It's 2026!
Seems impossible, the relentless march of time, and yet here we are again in a brand new year. Let's talk about writing stuff! I've got two updates: Possessed, and the third book in my Ageless Queen series (the first of which, Piety the Knife, we've talked about quite a bit in the past).
Possessed
As mentioned in my last email, I'm self-publishing my contemporary fantasy, Possessed, this year. It's a fun book that I think fans of my vampire titles will really enjoy. It's not quite as dark and gritty as those, but it's got the same blend of interesting characters, modern-day fantasy, and catchy dialog. It's also really funny, if I say so myself (which I feel comfortable doing because multiple other people have also said so)!
I hired a freelance editor to give it a read and get back to me with thoughts on where the book needs work before publication. The good news is: they thought it was very strong in its current state, so the areas for improvement are mostly tweaks around the edges, not stuff at its core that needs serious rewrites. This is good for two reasons. First, it means less work for me (woo!). Second, it means faster delivery for you. I don't have a release date yet, but I'm more confident about getting it out in the first half of 2026 now.
So, what are the next steps? Well, first I'll put together a plan to address the feedback. Then I'll write the bits and bobs I need to do so, and get them fit seamlessly into the book. Once that's done (and I plan to start this month), I'll spend some time copyediting – just searching for typos and that kind of thing. Once I have a finished, clean draft, I'll begin assembling the eBook. That'll take like two hours. Then I'll begin assembling the print edition. That'll take several days.
In order to do either of those assemblies, I'll need a cover. So, starting in a few weeks, I'll be engaging in a search for an illustrator. I'll have a whole post about it over on my writing site, which I'll be promoting on BlueSky and on various artist-focused sites. The goal is to find a talented pro whose style is a good fit for the story. Once I have the illustration, I'll turn it into a cover.
I'll be updating a lot more once I have a clear idea of when exactly Possessed is coming out. I'd like to get it into people's hands ahead of summer, as I think it's a great beach read. We'll see!
The Ageless Queen
As mentioned in the last email, the plan was to spend November and December writing the third book in the series I'm currently calling The Ageless Queen. The first book, Piety the Knife, is the one that landed me my second literary agent. We're still holding off on sending that one out to publishers right now, but hopefully the market will swing back toward epic/dark fantasy soon.
In the meantime, I want to finish this series whether or not we ever manage to sell it, so I did what I said I'd do! Over the course of forty-two days, I wrote 93,781 words, which is about 385-390 print pages. A nice, good-sized, but not overwhelmingly long book. About the same length as my novel The Broken God Machine.
The entire book is a prequel, in a sense. It takes place many, many years before the first two books in the series, and answers a lot of the questions that readers will have about the world of the Ageless Queen. I think it's pretty good. Needs work, of course … but all first drafts do. It's currently in the hands of my advance readers (including my brilliant wife Charlotte, who's already finished it). My agent Diana and her assistant are also taking a look at it. Once I have their feedback, I'll sit on it for a bit and let it kick around in my brain, and then I'll get to work on a new draft!
Wrap-up
I think 2026 is going to be a big year for my writing, and I'm looking forward to working on both of the above projects, and more, this year. Also really excited to finally get a new book into your hands. I think you're really going to like this one. Stay tuned for more!
Hope you have a great new year,
-Chris
You can get these updates before they hit the blog by subscribing to the newsletter!