Update on “Dreams of the old explorer”

Hi all.  Let’s jump into it.  I know I said that “Dreams of the Old Explorer” would be out sometime early this year.  Well, as you may have noticed it’s already April.  That doesn’t quite count for early anymore.

Never fear.  The book is still coming out.  I’m currently working with the proof reader and my team of beta readers to get the final bits smoothed out.  I had a good writing session today and made so excellent progress.  So despite the delays, the project is moving forward.

What caused the issue?  Perhaps the biggest culprit was optimism.  When I published “Journey of Seven Circles”, I made several chunky mistakes which delayed the book’s release by months.  However, I know what those mistakes are, and so I told myself this time things would go much smoother.  However, while I managed not to repeat my errors of the past, I did make a whole new set of mistakes.  So, I learned something?

The good news is that the delays won’t be nearly so serious as last time.  I expect to have the book out during the summer at the very latest, and I’m excited to share it with you.

Truth be told, this isn’t the first time I’ve worked with this story. The first time I wrote this story was as a piece of flash fiction which comprised what would eventually become the final chapter of the novel.  While I enjoyed the piece, when I was finished I couldn’t help but wonder what adventures had brought the protagonist to where he was.  In truth I was a bit sad I’d missed them.

That’s why I eventually re-wrote the concept as a short story, and later as a novella.  However, none of those were quite right either since both felt rushed.  There simply wasn’t enough words to properly cover the story’s events and themes.

This time, it’s different.  Without a limit on words I’ve been able to tell the story in its entirety for the first time.  It’s a bit on the long side (just over 200K words), but it’s also complete.  I’m pleased with the results, and I can’t wait to show it to you all.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Until then, happy reading.

Russell Pike