Fall into a World of Words 🍂

 

Autumn has settled on my mountain, and it’s lovely. I’m not a pumpkin spice guy, and I haven’t quite broken out the Uggs, but I see a lot of chili, cider, and yard work in my future.  Considering I spent the entirety of my summer (with a few brief interludes) behind my computer on deadline, the yard work required will be epic.   But we have submitted the final draft of Shadowblade, and so my watch has ended.  I am (currently) free of deadlines and can get back to all of the stuff I pushed to the back burner for the last eight months.  That appears to be a lot.  The last few newsletters have been lamentably short (or brilliantly concise, depending on your perspective).  I’m going to make it up on this one.  Here are some highlights: Catching up on correspondence, marketing, promotion, and bureaucratic errata.  When I’m in deadline mode, I let a lot of this slide in order to focus on my writing.  I have found that when I let myself be distracted, I WILL be distracted.  It takes a certain mindset to be able to create a world as intricate as Callidore, and if I want to get it done on time then I have to “go dark” sometimes (an ironic term, having just completed a Gatina book).  Now that I’m back in the light, it's time to catch up on many and diverse matters.  There are people I need to speak with from the two cons I did this summer, phone calls to be returned, emails that need to be answered.  I have a list.  It’s a really big list.   One of the first orders of business is the final edits of the Spellmonger FRPG copy from Battlefield Press.  It’s been sitting in my in-box for weeks now while I finished Shadowblade, and it is perhaps my highest priority.  Special thanks to David Ramsay, the brilliant mind behind the Spellmonger Wiki, for his amazing work on this project.  He assisted Jonathan with much of the piece before he passed away, and we are both dedicated to ensuring that this bit of his legacy will be fulfilled.  Indeed, I have dedicated Preceptor to Jonathan in tribute.  I can’t deny it — I’m looking forward to diving into this piece.  But there’s a bittersweet taste to the idea.

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📍  Maps!  Yes, maps. 📍 I’ve collected a small stable of artists over the last year who specialize in cartography, and it is high time to pull the trigger on creating useful, easy-to-read maps of the Spellmonger world.  In fact, it’s quite essential.  It’s also incredibly time-consuming.  I could write two or three chapters in the time it takes me to develop a map, and it is generally for my use rather than with the reader in mind.  I am a poor artist, and so I have found far better artists to do the hard work.  The next several months will be devoted in part to seeing this project initiated.

📚  Reading!  Yes, reading.  📚 When I’m writing, particularly under deadline, it’s impossible for me to split my attention between what I’m composing and what I’m reading, save for research.  Reading for pleasure, one of my great passions, is put aside.  As a result I’ve accumulated a thick stack of Real Soon Now books that I want to delve into.  This includes a few select unpublished pieces from new authors who have asked for my assistance, and I’ve agreed to provide a look at their work.  That also includes a stack of non-fiction that I have accumulated for both research and general interest—stuff that adds to my world-building muscles.  There are a few items that are there for my pure indulgent pleasure as well as things I want to re-read.  It’s painful to not be able to read to my heart’s content.  But I’ve learned the dangers of Reading While Composing, and I have developed the discipline to avoid it.   But I can read again.  Yay!

🤩  Promotion of Preceptor and Shadowblade!  🤩 Both of these books will be out soon, and I want to devote as much time as possible to promoting them.  That means interviews, a few signings, and generally increasing the profile of the Spellmonger world.  Preceptor is a subtly important book for the series and for Min’s character development, as well as for setting up the next book.  Shadowblade (coming in at a robust 197k words) is the third and final book of the Legacy and Secrets YA trilogy featuring Gatina’s back story.  They were two very different types of novels, but both were important in different ways, and I want to make certain that they get their due promotion.

🥘  Cooking!  Yes, cooking.  🥘 I’m passionate about the art, and I do almost all of the cooking for my family.  When I’m on deadline, the hours I usually devote to making food evaporate.  For the last several months it’s either been Sandwich Night, Scrounge Night, or Takeout Night about five nights a week.  Since we live in rural North Carolina and restaurant options are slim and grim, that doesn’t leave many options.  Thankfully, I can put the nights of Bojangles behind us for a while and get back to indulging myself.   I have several new vintage cookbooks to experiment with, as well as a few new ones: Tasting History, by Max Miller, and Baking Yesteryear by P. Dylan Hollis.  Those are two YouTube stars who got their start during the pandemic, and I highly recommend their channels.  Both cookbooks are beautiful, by the way, and incredibly rewarding.  They are inspirations for my inevitable Spellmonger cookbook.

