Hello, all! It’s time for another issue of On the Taleweaver’s Desk, my quarterly broad-view update on my writing projects. Not a lot has changed since my last post of this type, but there are some updates. All the same, if the current trend continues, I may consider switching to a thrice-a-year schedule in 2024. We’ll see. As always, if you want to know more about any project in this post, you can ask me in comments or take a look at my Works in Progress page. Oh, and don’t forget that the Wags, Woofs, and Wonders anthology, which includes my short story “Grim Guardian” is available for preorder in ebook and paperback form. And now, onto the updates!
On the Taleweaver’s Desk Issue 8: May 2023
On the Desktop
These are the projects you might find open on my laptop or desk if you took a peek at it during a normal day. They’re currently in progress and at the top of the priority chart.
Unnamed Selkie Story (Daughters of Atirse #1)
What is it? The Little Mermaid, but make it selkies, swap the human and mermaid roles, and throw in a princess who genuinely wants to do all the things a princess is supposed to do.
Status: Twenty-two-and-a-bit chapters drafted!
This is coming along a little slower than I intended due to a combination of not having a lot of writing time for most of April and the fact that the story is turning out longer than I initially thought it would be. Still, I’m happy with the quality of what I’ve been able to put down, and almost twenty-three chapters is nothing to sneeze at! I’m going to guess that I’m about two-thirds of the way done, possibly a little more. I need to have this done in the next month, so hopefully that guess isn’t too far off . . . I also need to put together a cover and an actual name, now that I have time to think about that kind of thing. The series, as you may notice, has a name. The book doesn’t quite yet. (I have an idea, but I don’t know if I like it or not.)
Bastian Dennel, PI #4
What is it? Book 4 in my Bastian Dennel, PI series and my first murder mystery.
Status: Still twenty-five chapters drafted and probably within ten chapters of a complete first draft.
Yeaaaaaaah, I haven’t really touched this since my last Taleweaver’s Desk update. It still counts as On my Desktop, though, given its priority level. I look forward to getting back to it once I get my selkie story to beta readers. I am toying with the idea of switching story order to make this Book 5 and put my original Book 5 in the Book 4 slot, but . . . we’ll see what I decide. I do think that the current Book 5/maybe Book 4 would be a lot shorter than this one, so switching wouldn’t increase the book delay by too much. In any case, if I manage a 2023 BDPI release, it will be late 2023.
D&D Campaign: Defenders of Serys
What is it? Defenders of Serys is the homebrew D&D campaign that I run for my D&D group.
Status: Basically done with the Middle Earth adventure; working on writing the next adventure.
The Middle Earth adventure is 95% written — I have my plan for the battle at the Gates of Mordor (which we’ll start next session), and I have my transition to the next adventure (which was already written when I started this). I just need to figure out what the nice arc-conclusion bit will be, but I’m holding off on that until I know how long the party wants to stay in Middle Earth — are they sticking around until Aragorn’s coronation, or will they leave after the celebration on the Fields of Cormallen? In the meantime, I’ve started working on the next adventure, about which I’m very excited. It’ll be short, fun, and hopefully a nice conclusion to the fey-and-worldhopping stuff we’ve been doing — though there may be more worldhopping in the future via a different method.
Stacked on the Side
These are the stories that I’m not actively working on (at least not officially), but I’m keeping close at hand because I plan to get back to them soon (or I just work on them sporadically as the urge takes me).
There are no significant changes to any of these projects since my last update, but I’ll leave the list here for anyone who hasn’t seen it before!
Blood in the Earth
What is it? Blood in the Earth is the sequel to Blood in the Snow and a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses crossed with the myth of Hades and Persephone.
Status: First draft finished; awaiting rewrites. I probably won’t get back to it until late 2023 or 2024 at this point due to all the Bastian Dennel, PI books I have planned.
Once Upon a Dream
What is it? A light steampunk (or gaslamp fantasy?) Sleeping Beauty retelling; the predecessor to The Midnight Show
Status: Edited several times over. Awaiting another round of rewrites/expansion/edits.
Shelved for Now
These are stories that are also on hold, but which I don’t have specific plans to work on very soon. They’re still within easy reach should I decide to return to them, but they aren’t a top priority.
There are no significant changes to any of these projects since my last update, but I’ll leave the list here for anyone who hasn’t seen it before!
Dust of Silver
What is it? Classic-ish fantasy retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses crossed with Rapunzel, the first book in what has the potential to be a rather long series. Also, a rewrite of a book I wrote years ago that won’t let go of me because CHARACTERS.
Status: Several chapters into the rewrite, though those several chapters haven’t been touched in a few years.
