Wow. When I went to write this blog post, I just titled it "Jan 2020.” Twice actually.

Perhaps because the start of 2020 has been just astronomically cold and catastrophic in several ways for me.

(Anyone else feel like 2020 has been both the longest year of all and the fastest to fly by? How is it already the end of February?)

P.S. It really was the longest cold snap for Fairbanks since 1942-43. We didn’t get above 5F for 34 days. Fairbanks Newsminer

Photo by Mira Kemppainen on Unsplash — Photo by Mira Kemppainen on Unsplash

Announcements:

I feel like I should have a TON to announce since I skipped blogging last month and didn’t even send out a newsletter, but really, I’ve just been keeping my head above water this past couple of months.

We’ve had a lot going on in our family, with our youngest child having some health concerns, and this has proved to be a distraction from my writing. Even when I have the time to write, I sit down and I end up researching her health conditions, booking doctor appointments, talking to doctors on the phone, etc.

Then last month, I started having a small health issue of my own, which felt scarier than it ended up being, but again, I sat down to write, and I ended up researching medical symptoms instead.

All in all, it resulted in a lot of time spent researching health conditions that neither of us probably have. Strange how that works. (Thanks, Google.) However, the distraction did give me a little bit of time to let ideas brew. Sometimes I forget to let things ripen on their own these days, and only through quiet time distractions on another project (usually unrelated), can I find clarity on what’s slowing me down on my current WIP.

Okay, I have no real reason for putting this in, except that I still LOVE the map that a friend of mine drew for the Canens Chronicles. Thanks, Edward Tanzosh! You’re the best…

The Biggest Change:

The biggest news I have is a major change in the Canens Chronicles series. It was one that I did not take lightly, as it’s a major decision for the entire series. Basically I’ve chosen to expand what was a 4-book series into a probable 6-book series.

A part of me wants to cry. I’ve been holding this story with me for so long that I don’t want to drag it out and delay the finish, but I came to the realization that my planned book 3 set in Edormisco was not the best decision for the series plot as a whole. And revamping book 3 means that it can’t come out until autumn of 2020, with book 4 perhaps in the spring of 2021, book 5 hopefully in autumn of 2021, and the final book in the spring of 2022. I was hoping to be completely finished with the novels in the series by the end of 2021 at the absolute latest, releasing a book every 6 months. But now…well, things are different with 6 books and not having a rough draft or outline of the new books.

So why would I do this to myself and my beloved readers?

If you’ll recall, book 1 takes place almost entirely in Canens, while book 2 takes place almost entirely in Ardor. Now I had never intended to spend an entire novel in all of the Seven Kingdoms, but as I finished up book 2 and set up book 3 with the intention of racing Winterberry and associates across Tepor and the Teporian Desert into the land of Edormisco, I realized that I would really be accelerating the plot and skipping over not just a land, but a story.

It really was a challenging decision to make. I didn’t want to put a bad taste in the reader’s mouth either by accelerating the series or by drawing it out. So I had to take some time to decide what I wanted the purpose of this series to be. Is it just Winter and her journey to find allies to defeat Queen Blanche? Or is it several stories that, combined, tell the history of the Seven Kingdoms?

I knew when I started writing it, that it was the latter and that was why I chose to add Blanche and Rus’ point of views in book 1. Though Winter is the main character of the series, she can’t save the kingdoms alone. By ignoring an entire country (and others with my planned 4-book series), it just wasn’t true to the story.

So instead of 4 books, you’ll now have 6 books to look forward to! Huzzah!

Fog and Mist.jpg — click the picture to go to Amazon’s series page for the Canens Chronicles

Other news:

As of February 25th, one of my short stories previously available only in an anthology is now available for purchase as a Kindle, B&N, Apple, and Kobo single.

I’ve also been working on a few short stories that will hopefully see the light of day soon. If you recall a minor character named Pia from Fog & Mist, you might be excited to hear I’ve given her a not-so-little prequel, since she’s been a requested character of interest from readers.

Her story really went a direction I wasn’t expecting. Canens is a harsh country, even harsher for the poor like Pia and her family. She’s a challenging character for me to write, as she’s young (only about twelve) and uneducated, and it’s been a struggle to give the story itself some hope and levity. With Canens being so dark and hopeless under the Canens Curse, it’s difficult to feel like people want to read a story about a child going through such difficulty—not unless there is hope.

And hope is one of those things that I deliberately put into each one of my stories. Though my writing is not “Christian” fiction, there are subtle elements of my faith in my stories, and part of that comes through the existence of hope in each tale I write. Not every story has a happy ending, and it’s no spoiler to say that Pia is a slave in Fog & Mist, and this is a prequel for her, so we all have an idea of where she’s going to end up. (At some point I may write a sequel that happens after Fog & Mist, but not yet.)

It’s certainly created a bit of a conundrum for me though, working toward that bitter ending, especially when the reader knows what’s ahead for her (even though some may not). So that’s been my goal, really, to create a prequel for Pia that, while it may not create a huge sense of hope for her own story, it can create a bittersweet story of hope for her family perhaps. And through her own sacrifices, Pia can offer someone hope that she herself cannot necessarily experience.

Sometimes the path we must walk is dark, and sometimes we can’t see hope for ourselves up ahead, but by being selfless and giving up our own freedoms and desires for the safety and health of others, there is a certain amount of satisfaction. But trying to show that in a story? Well, that’s a harder sell, isn’t it?

Next month:

I hope to release “Pia’s Sacrifice” at the end of next month, which means I have my work cut out for me. Though it’s a “short” story, it’s one that I’ve been battling a little bit as I figure out how to mold her tale.

I also plan to start the actual drafting of book 3 in the Canens Chronicles—and come up with a firm title and get a cover designed. Since I decided to change the location and plot of the next book in the series, it has required going back to zero for the plot, setting, and even characters. Book 3 will be a retelling of Aladdin (book 4, set in Edormisco, gets to hold onto the Sleeping Beauty plot), and so Sleeping Beauty fans will have to wait until book 4 (I’m so sorry!).

I also have plans (unmentioned thus far) to draft another short story for the JL Anthology series. The subject is mythology, and I’m still not sure what direction to take it. I think I might use the kelpie myth that I hinted at in my most recent story, “From Sea to Sky,” which is a loose retelling of “The Golden Mermaid” fairy tale. However, I don’t have even an origin for that, so I’ll have to make it all up! And while that’s great fun, it can also be a lot more work! ;-)

Until next time, thanks for reading along!

Kelsie

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