I Take it Back

 So in the world of unexpected things, I've come across something I didn't foresee myself doing for quite some time yet.  I'm writing a Five Tribes book.  Except it's NOT a Five Tribes Book.  I don't know how to explain it yet, and maybe I'll never figure out how to properly describe it. 

It has Five Tribes magic, but no Five Tribes characters.  Yeah, that's the best I've got.  I'm really excited about it, though, and I hope you are too.

Just wanted to quickly update you.  Now, back to the grindstone.

Happy Reading!

-Kate

A Final Wish

 Hello readers,

I am happy to report that The Five Tribes series is finished.  Whoa.  I can't believe I just typed that.  This series has been 12 years in the making, thanks to various life hiccups and my inability to write any novel for this series in under 100k (barring that first one, of course).

This book, Universis, is actually coming in at 175,000 words!  I'd love to say that it will get back down to 150k, but I think what with being more descriptive and clarifying some of the plot, it will probably end up around 170k.  But it is chock full of everything you could want: love, loss, change, explosions, new characters, new worlds, and new legends.  This book is the culmination of everything I've been building since the very beginning of the series and I hope it will have the answers you've been asking yourself about the Five Tribes and its existence.

It's hard to know where to end a series, but I've done the best that I can to honor these characters we've all followed for so long, and to tell their story to all of you.  There is an epilogue and some loose threads, and who knows... there could be some books set in this world in the future.  No promises, but there are several characters who still need stories, to my mind.

For now, my plan is to do one rough pass through, where I make sure all the names are correct and double-check my scrivener file for inconsistencies before I hand this sucker off to the betas.  And while that project is marinating, I'll be starting something completely new.  I'm not going to talk about it now, but there will be a post in the near future about what I'm working on next.

Thanks again, to all of you for your encouragement, your comments, your emails, your reviews and ratings.  I've tried to take in as much feedback as I can and really consider what would make the books even better, but in the end, the story will be what it wants to be.  I'm just grateful that some of you have been along for the ride since the beginning and made my writing the richer for it.

Happy reading!

-Kate

Progress Report: So Far So Good!

June has been a tricky month in our house.  Summers are always tricky, actually.  I don't know what it is.  Every summer approaches and I really intend for it to be laid back, with the kids out biking and swimming, but not much else.  That never seems to happen for us, though.
Before I know it, we're fully booked with trips here and there and everywhere and I feel like I'm about to fall over.

Ah well.
Still, progress has been made!  Yay progress!

Progress on the book front: Zyan and Nikka have become too difficult for me at this point what with their complex intertwinings and to be honest a lot of delicate details that I have to iron out every step of the way, setting up for the final book.
So I set their storyline aside (although I got an idea of how to fix something, so I may pick it up later this week) to work on Luka.
Luka, you beautiful man griffin you.  In case any of you forgot, Luka's storyline is going to be heavily griffin this time around and it has been a lot of fun to write.  I've got about 27,000 words written in his story, so I'm over the halfway point now.  Luka is on the island of the griffins, so I get to write about a society from the ground up and boy howdy is it fun!

In other news, I've been steadily working on getting rid of that Finishing Up My Series TBR list.  Let's take a look, shall we?

1. The Lotus War books.  There is no good reason for why I haven't finished this series.  The main character is AWESOME.  The world is AWESOME. AND I OWN ALL THREE BOOKS.  Like what is wrong with me?
2. The Lunar Chronicles.  I loved these books, but for whatever reason whenever I look at how long Winter is, my brain fails.  But this year I will read the last book!!!
3. Under The Never Sky. I got partway through the last book and just quit.  What is wrong with me??? I really liked the other two books.  *sigh*  I have a problem.
4. Dust Lands.  I really loved the first book in this series, but the second book and its sibling drama (not to mention that whole rapey type scene at the end) really turned me off.  Still, I do want to find out what happens to Saba, so I need to buckle down and finish that one.
5. The Fifth Wave.  I was absolutely blown away by the first two books in this series, but I admit I am terrified of what might happen in the conclusion.  I will face my fear and read that book when it releases in FOUR DAYS??? EEP!
6. Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  Honestly, why in heaven's name haven't I finished this series?  I freaking LOVE Laini Taylor.  Is it just that I'm a coward and I can't face how it might end?  Not sure.
7. Penryn & The End Of Days. Okay, I'm just afraid that Pen and Rafe don't end up together, so if someone could just spoil that detail for me, I'll finish this series posthaste.
8. The Heir Chronicles.  It's been so long since I read the last one that I really can't even remember what happened.  I just need to see if they have it on recaptains or something.  Because I loved every one of those stories. :)
9. Lumatere Chronicles.  I read the first of these books, but honestly, Finnikin didn't excite me very much.  But EVERYONE AND THEIR BROTHER keeps telling me I have to read the other two because they are amazing.  So I added this series to my list.  

So, I'm making good progress here, too.  Right now I'm on the last Veronica Rossi book in the Never Sky series, and hopefully I'll finish that up pretty soon.  I'm also hoping I won't make any more additions to my list or this will take me MORE than the rest of the year to finish up.

Hope you all are making similar progress on your personal life goals!

Happy Reading!

You Got Me Beat

I am not writing an update on Ignis right now.  This book has become far longer and more complicated than I initially planned.  (Yes, I'm sure you're shocked by this development.)

(This is you.)

But the good news is I am still plugging away.  As per my WOTY, I am steady as she goes.  Steadily writing.  Steadily plotting.  (steadily crying over my naivete when clocking this book at a mere 120k)

Today I want to talk about lack of follow-through when reading.  Here is my problem.  I frequently neglect to finish series.  It makes no sense, really, because I can read an AMAZING book (like Stormdancer, for instance) but I only read the first one and it takes like a MILLION YEARS for all the books to come out (see: Throne of Glass) and by the time they are all out, I've gotten excited about other books that pop up on my radar and I just never seem to finish them.

BUT THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE, my dear readers.  I have determined that this is the year I will, WILL finish a bunch of the series that I promised myself I would finish and won't keep putting it off.

So here is the listicle type thingy I came up with to keep myself accountable:

1. The Lotus War books.  There is no good reason for why I haven't finished this series.  The main character is AWESOME.  The world is AWESOME. AND I OWN ALL THREE BOOKS.  Like what is wrong with me?
2. The Lunar Chronicles.  I loved these books, but for whatever reason whenever I look at how long Winter is, my brain fails.  But this year I will read the last book!!!
3. Under The Never Sky. I got partway through the last book and just quit.  What is wrong with me??? I really liked the other two books.  *sigh*  I have a problem.
4. Dust Lands.  I really loved the first book in this series, but the second book and its sibling drama (not to mention that whole rapey type scene at the end) really turned me off.  Still, I do want to find out what happens to Saba, so I need to buckle down and finish that one.
5. The Fifth Wave.  I was absolutely blown away by the first two books in this series, but I admit I am terrified of what might happen in the conclusion.  I will face my fear and read that book when it releases in FOUR DAYS??? EEP!
6. Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  Honestly, why in heaven's name haven't I finished this series?  I freaking LOVE Laini Taylor.  Is it just that I'm a coward and I can't face how it might end?  Not sure.
7. Penryn & The End Of Days. Okay, I'm just afraid that Pen and Rafe don't end up together, so if someone could just spoil that detail for me, I'll finish this series posthaste.
8. The Heir Chronicles.  It's been so long since I read the last one that I really can't even remember what happened.  I just need to see if they have it on recaptains or something.  Because I loved every one of those stories. :)

Well, that should keep me busy for the next year. :D

What about you?  Do you have any series that you've left unfinished?  Get to it!

Happy Reading!