Yes, I know…it’s been a while. Sorry, guys. Life (and work especially) has a way of getting, well, in the way, and I’ve had a few months of that going on. Luckily, I am at a place in my life again where I can devote a bit more time than usual to writing, so all three of you who read my blog can look forward to more regular posting, updates, progress, snippets and spoilers! Yay!
So here’s what you’ve been missing while I haven’t been posting…
“Faerie Stones.” The short story is still in the works. While I intended to have it complete and published by now, unfortunately about a month and a half ago, I lost the notebook I had been using to handwrite the draft. Fortunately, I do have a decent memory, so even though the original version (which was about 75% complete) is gone forever, I have begun re-writing digitally. While I continue to lament the loss of my favorite drafting notebook (it also contained all the dialogue sketches for the entirety of Circle: Hidden, but luckily I had already transferred those notes to a digital media before the notebook disappeared), I am sure it will show up in a few months once I no longer am desperately searching for it. So for now, we have to drive forward with what I remember, and create the rest anew. Once complete, the short story will be published here on the blog in a series of five parts, each one composed as a journal entry from the perspective of new character Wendy (Cerridwen MacEunrig).
Hidden. The full-length official sequel to Destined is coming along, but slowly. I finished writing the first chapter and then ran promptly into a wall when I realized that the continuity just wasn’t there and my timelines were not adding up. I have since gone back to the drawing board, and that’s one of the main reasons I’ve started more urgently working on the short story “Faerie Stones,” as it contains that continuity Hidden is currently missing. Reading the short story will not be vital to understanding the plot of the novel itself (I am categorizing all the short stories and novellas that take place in between the main novels of the Circle series as supplementary, rather than required, reading), it *is* necessary for me—the writer—to understand where all my characters have been, who they’ve been coercing to join their adventures, and what takes them to the next step. Thus, once “Faerie Stones” is officially out and published and, thus, canon, you can expect to see more swift progress on Hidden.
Destined (Предпазпаченные). So this is a new update! And probably won’t excite you nearly as much as me, but I’ve also begun working on a translation of Circle: Destined, the first novel in the series, from its current English language version, to none other than Russian. As probably at least someone who reads my blog (pretty sure there are three of you total and two are probably robots, so really that leaves one reader…why hello, mom) I am bilingual. Sorta. English is my native language, but I have an academic background in Russian, and—more in an effort to improve my current language skills and get in some translation practice, than any attempt to begin marketing to a new audience—I’ve started working on said translation. As I finish translating chapters, I’ll post brief excerpts of the Russian version right here on the blog! Once the entire translation is complete, I’ll have someone who speaks much better Russian than I do take a look at the manuscript, and then we’ll maybe think about publishing that version as well…but that’s at least several years in the future, as translating while retaining the style of the original is a lengthy and complicated process, and my Russian is admittedly a little rusty.
And finally, some new musical side projects! I’ve recently started working with a few old friends (who did not let their music slide to the back burner like I did) on some collaborative musical projects. We’re starting with a couple joint song endeavors, and we’ll see where it goes from there. This is still very much in the baby-stepped beginning, so I don’t have much to report on in that realm yet. We shall see. It should be fun, if nothing else, although it has nothing to do with my stories! Where I would like to ultimately connect the realm of Aorea with my love of music, and this is of course at least a decade in the future and will likely involve collaborating with several other musicians and vocalists as well (I am an alto…Gren is decidedly not) since it involves MAJOR spoilers from future novels in the Circle series, is an album of all the songs featured in the series itself. When I write the lyrics and poetry that gets featured in the body of my stories, I don’t just stop at the words—I actually hear the melody, too—and I want to be able to share those songs in their full form with, well, all three of you who read my blog (and books…hello again, mom).
So that’s about where we’re at. Stay tuned for (fingers crossed) more regular updates! We should be ready to post the first installment of “Faerie Stones” in a few weeks (for reals this time, I mean it), probably toward the beginning of January. Until then, amuse yourself by re-reading Destined or perhaps even the novella Bound, to refresh your memory of what adventures Mari, Gren and crew have already had!