A Long Expected Update


Hey, folks, just wanted to post a brief update in response to the pleas I am hearing daily.  So here's the current plan, to be changed as needed.

I am finishing up Court Wizard, but it's taking longer than anticipated for a couple of reasons.  First, it's the second book in a kind of trilogy, with Enchanter being the first and Shadowmage being the third.  It's also written in 3rd person, instead of first, since it follows Pentandra's adventures.  So I not only have to coordinate with what happened in Enchanter, I have to make sure the right plot points/character developments jive with Shadowmage, a book I haven't written yet.

Oh, but there's more.  I'm not just writing this with a female lead, I'm doing my best to maintain a feminine perspective on the work.  That's a lot harder than it sounds.  And (at the risk of drawing some flak) it's harder to make compelling and exciting in the traditional Epic Fantasy way without succumbing to the Game of Thrones method.  Not my style.

So, it's taking a little longer than I thought.  But then the book is a little longer than I thought, and I'm ending up transferring certain parts to Shadowmage (and even Hawklady, believe it or not) to keep the continuity issues at bay.

On top of all of THAT, I'm trying to manage the entire series -- that is, make arrangements and ensure quality control of the hardcopy and audiobook releases of the entire series, by popular demand.  Hence the Great Rectification, hence the unusual friction on my writing time.  Among the things I'm doing for series management is art and merchandising.  Yes, there will be a calendar.  And coffee mugs.  And T-shirts.  But design takes time, and as I work with my artist to get the product right, it takes a lot longer than you might think.

All that being said, I'm still pushing to have the book finished and more or less ready for publication by the end of the month.  That's going to require a lot of effort on my part, but that's what I want to do.  Whether or not the gods will cooperate is up to them.

After Court Wizard, my proposed writing schedule should look like this:

July 2016: Hawklady (YA)

October 2016 Shadowmage

December 2016  Trask's Odyssey

Yes, you read that right.  Remember that this is a PROPOSED schedule.  I'm my own publisher, now, so the reality is that these dates might not be exact, but they are what I'm shooting for.

Now, in addition to both the Spellmonger and the Space Viking series, believe it or not I have two other unrelated series, both under pseudonyms (and no, not the ScrewTheAlliance stuff -- two OTHER pseudonyms) that I'm dealing with.  One has some pretty impressive potential, and my agents and I are discussing whether to go to a traditional publisher or go independent.  We're getting closer to making a decision, but all of that takes time, too.

And I also want to suggest while you are waiting that you check out my editor, Emily Harris' new novel, Avalon's Choice (http://www.amazon.com/Avalons-Choice-Rebekah-Chronicle-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B01B6OO4WS?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&ref_=pe_1249960_187770310_em_1p_0_ti), a gripping contemporary occult novel.  Hopefully she'll have the second book in the series out soon . . . right, Em?

Thanks for reading.  Bear with me.  It's coming, it's coming.


Terry



Comments

  1. Good to hear! Take your time, I'm certainly willing to wait if it means a more enjoyable read. Also, I'd very much like to know what your other pseudonyms are...

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  2. Hmmm... what are these other two series you speak of, I'm intrigued.

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  3. Hi Terry!! Glad to hear the series is progressing (and that your well!!). I cant wait to read Court Wizard I can't tell you how much I enjoy your books, the more you write the faster I will read them so I too am interested in your secret hidden identities (or as some would say 'pseudonyms'), but I can understand if you want to continue keeping it quiet.

    Please give us an update when you release you next book! is it available to pre-order on kindle already?

    Thanks

    Si

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  4. Thank you so much for the update! Great news.

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  5. Hey Terry, I have a story in the universe you have made that I want to tell. Is there a way I could contact you or discus the idea? If you shoot down the idea I would like to know or know why, and If you don't want to even discus it please tell me. You can reach me @jarleric372@gmail.com

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    1. since Terry likes to take his time i will tell you what Peter Brett said in a reading about this: the Author may have related ideas so its could cause problems with copyrights ect.
      Personally i can tell you that fandom cant be stopped. You may post your story in a forum, but to get your book, set in Terrys world, published while his series ain't finished is almost impossible.

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    2. That is why I want to get in contact with him and see his perspective. Thanks for the points on why it would be difficult.

