It should come as no surprise by now, especially if you know me or my "work habits," that I have been writing the sequel to The Book of Drachma, since before the first trilogy had even gone through what it took to be published. What I have not done with any finality, is to decide on a title. I do believe that the sequel will be called Heir of Drachma, but I have been struggling with what to name book one in the sequel, or as I rather affectionately call it, Book Four. But I do believe that I have finally come up with a title (more on that later).
With fifteen chapters done, plus a synopsis of the first trilogy, and a prologue (which I haven't decided to use), I was discussing some things with my publicist. He was rather surprised at my progress, and immediately put me in touch with the acquisitions manager whom I first made contact with at Tate. And she was quite interested, saying that "they knew I could write," and were willing to take a chance on me. So, here I am, almost done with the fourth book of six, which will again be published by Tate Publishing, and I expect to get them the manuscript within the next couple of months or so. I have learned quite a lot since I went into the world of publishing, and one of the things which I learned was, in essence, what I already knew, and that was simply that if you want it done right, then, by golly, you'd better get in there and do it right, for it will not get done right by any other means. And that includes fixing the typos! Ah, well...
I do believe that this second trilogy will, from the outset, be a better-edited piece of work.
Well, what can I tell you of this next trilogy, without giving away too many spoilers? I can tell you that this trilogy takes off a few years later than where the first one ended. The main characters are all the same (with a few new ones thrown in for good measure, and a few lost to the vicissitudes of time), and the settings are the same. We are still in the late fifteenth century, on Shepperton Island, as well as the late twentieth century, in the U.S. And now, it would appear that our old nemesis, Antoine LeGace is about to hatch his plan. Craycroft gets word of this, and throws his forces into finding out about Master LeGace. And at the same time, deems it expedient to send Master Robert into hiding, along with his pregnant bride, Judy, and an assortment of odd and sundry individuals. Meanwhile, Drachma's heir apparent, Tom, has been playing with these powerful forces who seem to be guarding the doings of Shepperton, and, as part of an elaborate plan, prepares, then whisks away none other than Bob's wife from the "old time," with the understanding that she can do something to save her husband. And leaving behind, in our time, Charlie Stephens, Janie and Earl Crabtree, as well as the original earl of Shepperton, all of whom, it would seem, do have something to contribute to the doings in another century, thousands of miles away.
Now, I do not think that I can "neatly resolve" all the issues playing forth in this rather elaborate tale in the first volume, so, as with the first trilogy, you might have to wait a bit to find out just how all these threads do tie in together. Just remember- I'm enjoying this as much as you.
And if you should be one of those who hasn't yet read the first trilogy, it is still very available at Amazon.com, as well as Barnes & Noble (bn.com) in all of the versions. And I always welcome comments. You may reach me at: drachmabook@gmail.com
BTW, the title for the first volume of Heir of Drachma will probably be The Healer's Gambit.
With fifteen chapters done, plus a synopsis of the first trilogy, and a prologue (which I haven't decided to use), I was discussing some things with my publicist. He was rather surprised at my progress, and immediately put me in touch with the acquisitions manager whom I first made contact with at Tate. And she was quite interested, saying that "they knew I could write," and were willing to take a chance on me. So, here I am, almost done with the fourth book of six, which will again be published by Tate Publishing, and I expect to get them the manuscript within the next couple of months or so. I have learned quite a lot since I went into the world of publishing, and one of the things which I learned was, in essence, what I already knew, and that was simply that if you want it done right, then, by golly, you'd better get in there and do it right, for it will not get done right by any other means. And that includes fixing the typos! Ah, well...
I do believe that this second trilogy will, from the outset, be a better-edited piece of work.
Well, what can I tell you of this next trilogy, without giving away too many spoilers? I can tell you that this trilogy takes off a few years later than where the first one ended. The main characters are all the same (with a few new ones thrown in for good measure, and a few lost to the vicissitudes of time), and the settings are the same. We are still in the late fifteenth century, on Shepperton Island, as well as the late twentieth century, in the U.S. And now, it would appear that our old nemesis, Antoine LeGace is about to hatch his plan. Craycroft gets word of this, and throws his forces into finding out about Master LeGace. And at the same time, deems it expedient to send Master Robert into hiding, along with his pregnant bride, Judy, and an assortment of odd and sundry individuals. Meanwhile, Drachma's heir apparent, Tom, has been playing with these powerful forces who seem to be guarding the doings of Shepperton, and, as part of an elaborate plan, prepares, then whisks away none other than Bob's wife from the "old time," with the understanding that she can do something to save her husband. And leaving behind, in our time, Charlie Stephens, Janie and Earl Crabtree, as well as the original earl of Shepperton, all of whom, it would seem, do have something to contribute to the doings in another century, thousands of miles away.
Now, I do not think that I can "neatly resolve" all the issues playing forth in this rather elaborate tale in the first volume, so, as with the first trilogy, you might have to wait a bit to find out just how all these threads do tie in together. Just remember- I'm enjoying this as much as you.
And if you should be one of those who hasn't yet read the first trilogy, it is still very available at Amazon.com, as well as Barnes & Noble (bn.com) in all of the versions. And I always welcome comments. You may reach me at: drachmabook@gmail.com
BTW, the title for the first volume of Heir of Drachma will probably be The Healer's Gambit.
Good to hear that the fourth volume is still alive and well, my friend. No need to neatly resolve anything, just let the story tumble forth naturally.
ReplyDeleteActually, Diego, I have no intention of neatly resolving anything, because that would force the hand of the characters. You see, they have developed such personality by now, that just keeping them within the larger framework of the tale is quite a challenge!
ReplyDelete