A few things have happened since the last letter. This one covers all of them.
FOR READERS — THE CUT
The Cut has been out since September 5. If you have been waiting on the newsletter for the actual link, here it is: [LINK]
Quick reminder of what it is: Southern noir, northern Alabama, 1929. A man goes up the mountain on a liquor run and doesn't come back. The silence that follows costs more than anyone budgeted for. It is a standalone — nothing to read first, nothing to catch up on.
It is in the world now. I hope it holds up.
FOR READERS — WALKER DAVIS
Marshal's Last Ride closed the series in August. Four books. Done.
I wrote the first Walker Davis entry not knowing whether it would be one book or four, and it turned out to be four. I am grateful for every reader who came along for all of it. That trail is ridden.
FOR READERS — DRAGON SQUIRE
Dragon Squire #1: The Third Choice is out September 19. Five books of teen fantasy — this one is a long way from the noir, and if that is not your shelf, skip it. The southern fiction is not going anywhere.
For those staying: Perrin is a small kid with no illusions about his size. When a knight comes to town to pick a squire, Perrin knows the odds and tries anyway. What he doesn't count on is Haku — a young dragon trapped under rubble in an old tower, scared, and now Perrin's problem.
Helping the dragon is dangerous. Not helping him is worse. The choice Perrin thought he was preparing for turns out not to be the one that matters.
September 19. First of five.
FOR READERS — AUDIOBOOKS
A Quiet Man and Eli Creed Book 1 are both out in audio now. If you have been meaning to revisit either of them, now is the time.
The rest of the pipeline is moving. A New River has gone into production. Eli Creed Book 2 is well underway. The Cut is out for auditions — narrator casting is happening now. No firm dates on any of these yet, but nothing is sitting still.
COMING UP
Something I am doing in every letter — the next few releases, so you always know what is on the way.
September 19 — Dragon Squire #1: The Third Choice
October 3 — Dragon Squire #2: Proof of Fire
October 10 — The Arrangement #1: Black Dirt
October 17 — Dragon Squire #3: The Dragon Keepers
October 31 — Blackwater Lies
The Arrangement is a series I have not properly introduced here yet. I will do that before Black Dirt lands — a list is a bad way to meet a book.
FOR WRITERS — WHAT IS ON THE BOARD
Dragon Squire is five books written and in production. The Arrangement is in editing now. Both at the same time, alongside everything else.
Honestly, the only reason that is manageable is that the structure is already done. By the time editing starts, the bones have been checked — what got promised, what got paid off, where the timeline holds and where it doesn't. The writing part is the part that looks like work. The part that saves you is quieter than that.
Sadr is still coming this fall. It will get its own letter. It is not a list item.
That is September. October is a full month.
— Christopher