Well, it’s been a bit. I’m rarely here on the website. I do most of my posting over on Facebook, so if you’re inclined to follow the blow-by-blow of this author’s life, put together a friend request (on my wall that takes friends, not followers) and send a message with it saying “Hey, I’m a fan and want to connect with you.” That also keeps you in the loop on where I might be appearing and whatever else I’m up to. Including live streamed music and Trailer Boy Church.
So a bit of an announcement after eight years….
Back when I was drafting The Psalms of Isaak, I built into the story a few “jumping off points” for other stories down the road. I knew when I slowed down after finishing HYMN that I’d come back to the long form at some point but I was in no hurries.
Meanwhile, I focused on other things like the music and the consulting and researching my self help book and I wrote short stories when requested. (UNFETTERED III and ROBOTS THROUGH THE AGES both have stories set within the Psalms of Isaak universe and you can find them out in the world.)
As 2024 approached, I felt the tickling of that return to long form and had “decided” I’d write a series of novellas called The Pilgrims of the Dream. It picked up during the last events in REQUIEM and followed a Tam survivor from the end of ANTIPHON and a rag-tag group of Lunarists and Y’Zirites to the moon. I started listening to the Psalms for research, dropping into her brief scenes in the third volume and then following the story into Y’Zir and onto the moon in the last two books. I finished my listen a few weeks back, all the while grabbing notes, gathering details from my hard drive.
Then I went to Norwescon and experienced The Return of the Ken as my first “guest pro” experience since MisCon 2016 — just a few months after completing the Psalms of Isaak. I’m not sure exactly what happened beyond my mind slowly tricking myself (again) but as I lay in bed, reflecting on my time at the con and the work ahead of me, I “suddenly saw” that Pilgrims of the Dream was a series of novels — the next in the sequence following The Psalms of Isaak. It made sense, it was clear as mountain brook water, and I was ready, willing and able to embrace it.
Many are laughing, remembering that The Psalms of Isaak started with a short story that I was “convinced” was FOUR SHORT STORIES and then it turned into LAMENTATION when I used stories 1 and 2 as bookends and filled in the middle.
I’ve done it again. And so now I’m announcing that my next novel and next series are underway. What happens when every man, woman and child on the planet share one powerful dream with a call to return home to the forgotten heritage and history of the People? And what if some of that heritage and history is sleeping beneath the surface of that new home? It’s time to return to Lasthome and see what unfolds next in the saga of The People.
Maps are coming together, notes are being gathered and taken, a manuscript is catching words, and I’m listening to the first half of the series now on Audible as I soak in the story and identify more characters to send home to the moon.
If you’re wanting to follow along, you’ll want to send that friend request and message over on Facebook (I don’t take on new friends there without a note, sorry, too many book peddlers and scam artists).
“Change is the path life takes.”
Time for another turn on that trail!