The writing on the book I’m currently working on it going far slower than usual.  As I’ve stated previously, it’s the final book of the series, but it’s not the final book in the series.  For those who missed it, I’ll explain.

The book I’m writing now, Travelers, was originally going to be the first book of a new series that takes place a couple of hundred years after the original series in the Unseen Things universe ends.  However, as I was writing it, I realized that it would work far better as the final book in the Unseen Things series, so that’s what it’s become.  However, because it’s a couple of hundred years in the future after the Earth has been devastated by a race from another dimension called the Echnids, and also doesn’t have any of the original characters in it until near the end, I basically had to start from scratch.  It’s all new characters, new settings, new tech, a new enemy race and everything else.  That’s why this book is taking far longer to write than my previous ones, which would typically take me about a month each to write and edit.  I think you’ll find it’s worth the wait.  I’m really excited about having this be the final book of the series, because it’ll really close everything nicely.

I won’t be publishing Travelers right away obviously after I finish it, because I still have one more book to write in the regular series…or at least one more.  We’ll see how it goes.  The beauty of Travelers is that it can serve as an end cap to the series, regardless of how many more books I write.  As of right now, I’m only planning one more that’ll be called Infestation.  So Infestation will be book 15, and Travelers will be 16.  If I do decide to write any more in between, then the number on Travelers will change, but for right now, that’s how things stand.

Anyway, I am working on it, albeit slowly.  I really want Travelers to be a great ending for the series, and perhaps even something that could go on to become it’s own series at some point in the future, much as I had originally planned for it to be.  The reason I changed my mind is that I just couldn’t think of a continuing storyline that would warrant turning it into a series.  I love the characters, especially the two main characters, Jake and Lana, so who knows?  Maybe it’ll turn into something more.  I think after I finish the series though, I’d like to write some stand alone novels, just to do something different.  Plus I think doing some stand-alone stories will allow me to introduce more people to my writing, which would then perhaps lead them into getting into the series.

That’s it for now.  I just wanted to do an update to let people know I’m still alive and working. 🙂

Basically, I took a month and a half off from pretty much everything.  I spent a little over a year pumping out fourteen full length novels, and then I got half way through the fifteenth and I realized how completely burned out I was.  I just needed a break to reconnect with some of the other things I enjoy in my life that I’d been neglecting for far too long.

I’m slowly starting to get back into writing, and I think I’ve come to a decision about the series.  Travelers isn’t going to be the first book of a new series.  It’s going to be the final book in the original series.  Whether there’ll be more than one more book that comes before it, I’m not sure yet.  I’ll just have to see how the next actual series book goes and then make my decision.  For right now, I’m thinking the next one will be the last one before the final one.  We’ll just have to see how it goes.

Anyway, that’s it for now.  I’m alive, and I’m rested, so I’ll be getting back into the swing of things here soon enough.

I’ve had some delays in my writing schedule as of late for a variety of reasons.  Lack of sleep, spending time with friends and family and just a general sense of burnout have slowed things down.  The burnout in particular is a big part of it I think.  I spent over a year just pounding through one book after another and put out fourteen books.  No one can maintain that kind of a writing schedule without getting burned out to some degree.

I have slowed down my writing schedule for a bit, though I haven’t stopped entirely.  I just finished chapter nine of Travelers this morning and I’ve been thinking a lot about the final book in the Unseen Things series, so things are still progressing.  I’m just going to spend a little more time on other things for the next few weeks.  Things like playing music and video games, and I’ll definitely try to get more sleep.  The sleep issue is probably the biggest factor in all of it.  It seems like I’m tired all the time now, and I’m sick of feeling that way.  I need to get caught up so I can actually function again.

So…to sum it up, work is continuing, albeit at a slower pace for a little while.  Once I start feeling better, I’ll get back to my old writing schedule again.

From now until December 26, 2015, I will be giving away the first book of the Unseen Things series, Origins, exclusively on Smashwords.

