First, the Rider’s Revenge Trilogy is part of Kobo’s September 40% Off Book Sale. So if you haven’t read the whole series, check that out. (Direct link to the series here and use code BOXSEPT at checkout.)

If you have already read it, there are plenty of other finished series or box sets that are on sale as well. They even have audiobooks in this one.

Second, if you need some great epic fantasy books to read that are character-driven and haven’t already discovered them, I highly recommend Michelle West. I started with The Hidden City and ended up reading all of the books in a few months, which given their size was an impressive feat. It’s a rare author who can keep readers engaged for that many books in a row.

If you do like it enough to keep going, though, do a search online to figure out the reading order because chronologically you’ll want to stop that series after book three and move to the other related series before going back to finish that one.

And finally while I’m here you may be wondering what’s up with me and writing another book. (If not, you can click away now.)

It’s a good question.

Part of the issue is that the Rider’s Revenge trilogy is complete so I don’t have this “must finish this series” self-pressure to keep going. And since no one is pestering me for more…

(It’s a weird horror I have of being one of those writers whose readers won’t leave them alone and demand the next book immediately like the author doesn’t have a life to live or their own interests in terms of what they want to write next, but being on the opposite side of that coin where people read your books but then are fine to move on and never say they want more is hard, too.)

Also, when I try to figure out the next thing to write I have about ten directions I could go but none that’s driving me. So I spend a lot of time thinking about what I would write next and developing at least three very different worlds in my head, but I haven’t started writing any of them. (Or maybe I have, actually. Or that’s another three novel ideas that were poking at me.)

The good news I guess is that I think I may finally be past the “what if someone hates me” block I had shortly after finishing the last book in the Rider’s series when I started paying too much attention to the public opinions of my SFF peers.

(Nothing directed at me personally. Just their vocal opinions of how if someone likes this book then they’re clearly a horrible person. Or if someone writes about that thing then they’re clearly a horrible person. Or seeing someone very prominent in the industry mock their self-published audiobook clients for bad writing. Things like that. It doesn’t have to be directed at me to get under my skin.)

(Honestly, I really need to stay away from watching SFF discussions on Twitter because if you do that long enough you’ll become convinced that you can’t write a single word without being some sort of -ist or horrible person. For example, I like to write about what people eat and include descriptions of their size, does that make me fatphobic? It’s hard to remember that the very small group of vocal individuals on social media are not the entirety of readers who mostly are like me and read what they like and live their lives and don’t talk much about it and don’t dive too deep on all the issues.)

Anyway.

I also know that I need to write more books under this name if I want this name to sell steady and gain fans. And that I need to do so on a regular basis. And that price promotions, etc. are key to driving sales.

But it’s all tricky when I have non-fiction that sells at full-price month in and month out and I know that one hour spent writing fantasy will earn me $X but one hour spent writing non-fiction will earn me 10 times $X.

Plus there are days where publishing can feel like swimming in a cesspool full of piranhas, so finding success at it is it’s own problem. One I’m not sure I want.

Ah, to be completely under the radar but making a very good living and getting to spend my days with my dog as my sole company…What job lets you have that?

Sorry. Probably TMI. Especially since I hate showing any weakness, negativity, etc. in public. But that’s what’s up. I am writing. I write about 325K words a year on average. Just not…this. And I honestly at this point don’t know whether I’ll suddenly write five novels next year that put onto paper all these stories I’ve been percolating in my head or whether I’ll end up writing another book about securities regulations.