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  6. Terry you spoil us! Great that Court wizard is only a couple of weeks away, and we're getting 2 other spellmonger books this year according to your plan.
    On reading some old interviews you memntion other possible titles like Seamage, foot wizard, resident adept, and Archmage, are these still potential titles?

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    1. once upon a time Terry mentioned about 20 books for the complete Spellmonger Series (i guess thats including stuff like Hawk Maiden, Knights Magi - otherwise said books with other pov caracters)

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  7. yeah!!!! mugs AND a calendar.... Time for a prayer to Brigga

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    2. Steve, "the much sought after Girls of Sevendor 2016 Swinsuit Calendar..." is on its way (like the armie of the dead, the dragons, the Khaleesi... maybe George Martin aint the best example ^^)
      send a raven to spread the news!

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  8. thanks so much Terry, thats all i hoped for!

    to celebrate this i would like to announce something i'm working on.
    a homepage for the spellmonger
    no, the page aint online yet and it will take some time BUT i can tell you already that its gonna be mostly a forum and wiki

    keep tuned and if you Terry got a problem with this just post below, i'm ready to talk or stop altogether if you feel offended!

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  10. I've heard a lot about your pseudonyms, but I've never actually found them. Anyone mind spilling the beans? Given how much I like this series, I'll probably like his other books too.

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    1. Yea I would like to read these other books. Or what if I have already read them and don't know it.

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  11. *Holds Unfinished Business close* It's okay little story...I'm still here...you're not forgotten....

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  12. I only recently started reading the series, but i am extremely happy to know that i won't have to wait long to read about this world once i read enchanter, and i have a question about Journeymage, is the travel of Rondal and Tyndal explained more? or is that something reserved for some posible future sidestory? (like in the road to sevendor anthology)

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    1. i recall that is going to be another side story (Rondal and Tyndals adventures are only hinted at)

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  13. Just glad you are ok, and still working. :) You know what they say about filling an empty hole... when there is no information, sometimes people start freaking out, myself included.

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  14. Any details on audio books? Release date and who you found to be the voice of Min?

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  15. Glad everything's going fine!
    Try not too overwork yourself; Don't want to see you in the hospital again.
    Patiently waiting for the next installment. Good Luck!

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  16. I'm curious as to why you decided to write in 3rd person for this book since you've written in 1st for all the other books. Was it because you were getting tried of writing in 1st person? These questions will probably be answered when I read the book.

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    1. not quite true. He doesn't write exclusively in 1st person. He writes from MINALAN's 1st person. Most of the short stories are written in 3rd, as well as the entirety of Both Knights Magi, and Hawkmaiden

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  17. Finally finished reading all the books, and jesus i wasn't expecting that ending for Enchanter, now i have question for you all, is Shadowmage about Tybdal and Rondal? because it can't be about Isily (i think) and the only other shadowmage that comes to mind was the rebel they mentioned in this book

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  18. Only two days left in the month....did the Gods help?? If not, I would be happy to help. If you would like to send me an advanced copy, I will proof it for you and send back the typo's. Free of charge!!

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  19. Mugs and calendars are cool and all, but what I'd really like is a good set of maps! It would make the D&D campaign I plan to run in the Spellmonger universe so much easier!

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    1. granted I am not exactly a D&D veteran, but it seems to me like, given how high mages are so OP against anything short of a dragon in small group fights. Meanwhile every other type of hero I can think of would would be....UNP, (useless without High magic, as Minalan kept arguing in warmage).
      I would think that callidore would probably lend itself more favorably to WH40K style full battle type games. Except you've only got 2 races. We don't know nearly enough about any of the alon types to give them a spot

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    2. Oh and I'm pretty sure that a rough map of the 5 duchies exists in one of the books (cannot remember which one or whether it is pre or post castalshar)

      but the only thing you really need for a D&D campaign that you can't make up in this context is the general geography and the general disposition and culture of the people you'll find there, which can be inferred through the books.

      Either of the Riverlands: lush, fertile, heavily populated agricultural societies. Nobles are like Sigelan and Arathaniel.(at least the castali ones.) All of the Alshari Riverlands are within the rebellious regions, plan accordingly for that.

