The Sorcerer’s Widow: Progress Report Sixteen

No actual news, really, but I had to log on here to clean out some spam, so I figured I’d post. It’s scheduled for June now instead of May — sorry about that. I still haven’t seen the cover art.

Once I’ve mailed out all the donor copies, I’ll start the next Ethshar serial. It will be either Ishta’s Companion or Stone Unturned, don’t yet know which. Both titles are subject to change.

Ishta’s Companion has been known by several titles over the last thirty years — yes, it’s that old an idea. I think I’ve mostly referred to it as A Stranger in the Forest. I’m midway through writing Chapter Four of maybe twenty.

Stone Unturned has also had several titles, but in a much briefer period; around here I’ve generally called it “the big fat Ethshar novel,” because none of the previous titles were any good. This one looks like it might stick. I’m midway through writing Chapter Five of… a lot. Like, maybe fifty, if it stays a single novel. It could split into three or more — not the usual way, being chopped up chronologically, but by getting split among the viewpoint characters. If that happens, three of the pieces will be Lord Landessin’s Gallery, The Petrified Prince, and The Demon’s Master. Lord Landessin’s Gallery was previously known as The Wizard’s Garden. A couple of other old story ideas, A Slave of Wizardry and Pender the Jeweler, are probably also going to be incorporated into this one. (The Petrified Prince is new.)

Stone Unturned may be too complex to do as a serial; we’ll see.

Anyway, whichever serial it is, it should start in late June or early July. I hope.

19 thoughts on “The Sorcerer’s Widow: Progress Report Sixteen

  1. If it is split into 3, would that be a separate serial each (so one per year-ish) or would the sections be done as a block (with alternating viewpoints)?

  2. Three serials, I think — but I’m not sure, which is one reason Ishta’s Companion will probably be the next serial.

  3. Then it is up in the air wether my new articles will get published before the book or not. The editor told me tonight a “summer” issue. Three part article. My first professional sale as an author. And the cover shot is related to my articles. Model train magazine.

  4. So, I was checking on amazon just to see if any new books by my favorite authors are coming out and I saw the Sorcerer’s Widow on the list. I was reading the description of it and the first line says “The great wizard Nabal’s death…” and could not stop laughing. The TITLE of the book is “Sorcerer’s” Widow but the description still says “Wizard”, and in the world of Ethshar, they are not exactly the same thing.

  5. And my name is misspelled on the cover. Sigh. I’ll have a few words with the folks at Wildside.

    And… July 30? I thought it was June!

    Thanks.

  6. Incidentally, this is the first time I’ve seen the finished cover art, and I like it even though Dorna has black hair in the text.

  7. Hey Lawrence, I screwed up somehow and missed paying for the serial version (boo, me!) but just wanted to let you know that I just got The Sorcerer’s Widow from Amazon–I’m holding it now. And they sent me the “Jan 2014” notice that Marian Perera got.

    Can’t wait to read it. (And at least on my version, your name’s spelled correctly! 🙂 ). Will there be an e-book edition at some point?

    Can you give a sentence or two about what Ishta’s Companion will be about?

  8. I have no idea what’s up with the “Jan 2014” notice.

    I haven’t seen the corrected version yet; does the back cover call Nabal a sorcerer or a wizard? (My copies are due Real Soon Now.)

    Yes, there will be an ebook. Probably before the end of the month.

    Ishta’s Companion was previously known as A Stranger in the Forest; the description on the “Planned Novels” page is, “Not long after the Great War, in an area once controlled by the Northern Empire, a kid befriends a mysterious stranger in the woods beyond the family farm — a stranger who isn’t exactly human.”

  9. Cool! I’ll be in on the serial this time. 🙂

    The back cover text:

    The great sorcerer Nabal’s death offers many opportunities, both for those who knew him and those who did not. For young conmen Ezak and Kel, it means a chance to loot the sorcerer’s estate…if they can win the confidence of Nabal’s widow, Dorna.

    But Dorna has plans of her own. She means to leave her tiny village for a better life in the city. And all of Nabal’s sorcerous artifacts and talismans will pay for that new life–IF (italicized) she can get them there intact!

  10. The books have arrived. One batch was sent out Friday. Another, larger batch is packed up and ready to go — probably Monday.

    There are thirty people who have not yet confirmed their addresses or told me whether they want their copy signed. If you’re one of them, please get back to me ASAP.

    Seven of them are also due an ebook, and need to tell me whether they want ePub or MobiPocket. (Nook and Kobo and iPad use ePub, Kindle uses MobiPocket — the official Kindle format is just MobiPocket with added security.)

    And in case you’ve missed the announcement elsewhere, the next serial starts Wednesday.

  11. My book arrived on Tuesday. International shipping has been kind to it this time, arriving intact and unusually quickly.

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