143 - June 21, 2020 - The Ravenglass Chronicles, Dean Wesley Smith, J Thorn, Brian McClellan, Joe Rogan, Bret Weinstein

Welcome to Jon's author diary for the week ending June 21, 2020. After the intensity of last week getting Cleric of the Wasteland ready for the editor, I decided to take this week off. That lasted about two days before I started getting twitchy! So, I started work on The Moon (episode 18 of The Ravenglass Chronicles). I’m five chapters in and I’m using a different method to write than usual. Instead of working from an outline, I thought I’d try writing on the seat of my pants. It’s scary, as I’ve honed my method over the past decade of writing. But it’s an experiment to see whether I can do it. I’m not sure if it will work. I may end up halfway through, realise it sucks, and go back to my old way of doing things. As a process, it feels weirdly liberating. I’m letting Kat and the tarot cards guide the story. I’m little more than a stenographer along for the ride at this point. Let’s see how it goes… The Star is now live! Episode 17 of The Ravenglass Chronicles is now available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. Click HERE to grab your copy. This means we’re closing in on the final leg of the story. Based on my current trajectory, I’m hoping to have The World (episode 21) out by autumn. I’ll then turn my attention to writing you a free novella called Dawn of Assassins, which will be a prequel to my next series in the Ravenglass Universe. I’m thinking of my next series as the midpoint between Robin Hobb, Scott Lynch, and Brent Weeks. Imagine roguish thieves turned reluctant assassins…with wyverns—can’t forget the wyverns. Sins of Empire I read Brian McClellan’s book Sins of Empire this week, which I highly recommend. It’s a regency-era epic fantasy with guns, gods, and great characters. It’s the second trilogy in his Powder Mage series (which is up there as one of my all-time favourites). Because of the lockdown, I’ve not been in the right headspace to read fiction, so it’s been wonderful to enjoy a good story well told. What are you reading at the moment? Can you recommend any fantasy series set in the 18thor 19th centuries? Take care, Jon