      Not as much is known about the castali wilderlands, but the Alshari ones.... I don't really need to tell you about those. Just read Journeymage. That book is practically a DM's Guide to the region.

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  20. That's awesome Rich. I will not be engaging in such a campaign, but would also like some high resolution maps.

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  21. seems as though Brigga & Herus ( hotfoot) are preoccupied ... prayers went unanswered... :(

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  22. Agree on maps and maybe an view of vassals and such in minalans barony :) you know Shields and names and such of his vassals :)

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  23. While those details and a high res map would be great to have I would prefer to see Court Wizard:)

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    1. Working on it. Just put Chapter 36 in the can out of a planned 40. Problem is, I might need to do another five chapters to finish the book. I'm working, I'm working . . .

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    2. Thanks for the update Terry!

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    3. Thanks for the update Terry, keep up the good work.

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  24. Hey terry, Is imperial infantry more like roman infantry or greek phalanx? In the first book it says the warrior monks were pikemen, but later it says something about swordsmen. Which is it?

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    1. They can be both. Most pikemen carried infantry swords for close-quarters work.

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    2. Problem with pikemen even the greek style 1st is they are a little more inmoverable, and if they are flanked get hurt, but they shred any fighting force from the front. 2nd is that they can get shredded by missiles. Even with the small pike shield's (not an aspis). The greeks countered this with lancer cavalry and strong skirmishers/bowmen. Nice thing with post-Marian reformed Roman infantry is that it was all the same they had large shields, but that means once the enemy learned what they were and their tactics it was easy to dismantle. pre-marian reformed infantry was good at their jobs but poor at the other two types of infantry jobs (Hastati, Principis, and Trearri) The three army types I mentioned all functioned very different and it would be hard to retrain the soldiers to function like the other three types. Not to mention all the different types of armament that the infantry would have to be competent with.

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    3. So I would have to think that imperial infantry would have to be one of these or a mix of them.

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  26. Just found your series and loved it.

    I am eagerly awaiting anything new and am sorry to hear about your health problems. I do hope that you might drop a line about your pseudonym when the books get released at some point.

    I also wanted to mention an idea about I had when I read through the series that I thought fit into the general world. I am assuming that there are tax/tariff men on the roads into/out of Sevendor by now. I was thinking that they would carry a small enchantment that would become stronger/brighter in the presence of a significant quantity of snowstone. It wouldn't catch someone who collects a couple of pebbles but since its effect is inversely proportional to its mass and distance (much like radioactives) this could act as a Geiger counter and catch anyone trying to smuggle large amounts out of the new Magelands.

    gallandro

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    1. Would be fairly easy too. All you would need is a magelight that you can barely see on a stick. It you help it close to a bag and it started getting brighter then the person would have snow stone in their baggage. You would just have to do it away from any other fields - if i remember correctly they were using it fairly liberally on the gate houses and defences to anchor defensive wards

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  27. I had a idea on my mind for some time now: the gods are manifestations oft humanitys colective mind and the spellmonger is the picture of magic in service of humanity so... And the Narasi have no god of magic (only small stuff like Herus)

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    1. And Brigga?? hell shes a calender all on her own...

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    2. She aint no goddess of magic. From Warmage: "I.. ended up learning the dry old rites of Yrentia and Avital, the Imperial God and Goddes of magic. My ancestors, always suspicious of magic didn't have a divinity devoted to the study. themselfs. They only had Luin, the 'scholar', whose major attribute was reading, which to my barbarian kin was magical itself."

      At this point i would also like to point out that Avital has been mentioned several times; the Order took residence in his old temple in Castabriel, his temples are among the last places with the old lore of humanity and he would like a permantent presence like Brigga and Herus (according to Herus).
      I think its only a matter of time until he shows up (one way or another).

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    3. The Narsai didn't have a dedicated god of magic like the imperials, but they did have gods that did double duty as gods of magic. Brigga is a goddess of fire,vengeance, childbirth, baking... and magic. Another example was Herus, who is the god of travelers, thieves, roads and footwizards. Luin was mentioned because he is the closest to a dedicated god of magic for the Narsai of old, because knowledge often is equated with magic.

