Happy New Year!
The holiday season is at an end, and with it 2023 comes to a close. I hope you all had a great time with friends and family and were spared the worst of the winter colds and flu (I was not).
Last year was the beginning of me rediscovering my love and passion for writing, and the start of my sharing it with the world. As we head into 2024, I wanted to give you a glimpse of what you can look forward to from me in the coming months.
First is A Night of Knives, my debut novel and the first book in a planned duology. If you haven’t been following closely, here’s a brief blurb:
The king lies dead, leaving his protector, Tharin, mired in guilt and uncertainty. The city's gates are barred until justice is served, turning the once bustling metropolis into a silent chessboard of treachery and hidden motives. Tharin, a man of honor and dedication, finds himself navigating a maze of deceit, where every noble, servant, and even family member of the court is a potential suspect. Will he unmask the perpetrator in time to avert the impending chaos, or will the murderer's insidious plans already be too far along to thwart? In this gripping tale of mystery and medieval politics, loyalty will be tested, truths will be questioned, and a protector's resolve will be put to the ultimate test.
The first draft is still sitting at around 25-30% completion, with progress having stalled quite a bit during the last two months of 2023 for various reasons (holidays, sickness, burn out, etc.). I’m determined to get this one out this year though, even if it’s the only thing I manage to get done on this list.
Next up is the Blades for Hire Anthology (official name TBD). This is a collection of short stories from various contributing authors that will be compiled and published by me, with the profits going to a book-related charity of our choosing. I will be sending out publishing contracts and notices of acceptance to authors who applied sometime later this month, and am thrilled to be working with such a talented group of independent authors.
I’m also hoping to launch my indie author podcast Quill & Query later this year, but don’t want to fill my plate up too much so this is one that more or less depends on how heavy my workload gets with everything else. I also still need to find a co host, decide on a schedule, etc.
Lastly, I plan to launch my publishing LLC this year, which will be the name under which I self-publish just about everything from TTRPGS, to novels and anthologies with other authors, and more.
So that’s all I have planned for 2024. It’s a lot, and I probably won’t get to all of it, but I’m still going to try. I have even bigger plans for 2025 and beyond, but will save those for another day.
For updates on these projects, you can follow me on social media or just check back here. I try to post regularly (when it’s not the holiday season). I’ll also be sure to get the newsletter up and running as soon as I can so those of you who signed up can get email notifications about new blog posts when they go live.
It’s time for me to get to work, but you’ll hear from me again soon.
~Brandon