Autumn Has Arrived on the Mountain

September 29, 2022

Autumn Has Arrived on the Mountain

September 2022

Autumn has arrived on the mountain, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve spent the last three weeks catching up on all the stuff I let lapse while I was on deadline, and generally stayed away from Spellmonger stuff for a while to let my brain rest up a bit. Pro tip: if you do any kind of creative heavy lifting, then setting periodic rest periods between projects is essential. It’s difficult to quantify, but creative work requires these little mental vacations in order to keep the equipment working. It’s kind of like cooking a big meal for all of your friends—as a cook, you want to take a few moments away from the kitchen before sitting down to enjoy the meal. So I’ve generally taken a break for the last few weeks.

How do you know how long to pause? My general rule of thumb is that when I start thinking about how to start the next book, I’ve recovered enough. That’s starting to happen. And that’s part of my point. “Working on other stuff” is frequently the best way to convince your brain that it needs to focus on your creativity. People often ask writers, Where do you get your ideas? It’s one of the most common questions, and while we look for a snappy comeback for that so we can appear witty, the plain truth of the matter is that many of us generate those plans and ideas while we’re doing normal, mundane, and even boring stuff like taking the dog to the vet or going to Tractor Supply for horse feed or sitting in a waiting room somewhere. That’s when your sneaky subconscious starts to fidget and ideas pour forth as a kind of protest to your boredom.

Conversely, a good bottle of whiskey can provide a surprising amount of inspiration. Larry Niven told me that once.

In any case, the weather is getting cooler, the pressure is off, and there are a couple of new books being released in the Spellmonger series: The Mad Mage of Sevendor (out now!), Shadowheist, and Marshal Arcane.

Also, I will be attending and sponsoring a booth at the Baltimore Comic Con the weekend of October 28th. This will include at least one off-site meet-and-greet for the fans, so if you want something signed or want to ask me awkward questions, you can do so without going to the Comic Con. But that’s where I’ll be, with plenty of merch and books and my charming kids to help out. More details will be released as I get them.

This won’t be the only promotion I do, but that’s the one I’ve got nailed down. But here are the details of the other important things, release dates, and Spellmongery goodness planned beyond Mad Mage:

TODAY: Reddit AMA

Join me on r/Fantasy to ask all of your questions on The Mad Mage of Sevendor and Spellmonger! I’ll be hopping on at 6pm ET/3pm PT, but start commenting those questions now 💭 it’s what wizards do…