Part of me looks at this as a good juncture to pause and contemplate the future of my authorial career. Do I want to continue down this same path? There is a school of thought that the most important thing for an author, especially an indie author, to have is a backlog of books.
This path means focusing on the long term, working towards 20 novels, so when a reader finds my work, they have plenty to read through.
Another voice in my head is contemplating settling in and taking more time to write, focusing less on building an audience and more on enjoying the experience of writing. I could acknowledge that I’m not rocketing towards the top of any chart lists. There are readers who love what I do, but I don’t have to create stress around this thing that I love.
Then my ambition swears this next series will be the one to take firm root. This next book will get me an agent and a lucrative traditional contract with studios optioning the rights to film and television.
It’s a trip.
While I may return to this world for future books, it likely won’t be with these characters. So this is an ending for me. And I have never been great with goodbyes.
Maybe I am not ready to let myself feel all the things that should come with finishing a story that has meant so much to me. So instead, I reached out to authors who have been through it to share their thoughts: Tatiana Obey, N.C. Scrimgeour, and Zack Argyle. I asked them how they felt about wrapping up their first series.
Cover Reveal; ONLY A GRAVE WILL DO by JAMES LLYOD DULIN
Review: No Safe Haven by James Lloyd Dulin
Review: Dont Bloody the Black Flag by James Lloyd Dulin
Tatiana Obey, Author of A Forging Age and The Champloo Mixes
It was absolutely triumphant! I spent four years writing A Forging of Age duology and I had the characters in my head for even longer than that. To finally complete the duology and put a finished story out into the world meant so much to me. There is a certain satisfaction one experiences when you publish a story, but there is also a certain satisfaction in completing a story. All the character arcs, plot lines, and loose threads finally receive resolution and closure. It is the end of an amazing journey.
You followed up your debut duology with the smash success of Sistah Samurai. How did finishing your first series affect your writing and your choices about what you wanted to write? Are you approaching this series and future projects differently?
After I finished my duology, I was tired. It was the end of a 300,000-word story and I was definitely ready to write something shorter. I also wanted to write something more fun, more experimental, and a little out-of-the-box that would be appropriate for a shorter format. I was also a lot more confident in my writing after finishing the duology, and I knew that a story like Sistah Samurai was within my skills to tackle. Sometimes, there are those stories you’ve got to wait to write, but I knew with this one, it was finally the right time.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently publishing Return of the Sistah Samurai, which is the sequel to Sistah Samurai. The sequel expands the world, introduces new characters, and spends more time with old favorites in this anime-inspired world that fuses Black culture with feudal Japan. It will be released on Juneteenth of this year and is currently available for preorder on my website: www.tatianaobey.com.
Review; Sistah Samurai: A Champloo Novella by Tatiana Obey
Author Interview: Creating Visible Heroines with Tatiana Obey
N.C. Scrimgeour, Author of The Waystations Trilogy and Sea of Souls Saga
Releasing even one book feels like a huge achievement, but there is something special about coming to the end of a series. It was such a mix of emotions—satisfaction, pride, wholeness, and also a little bit of sadness too, as it meant letting go of characters I’d spent three books and hundreds of thousands of words with!
It was important to me to get the ending right—both for myself and my own journey with these books, and also for the readers who enjoyed them. I’m really happy with how it all came together in the end. Bittersweet endings, or victory at a cost, tend to be my favourite kinds of endings, and without spoiling anything, I think Those Who Resist hit those notes well.
You are now two books into the Sea of Souls Saga. Have you approached this series differently than your first? What’s different for you as a writer?
I tend to have an idea in mind about how I want my books to end before I start writing them, so everything I write is then focused through that lens and working towards that ultimate goal. That was true for Waystations, and it’s the same for the Sea of Souls Saga as well. It really helps me focus on what I want to achieve and hopefully helps the narrative build towards that.
What are you currently working on?