🎃 🦃  Indulgence in the holidays!  ⛄✨ After bartering away my last two summers, I fully intend to immerse myself in the holidays this year.  I find that an excellent way to help recharge my batteries. While I’m looking forward to the cooking onslaught and general merriment of Thanksgiving and Yule, I will be starting the festivities with a Halloween party I’m co-hosting at Studio 71 art gallery and frame shop on Oct. 27th.  If you’re local, feel free to drop by and talk with me about Spellmonger.  I might even have a few books to sign.

🔮  Future Ambitions! 🔮 Let’s start this section with the fact that my con schedule for next year is open.  And while I do enjoy setting up a booth and working a con, I’d like to do more guest appearances this year and indulge in some panels.  If you are affiliated with a con who would like to have me appear and speak, email me at tmancour@gmail.com.  I haven’t committed to anything yet, so my calendar is wide open.

🇬🇧  Possible UK TOUR?  🇬🇧 I am toying with the idea of re-arranging my writing schedule a little so that I can spare time to visit my fans in the UK next summer as well as take a bucket-list castle tour of Britain.  While this would require a lavish expenditure of time and resources, I’m seriously considering it.  I’d like to spend three or four weeks there entirely for research purposes.  I’m also considering taking the Queen Victoria II trans-Atlantic passage to get there.  I’ve always wanted to take a Cunard liner.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Reply to this email.

🧙‍♀️  Apropos to the last item, I am likely going to only release one to two books next year.  🧙‍♀️ I would like to get Practical Adept (or Resident Adept—still debating that) done early but then devote most of the rest of the year to the aforementioned promotion and development of the entire series.  That doesn’t mean I’m slowing down my pace (I have at least three Spellmonger projects in active development right now), but the adjustment in my writing schedule will likely mean an unduly long gap between Books 17 and 18.   And that’s why I’m doing this: I will have a fantasy series of 16 books by the first of the year, with six YA novel spin-offs and five anthologies.  That’s impressive, by any standard.  I feel an obligation to introduce the series to those fantasy fans who haven’t read it yet, and that means promotion.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to Martin you or anything, but I want to increase my reader base by the time Book 18 comes out.  That means 2024 won’t be as prolific as the last few years.  I’ll be back in stride in no time, though, promise!

✍️  Other writing!  ✍️ Believe it or not, I write stuff other than Spellmonger, and a lot of that has been lingering on the back burner for far too long.  I will likely try to turn my attention to a few of these things, particularly those which are close to completion, and knock them out in what spare time I have.  I’m not going to mention which projects, yet, because only time and fortune will dictate which will catch my fancy and allow me time to do them, but it is my intent to get at least one completed by the time Resident Adept (or Practical Adept) comes out.

🤫  Secret Projects!  🤫 That being said, I have several secret Spellmonger projects that are not directly related to the main series I’d like to see done.  The maps and the cookbook are among them, but by no means all of them.  Some of them are Super Secret.  I’d tell you more, but they’re SUPER SECRET.

Con Addendum!   I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the two amazing con experiences I had this year: Heroes Con in Charlotte and Baltimore Comic Con.  I enjoyed both immensely, had a blast meeting the scores of fans who came out, and especially want to thank Craig Maefs for attending both and dressing as Gandalf and Stan Lee to help lure new readers to my booth.  Craig is a class act and a tireless promoter of the series.  For those who don’t know, he is one of the most active fans on the Ghost Rock Discord server, as well as an organizer of the frequent Q&As we do at the cons.  He has my immense gratitude for his work and assistance in promoting the series. In addition, I finally got to meet Andrew Bittick, another superfan who is highly active in the Spellmonger community.  We’ve written for years now, but this was the first time I ever got to meet him in person, and it was a genuine pleasure.   But there were plenty of other fans who drove extremely long distances to see me, and I am incredibly grateful and gratified by those who made the effort.  I do my best to indulge anyone who does that by answering as many of their questions as possible, as completely as possible, without spoilers.  I am mostly successful, I think.  When I meet someone who is as enthusiastic about my world as I am, it gives me a special kind of joy, like thunderous applause at a concert or a sweet Nike deal after winning a championship.   Y’all are why I do this, after all.  Being able to share my daydreams with others is intensely gratifying, and if I can make you laugh or weep along the way, it’s even more satisfying.  Meeting you in person is a genuine treat, and I’m grateful for each of you. That’s enough for now.  I’m getting misty. Best, Terry