I’ve been making steady-ish progress on the Half-Life of a Soul (HLOAS) series. It has been very slow, though. While yes, any progress is good, I don’t want to take a decade to write “the end” when I already know exactly how this story will end, how the spin-off story will open and end, and much more.

I set myself a deadline. I said I wouldn’t do it again, but here I am.

I’m going to write the next 4 books in 2 years. Yes, one book every 6 months.

I did that with the Salvation Triad. 3 books out in 18 months. It nearly killed me. That was, of course, a bit different than what I’ll do this time.

With the trilogy, I wrote, ran through beta, edited, and published a book every 6 months. For the record, I do not advise this for anyone.

For this series, I have the first book finished. I’m doing my last round of revisions and combing through feedback from the beta readers, then my editor gets a swing at it.

The plan is as follows:

Currently working on book 2. Will complete the draft of book 2 in 14 weeks. (July 29)

Self-edit and revise for another 8 weeks. (Sept 23)

Beta for 3 weeks. (Oct 14)

Revise and self-edit for another 4 weeks. (Nov 11)

Books 3-5 will follow a similar pattern. I can send one off to my editor while I start the next one, and work on implementing her changes while working on the next set of deadlines. Also, um… no, I don’t expect this of any other author, ever. This is the brain of a project manager with more creativity than she should be allowed.

It’s a much more generous cycle than what I was allowing myself in the past, but it keeps me from letting it slide. I take my commitments, even to myself, quite seriously. I can’t get over how much this entire story has demanded my very best, and insists on being birthed intact, as the completed series it is.

On that note, I’ve already prepared a history of the world for the Half-Life series and will be sending it out in my newsletter this month. I’m going to continue including bits from the story bible as I write.

If you want to see those pieces, you have to get the newsletter though. I won’t be sharing them anywhere else. So, go sign up!

The newsletter comes out on the 14th of each month. When you sign up, you’ll get a welcome email. Then you’ll get a free short story each of the two following days. (Not related to the series, just stories I decided to share as a thank you.)

Hope you’ll have fun with the insider scoops. Also, if anyone wants to be called on for the beta reading, let me know. It’ll be a while, but I’m always open to new readers in the beta. It helps to have a new perspective! I do promise all beta readers a copy of the books when the series is finished, as I can’t pay for readers at this time.