Welcome back friends. Seeing that it is well into the first month of the new year I thought I would give you all an update. This has been a very busy year for me with family, friends and my day job. All have taken most of my time and energy and it has left precious little time for writing. I also, have been dabbling with voice acting and live acting. This has also taken up some of my free time, but it was a lot of fun. Just wait, you get to see me on your TV as a cult leader who gets killed and turned into a demon possessed corpse. Which, for those who have had to work a double with me, is how they usually see me.
Now, that being said, I have made progress on book 2. I am currently about half way through where I was on book 1 and I am only about one third of the way through the story. This means that book 2 is going to be quite a bit longer than book one. Because of this, it is taking me longer to get it done, but I am making consistent progress. I was a little scared that the story wouldn't be as good as book 1, but I have really enjoyed writing it so far and I am very excited about where it is going and the new characters that are being introduced.
I have been doubling down on using what free time I have to work on both my health and my writing. Hopefully, I can have book 2 done in the next few months. The goal is to have it released in the same month I released book 1. That would be April of 2023. This would mean that it will be two years from the release of the first book. For those of you who don't know, the title for book 2 is currently Famine. Those of you end time fanatics will begin to see a theme here with the titles that correlates to the over arcing plot of the series. Hopefully that gets you as excited about reading them as I am about writing them.
Also, I have been working on the outline for book 3 and the goal, barring life getting in the way, is to have it released by the end of the year. So the plan is to have two books released this year. My goal is to get to a place where I am able to release two books a year. This series is only slated to be five books long with a few possible spin offs in the future, so that would mean the Justice Cycle series should be done by 2025. After that, I will move on to a new series.
Next, I am trying a new direction with the cover art. I have a friend who is a graphic designer and film maker who wants to try his hand at doing covers for me. This would save me money and have my cover artist near by. He came up with the original design for my book and I was already planning on using it for the hardcover for book 1, which I am working on releasing soon. I am excited for this, though I am very proud of the work Jamie Glover did for the original release of book 1. I have a large print version of the original cover hanging on the wall in my writing room.
The next thing on the agenda is the possibility of an audio book. Now, I haven't had much success in selling book 1 even though I spent three months and bit of money promoting it this year. I have been told by some very successful indie authors that the best way I can promote my books is by writing the next one. That is where my focus has been over the last few months and what will be my focus for the next year. But, I have had a lot of people show interest in an audio version of the book. Personally my own book consumption has pretty much been relegated to audio books this year, so I see the value in creating one. If you are interested in me producing an audio book, drop me a line and let me know. The more interest I get, the more likely I am to do it.
I am also working on a series of children's books, but won't be taking them seriously until I have finished this series. I also have a traditional fantasy series I want to write and even a possible sci-fi series. I very eclectic in my creativity just as I am with the music I listen to. Don't worry though, I already have the idea for two prequals and a collection of short stories that will take place in the Justice universe, so these books won't be the last time you get to enjoy these characters.
Anyway, Now you know the plan for the next year. Hopefully you have already read book one and enjoyed it, and I am sorry I have made you wait for more. Sadly, I still have a day job and that will most likely not change for the foreseeable future. Because of this fact, it tales me a while to finish books. Maybe someday, I will be able to do this for a living and then I will be able to get a lot more content out a year. Until then, I hope you stick with me and continue to enjoy what I write. As always, I love you all and am so honored that you have taken the time to check out my writing.
God Bless
J
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