What About Chronicles of Gensokai: Book 3?

So, I may have mentioned recently that I'm working away on the Victoria Marmot series. Indeed, I have just recently reached the tentative conclusion of the rough draft of books 1 - 3, and am about to dive head first into the rewrite (which will include adding a few chapters that are currently missing from draft one, as well as rearranging what's left after I cut away a few giant chunks). I'm thrilled with this progress, and really looking forward to the rewrite. At this rate I'm hopeful that I will make my initial goal of releasing all three books in October of 2018.

But you may be wondering why I'm not busy writing Book 3 from the Chronicles of Gensokai series instead.

First of all, if you are wondering that, THANK YOU! I'm really glad that you enjoyed Blade's Edge and Traitor's Hope enough that you care about Book 3! The fact that I've had a few readers ask about a 3rd book makes me very happy indeed.

To answer the question though, I must address a few things. First of all, I had never intended for Blade's Edge to become a series (oops). When I wrote the first draft (and even the second and third drafts) of the book, I thought it was a standalone novel. Sure, there were a few loose threads at the end, but I felt that the ending was satisfying enough to be conclusive and was ready to move on to a new story. Until, as I was wrapping up final edits and getting ready to publish Blade's Edge, I realized there was more of the story to tell. A seed began to germinate, and as more early readers of Blade's Edge asked for a sequel that seed was nourished and started to grow.

Which is how I wound up with Traitor's Hope, which I thought might be the final book. A duology. Not a series. Unless of course...

Yes, by the time I published Traitor's Hope, the same thing had happened and indeed there is a seed of a story for Book 3 in my head. One that I think will be well worth its own book (possibly more than one, we'll see how it goes). And yet, the seed I have is still small enough, and quiet enough, that it doesn't have momentum in my head. It pokes at me every now and again to remind that it is there, and to ask me certain questions, but it hasn't yet reared up and said YOU MUST WRITE ME NOW!!

To be fair, it probably will once I sit down and take a good look at what I've got for a story so far, and ask a few key questions of my characters, but I've been reluctant to return to Gensokai just yet because... well, it's a bit of a dark place, it's in need of a lot of work, and my small cast of characters seem hell bent on doing it all themselves, so... that's a lot of responsibility. So, I'm taking a metaphorical deep breath and relaxing a bit with a story that is a little more humorous and fly by the seat of your pants (although it still addresses some dark topics, I seem unable to avoid them).

So I'm knocking out the first three Victoria Marmot books this year, and when I've done that, I will either dive right into books 4-6 or I will go back to Gensokai, depending on where my head is. Chances are good though, that I will knock out more of the Victoria Marmot books so that, that series can gain momentum, something I've already messed up for the Chronicles of Gensokai, so I may as well get this next series right in terms of timing, and then go back to Mishi & Taka et al when I'm done.

But we shall see. Also, at this rate, I may have all the Victoria Marmot books done by the end of 2019 so we may not be looking at too long a hiatus on the Gensokai books anyway. After all, it took me almost 3 years to get from Blade's Edge to Traitor's Hope, so if book 3 comes out in late 2020 that would be par for the course.

 TL:DR you have time to catch up on Blade's Edge and Traitor's Hope before book 3 comes out, in case you haven't read them yet.