Hey all. Just throwing together this little update on stuff. Things.

To start, last month I released a collection of my short stories:

I included stories posted on this site along with new ones never before seen or published. As shown, it’s only 99¢ on Kindle (free on Kindle Unlimited), but it’s also available in paperback for $7.99 for those who’d prefer.

So give it a read if you haven’t and hopefully enjoy.

Speaking of my short stories, I wrote up a creator commentary for “The New Babysitter” here. Just some thoughts on what went into developing the story. Check it out if interested.
I plan to write some more commentaries in the future, likely focusing on other Graylands characters such as Lily Blackthorn and maybe Scifer.

Regarding the site, I decided to get rid of the Graylands Appendices I’d written. They seemed like a good idea at the time, but I think anything worth knowing about Graylands and its world and people will make it into the books themselves.
I was never really happy with them anyway. They felt very incomplete and awkward. And considering they got few page views, I doubt they’ll be missed.

As seen on Facebook, I created a few more ads for The Ghost Princess and The Jinxed Pirate respectively:

I’m not sure if “where people go when they don’t want to be found” is the best tagline, but it’s what I’m going to run with.

Which finally brings me to the status of The Gray Kings, the next volume in the Graylands saga.

As of this writing, I am about halfway through the first draft. As said in a previous post, I can’t devote as much time to writing as I’d like, but real life comes first. Nevertheless, I’ve been getting what I can done when I can, so the work has been moving.
Hopefully, fingers crossed, I’ll have the first draft done by the start of summer.

I’m not sure what to say otherwise. I’ve already hinted at some of my plans in previous posts, and I think revealing any more would be spoiling. And it’s only the first draft, so lots will change between now and when it’s finished.

I can say that the gods are going to get attention. There have been references to the Fallen Gods in previous books, but in this one we’ll learn what they were along with some of the history and mythology of Graylands and its world.

It’s also looking like Lily is going to take the lead in this one. I consider these books ensemble stories, but if The Ghost Princess was primarily Katrina’s, and The Jinxed Pirate was Krutch’s, this one is shaping up to be Lily’s. She’s under a lot of pressure and I think her conflicts will be the heart of the story.
But again, a lot can change by the time the book is finished. I have a feeling, if not Lily, maybe Lock.

That’s really all I can think of revealing at the moment. I’m tempted to discuss the themes that are emerging, but I’m not yet sure what would be teasing and what would be spoiling.

So I’ll leave it at that. I’ll keep working, and as said, hopefully the first draft will be done by the summer. We’ll see from there, but if all goes smoothly, I’m confident The Gray Kings will be ready for publishing sometime next year.

Until then, keep reading.

Cheers.