This will be a small and quick update. There’s not a whole lot to talk about. But I do want to share some numbers and a few details about the project I’m working on.
In my last update, I announced that I was putting all previously announced projects, such as Threads of Reality and the rough draft of a novella, on hold to focus my efforts on a whole new project. Today, I want to share a few details on that project. Nothing about the plot, unfortunately; the project is still early enough in the rough drafting phase that I don’t feel comfortable sharing those details.
But I can share a few things. For one, I’m taking a somewhat different approach to this project than I have with ToR. Whereas that story is a fantasy epic set in a world entirely of my imagination, this one will explore real-world mythology. You can expect a whole slew of monsters from all different cultures from all different places in the world, from the classic beasts of Greek and Roman myth to the creatures of the night from European folklore to the mythical demons and gods of various Asian countries.
This has been the most challenging – and most fun – part of working on the project. I’ve spent a significant amount of time researching all kinds of gods, spirits, and monsters. In the process, I’ve learned about all kinds of fun creatures and folklore that I’ve never known about before. At the same time, I’ve struggled to present them within the context of this book’s narrative while being accurate and respectful to the legends they originated from.
Secondly, I can share something a lot more simple: numbers! Here’s where I’m at with the rough draft as of writing this update:
- Current page count: 134
- Current word count: 69420 (heh heh heh)
- Current chapter count: 22 + Prologue
- Parts completed: 2/5
I can’t currently say how close we are to the end. I know how it’s going to end, but I haven’t written a strict outline detailing how the story is going to get there. At the pace it’s going, the story could end up being somewhere between 50 to 70 chapters long, placing it anywhere from 300 to 400 pages.
Of course, these are rough estimates. Again: the book is still in the early rough drafting phase. It could very well end up being longer or shorter by the time we reach editing, and god knows how it’ll look once it gets to the other end of that. But I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s still a long way to go for this book.
Still, I’m very excited. Working on this novel has been a ton of fun so far. I have fairly high hopes for this project; I really think people are going to like it.
But I’ve been known to have unpopular opinions before, so… fingers crossed, I guess.
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