This year has been a busy one, for me and for geeks in general. Next year looks as if it is going to be more of the same.
By the time the new year bells ring out, a new Star Wars film will have been out for a couple of weeks and it will be in the realm of being rewatched multiple times. I’m going to see it soon and cannot wait. After the horrible disappointment of the Phantom Menace and the other prequels, I am trying to stay positive for this. I really enjoy the new Trek films, and hope that JJ Abrams (and all of those people around him of course as it’s not a solo thing) are able to work their magic again.
We’ve got more Marvel, DC, and lots of genre films to come next year, with the likes of a new Star Trek film, a new Harry Potter universe film, a new Rocky universe film for me in Creed and a tonne of other great films I could list but won’t.
In terms of books and the Age of Darkness trilogy, it all kicks off again in April with Bloodmage. I’ve seen the first draft of the cover and it looks good. The work on my side is completely done and right now I’m working on the next draft of book 3 following comments from my editor. So book 3 will also be out next year, about 6 months after Bloodmage. It’s a very weird thing to say and imagine that by this time next year I will have 3 published books of fiction. The question then becomes, what next?
I’m pondering a couple of things. I have a short novella that I want to write, set in the same world, that expands on a line of dialogue someone mentions in book 3. I also have a short story I want to sketch out and then write, again set in the same world. After that, in theory I will write another trilogy that is chronologically set after the Age of Darkness.
It’s very thin on paper so far, but I have notes and ideas on scraps of paper. I have a Word document stuffed full of ideas and story arcs and character descriptions and lots of ‘what if’ questions and answers. So once book 3 is out of the way again and back with the publisher I’m going to try to nail down some of these floaty ideas, see what the throughline is that ties it all together and start to build the spine of the story. After that I’ll discuss it with my agent and we’ll go from there. So, by the time book 3 comes out, I will probably be working on the first draft of the new book.
On top of that the French version of Battlemage is due to be published in either Spring or Summer. I am also hoping that the long-gestating comic book mini series I’ve been co-writing with Pete Rogers, Flux, will be ready early next year. Then we can make a more formal announcement and talk about it in a bit more detail. I’ve been sketchy about where it’s coming from and what it is about as we want to get most of it in the can so that we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot. A busy year ahead indeed.
Events-wise, it is too early to say but no doubt I will be doing some to promote the launch of the two new books in the UK. I’m doubtful I’ll get to any conventions outside of the UK next year but you never know, something might come up.
So, onwards to 2016 although I’ll be posting over the holidays about the World’s Strongest Man competition.
Stephen Aryan 