I feel like time goes by faster the older I get. I blinked and summer swept past me. My spouse spent some time overseas in Scotland, getting to know the lay of the land there, and my housemate spent some time “sightseeing” in the United Kingdom, which left me on my own for a good chunk of the hot weather. And I just had to find something with which to occupy my time, so I wrote another manuscript.
I started on June 2nd, and by August 10th I had one hundred seventy thousand words. I printed it all out and stared at it. This is a lengthy novel for me, but it felt denser somehow, more of a weight at once settled onto my shoulders and removed from my chest. I don’t want to say this was a story I had to write, but it sure feels good to have it written.
Briefly, it’s about a man who lives alone on a beach, in an old stone house. Around him are the remnants of an old village. This man reminds us of a Viking, or a medieval worker, and for a while we get to watch his life, such as it is. He works at his blacksmithing chores all day. He stands in front of a forge and obsesses over making something perfect.
Then something perfect – a thousand somethings – wash up on the beach outside, and the Smith goes to warn his only friend the Carpenter, who lives deep in the woods on this strange, silent Island. It’s a dangerous journey; and where perfection goes, violence follows.
So I’ve got a working title – The Smith Book – that we use around the house, but I’m still in preliminary edits and all that, so plenty of time. We’re more excited about the new book, London’s Calling, that’s coming out in January, just in time for Arisia and Boskone! It’s a stand-alone story about London, a non-binary secret agent working out of a post-apocalyptic city called the Ster. London has recently lost a hand in a previous assignment and are struggling to convince their superior/handler that they’re still useful in the field. Fortunately they’ve a brilliant live-in nurse (Aventura, a fairy four inches tall) and a historical reenactor named Vann to help them deal with a new threat to the Ster, and an old threat to London.
Clever readers might note that London appeared in books 2 and 3 of the Sex Bunker Apocalypse trilogy, and while London’s a fun character to read about in those books you can absolutely read London’s Calling on its own if the, mm, sensual nature of SBA isn’t for you. There’s no sexy times in London’s Calling whatsoever, and going forward there’ll be a measurement of spice added to every book I write. I think if we return to the Bunker Triad it can be expected that they’ll probably find a solution to many problems by fooling around with it. It’s just in their nature! But London doesn’t really do that, at least not where we, the readers can see. I really want this book to be the rock upon which I build a brand new world and set of stories that anyone can get into, and I know that Sex Bunker Apocalypse might be a little too steamy for some. Though it’s less steamy (and certainly less outright sexual) than, say, Game of Thrones, so really I just need to pick a lane. Maybe Chuck Tingle’s methodology is best. Who’s to say? Not me, I’m just a fledgling writer who knows nothing, Jon Snow.
Also! Great and powerful news that flies in the face of what I’ve just written! We have a supremely talented individual helping us get audio books out for the SBA series, and hopefully London’s Calling after that. Her voice is just perfect. It’s adventuresome and wonderfully toned and, yes, at certain points she reads like a 1-900 number. If I had summoned Terri out of the ether and told her to read out the SBA books she couldn’t do a better job. And probably wouldn’t; there’s episodes of Murder, She Wrote to catch up on. I think we’ll definitely have at least one audiobook ready to roll for Arisia, so for the many of you who said you don’t have time to read, but do have time to listen, I hope this will work for you.
More as things develop! I haven’t written much since finishing the Smith book and am seesawing between taking a break until winter and banging out another story. I’ve got a meeting with my Muse-interpreter soon, maybe she can sort it out.
Oh, one final thing; a special shout-out to a new beta-reader, Cat, who somehow managed to consume the entirety of the Smith book in all its unedited glory. They had some lovely things to say about it, and I have sent them the SBA trilogy as a reward, or a punishment. Funishment? The Entropy Engine can come up with a better term, I’m no good at that. Thank you Cat!
Happy Writing,
Adam Brink
