Queen’s Journey is complete! The rough draft, anyway, and I expect to send it to my Alpha readers sometime tomorrow. My estimate of how long it would be was surprisingly accurate, as it came out to very close to 120,000 words, and overall I’m happy with it! We’ll see what the Alpha readers have to say, though. I intend to schedule time with the editor shortly, which will allow me to move the release date up. I’m looking forward to it.
I also got bitten by a story out of nowhere hard, which I’m exploring. While I don’t like it taking up so much of my headspace when I’m trying to get to book 6 of Lilith’s Shadow and book 2 of Soul Bound (and book 4 of Through the Fire, and… you know, I’ll stop there), when a story is this strong I think that it’d be a disservice to force it down. Right now it’s under the working title of Chosen of Chaos, and it’s… odd. But fun. We’ll see what happens with it!
Not much else to really tell, though. Broken Chains is coming along fine, not too fast, but not too slow, either, and everything else is going well. I might take a little time for a breather between books (assuming my muse will let me), but I doubt it’ll be long. Too many stories to tell, not enough time to tell them.
I’m looking forward to being able to share more!
Ancient Dreams 
Neat! ‘Chosen of Chaos’ definitely makes my interest get peaked by name alone. I definitely agree that forcing it down could/would be a disservice to that story and/or the current workload. I know you had a tentative plan regarding your upcoming novels, so has this new story upset it?
Also working my way through the Beesong Chronicles. I must say it definitely has a different feel, but I am enjoying it. Thank you for the recommendation!
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I honestly went through a dozen (or two dozen, maybe) titles before someone suggested Chosen of X, and then various ideas for the end. I chose this one because it felt appropriate and could be easily modified (Agent of, Mistress of, and so on). Much better than ‘Queen of Shadows’ which could get confused with Lilith’s Shadow and… well, the character sort of violently abdicates during the prologue. >_>
But yes, this has somewhat upset my plan. Not that it’s /surprising/, just annoying. (Note to self: Update my out-of-date schedule page.) My plan for this fall was to do the last two books I have planned for Lilith’s Shadow (not the end, just the end of the 6-book arc I’d planned), then start on Through the Fire volumes 4+. The first thing to go wrong was when Dusk Gate shoved its way into the schedule. Due to how I’ve set up the timeline, I /have/ to finish Soul Bound before starting on Obelisk of Blood (Through the Fire volume 4). Technically they’ll be mostly concurrent events, but knowing the news that’s going on in-world when Ruethwyn is traveling is important. Then came Broken Chains, but I’m making certain that’s a side project, since it’s been waiting for years already. Now I have Chosen of Chaos shouldering its way in, and I’m just accepting it’s going to make shambles of my ‘schedule’. But if it goes well, I’ll enjoy it.
I’m glad you’re enjoying Beesong Chronicles! It’s very, /very/ different, but I love how perky Joy is.
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Good call on staying away from ‘Queen of Shadows.’ Full stop, my brain shutdown momentarily for the exact reason, you mentioned. I knew it wasn’t, but it still caused that pause.
Dang, that is quite the schedule stopper isn’t it! 😆 I’m definitely looking forward to the continuation of those stories, but I can wait *flashback to finishing ‘Down with the Queen’*! When ‘Queen’s Move’ was announced, my friends’ probably got tired of hearing about it 😆. Fun fact: they (now) want me to cosplay her at a future con.
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Yeah, that was the /exact/ thing I was afraid of. Besides, it wouldn’t even have been accurate! Technically the character was an empress!
I’ve long felt that Lilith’s Shadow was the series that most needed a continuation after the previous book. I think the issue is that my brain just needs a break from the series more frequently, since I have to keep in mind the real-world calendar, holidays, locations, and everything else. I can’t just make up what I need.
Queen’s Gambit is going to happen soon, though. As soon as I finish editing Queen’s Journey and its ready for the editor, I’m going to start on it, even if it requires going concurrent with Chosen of Chaos. I want to make sure that the story is good, and that we have a solid conclusion to the plot arc I’ve had in mind since Born a Queen.
And if you do cosplay her, I hope you enjoy it! If nothing else, at least Lilith’s favorite outfit isn’t that hard to manage!
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