Writer's Grove

Besieged

I’ve had a handful of short stories in mind for quite some while now but never really had the time to get them done—there was always the next book to write and that had to take precedence. Happily, the next book I have to write is Besieged, a collection of almost all-new Iron Druid stories that I’m working on right now, and which should be out in July 2017 from Del Rey (and yes, there will be audio too). You can head over here to Omnivoracious where I did a bit of an interview about that and some other goodies.

Most involve Atticus sharing wee adventures of his very long past, but there will also be a story from Granuaile’s point of view, a story narrated by Perun called “Cuddle Dungeon,” and a couple of stories narrated by Owen Kennedy, the archdruid. One of these, “The Bogeyman of Boora Bog,” I’m especially excited about, since I’m not composing it on the computer. I’m going to write it entirely on a manual typewriter, and then Tricia, the Metal Editor, will bust out her antique red pencil, and we’ll go through the whole process the old-fashioned way. When it’s finished, we’re donating the manuscript complete with editorial notes and all revisions to Worldbuilders, where y’all can bid on it and snag a one-of-a-kind look at the writing process while helping people eat. I’m six pages into it now and it’s been fascinating because I wind up hating some first attempts at figurative language and having to simply start over on the next line. The awful first idea is still there, staring at me, and I can’t get rid of it, but sometimes you can’t see how awful it is until you type it out. With software you can delete and it’s gone forever, and you can pretend you never wrote that terrible thing. But it’s also encouraging since you have proof that you can improve anything.

So it begins: A 1956 Olympia typewriter and a bit of 15-year Redbreast. Writing without wifi, whiskey without ice: This is the old school.

There will be two reprints in Besieged. One of them, “Goddess at the Crossroads,” appeared in print only in a limited press run of A Fantasy Medley 3; appearing in Besieged will make it available in ebook and audio for the first time. (That story’s about Atticus meeting William Shakespeare.) The other reprint, “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street,” is primarily being included because it really needs to be narrated by Luke Daniels in audio. I mean, really.  I may also tinker with the story a wee bit for this edition; we’ll see what the Metal Editor thinks.

After I finish writing Besieged I’ll begin work on Scourged, book 9 of the Iron Druid Chronicles! Peace & tacos, friends~!