Verdan Chronicles in 2014

I know we're almost two months into the year, but wanted to share plans for this year.  Volume 6:  Council's End will get published some time this year.  We're just going to pause a little so that Volume 1:  The Fourth Age can be republished.  Let me explain.  For anyone who knows me, the Verdan Chronicles came about as a result of my desire to capture a story that spent over two decades gestating in my head.  I wanted to do the best I could to capture all the details of this world and its inhabitants.  Mission nearly accomplished.

But somewhere along the way some friends and coworkers became aware of how I was spending my weekends and off days.  They expressed an interest in reading the story and through my son I found a way to make it available to them through self-publishing.  And then a few of them encouraged me to let others outside my "friend" circle have an opportunity to read this story.  I can't begin to list all the challenges associated with getting a book out to a wider audience, but inside I had one major roadblock; my writing.

My writing is fine for capturing what was in my head and allowing me to relive those moments.  But is it good enough so that others can share those same visions?  I'm less certain.  But I am certain that when I wrote my first book there were no aspirations or intent that it would be read by a wider audience.  And then somewhere along the way (I think during Volume 2) my writing got better.  I'm not saying great, or even good...just better.  So I've always had an internal block that would not let me encourage others to pick up my books.  Again, I'm not saying the first book was bad, but it was not the best example of my writing...far from it.

Here's the good news.  I finally took the time to (not rewrite, but) refresh Volume 1.  Not a single story element, plot point or character nuance has changed.  But grammatically, it should be just a bit easier to read.  I would say it's just about on par with Volume 2.  Again, it may not be great writing, but it's no longer something I'm embarrassed to recommend.

So I'm really hoping that this new version of Volume 1 will be made available to a wider audience in the very near future.  I'm committed to having it out there over the next few months.  And that leads me into plans for 2014.

1.  As mentioned, republish Volume 1:  The Fourth Age

2.  As part of the Volume 1 republish, obtain orginal artwork for the cover.  This has already been commissioned, so I am excited to see the end result.

3.  Entice a few more people to try the series and see if it really can generate any interest.  Events I plan to attend this year (with a few copies in hand) are Slaython, San Diego Comic Con, Gen Con and Wizard World Chicago.

4.  Publish Volume 6:  Council's End

5.  Explore other alternatives to make my books available to a wider audience.  I'd really like to see if there's a way to get them back on Amazon so they can be downloaded to a Kindle.

6.  Explore options to get more original artwork for other volume covers.

7.  Explore options to get the books formatted to a hardcover edition.  This is more a personal desire to see my books, with orginal artwork, sitting in a place of prominence on my bookshelf.

8.  Finish writing Volume 9:  The Fifth Age

9.  Try to see if I can't firm up some dates for publishing Volume 7:  Out of Time and Volume 8:  The Rise of Magic (title still subject to possible change)

Just looking at my list, it's a lot to do, but my passion for this world and it's characters has not diminished.  For my next blog I'll try to tackle an all important question:  Why should anyone even bother reading this series?