It’s the end of October, and P.J. and I have finished writing our second book in the Tales from Taihandria series, entitled Varashti. We had hoped to have it finished and published by September, but due to the vagaries of life and all its problems, we were not able to accomplish that goal. But we are encouraged that we have the writing completed, and all that remains for us now is to copy edit and proof the book before we can publish.
Of course, we hate proofing. Our editor is currently busy on other projects and won’t get to copyedit the book until December at the earliest. The good news is our beta reader quite enjoyed the book, though she was disappointed a little by the ending – that is, she thought it ended too soon and wanted the next book in the series already, which P.J. and I have started and are hard at work on. Our goal for the next book, Anostarja, is to be finished the writing by the spring, and we anticipate a pleasurable winter, cosy in our writing nooks, carrying on with the story of Colin and Robin, their band Sun, and their subsequent adventures in the world of Arethea, where music has magical powers.
Writing an extended series like this poses some challenges, chief of which is keeping track of the many characters who take part in the adventures. Some characters are created from necessity, while others seem to already inhabit the world, and one merely encounters them along the way as we explore the new landscape. But some characters sprang into being of their own accord, with a life of their own and minds of their own, and no matter what we, the authors, would like them to do, they stubbornly stick to their own agenda. What do you do when a character (usually Colin) refuses to do what you’ve asked him to do? He is a perverse and somewhat mad little minstrel.
In spite of Colin’s misbehaviour, we have had some very good feedback and reviews from people who read the first book, Daram, and what tickles us the most is how many of these people, like the beta reader of Varashti, just can’t wait for the next book in the series. It’s more or less how we feel, because at this point, we are as curious as anyone about what will happen next, thanks to the obdurate wills of Colin and his cohorts in the rock band Sun and their encounters with the enigmatic Taihandrians, whose culture and manners at times confound our hapless rock heroes.
I hope our readers will bear with us as we follow the paths Colin and Robin take over the next book or two. Did I mention that books four and possibly five are already lurking in the not too distant future? Colin insists that he has more exploits to relate before the story ends.
Hetty
October 30, 2016