A belated Christmas Gift

Hey all, Robin here. Since the end of November, and continuing for another week or so, Michael and I have been in Key West Florida, soaking up the sun, biking, playing tennis, and really enjoying ourselves.  Being away from the cold and "the kids" has made it an odd holiday - it was weird hearing Christmas songs while sipping on Margaritas and eating shrimp and oysters.

We didn't even exchange gifts!  So I thought I'd give one to all of you instead (albeit a little late).

Unfortunately, I don't have a new story to send your way (although I did just take back control of The Jester audiobook and you can get it free from us from this link).  WhatI have instead is an update on "The Cycle" (shh . . . don't tell Michel, I'm posting this while he's out for a walk).

If you don't know what that is, then you'll want to learn more about it from the link above. This will be Michael's magnum opus, and it is a love letter to his most ardent fans.  In short, it's a 5-book sequel to the Riyria Revelations, and it will utilize characters and tie in plots from EVERY book (and short story) that is based in Elan.

If you are already familiar with The Cycle then you know it won't be released until it's 100% written and Michael has been working on the project for almost 4 years now. A lot of that time was spent just trying to figure out if such a feat was possible, and after a few filed attempts hit the vertical filing system, writing has been going pretty steady with 2.66 books completed - that's over half way!

• Book 1: 33 chapters (152,667 words) 
• Book 2: 40 chapters (178,045 words) 

As for the current book, Michael's at 89,608 words and he started it on 09/09/25.  The plan is to get it completed before May 1st, and he's well on track for that.

• Book #1 took about 9 months of writing
• Book #2 took just a bit over 10 months
• Book #3 is presently at 3.75 months and if the pace continues he should be done by March 1st which would make it the "fastest one yet" - just 5.7 months!

I've read the first two books and they are nothing short of amazing. I hope you are as excited about this project as I am, but I should warn you, it'll be best if experienced by people who have read all four series. So, if you've not done that yet, well you'll have some time to catch up.

Happy 2026 all!