May 2021 Update

Child of Aurumice came back from my editor.   I'm still reviewing all the comments, but his overarching concern is both exciting and gut-punching.

I have written two books.

My editor's intuition is dead on, as when I wrote the original outline, it was two books.  As the story evolved, I thought I didn't have enough content for two stories, so I left it as one book, the length rivaling Mark of the Castle.

I need time to process all the comments before I rush to make this change.  

If I go through with it, bad news for you all, book three is delayed.  However, on the bright side, you get two books and more story!

This isn't the only Centernia project on the horizon.

For years, I've written short stories from different parts of the Centernia timeline, from Elina's childhood to Nico's ultimate sacrifice.  I had considered putting the stories up on the website for free or offering them for 99 cents each.  Neither felt right. Instead, I'm experimenting with an ambitious project leveraging my graphic designer, writer, and artist skills together.  

I want to create a Centernia magazine, collecting the stories with wildly different art and producing them quarterly.  It will nourish my creative soul, deliver more story, and realize the cast in different styles (manga, please?).  I get ever-weary of feeding that disjointed social media monster, and this feels more substantial. 

In the fall, my children will be in school. That's a mega change as I'm their daily caretaker. When my daughter was born almost six years ago, I had just released the first Centernia novel, and my illustration wasn't on store shelves.  Over the past half-decade, I've become a roiling creative beast, shaking my cage as I yearn for more uninterrupted time to make these PROJECTS HAPPEN. 

As always, patience and kind words are appreciated.