January 2020 Updates

A winter's evening!

Welcome back!

The new year is upon us, and depending on your preference, we are in a new decade. Fortunately, December offered a break from the daily grind. I visited family and friends throughout the holiday season which offered a welcome break. I was able to visit a few cool places throughout the month, too, such as Powell Gardens, which has an awesome light display throughout December and into early January each year. It has become an annual tradition to visit the brilliant display.

I made good progress in December. Winter’s onset on the 21st did not keep mefrom pushing the total word count to around 90,000. With the projected length of The Blighter’s Shadow between 180,000 – 200,000 words, you’ll have even more story to dive into. The Originators of Sa’un (book 3) is planned at about the same length.

Throughout the month, I continued discussions for The Blighter’s Shadow cover art with Jessica Sommerkamp, who did the fine artwork for The Alterator’s Light. I also continued researching information for fleshing out The Blighter’s Shadow. Constant research is necessary dependent on the portion of the book I am working on. I also researched getting The Alterator’s Light placed in Missouri libraries, which was a successful endeavor. As a child, I always thought of libraries as a place to travel anywhere I’d like through a book, so to have my own work in a library is a life-altering accomplishment. To change things up a bit, I also put a bit of work into my sci-fi book with the working title Adalaj. As I work on that novel, I intend on putting a few of the initial chapters on my website for early viewing and feedback. Also, by occasionally switching gears between the two genres, I get a chance to refresh further. I know you’ll enjoy seeing some of that work, too.

The reader question for this month:
When will Book 2, The Blighter’s Shadow, be released?
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The Rune Cycle was always meant to be a self-contained trilogy. The Blighter’s Shadow will be book 2 and The Originators of Sa’un will be book 3. As for the release date, it is uncertain at this point, as several factors are involved: completing the first draft, the final cover, and additional chapter symbols. While I am feverishly typing away, Jessica Sommerkamp is working on the art.

The first draft should be complete by mid-spring (April/May), which will give me the entire summer for editing and beta reading assistance. Then once the edits are complete, you’ll see the book published once I have the opportunity to get everything fully polished. So, I expect to have the next book published by this time next year. It may seem like a long wait, but it will be worth it.

Until then, I encourage you to check out the prologue, The Point of Woes. It is a short read, and you can find it at the following link. It is the introduction to the series, and it has glimpses of what you’ll see later in the series.  

If you have questions for future newsletters, please be sure to shoot them my way at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter at @brigmanauthor and on Facebook at Dan Brigman, Author, or at danbrigman.com.

Next month’s question: 
Where do you get your ideas, specifically concerning the worldbuilding component? Stay tuned for the answer.

Thanks again for your support. I hope your holidays were enjoyable and relaxing!

Powell Gardens' Festival of Lights

Fun times at Powell Gardens!