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    4. thats not my understanding: the Narasi dont have a real god of magic, but magic happens to overlap with the stuff they are responsible for (like childbirth). (just checked) Herus is called god of travelers, messages, crossroads, thieves, commerce, magic... gambling, liars, storytellers, benevolent assistance, shoemakers and a few others. (a few pages before that Briga is called a gooddess of magic too)
      My point remains that they only work with the little pieces of magic that fall in the realms they are responsible for.
      Herus later said: "Uh... I'm a god of peasant magic,"... "Dice, finding lost coins, that sort of thing?"
      "He does that all the time," Briga snorted. " Assumes everyone else knows what he's talking about. It comes across as a bit pompous. You'll get used to it."

      They are not that much into magic and this got me thinking about the part that the narasi gods are not gods of the STUDIE of magic. (or i am reading to much into it)

      To the end this comment from Milean: I tried to retire to the one village in the duchies that was destined to be the first to fall to a massive goblin invasion.

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    5. @ Lodrik18
      I'm pretty sure your right although Briga seems to have a much better grasp of it than Herus as he definately only had a sphere that extended to peasant and theif based magic - that was mentioned specifically. It may expand though if they develop more efficient travelling spells.

      However the Narisi definatly did not have a dedicated God of Magic. I think Briga is about the most powerful sphere for that in the Narisi pantheon from what has been described.

      The Imperial Pantheon seems two have at least two Major Gods of Magic - Avital and Yrentia and likely has several minor gods. Its also possible that some of the other Imperial Gods do double duty too - we really have only heard snippets about the imperial pantheon and we only have a Basic Idea about the Narisi for that matter.

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  28. well Avital hasnt shown up in the stories... yet.. just honorable mentioned....wait till the gabby gods catch wind Min can make em permanent... there will be a line out the castle door... and that might draw unwanted attention ...

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  29. The way I see it, the Nassau made their gods into specialist, rather than arch age style magic users. Brigga is probably better at fire and defensive magic, due to her domains including defensive warfare and fire, and probably gets a bonus from having a domain over wisdom. Ysera would follow a more general magic based control, more similar to Minalan or other imperial trained magi. Gives her a lot of skill in almost all magics, but if you wanted to do something like, say, summon a fire elemental or brainstorm a new enchantment that has never been seen or thought of before, Briga would be better, since she is a specialist in those fields.

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    1. I see your point, but a god of magic has also the realm of research. I think they can expand magic but gods like Briga are aware of magic that haven't been used before (like the magical energy of birth was used for the snowstone accident)
      So imperial gods remember forgoten magic and are capable of expanding the existing lore.
      I just dont see Herus playing with the magical gems like Avital may, of course he could have the stick up his arse (Avital). We will see ^^

      The imperial gods could talk shop (quoted the Narasi gods about that just yesterday) but the Alkan masters should anyways be far better with magic then the humani gods (of whatever kind)

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  30. I mostly agree, though the last part about the gods versus the alka is interesting. From what I see, the Alka are pretty much classic elves in most ways, including a certain level of arrogance. They know a lot more than humanity, and by extension its gods, about magic. But it looks like there are certain areas that they know little about. When they were discussing necromancy, it was pointed out that humans are absurdly talented at enegramtic magic, due to that being a major part of their gods. We have not seen much of Korbal yet, but he sounds like he is retreading a few areas that humans figured out pretty easily. They might suck at other magic, but humans, and probably gods, are amazing at certain magics.

    To;dr Humans suck at all but a few magics compared to the Alka, but they are really talented at what they can do.

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    1. its rather that the Alka Alon avoid some magic for whatever reason. enegramtic magic for one (but they seem capable enough, its said that Kobals managed to make enneagrams permanent, the thoughtful knife was mentioned in enchanter among this lines too)
      the Alka also didnt use sex magic (guess they didnt need that to gather power) and transgenic magic (that one was abused ect)


      I thought for some time about the races, most seem easy enough:
      The Alka Alon are elves, Alon Dradrien (Iron Folk) and Karshak Alon (Stone Folk) are dwarfs, the Tal Alon (River Folk/Hill Folk) are hobbits, Hulka Alon (they roam the great Valley of the North) no idea, Trolls (maybe the Hulka Alon?), the Gora Alon (of the deserts) no idea, the Sea Folk are another race we heard much about (lets call them fishman or so) and the Gurvani are Goblins of course (I guess they were taken from another world too, like the dragons but thats speculation), the dragons are dragons (but smart and whatnot)
      maybe I missed some

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    2. Atlantians, or bringing in Stargate SG 1 , the Alterans,( The Ancients) those who were The Gate Builders.

