All the Writing Projects

As my month-long hiatus from writing comes to a close, I thought it might be a good idea to talk a little bit about what's on the horizon in terms of where my writing is headed next. (Many thanks to Deborah @ Road of a Writer for the inspiration). What's on my plate, what am I planning to write next, and what stages are each of these projects in? Kind of an Ishness post... but just about writing.Minstrel's CallThe fourth and final book in the Minstrel's Song series. I've completed the first round of edits and it is currently in the hands of my line-editor and four marvelous (and courageous) beta readers. I know it still is going to need some work, but the biggest and most daunting pass of editing is always that first one. Everything from there is (usually) tweaking and polishing as opposed to re-writing... unless I get some horrible, awful, no good, very bad news from this round of editors/beta readers... let's hope that doesn't happen.Genre: FantasyWhen can we expect a release date?It is far too soon to tell. This time last year I already had most of my line editing/beta-notes for Yorien's Hand back already... so if we were to extrapolate from where Yorien's Hand was then... I'd say... May 2017. But don't quote me on that! But that leads me to...The Turrim ArchiveYep! This is the title reveal for my next series after Minstrel's Song. The first book is The Orb and the Airship and will be a five-book series (at least, that is the plan currently, though it could change).The first book has been drafted and is complete. With this project, I am hoping to have all five books drafted in rapid succession and before I publish book 1.. but that means I'm going to have to do some heavy-duty writing in the coming months (taking time off to finish edits on Minstrel's Call and get that polished, of course).Book 2 - which is currently lacking a title - has a complete and pretty detailed outline, and has 20,000 words to its name already. These books are going to be a bit on the shorter side, probably between 100,000 and 120,000 words each.Books 3-5 have been outlined to some extent.I've talked a little bit about this series, but haven't gone into a lot of detail. I hope to reveal more about this new series to you in the coming months.Currently it follows two young men as they travel away from their small, farming community to go train at the Academy (this world's version of something like Annapolis or Westpoint). Along the way, their journey takes them to some unexpected places, and they fall afoul of air pirates... and learn that the world is a far bigger place than they realized... and that their country teeters closer to the brink of war than anyone is aware.Genre: Um... Fantasy with a hint of steampunk and a dash of sci fi. There is some limited magic in the world, and technology (airships and trains) but the tech is all magic-powered. The era is sort of Victorian Era/American Frontier - but without the invention of guns yet, if that makes sense. Project Oriole: A Mystery of MarsThis project is still on the back-burner, despite having a pretty extensive outline and the fact that I've written the opening scenes. I'm not sure where this story is going... whether it will be a stand-alone, or a series. The characters and ideas seem too big and fun and exciting to be a stand-alone... but I'm not sure what the next story will be... if there is one.Main character is Logan Welles, a private detective and very good at his job. The story starts when a prominent scientist for the large and respected company Aditus mysteriously goes missing, and his wife hires Logan to find out what happened to him...Genre: Mystery/Sci-fi. Think 1920s detective story... set on Mars... 500 - 1000 years in the future. The Prince and the WillowI hate that title. But I can't think of a better one at the moment... so it stands as the working title. The story is complete, but needs some editing. This is a short-story/novella... probably will end up being somewhere between 20,000-50,000 words when all is said and done. It is a Cinderella retelling, mostly based on the question of "What if Cinderella met the Prince when they were both children, and became good friends years before the events that turned her into 'Cinderella'?"Genre: Fairy tale retelling "World Three"This story doesn't have much more than a map - and the affectionate nickname of "World Three." We've talked about it and tossed it around... but all I really know for sure is what the map looks like. I know it's going be a 3-race story with humans, elves, and dwarves... and that there will be fire-drakes... but that's all I know right now.Genre: High Fantasy Second Picture StoriesThis is my collection of short stories about the imaginative world of children. It's kind of always there in the back of my mind, but hasn't been a priority in years. Still working on it, though. Lots of the stories are written, but I feel like they need serious re-writing/editing.Genre: Children's My Pet ApostropheThat's a working title... but I had this weird daydream a while back in which a little boy finds a very sad apostrophe who is distressed about not having a home (he's on like a yard-sale sign but in the wrong place)... so the little boy sets out to help the apostrophe find a home... somewhere he truly BELONGS. This would be, obviously, a children's book. I haven't written any more for it than what you just read... but it's there in the back of my mind. Children's book ideas overwhelm me, though... I feel like writing them is just really, really difficult. Give me 140,000-word challenge any day of the week! I prefer it.Genre: Children's Portal FantasyI also have a simmering idea of a portal fantasy story that involves the Bermuda Triangle and what happens to the lost ships and people who disappear inside the Bermuda Triangle... but that's as far as I've gotten. Not sure it's going anywhere...Genre: Fantasy I'm not even sure....But the premise has something to do with science fiction and a character who is a military doctor in a sort of Russia-during-the-Cold-War kind of culture... nothing for this story has been fleshed out except the main character, and he's still in the beginning-development stages. But I'm excited about it!Genre: Sci-fiSo that's my list of projects right now. It makes me tired just thinking about them all...