The Flame’s Burden was released this month! Just narrowly squeezed in at the end of the year, so I can officially say that my release schedule is one book a year at the moment. It also means that publishing my first book wasn’t a fluke, I guess!
I had placed a lot of unnecessary importance on the idea that I had to finish this one and get it published by the end of the year or I was a horrible incompetent failure of a writer. On an intellectual level, I realise how dumb that is — so what if I didn’t put it out this year? I’ve never really thought I’ll get anywhere pursuing writing seriously, so my release schedule just doesn’t really matter and I should just do things at my leisure. I don’t know, I guess part of me is still hoping that maybe one day I will be able to support myself from writing fiction and if I wasn’t able to maintain a book a year (and they’re small books, not huge doorstoppers!) then I would never get enough of a catalogue under my belt to make a serious go of it.
Next year I’m very seriously considering taking some extended leave without pay from my day job to pretend I’m a full-time author and just write as much as possible. Not 100% sure if I’ll go through with it, as I’ll need to support myself on my savings while doing it and it’ll be a big financial hit, but it’ll accelerate my release schedule by an order of magnitude and makes the slim possibility of me ever getting anywhere with my stories just that little bit bigger. Sigh, big adult decisions suck.
The Flame’s Burden
Ask is a young man, recently initiated into the priesthood that watches over his people, and touched by one of the patrons of fire. When contact is lost with a neighbouring village, Ask’s mentor Igul goes to investigate. Still new to his responsibilities and position, Ask chooses to remain behind to ward their home against the monsters that lurk in the shadows of the frigid taiga.