I’m approaching the midpoint for the final book in the Sea of Souls Saga, which is exciting! I’m really proud of the progress I’m making on this book so far. After releasing Sea of Souls in August 2023, I struggled a bit with burnout and lack of motivation, and I didn’t manage to get the sequel, Mists of Memory, out until March this year. So to be nearing the halfway point of the next book already is a huge encouragement, and my aim is to release it by the end of 2025. And that will mean another series to say goodbye to!
My next big project on the horizon is a return to science fiction. I’m planning another epic space opera series set in our own solar system, where thousands of years from now the outer planets have been cut off from the inner planets in mysterious circumstances…
I’m really excited about jumping into that, but it will be another big project, so I’m also thinking about doing a short, standalone gothic horror fantasy novel in between. I like going between different genres and stretching my creativity in different ways, so it never gets boring!
Review: Mists of Memory by N.C. Scrimgeour
Zack Argyle, Author of The Threadlight Trilogy
It’s such a strange thing, to dream of something for so long, to plan and prepare for it, to stress and worry over it, then to finally open the box and present it to the world. Ironically, releasing my first book was stress-free. I wrote it for myself, for fun, even if I always planned to write the trilogy. But then—heaven forbid—people started reading it…By the time I arrived at writing the final book, expectations from fans and from myself were so high that I was convinced everyone was going to hate it.
So in a way, publishing the last book meant fear, uncertainty, and anxiety. But it also meant release. It was done. There was nothing else I could do. Fortunately, it seems to have satisfied most (not all) of my readers. In the end, it was a crushing weight lifted and a chance for a new beginning.
How did finishing your first series affect your writing and your choices about what you wanted to write next? Are you approaching the next book/series differently?
I set hard timeline goals for myself with the second and third Threadlight books, and if nothing else finishing the series was a break from deadlines. I promised myself my next project would have no publish date. I would take my time. Enjoy the process. Get it right. So that’s what I’ve been doing! It has been 2.5 years since I published the last Threadlight book, and I’m nowhere close to finished with the first book in my new series. But I’m enjoying it!
It’s so important to create an environment for yourself where you can be creative and enjoy the process, especially when writing high fantasy. Change your outline based on a video game you played. Change your characters from art you saw on Instagram. Don’t rush the start. Let the rush happen once the groundwork has been laid and your world is out and published.
My new series is called Cloudfall, a Greek-inspired world of floating islands, monster-infested lands, and music. Ever since I was young, I’ve loved music. I play several instruments, sing, and write music. This series will bring all of my loves together. Compared to my previous series, it has a more expansive world, more unforgettable characters, and twists that you won’t see coming. It’s my best writing yet. And I can’t wait to finish it and show it to the world!
Until then, I’ve been publishing short stories in a series of anthologies alongside some of my literary idols like Robin Hobb, Fonda Lee, and Martha Wells. I really enjoy the terse nature of short stories, and may end up publishing my own collection one day. But for now, I’m focused on Cloudfall.
When I read these responses, I nod along. I feel the same excitement, release, anxiety, and grief about finishing up this first series in what I hope to be a long career of telling stories. I think the largest emotion I am feeling in this instant is gratitude. A book is only words printed on a page without a reader. I am so thankful that readers gave my characters a chance to live.
Review; BONDS OF CHAOS by Zack Argyle
Review: Stones of Light by Zack Argyle
An Interview With Zack Argyle; Six Elementals Author Interviews
James Lloyd Dulin
James is a nerd with a head full of stories and limited time to put them on the page.
He grew up in Grand Rapids, MI, spending an excessive amount of time at a local community theater where he developed his affinity for storytelling. This affinity grew into a deep admiration for language and spoken word poetry while studying mathematics and education at the University of Michigan. A few hundred mediocre poems and lackluster performances later, he decided his dream of writing a novel might not be as ridiculous as he once thought. He firmly believes that art—even silly books about magic, or maybe especially silly books about magic—has the ability to tell stories that sink beneath the surface.
