Writing Update: September 2027

Here's a 'little' update from Tao's Patreon: 

Wow, it's September already and I have no idea where time went. Actually, I do and it's mostly been editing.

So updates on actual writing is going to be sparse, but there are a few things I can update with consistently, so let's get to it.

A Thousand Li

The First Step (Book 1) and the First Stop (book 2) of A Thousand Li are now in the wild and in bookstores everywhere. If you have been following my Instagram, you'll see all the places in Canada where I've been signing (and a little in the US). Of course you can also get bookplates sent down as well as just general signed copies.

The First War comes out Nov 10 and ends the first trilogy of the series. If you haven't had a chance to read the exclusive shorts, don't forget to ask for the books in your local library to get hold of it. I call it a 'short', but it's 10k words by itself, about a 1/10th of the size of the actual books. :P

In addition, I should add we have some really cool news to be shared (eventually) about the first 3 books of the ATL world, but I've got to wait for the official announcement. Keep an eye out for it though.

Also...

I've got a A Thousand Li universe story in this wuxia anthology. It's got some amazing writers in there, and has done extremely well both in the Kickstarter and selling onwards. I will have a few copies available at Dragonsteel to sell, and I think Julia Vee will have some at Dragoncon.

Celestial Cataclysms

Demonic Tribulations (Book 2) is in the edit stage right now. It's been one of the major edits I've been doing (one of nearly a thousand five hundred pages plus of edits... ) and by itself is 750 pages (320k words). I'm about 3/4 done and will be finishing it up this month (preferably by the middle of the month); but we shall see. It's been my major project for the last few weeks along with the other edits.

I'll start writing book 3 right after I finish editing this because each book is SOOOOO big.

Dungeon Brawler

Book 1 just released on Sep 1. This series has had a bit of a bounce up and down, especially with regard to release dates. As some of you know, we pushed it back from release last year and the cancellation seemed to effect preorders. We never reached the same preorder numbers (no idea why!) but the good news is that books 1-3 are basically written and done.

I finished up edits of book 3 before I started on CC 2 edits, and just got back (and just finished) copy & line edits of the book just now. So it goes to proofing and then recording at the end of the year basically.

Book 4 is on the plans to be completed by the end of this year (we hope!) or start of the year and book 5 soon after. And then that's it. Series is planned for ONLY 5 books long, and it's one of my biggest priorities for the year.

Releases are meant to come out every 3 months, so no waiting around for this series. :)

Hidden Dishes

Mystical Mains (Book 5) of the Hidden Dishes series is finished. That's the other one I just edited and finished, it's going to editors for copy and line editing and then proofing and then recording by the amazing Emily Woo Zeller for the audio.

We have 2 more novellas to finish in this series. I'm vaguely hoping to finish writing them next year and then this series will come to a conclusion. I'm rather excited to have the full series done.

Climbing the Ranks

Climbing the Ranks 4 comes out middle of the month. Some of you might have noticed this series is now in KU, and there's a few reasons for that. Most of that would go into a business post, which I'll get around to writing at some point, I swear; but... first...

Pretty, pretty cover!

If you haven't checked out the series yet, I recommend you do. It's a fun cultivation LitRPG one set in Malaysia, and while it doesn't have as much reference to food as I'd like, it's got Manglish in it. :P

On a sadder note though...

Climbing the Ranks is going on hiatus after book 4. I won't / haven't been writing book 5 at the moment. That's mostly because my obligations for my series (in particular, Celestial Cataclysms) has overtaken my ability to put actual words on the page without burning out.

Quite literally, I am writing more words than ever, having few books released because Celestial Cataclysms is the size of 3 'normal' books for me. Dungeon Brawler doesn't help too, being 150-170k words long each. Same with Climbing the Ranks.

I literally could not keep up with writing all the books I needed to, and quality was suffering. So, to fix that, I put Climbing the Ranks on hiatus until I finish up Dungeon Brawler and Hidden Dishes. Which (hopefully) will be sometime mid-year.

At which point I'll have time to start writing more Climbing the Ranks and adding to it slowly while also tackling new projects.

And maybe getting ahead of Celestial Cataclysms? Who knows...

Trad Pub Project Announcement - The Blade that Remains

The eagle-eyed might have seen some talk about this on socials and in the Discord (which is where all the cool kids live and can be found by joining Patreon). I have a standalone coming out with Ace Books next year called... The Blade that Remains.

Blurb...

Once among the greatest of adventurers, Tai Lun retired to the frontier to raise a family and never looked back. When his son follows in his footsteps and is captured by the newly ascended demon lord, Tai’s past comes calling—and there are dues to be paid. 

To save his son, Tai must cross the ruins of a fallen empire and come face-to-face with the consequences of his past mistakes. If he hopes to succeed, he’ll need the very best. Luckily for him, “the best” are his old friends, former companions on his adventures—if he can convince them to give up their comfortable lives.

One final adventure awaits them, with stakes greater than ever before: the life of Tai’s son.

For those of you at Dragoncon, come to my panel on Friday at 1pm (where Jim Butcher will be). You might get more details about the project and a sneak peak at the cover...

It's fire.

PS: Please pre-order. Seriously. We're going to come up with some cool pre-order incentives for anyone who has pre-ordered (ebook or hardcover) and trust me, you'll want them

Other Projects

I've got other projects????

Yup. So many. Some of it are start/stop, some are in negotiations, some have fallen through before we even finished talking about it. It's why I don't announce many projects till it actually gets signed and the work is halfway done.

Some of it is really cool, some of it is other writing projects or anthologies I'm part of (like the Grimoire anthology that is being released at Dragonsteel) and more...

I'll let you know as things get along.

Appearances & More

We have a handy little graphic here! Bunch in Canada, but Dragoncon (which I'm flying to right now!) and Dragonsteel in the US. There's a Bakka Phoenix book launch in Toronto that has to be added too. I'm looking at what I can do to make that one particularly exciting, but not promises.

I'm just a touch busy....