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    4. Kobal managed an imperfect form of permanent enneagrammatic magic, and that was after centuries/millennia of research. Human's divine magic took care of that problem in an instant. Humans aren't as skilled, but their divinities make them really good at certain areas that the Alka just aren't. Though I think the lack of sex magic was more due to humans putting a lot more emotion into it than the Alka due, which adds power to something that already gets power from the act of creation. Not as useful to the Alka because they already have a huge amount of power, and because they don't have the same, ah, drive as humans do.

      For the races, yeah most are pretty clear. though it looks like we are starting to see the division of even the Alka into more traditional patterns. We now have the Terra Alon, who might be a version of friendly wood elves, the classic Alka Alon, which are just your average High Elf, arrogance included, and then the enshadowed, who are starting to lean more towards becoming Dark Elves. With the various lords each starting to split, and the fall of one of their greatest cities, this seems like the background stories a lot of fantasy stories have on the splintering of the elves.

      I don't know if its just me, but I have always felt that Min's story is the classic rise and fall of darkness, with all these amazing relics being built, and then inevitably lost at the end of the war. Min seems like the character that some hero learns about, and then searches for some artifact that he created that would solve the demonic invasion/corruption of the empire/whatever problem there is at the time. He just feels like some sort of guy who becomes a legend after his death, with any of his creations becoming uber-powerful artifacts.

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    5. I should also point out that the main imperial system is based on the simple Alka system. Being that the Alkan system influenced so much of human magic it is likely that there are areas that humans may exceed the skill of the Alka in but they have either not been broadly explored since the basis humans started from was the Alka system.

      For example if you learn something a certain way you will always tend to follow paths that were started from that early influence.

      If humans had instead eventually developed their own system it is possible they would have discovered more unique magics.

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    6. Briga didnt creat that stone on purpose, she had no idea it existed until Minalan told her...
      Your Alka conclusion doesnt sit well with me, the Terra Alon can have childen with humani for one, you are right with the characterisation that doesnt creat different races (I just cant see the enshadowed changing skin color, they believe them to be pure or whatever... fucking racists almost got all humans killed and responcible for the sink of Pelwin)

      I see Mins story as a biography, he tells everything from a point in the futur (that makes him seem pritty snoppy in "The Spellmonger"), but the idea of the uber-poweful artifacts seems compelling (that would make a better pen and paper adventure i believe)

      and tcow: You are right of course and that the Alka see themselves as the humanis betters leads to the point were they opress certain fields of magic (like enegramtic magic (Minalan hinted at in Enchanter))

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    7. I find it likely they would have preferred that as well. If human magic grew along lines they had already trod then human magical innovations would all be in fields that they could conceivably counter. If human magic was allowed to grow organically it may have produced foreign and new magics that could pose a threat to the Alka.

      This was likely a consideration when you consider that the most powerful trait humanity possessed at first - their Gods manifesting from the beliefs of mortal - was something so powerful that the Alka have problems countering it - and Primal Gods like Ishi - and by extension her imperial predecessor had spheres that even had effects that didn't even allow the Alka to be unaffected.

      I'm not saying this was the only consideration in teaching humans magic but I find it likely that it would have played a major part.

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  31. Just got done reading the series again. I am so ready for the next book.

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  32. Any update on how much longer?

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  33. Just read the series all over again with the short stories in order. Im ready for more.

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    1. Sent the prologue to the editor yesterday. Plan on working on it the next four days. Hoping to have it out by the 20th.

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    2. That only means the writing process is 90% done if everything goes great it could mean rewrite when it gets back as well

      Either way I will be checking amazon and here all day just in case.

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    3. I'm on Chapter 20 of the re-write, and it's going a lot more smoothly now. Will start submitting the rewritten, edited version to my proofreader this week.

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  34. You're a machine Terry, anyone who says otherwise is an barely literate neanderthal that has no respect for the writing process.

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