 Image belongs to Amazon. Skate the Seeker As I await news from my publisher about the manuscript, we’ve worked on the back-cover summary – ever important, ever exciting. No further news on that, other than to keep an eye out for further updates here until release in September. Media Finally started watching Amazon’s Rings of Power, and I like it a lot. I had heard some grumbling on the internet (the absolute last place you’d ever expect to find grumbling of any sort, obviously) about the production value of the thing, but I must have the eyes of a dullard, because it looks great to me. I’ve also rewatched the Jackson films in the meantime while doing dishes, and there’s something impressive about a movie series I’ve seen at least five complete times still having the ability to stir my emotions. The scene with Aragorn closing Frodo’s hand around the ring in Fellowship, Sam’s speech of stories in Towers, Aragorn, again, charging the Black Gate in Return. So good! My eldest son has also been interested in Sonic shows recently, and Netflix’s Sonic Prime has been surprisingly engaging for me, so much so that I asked my boy not to watch episodes without me. We’ve also had a blast playing his Christmas present on the Switch, a compilation of old Mario Party minigames released under the banner of Mario Party Superstar. I wonder which of his two loving parents had the idea to get him that for Christmas?  Image belongs to Bay12Games Productivity has hit an all-time low in general for me as Dwarf Fortress had a release before the holidays, complete not only with an official graphics suite, but an overhaul of the arcane user interface and brand new features to explore. Haven’t been able to get a single thing done since, really. Miscellany I did not get around to finishing my side-project before the end of the year, given the aforementioned distractions. I’ll probably get to it in the next month or two. The problem is that I’m writing a murder-mystery, and I don’t know whodunnit yet. That’ll all come out in the revision process, but for now I’m even more stumped than a reader would be. I’ll figure out the resolution to the mystery soon enough, I suppose, but it’s a weird point to be stuck on. Ah well. By the way, keep an eye here and on my social media near the end of the month; I’ll have an announcement that might interest you, or perhaps someone you know that hasn’t met Skate yet. Speaking of social media, I’ve taken a break from Twitter altogether until some changes happen at the company; most of my tomfoolery is now occurring at my account on Post. If you’re looking for stupid crap from me on the daily, that’s your best bet. You can still find me on Facebook as well. That’s all from me, for now. Tell your story! -J. E. Ayers 
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 Skate the Seeker
Waiting on word for book 2, I look forward to the publication month: September 2023. I can’t start on book 3 until Seeker is finalized – the final plot set down, details all cleaned up, and so on. Once I get to the “just fixing typos and misspellings” stage, I’ll feel comfortable beginning to work on 3. Doing the math and in my WILDEST dreams, I may be able to have a draft of the book up and running by the end of the summer, before book 2 even releases. All phantasia, right now, of course. No more real news here on my end. Media Andor is very good, as promised. It’s gritty, flashy, and emotionally gripping in a way that the last few movies haven’t managed to do. I know I’m not the first to suggest this, but the future of Star Wars under Disney might find a better fit in serials rather than feature films. Rhythm of War is still out of reach, so I’ve gone back to Martin’s Game of Thrones. This will be my third reread of the book, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull myself out of Westeros when Rhythm does fall into my lap. We’ll see how that goes. Events I was interviewed recently by my local NPR station, KUAF! I made a post about it, but it was really fun, so I wanted to mention it again. Miscellany I hope to have the rough draft of this side project done before the end of the year. It’ll be pretty short for me, around 80,000 before edits and revisions. It will need a LOT of revisions. The dogs are staying with my parents, and I miss them. On a diet right now, and it’s going well so far. I’ll see how I’m feeling next month. That’s all from me, for now. Tell your story! -J. E. Ayers  Here is the interview I did with Kyle Kellams at KUAF in Fayetteville. Special thanks to Kyle for inviting me in; it was a great talk!
Nothing else much to report, other than I can give you a release month for book 2: September 2023. -Jeff An interview with Kyle Kellams of "Ozarks at Large" will air tomorrow (11/18/22) on KUAF at noon and 7 pm, CST. If you're local, you can tune in to 91.3 FM (or 88.5 FM in the Mena area), and KUAF is always streaming live on their website as well.
Thanks to Mr. Kellams and the KUAF staff for having me! 
Skate the Seeker
I’ve sent the book back to the publisher for another read-through and round of edits. I’m hopeful for no more than one more round before we go to publishing. Then it’s discussions of cover, setting a release date, and so on. After two years of work, I’m excited to be this close to having the finished copy in my hands – and in yours! Stay tuned for further updates; if anything major comes, I’ll post about it before the end of the month. Media 
House of the Dragon came and went, and what a ride. I was so pumped about the show at the end that the realization that we have to wait TWO YEARS for season two almost crushed me. Someone better win an award for this show – it’s some of the best TV I’ve seen in a long time.
I rewatched The Great Mouse Detective for the first time in years because my boys were interested in it. What a weird, fun Sherlock Holmes story this thing is. I forgot about the mouse burlesque scene (yes, really), and had to scramble for the remote to hurry past it. Vincent Price was having a great time as Ratigan, and the movie’s better for it. Next on my list is probably Andor – I can’t resist Star Wars stories, and I’ve heard nothing but good things – and I'll eventually get around to watching Rings of Power, too. There’s also Tales of the Jedi and His Dark Materials, all waiting to be picked up while I wash the dishes at night. Too much to see, too much to do. I’m about three quarters through Sanderson’s Oathbringer, and then I’ll be onto Rhythm of War, though I’m not sure my local library has gotten book four yet. If not, it’ll be off to the store for me. Really enjoying it, and I particularly find myself enjoying Pattern, the cryptic spren. Overall, it’s been a very fun read. Events I was part of a talk at the University of Arkansas about writing while having a career. The audio is a little scratchy, but you can watch it still. Special thanks to Dr. Leigh Sparks of the University, who organized the whole thing.
