Thursday, August 6, 2026

Behind the curtain

Hey all, Robin here. I just took a look at the blog and realized that we've been so busy as of late, that I've not filled anyone in on what's going on. So here is the rundown on a few things.

The Cycle Update

I have to be really careful about what I say, so my body doesn't wind up in a shallow grave in the backyard, but I think I'll be okay with mentioning a few things.

In early June, Michael started on the 4th book of The Cycle, and at the time, he had a path to the end mapped out. He's in the critical area now and as he puts it, "Things are starting to compress" - as what remains has only two books to fit into. Part of the problem was that book 4 was really, really big, and book 5 incredibly small. So he had to do a lot of restructuring. The way he's describing it to me is he's rolling out carpet across a long room and hoping that when he gets to the end, the roll doesn't come up short. After much work, he now has two "appropriately sized" books plotted out, which is good.

After getting about 19,000 words in - he realized that . . . "The entire foundation has to be torn down and repoured." Obviously, it's never fun throwing away weeks of work and starting back at square one, but the good news is that he is finally done (now at 45,000 words), and he's moving forward again. The best part, is he is really happy with the new version, and so that was a major hurdle to jump. If you want to check in from time to time to see where the progress is, you can do so from this link."

Michael is feeling a lot of time pressure to get these books done. He "thinks" Book #4 will be finished about the time that Out of the Ashes hits the streets (October of this year). And if that happens the whole series could be done by the end of next year. That was what I was hoping for, as Blythin Castle is scheduled to be our 2027 release, and that means Cycle #1 might just make the 2028 timeline. Fingers crossed. All that said, as with all things Cycle related, nothing is set in stone until Michael is done with the final book of the series, but all in all, things are looking quite good at the moment.

Massive Multi-Author Giveaway

Awhile ago, Jeff Wheeler (author of The Legends of Muirwood with about 30 total fantasy novels under his belt), reached out to me to see if I would be willing to contribute some of Michael's books for a huge fantasy and sci-fi giveaway. The grand prize winner will receive hardcovers from the likes of Naomi Novik, Charlie N. Holmberg, Michael J. Sullivan, Jeff Wheeler and more. For our part, we are providing an advanced copy of Michael's next book: Out of the Ashes, as well as the Nolyn hardcover (either deluxe or trade versions - winner's choice). You can sign up at this link. The winner will be picked at the end of the month.

Out of the Ashes Cover Reveals

As many may know, we are huge fans of Marc Simonetti who has done the covers for a lot of our books over the years. He recently finished the illustration and here is a sneak peek. Click on the image to get a higher resolution detail.

And our daughter, Sarah, has finished up the design for the Deluxe covers. Here is what both books will look like:

Yes, I know the "mock-ups" look like paperbacks - I use an online tool for the 3D graphics and it only supports ebooks and paperbacks. I'm looking for another way to create these. Perhaps Sarah can help.

As for when the Kickstarter will launch - I'm working on it. Hopefully within the next week or so.

Riyria Revelations Anniversary Editions

As some may know, I've been pestering Orbit for about three years now to allow me to produce a special 20th anniversary edition of the Riyria Revelations (in their original 6 book configuration). I was starting to give up hope, but there has been some recent signals that this might just cross the finish line. As with the last set of Riyria special editions, supplies will be limited, and if you want to sign up for early notification, you can do so from this link. Note: the graphic is out of date (it shows these as three books not six, but Sarah is working on the updated covers even as we speak. Another thing to have our fingers crossed about.