Writing Update

Hello you guys!

I decided to take a little break from writing to just say 'hi' for a bit. I know I should probably do this more often, but I never got into the habit of blogging, so this is still an odd concept for me. Who the heck wants to know what I'm thinking anyway, right? 

I honestly feel like I'm bothering people with my petty interests and issues when I do, but who knows? Maybe you guys will get a kick out of it.

So I'm still chugging away at Sundered Soul and I think I'm close to the finish line now. I'm not sure how well it's going to being received by the true wuxia fans. I have a nasty habit of doing a 180 when it comes to expected genre tropes which seems to rub core readers the wrong way. But there's a method to my madness that I hope you all will appreciate. 

Since my early days of reading comics I've always dreamed of creating my own shared universe and that's essentially what I'm trying to do with Sundered Soul. Yes, the two series will be connected.

As for how that will work is still a bit fuzzy and I'm yet to hone out the details, but hopefully that will ease some you guys fears that I've totally gone off the reservation when it comes to Crystals Shards.

As for book 5 I'm hoping to get back to that next, but I will admit the performance of book 4 has really knocked the wind out of my sails a bit. While review wise it's been well received, and I personally think it's the best book in the series, it didn't do so well commercially. 

In fact the whole series seems to be struggling at the moment and I'm not sure why. Perhaps the genre shift from fantasy to cyberpunk turned too many people off in book 4. Or maybe the long wait in between books 3 and 4 killed the momentum. Or maybe the odd structure of book 3 killed off interest in the series entirely. Or maybe the world has pegged me as a hack and are staying clear. 

Whatever the reason, the effect is the same. It causes doubt. And as a writer that can be your worst enemy. It zaps your confidence and makes you second guess your instincts and can leave you looking at a blank page and sighing instead of writing--or at least that's what it does to me.

I'm hoping that this shift to a new but connected series will help spark that confidence again. And hopefully the launch of the omnibus will help the series too.

I wish I could say I didn't need to care about sales, but right now, they're what's keeping my kids in school, so being successful on that front is terribly important too.

Nevertheless, main reason for saying all that was not to throw a pity party, although it did feel good to let all that out to people who I know would at least understand. 

My real reason  is honestly to say just how much I appreciate all you guys. Every time that doubt creeps in, I can always come on here and say wow... there are like a hundred people out there who enjoy my work so much, that they're willing to essentially throw their hard earned money at me every month on just the promise that I'll produce more.

That's mind blowing really. 

Truly guys, it humbles me so much and makes me appreciate the heck out of all of you. So thanks for being in my corner and having faith in me and my writing.

I promise I wont let the doubt get me down, and will keep telling these weird stories that (for some reason) you all still want to hear. 

Okay, I'm going to get back to it now. For those who came for more Crystal Shards, stay tuned. For those who are sampling Sundered Soul, read on. Hopefully we'll meet somewhere in the middle.

Cheers for now!

~Rick