The first draft version of the fourth book in the Galactic Mage Series is done (first draft, not finished novel). As I have mentioned before, the series will be done in trilogies, so basically book 4 is the first of the second series trilogy. Hopefully that makes sense. My plan is to write first drafts of the next two books in the series before going back and revising the one I just finished. Additionally, I have started a prequel that I’ve been talking about doing for the last year and a half, which is dedicated to one of my favorite characters, Ilbei Spadebreaker. I’ve gotten lots of very positive feedback about him (sometimes awash in rage lol), and he’s just fun to write. I’m hoping to finish that story this month if at all possible, while I am working out some stuff on the outlines for books 5 and 6 in the main series.

I am still working out title options for book 4, so I can’t give a title yet (and which is why I’m still referring to it as “book 4,” which I hate doing). And I won’t give any spoilers or clues about the series itself, but I will say that book 4 has a lot more Pernie in it, plus more about the elves. I also had a good deal of fun developing Roberto’s character in it as well. It’s really fun to write characters who get to say the things the rest of us wish we could say sometimes, but for whatever reason, we’ve developed some level of restraint. Writing Roberto, and Pernie for that matter, allows me to be honest in a way that culture frowns on in the real world. Political correctness and “propriety” (whatever that means if put to tests of scale) bind our tongues, and with our tongues, our minds and very liberty. However, to say more risks a rant, so I shall leave it there.

For the Ilbei Spadebreaker book, I do have a title: Ilbei Spadebreaker and the Harpy’s Wild. And while that might possibly change, I don’t think so, because I’ve been working out that title for a long time, and I really like it. I guess we’ll see in the end.

Beyond that, it’s all simply a matter of time. I’m not going to try to predict when any of these stories will be out with any degree of accuracy because I failed miserably the last few times I tried to do that. So, I’ll say that I am hoping to have one book out by January 2014, and at least one more out by April or May. It is possible, however, that I might have three out by May, though I seriously can’t say. It all depends on the muse and how easily the ideas flow, how well the outlines work, and how smoothly the editing/revising and formatting go. Most of which is sort of out of my control. All I can do is sit down and bang away at the keyboard and hope what comes out doesn’t suck. (I had to dump a whole day’s work five days ago. Literally nothing in it that was salvageable at all.)

So, that’s the update. In short, I’m hoping to have three more books out next year, and possibly four, given that I’ll have had the whole last half of this year to work on them, plus all of next. We’ll see.

Thanks to everyone who sends me such nice emails and supportive reviews on Amazon. Follow along on bit-by-bit progress updates on Facebook if you want, and don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter if you want to be emailed when the next books come out.