Miblart continued their quality service when they provided a draft of the cover for Wayland’s Hammer Book 1: Duty of Prisoners. How close was it to what I had envisioned? I’ve been working on the newsletter gift called Wayland’s Hammer: Early Colonial Worlds for what seems like forever. Am I any closer to finishing it? And last but not least, did I finally make any progress plotting the next series? The answer includes the word “despair.” Let’s look at the key performance indicators before chatting about any of that.
Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers
Well, no words written yet. Am I getting any closer?
It’s been a little more than two months — since January 27, 2026, actually — since I’ve written any new material. Well, aside from rewrites of portions of chapters. I’m starting to feel it. My mood doesn’t do well if I can’t write. I think my wife’s noticed, but she’s been too polite to say anything.
That said, I worked hard this week to come up with ideas for the next series. I’ve been sketching out characters and situations. I’ve been deepening the lore for the Investment Houses and other Corporations. Ideas have been popping out of the woodwork. All those things confronted me last week with the question, “What are you going to do with all this?”
On Saturday, I sat in front of my computer, looked at what I had created, and, out loud, said, “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
It was a moment of despair. Not existential despair. But a moment of professional despair. I had to admit to myself that it was all beyond me. I couldn’t make sense of what I wanted to do.
Fortunately, that’s good news.
The Next Series
When I tell myself that I have everything under control, I get suspicious. That’s based on personal experience. The universe has never let me know what I’m doing. It’s never let me have anything creative under control like, ever. Sure, I wrote books, and I told myself I know what I’m doing. But who really, honestly understands the creative process? Plus, my brain works best when I’m honest. That means it works best when I admit I don’t know what I’m doing.
On Saturday, just minutes after I admitted I was lost, some of the pieces started clicking into place. I wanted this series to be more hopeful than most of what I’ve written. I want it to be about rescue and helping hands. So, I think I’m going to call the series Thyone’s Chariot. In Greek mythology, Thyone is the goddess name of Semele, who started off as a human. Zeus was involved, so you know it was NSFW. But that’s not the aspect I’m trying to portray here.
I’m planning to start with three books. I’m not sure if this series will go on; it might. But I have a general idea of what I want those three books to be, along with working titles:
- Blue Angel Ascension (or maybe Semele’s Ascension or Semele’s Lament): This will follow Trent Raven as he tries to put the pieces back together after Dreams of Deucalion Book 3: Bait and Bleed. It’ll feature Leah Flores, Raven’s sister, who is a school teacher in what’s left of the California Republic. Raven wants her off Earth; she might not want to go. There will be one more point of view (POV) character I haven’t decided on yet. It might be a combat maid.
- Dullahan’s Call: The shadow of the Investment House grows darker. This endangers the Sirius Project, since it still relies on recruits from Earth. The three POVs will be Raven, Flores, and Jadwiga Janczak. The latter was a complete shock to me. I had no idea she’d be back so soon. That’s what I get for letting go of my preconceptions!
- Tarasque’s Roar: I’m shooting for a happy ending where they figure out how to get colonists off Earth, not only for the sake of the Sirius Project, but for the sake of the poor people who want off Earth. Also hope to flesh out the underground movements in the exclusion zones. Will likely star Raven, Flores, and Janczak.
Now I have a general idea where I want to go. Guess it’s time to start plotting!
Wayland’s Hammer Inches Forward
Miblart provided a draft of the cover for Wayland’s Hammer Book 1: Duty of Prisoners. I loved the artwork, and I liked the font for the title — except for one thing. It looked identical to what they’d given me for Evolution’s Hand. Afraid it would confuse my readers, I asked if they would change it.
It took them about a day to give me another draft, and I loved it. I asked them to move forward with it, paid the invoice, and prepared to wait. I already have the completed package! I’ll reveal it to my newsletter soon, then show it to you here.
You should probably sit down for this next bit of news. Ready? I finished Wayland’s Hammer: Early Colonial Worlds! I’ll distribute it in my next newsletter, which might be this week. Am I completely satisfied with it? Of course not! I wanted to create a better cover, for example.
Before starting the cover, I had waited until I got the cover for Duty of Prisoners because I wanted to see what font Miblart used. I figured I’d use the same font for visual continuity. It was a good idea! But I didn’t count on the augmentations that the artists at Miblart applied to make the title look distinctive. I tried to reverse engineer it, and after an hour and a half, I threw in the towel. I didn’t have the time, given a Real Life Family Event (RLFE). This is what I came up with:
Yeah. It’s clearly self-made. Not even close to professional. I’ll call it “artisan.”
Well, it gets the point across, I suppose! And I think the content is pretty good. It’s a bit terse in places, because it’s my ripped directly from my notes. I’m hoping that readers will appreciate the feeling of having full access — which it is.
Progress Against Last Week’s Goals
Here’s how I did against last week’s goals:
- Take delivery of first draft of the cover for Wayland’s Hammer Book 1: Duty of Prisoners: Done! I now have the finished version.
- Complete the first draft of Early Colonial Worlds, including a new cover with fonts from Duty of Prisoners: Done! The proof is above.
- Keep kicking around ideas for Blue Angel Ascension: Done! It’s time to move to the next stage.
Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2026 Week 13
Here’s what I hope to achieve this week:
- Write drafts of the Amazon blurb and Facebook ad for Semele’s Lament
- Complete at least half the plot for Semele’s Lament
- Take delivery of the beta reader’s feedback for Wayland’s Hammer Book 2: Resistance Movement
- Incorporate the beta reader’s feedback for Resistance Movement
- If it’s really ready, release my next newsletter with a link to the Early Colonial Worlds
- Create the April Facebook ad (either for The Sword of Sirius Book 1: Red Flag Warning or Dreams of Deucalion Book 1: Special Recon)
What Do You Think?
How do you when you’re ready to start writing? Is it intellectual? Emotional? Intuitive? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