Between Two Worlds
What is it? A portal fantasy adventure about what happens when you come home from the adventure, only to discover that the adventure isn’t quite as done with you as you thought.
Status: Awaiting another round of edits/rewrites while I write other things and daydream about its sequels. May get bumped further up the priority list depending on certain other factors, but probably not for a while yet.
The Way of the Pen
What is it? Self-aware fantasy adventure about a girl and her author.
Status: The first draft is sitting on my shelf, patiently waiting for its turn back in the spotlight, as it has been for some time. Of everything in this section, this is the most likely book to move up to Stacked on the Side or On the Desktop, as I occasionally have wild thoughts of editing it and shopping it ’round to traditional publishers. However, that actually happening in the next couple years is improbable, due to selkies and Bastian Dennel taking priority.
Berstru Tales series
What is it? A classic epic fantasy series and the longest-running series I’ve worked on (either in the number of books written or in how long I’ve worked on it.
Status: Needs to be rewritten from the ground up, but the bones are good. There’s a particular character who’s getting a whole new arc, and I’m really excited to write it . . . when I have time.
Awaiting Delivery
These are the stories that are on their way, but haven’t quite arrived yet to the point where I can write them: ideas I’m toying with but haven’t even started to draft because they’re still too nebulous.
Additional Bastian Dennel, PI novels
What is it? Exactly what the heading said.
Status: Book 5 (Jack and the Beanstalk) may get switched to being Book 4, depending on what happens and whether I can figure out certain plotting problems. Book 6 (Little Mermaid + a surprise non-fairytale) is still locked in for that position, and I continue to add to my plans regarding it. Here’s hoping that all this ideating will pay off into a quick writing process . . . Anyway I have at least four or five other ideas with varying levels of detail to come after Book 6; still not sure of the order, though. I’m still enjoying this world and these characters, and I hope not to leave anytime soon.
Daughters of Atirse stories
What is it? At least three other stories in the same series as my selkie Little Mermaid story, all technically standalones.
Status: Yes, I haven’t even finished the first book and I’m already plotting sequels. Well, not sequels exactly, but connected books — two will be prequels (retelling the stories of “The Goose Girl” and Tam Lin) and one will be a sequel (I haven’t fully settled on a fairy tale, but it may be something in the Beauty and the Beast family). Of these, the Goose Girl retelling is top priority, as I hope to write it for the 2024 Arista Challenge release.
Novellas from the world of Blood in the Snow
What are they? Currently, three ideas for spinoffs, most of which are also fairy tale retellings: one Puss in Boots (no, really), one Orpheus and Eurydice (probably crossed with a similar Japanese myth, Izanagi and Izanami), and one that’s not currently a fairy tale retelling but would be about Gan and Azuma before they were animal-keepers at the emperor’s palace (inspired the summer I spent watching a lot of Hogan’s Heroes).
Status: Won’t be written until after I edit Blood in the Earth.
Unnamed Fantasy Murder Mystery
What is it? Exactly what the headline says. A prominent noble is murdered; his adoptive daughter is poised to inherit his lands and position — but some are saying her hand was behind his death.
Status: Still just an idea, but it’s an idea with a really good soundtrack. Still not going to be tackled until after Blood in the Earth.
What projects are on your desk right now, and how are they going for you? Do you ever plan whole series before you finish drafting the first book? Tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
Status: Books 5 (Jack and the Beanstalk) and 6 (Little Mermaid + a surprise non-fairytale) are still locked in, and I’ve done some additional ideating and plotting towards Book 6, which I am still quite excited for. I’m figuring out how some new magical beings work in the BDPI world, and that’s a lot of fun. Beyond that, I continue to have lots of ideas for new mysteries but not a lot of clarity about the order those mysteries happen in. In any case, I expect to be writing BDPI cases for quite a while yet.
Novellas from the world of Blood in the Snow
What are they? Currently, three ideas for spinoffs, most of which are also fairy tale retellings: one Puss in Boots (no, really), one Orpheus and Eurydice (probably crossed with a similar Japanese myth, Izanagi and Izanami), and one that’s not currently a fairy tale retelling but would be about Gan and Azuma before they were animal-keepers at the emperor’s palace (inspired the summer I spent watching a lot of Hogan’s Heroes).
Status: Won’t be written until after I edit Blood in the Earth.
Unnamed Fantasy Murder Mystery
What is it? Exactly what the headline says. A prominent noble is murdered; his adoptive daughter is poised to inherit his lands and position — but some are saying her hand was behind his death.
Status: Still just an idea, but it’s an idea with a really good soundtrack. Still not going to be tackled until after Blood in the Earth.
What are your primary projects right now, and how are they going for you? Also, now that my semi-secret selkie story is slightly less of a secret . . . any thoughts? Tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
Sarah Pennington 