I may have some upcoming appearances – again, stay tuned. When I have news, I’ll plaster it over Twitter, Facebook, and here.
Now that Skate is once again out of my hands, I’ll be taking a short break this week, then it's back to drafting Rainbow while I wait for word on Seeker. I’ll probably have a completed draft of that before the end of November. I’m holding off on drafting anything for Rag & Bone III until Seeker is out; any changes of the latter before publishing time could disrupt the former. That's all for me, for now. Write your story! -J. E. Ayers  If you can make it to the University of Arkansas campus this Friday at 5 pm, I'll be speaking as part of a panel of local authors discussing how to write and publish writing while also holding a full-time job. There will be a Q & A time as well.
I am told by reliable sources that there will be cookies available for the audience. See you there! Skate the Seeker  My publisher got me the edits and revisions for Rag and Bone Chronicles, Book II: Skate the Seeker, so now I begin the process of cleanup and revision anew. My side-project is on hold until I get Seeker ready to send back to Thinklings. The changes this time are not nearly so drastic as they were during the last round – mostly line edits and only a few plot tweaks – so I expect to have it sent off before the end of October. An early 2023 release awaits! If you know anybody that hasn’t read Skate the Thief, tell them to get a move on so they can be ready for the book 2 release. Media  There are too many shows, too much good TV. To butcher Théoden, what can men do against such reckless good content? House of the Dragon is excellent. Overlord IV has been painfully hopeless (though never hopelessly painful). His Dark Materials (yes, I’m very behind on this) is gripping and fun. If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you may have seen my recaps of Bleach episodes, and on this, I must give myself credit for being – what, only two decades behind the hottest trends in anime? I just checked. 2004. Real cutting edge stuff on my part. Anyway, there’s loads of stuff I haven’t even had time to watch. The Rings of Power waits, Andor waits. Goodness, I haven’t even watched the bonus episodes of Sandman yet. I watched the initial batch of episodes and loved them, so that will have to be finished soon, I think. I enjoyed Sanderson’s Words of Radiance, and have moved on to his Oathbringer, both courtesy of my local public library (thank you, Ben Franklin). Anyway, if you’re wanting to know what I’ve been consuming lately with my eyes and ears, there you have it. Events  On Oct. 21st, I’ll be speaking at the University of Arkansas as part of panel of local working authors – writers who have day jobs but publish books on the side – and I’m looking forward to that, both for the experience of doing it and for getting an excuse to walk the grounds of my alma mater again.
There will need to be some book signings set up with local bookstores when book 2 comes out, but that’s a consideration for later. There’s no point contacting people about that without a specific release date in mind. That's all for me, for now. Write your story! -J. E. Ayers First an update, then some comments. I can be more specific about a timeline for Skate the Seeker, now. Edits and revisions continue, and I believe we can expect a release early in 2023 (not, as I'd hoped, this year, but who's fault is that? That's right, MINE). Expect more details in the coming months; there's still a lot of work left before we can fix a specific date! If you are one of my readers, be sure to tell everyone to get book 1, so they can be ready for book 2 and join you in reading it. If you're not one of my readers... hey! Good to meet you. Now for some random comments about media. I've finally started reading Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives series. I blew through Way of Kings and expect to be done with Words of Radiance by the end of next week. 10/10 so far, must-read fantasy. He made a weird world, and I love every minute spent in it.  Netflix's adaptation of Sandman has been spectacular so far, and so has HBO's House of the Dragon, an adaptation of sections of G.R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood. All excellent reading choices, and I'm glad to see them (successfully!) adapted for the small screen. We're living in the golden age of fantasy nerd television and books, y'all.
Aside from waiting on Skate and watching awesome TV, I've been drafting a side-project to keep myself in the habit of writing. I'm enjoying it so far, and even if it never sees publication, I'll be happy to work on it to completion. The less said of that, the better, I think, until it's done. That's all for me, for now. Write your story! -J. E. Ayers It has been an embarrassingly long time since I updated the website. Literal years have passed. Eight seasons. A pandemic -- still going! Two school years, 300 students come and gone. Far too much to update on every little thing. My apologies if you've been coming here expecting news and updates -- I plan to be more mindful of putting such things here in the future.
For now, I can update you on plans for the future. Book 2 of Rag and Bone is moving forward, in the publisher's hands as I type this. I think I can reveal the title here: Skate the Seeker. I am less comfortable giving a timeline, but I hope to have it out and available to you all by the end of the year. (This is a hope, not a promise. Do not, as they say, @ me.) As I get more information, I will pass it along. At the very least, I hereby promise to at least post some sort of update here once a month. For now, I work on a side-project -- I don't want to say much about it, as I have no idea if or when it will ever get finished, but it's what I've been working on while I wait for Seeker to get back to me. Once book 2 gets finalized, I'll table this project to work on book 3. So long as we don't have a world-crushing catastrophe hit again, I don't expect the time between books to be as long next time. Talk to you again soon (or at least next month). Write your story! -J. E. Ayers  I am happy to announce the release of chapter 1 of Skate the Thief as a preview for the book! Click the button below to open up the pdf.
I'll leave you with a reminder to go with this small taste: the book will be available for purchase in ebook and paperback formats on June 2, 2020. |
AuthorJeff Ayers writes books that are pretty good. Archives
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