Not An Announcement

Announcements are declarations. They are definitive. And this is not one.

However, in an effort to update my blog with something (so the bleeping spammers will leave my blog alone for a couple more weeks), I give you something that is not quite an announcement:

I will release Hammerblood, Book 1: Veil of a Warrior around May. Maybe...

My hope was for sooner, but I'm running a couple weeks behind on a last pass copyedit/trimming the fat. In the next week or two, I will need some beta readers. If you and I have conversed in the past and you have some time, let me know—I need your eyes.

Hammerblood is epic fantasy, perhaps a little sword & sorcery, there is magic, there is mystery and I want the characters to pop with their own stories and passions.

The size of the book has surprised me. I started this edit early February, and the book was running at 184,000 words. I was certain, positive and willing to bet the farm that I don't own, that I could cut 20,000 words. At least that was the goal. I knew I still had bloat and wandering prose, but passing the two-thirds mark, I'm sitting at over 182,000 words. I've cut maybe 5-10k, but I've had to add some to the mix.

So, it looks like the book will end up at 700+ pages. Kind of unexpected. This story started out as a history for another book, grew into a short story, a full novel with sequels, and then I had to split the first book and so on.

Not what you would call much of a plan. But you have to fall on your face a few times before you can fly.

The book is looking good, I'm happy with where I'm at and stoked to be near to releasing it upon the world—at least my little corner.

I've got something of a plan for the release, and I'll be excited to share, but first I need to get this edit complete, get it out to beta and get cracking on the cover.

I only hope my ancient computer can handle the art assets. It would be nice to keep the hair-pulling to a minimum. I have a rambunctious two-year old for that already.