Those who have been following this blog may have noticed a lack of activity lately. For that, I will take the blame upon myself, for my two partners have recently found themselves in situations that do not allow them time to contribute to the blog. Until that changes, I am the guy. Though I have proven in the past that I struggle a little when it comes to blogging, I will give it the old college try!

For today, I thought I would finally get to my long-promised update and plan for this coming year. Though we are already halfway through March (spring starts in two days!) my plans for the year are never truly set, as they can change on a whim, an unexpected event, or a myriad of other possibilities that may derail or alter what I mean to do. So much about creative writing depends on my ability to come up with the works that I have planned, and that does not always work out. There are times when a story just is not flowing, and rather than beating my head against a wall, I will often put them to the side and concentrate on something else. Sometimes I take too much time to take that option. It is one of the best things about working for myself, is that I have no true deadlines other than those I set myself.

So, here are my plans for the year, knowing that there will undoubtedly be changes when things take a different tack or veer of the rails.

Audiobooks:

I have two audiobooks scheduled for release this year at present, though that might change in the coming months. The first is Four Days at Netherfield, scheduled for September 9. The second is titled It Taught Me to Hope, which is also tentatively a September release, though I do not have a firm date. I have at least two more that I will be submitting to Tantor this year, though I have no idea if they will make the publication cut off by the end of the year.

New Pride and Prejudice Works:

Those of you who are familiar with my books might wonder about my reference to It Taught Me to Hope, as it is not currently in my library of books. That is because it is a future release, next month to be exact. More to come on that in the coming weeks, including a cover and a description.

As always, I am hard at work on variations, with several more, a mix of shorter and longer works . . . in the works, if you will excuse the pun. As basic premises, I have a long novella based on the theory that Elizabeth never goes to Hunsford and meets Darcy at Pemberley; there are a couple of twists in this one which will hopefully make it interesting. As a shorter novel, I have a plan for a work that explores what might happen if Darcy showed more determination in making his sentiments known to Elizabeth at Pemberley instead of beating around the bush. When Elizabeth learns of Lydia’s elopement, Darcy takes drastic measures to ensure he is in a position to assist.

Then I have two long novels in the works, both planned to be among the longest I have ever written. In the first, Darcy is from a cadet line of the family but inherits Pemberley upon the master’s tragic death. This one has a mystery aspect to it, though it takes a bit to get to that point. It also features Elizabeth and Darcy already engaged and in love at the start of the story. The second novel explores what might happen if Mr. Bennet married a most unexpected woman after Mrs. Bennet’s untimely passing. Yes, I have killed off Mrs. Bennet again!

Fantasy:

For other works, I have long wished to get into other genres, and I have decided to make a concerted effort to do so this year. In the fantasy space, Earth and Sky, the trilogy collaborated with Lelia Eye is still on hold until she finished dealing with some family business. I hope we can get it finished this coming year, as it has sat on the shelf for far too long. I also have a series of books for which I have an outline, but as it is another collaboration, I have been waiting for the other party to commit to actually writing it. I hope something will begin to move on that front this year.

Finally in fantasy, my younger son has been playing tabletop games with his friends for years, and he creates some really imaginative worlds. In a collaboration with one of his campaigns, I am going through his notes and building a history for one of his worlds with the intention of creating a series of books based on that world. I suspect it will be some time before any fruits of this project will reach the public, but it is good to be working on it regardless.

The fact about Fantasy is that it is much more work to create a series of books based on a fictional world than to do P&P variations. Fantasy not only requires the writing, but the author must consider the world, the history, customs, holidays, peoples, potentially non-human races such as elves and so on, and a bunch of other details. More to come on these endeavors in the future.

Others:

And last but not least, I have long had an idea for a series of cozy mysteries that my sisters have been asking me about, so I will try and fit work on this idea into my schedule this year. I have no idea how long it will take to build this project to the point where I can begin to work on it, but I hope will have something soon.

Whew! Looks like I am going to be busy this year! Thank you all for your support and interest in my work. I hope we all have an excellent year!