’ll be back tomorrow with a brand new adventure.
I will also be taking down the World’s End serial then too, so if you’re still reading it, better finish quick! Hopefully I’ll have details about the ebook release soon, as well as when Aftermath will be available.
Busy, busy, busy.
Hope you’re all well and staying safe, wherever you are in the world. Take care, my lovelies xx
Just to let you know the Dragonlands Series Sale ends on Wednesday. Blazing Dawn is currently free in most places (not Amazon), so if you want a chance to see what Yullik’s parents were like, grab it now!
And if you’ve read all of those and feel like this sale has nothing to offer you, fret not! Broken Ground (Dragonlands 5) is coming next Monday, 20th April. Proper launch posts and pre-order links to come when I get them.
The Wingborn series sale starts next Wednesday.
Cheers, everyone. Hope you’re all doing well and staying safe xx
Right, so the poll wasn’t the greatest success, but the votes I did get suggested that both a sale and a new book would be nice. So here we go.
From now until April 15th, the entire Dragonlands series is on sale!
Blazing Dawn is FREE everywhere except for Amazon, although some retailers might take a day or two to update their prices. Amazon is as cheap as it will allow me to list it.
Storm Rising,Cloud CursedandBurning Sky and all 0.99 or as low as I can put it. Click each title for more details or head here for all the buying links. (If anyone wants them on Google Play, let me know and I’ll add them.)
The rest of the series should follow soon, Broken Ground hopefully at the end of this sale, and Setting Sun in June. More details to come when I know for certain.
Thanks and enjoy!
Once this sale is done I’ll run a Wingborn series sale, which will hopefully end with the release of World’s End and Aftermath. Before that I have a new world and a new serial to share, starting tomorrow. See you there :)
Hey, everyone, I hope wherever you are in the world right now you’re doing okay and that you and your families are safe.
I’ve been thinking a lot over the last week or so – since the Wingborn series finished – about what I can do as a writer to help entertain people stuck inside. I have a few ideas and I’ll be sticking a poll up tomorrow to ask for your opinions. One thing that will be coming this weekend is a short story featuring Dhori visiting his mum to give her an update on Rift Rider related events.
Beyond that I’ve been working really hard to get my next books ready to publish. I know it’s been a while and the delays were out of my hands, but over the next few months I plan to release the last two Dragonlands books (Broken Ground and Setting Sun), along with World’s End and Aftermath, the Wingborn extra (extended epilogue) novel, which I’m currently serialising on Patreon. Busy, busy, busy.
After they’re done, I’m really hoping to work on Wingborn paperback editions and get some more writing done. I miss writing. I also should probably do something about this place. It’s been a while and it could really use some attention.
Eh, maybe when I get some of this mythical free time people talk about.
And that’s it really. Nothing too exciting, but that’s not a bad thing right now.
In case you weren’t aware World’s End is done! No more Wingborn. Unless you’re a Patron and have exclusive online access to Aftermath, of course. In which case you have another 30 chapters or so.
For those of you who aren’t on Patreon, no worries, you still have two months left before you reach the end. However, if you sign up now, not only will you get to read the end right this moment, you’ll also have access to the follow-up serial, Aftermath, which won’t be serialised anywhere else. Everyone will have a chance to buy it when the World’s End ebook comes out, but it won’t be on here and it won’t be on Wattpad. Just so you know.
Anyway, brief sales pitch aside, I need to know what you lovely people will want to read next. As you may or may not know, I’m terribly behind thanks to the unplanned events of last year, so while I am working hard on a new series, I still have the last two Dragonlands books to edit and release, along with World’s End and Aftermath.
In other words, these next few months are going to be busy and I can’t guarantee the new series will be ready to go once Wingborn and Dragonlands are all wrapped up.
So I have a few choices to lay before you. Will you be patient or greedy? Will you want it all, now, now, now? Or can you wait just a little bit longer?
Here are your options. Please vote below – and leave a comment if you want to know more!
1. Misfits of Aquila (Aquila’s Own 1) My current project. Takes place 5 or so years after World’s End and returns to Aquila with a bunch of new Rift Rider students. Including the first Ihran, an atheist Sutheralli, Lyrai’s little sister and a certain young dragon. Plus one or two familiar faces and several brand new ones. And a little miryhl called Milk. (In progress. Expected Arrival: Late 2020)
2. Thief’s Gamble (Foundations of Aquila 0.5) An Overworld novella about a thief and her miryhl stealing a dragon’s egg by order of a pirate. The rest of the series will include the creation of Aquila, and should include the thief, a disgraced royal and some sundry others. (Completed. Expected Arrival: Mid-2020)
3. Mages of Royas Bay (Mages of Wrystan 1) An entirely different world, with more of a Middle Grade feel. Still fantasy. Still a fantasy school. Has more magic. Includes young mages and their mage-beasts, which are not familiars or daemons, but sort of are. They don’t talk, but they have big personalities. I love this world, it’s probably my favourite of the many I write (even more than the Overworld) and I have three full books I could share with you while I work hard on building up my next Overworld series. So if you want to keep reading from me while I work on something else, this is probably the one that makes my life easiest. (Completed. Expected Arrival: April)
As it’s the last day in October, normally I’d be gearing up for NaNoWriMo. Sadly, I won’t be taking part this year. I really wanted to and I had so many plans, but I’m just not going to have time or, quite frankly, the energy.
My grandmother passed away at the end of September, after a short illness, so life has been full of sadness, upheaval and far too much organising and legal stuff. And it still is, to be honest, so most of my time of late has been helping my mum make sense of it all. My mum also broke her wrist along the way, so I’ve been driving her around, taking her to hospital appointments and writing down everything she needs, which hasn’t left much time for writing – or even thinking about writing. She’s hoping to start working part-time again soon, which will require more chauffeuring and eat up even more time, so alas, no NaNo for me this year.
I might try and work something out for January instead, but in the meantime, to all the other NaNo participants this year, good luck and happy writing!
Hey, everyone, I’m really sorry but you’ll have to put up with Patreon updates again for this weekend. My laptop died yesterday and I won’t be able to get it sorted until next week (because the dog needs to go to the vet today. This week seriously hates me and I don’t want to play anymore).
Fortunately Patreon is set up to post chapters for a good couple of months, so if you don’t mind a rougher draft, it’s all over there.
Becca Lusher 