Use this coupon code to get the book for free: MK27Y

You can get the book here:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/380914

You can also see what other books are in the series here:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/10638

Right now, as I’ve already announced, I’m writing the first book in the new series that takes place in the Unseen Things universe.  Once I finish this one, I’ll be writing the final book in the Unseen Things series.  While that may not be the last book I write with those characters, and likely won’t be, it’ll be the end of that series.  I’m seriously considering doing a new series with the original characters that takes place in the future.  That series will probably take place in the same time frame as the Wasteland Earth series, and may see some random crossover appearances between the two, but each will be its own series.

Now, as for the scheduling of the next two releases.  I’m going to finish writing Travelers, the first book in the Wasteland Earth series, and then I’m going to write the final book of the Unseen Things series, as I said above.  Once that one’s done, I’ll release both books simultaneously, because I’ll be writing an epilogue in Infestation that will reference how things came to be in the new series, and will also reference a specific event that was caused by one or two of the characters in the original series.  I don’t want to have the first book of the new series out without having that one out as well, even though I’ll be adding a forward into Travelers to kind of explain things.

Does that make any sense?  Let me simplify it since I just realized I’m sitting here rambling.  I’ll finish both books and then release them at the same time.  There, that’s all I wanted to say. 🙂

Ok, I’ve started writing the next book, as I said in a previous post.  This one is called Travelers.  Here’s a little more info about it that I didn’t include in the previous post…

Whereas the Unseen Things series was heavily into family, love, honor and relationships as far as the characters were concerned, the main characters in the new one are more of the anti-hero type.  The kind of people who are out for themselves and their own survival rather than concerning themselves with the problems of others.  That is, unless there’s something in it for them.

It’s a whole different style, and I’m throwing a lot of humor in.  Jake is as competent as he is cocky, and if there’s a chick within’ fifty miles that’ll have sex with him, you can bet he’ll sniff her out.  Lana is his best friend and long suffering partner.  They tried the whole relationship thing once, but when he went and had sex with another girl about eight hours later, she saw real quick that he wasn’t exactly the relationship type.  They’ve got each others backs though, and there isn’t anyone in what’s left of the world that they trust more than each other.

The story takes place over two hundred years in the future after the group from the Unseen Things series has already left and moved over to the Nathalis dimension.  With no one there to protect the Earth, the Echnids launched a successful attack that wiped out most of humanity before they started setting up bases and stealing the Earth’s resources.  Unfortunately for them, someone from the original group happened to come back to check on things in their home dimension, and when they found out what had happened, they used their minds to turn all of the Echnids inside out.  Unfortunately, not knowing what dimension the Echnids came from, they had no choice but to go back to the Nathalis dimension and leave what was left of humanity to fend for itself.  No one knows what exactly caused all the Echnids to suddenly turn inside out that day, but once they’d all been killed, the humans who were left started scavenging their technology and building settlements.  There are still random raids by the Echnids, but for the most part the main threat to the Earth had been wiped away.  Unfortunately, another threat arose afterward in the form of roving bands of scavengers called Skinks.

Like I said, this is a whole different thing from the original series as far as the amount of humor and the characters’ personalities.  If I do happen to turn this into a series of its own, the series will be called Wasteland Earth.  I won’t know if it’ll be the first book of a series or a standalone book until I reach the end and see where the story takes me.  Regardless, the book I write after this one will be the 15th and last book of the Unseen Things series, Infestation.  After that, if I’ve decided to turn the other one into a companion series, I’ll start working on those.

It’s going to be an incredibly sad thing for me to end the Unseen Things series after I’ve put so much time and effort into it, but I think it’s time to do it.  That’s not to say I wouldn’t be open to writing a new series for those characters that takes place in the future, but right now all of my attention will be directed toward the new series after I get that 15th book done and published.

Anyway, that’s where things stand as of right now.  If there are any changes in my plans, I’ll certainly post about it.