Travis Starnes
patreon
Big update to the Planned Books page
🕑 Added 2023-12-01 19:40:48 +0000 UTCSo I've had a big update to the planned books page (I put the text of what I wrote below, so you don't have to go searching for it) I know I'm spreading myself thin, story wise, and I welcome any input you have here and will listen and take your thought seriously. On the other hand, I'm very excited about all of these series and can't wait to write them.
The update:
I got off my work flow this summer, and started to focus on 1 book at a time, which screwed up my release schedule. I am getting back to my working on scenes for all books every day, so that I can keep them rolling out and get chapters done faster (since I write by scenes, so there will always be one book close to finishing a chapter most days). It probably won't mean a chapter a day, but I think I'm going to get back to being able to get a chapter every other day out (although it will jump around which book you get chapters from depending on how long a given chapter is and how many scenes are in it and when the last chapter for that book came out.
Finally, I've gotten ahead of myself. I had a second fantasy series in my head that I've been messing with for a while, and all the sudden I had a run of inspiration on it. Which means I now have 6 series I'll be working on. It's a lot, I know, but I'm going to keep all of them going (although the Taylor books will remain 1 a year or so, so after this one finished, there won't be more Taylor chapters for another Taylor book until at least fall/Christmas 2024)
1) From the Top (Country Roads #5): This has started being written and is expected to be finished some in late January. This book seems like it might be as long as the first one in the series, and so is going to take some time.
2) The Triumph of Venus (Imperium #6): The outline is proving difficult, trying to wrap this first half of the 2 series set up, so I'm taking my time with it, to make sure I get it right. I probably won't finish outlining it until the end of the year, and start writing it in January.
4) Border Crossed (Taylor #10): This will be the next book done, and I'm nearing the end of it (it helps these books are a third the size of the Imperium or Country Road books). It should be done mid December and released at the end of the month
5) In the Shadow of Lions (Shattered Lands #1): I'm starting to make progress in this series, which is a low/no magic fantasy series more focused on Medieval style war and politics. Book 1 should be done some time around April I think.
6) The Threads of Destiny (Weaving of Fate #1): This is more of a classic fantasy series in the vein of R. A. Salvatore, Dragonlance, Wheel of Time. Magic, Monsters, dragons and the like.
Comments
Brett Grayson
Great. You will keep me enthralled.
Travis Starnes
Well see if that list updates when the first chapters of the Weaving of Destiny series starts (First book is the Threads of Fate). Glad you're enjoying Shadows, because I have big plans for the Shattered Lands series (the series Shadows is the first book of). I've plotted out a 9 book run, but set it up with plans for sequels and prequels, so lots of room for that series to spread and grow.
Brett Grayson
My favorite series are Country Road and In the Shadow of Lions. May your muse bite you greatly.
Phil
Thanks Travis, I understand your needs as a writer must trump (small t) those of the reader in this regard. Your additional explanation sounds much better. I originally had the impression that you were going to devote close to equal time to 5 or 6 projects. I couldn't see how you would be able to crank out new chapters for all of them in an interval of 3-4 days without chaining yourself to your desk and ignoring the remainder of your life. :-) Didn't want to go 2-3 weeks between my new chapter fix. Now get back to writing! Thanks Phil
Travis Starnes
One more note. My plan near is for the primary book to come out ever 4ish days (so right now, Country Roads), with a chapter in one of the other things in between, although if chapters are going good on the primary book, it will be back to back on it. The other stuff will never be back to back. So there should be no significant slow down on the main story (and sometimes, the alternation will be between Imperium and Country Roads, once I get the next imperium book outlined)
Travis Starnes
The primary books will still be Imperium and Country Roads. My plan is to always focus on those. Write a scene or two in the current upcoming book (which ever of the two series is needed next, so right now that would be Country Roads) and then try and get a scene or part of a scene in each other other books, or work on outlining. Part of my problem in doing 1 book at a time, is there are times I need to sit with a chapter while writing it, or after writing one book for a while, I need to switch it up, cause I start going a big cross eyed on it. It's why, as we've gotten into From the Top, you've started seeing three, four and even five days in between chapters. These others will progress much more slowly, at least until one gets very close to release and then I might push thorough for a week and put out a bunch of issues. (Like, over the next week, you're going to see a run of Taylor chapters, because it's withing 4-5 chapters of being done and I want to get 1 more book out by the end of the year. I'd hoped that would be From the Top, but it's just taking too much time to write and it's bigger than I thought it would be). That all being said, I welcome any comments you guys have if you feel you're not getting enough chapters of a particular story. (There's one user who regularly messages me for updates in between when Country Roads is posting, since it's the series he likes).
Phil
Travis, of course you must do what is best for you. However, if this strategy will slow the appearance of new chapters for the books you already have going (by interspacing them with chapters for the newer projects), I am not a fan. You are the only author I follow on Patreon, in part, because you are relatively fast with new chapters. The longer the wait between chapters, the more disjointed the reading experience, as I have to dredge up what happened to each character in the last chapter from multiple days in the past. I don't think of each chapter as a separate installment in a serial. If the delay gets too bad, I will probably just stop following you on Patreon and wait until the finished product appears on Kindle Unlimited. I think all of the projects you mentioned are worthwhile, and I will probably end of reading all of them - not just in the form of a chapter every week and a half or two. Thanks for allowing me to express my opinion. Phil
