Hello, all! It's time for another Taleweaver's Desk update, in which I provide a broad view of what projects I'm working on (and not working on). This time, astonishingly, I have no questions of formatting or scheduling, just story updates — in all the categories, for once — so without further ado, here's the post. 

On the Taleweaver's Desk Issue 12: May 2024

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.

Daughters of Atirse #2

What is it? A Goose Girl/Puss in Boots retelling, the second book in the Daughters of Atirse series, and the prequel to Song of the Selkies.

Status: So very close to being done with the first draft.

I remain a bit behind where I'd like to be with the first draft (and by "a bit behind" I mean that I really wanted to have this drafted at the end of last month, but life and other projects got in the way. I am within a few chapters of being done, though — six at most, I think — which is very definite progress. Aside from delays and generally being tired, though, I'm still enjoying this, and I think it's shaping up well. Lots of good character dynamics in this one, at least in my (admittedly biased) opinion. My plan is that once I finish the draft, I'll take a little bit of a break, do light edits, and then send it off to betas for review.

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: Procrastinating on the next adventure, just a little, but I completed a different adventure in the meantime.

I have been theoretically "working" on the next adventure for about an age and a half (read: several months), though for part of that time I was actually writing a different adventure that I forgot I would need. Or, well, I didn't forget; I just failed to realize that the party would want to actually go somewhere on foot instead of calling for a teleport. Now I'm back to warily eyeing the complicated thing and mildly regretting my life choices . . . not enough to fully change my plans, though.

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).

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 (and a useful excuse/motivation for prioritizing those edits).

Berstru Tales series

What is it? The longest-running series I've worked on (either in the number of books written or in how long I've worked on it. Originally was a classic epic fantasy, but now it might be getting a subgenre change . . .

Status: Needs to be rewritten from the ground up, but the bones are good. I've decided that I'm going to try changing it to a different subgenre, and now I'm more excited to work on this again, thus why it's been moved from "Shelved for Now."

Secret Star Book

What is it? A secret. An experiment. The product of my having read/watched/otherwise enjoyed a lot of media in a couple specific genres (outside my usual one) in the last six-ish months.

Status: I am dabbling in this as a sort of guilty pleasure project as I have the time and desire to do so. Technically it could have been in "Awaiting Delivery" back in February, but I hadn't realized at the time just how much I wanted to write it sooner than just "sometime."

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.

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 still love this story, but I don't know when I'll get back to it. Currently, that happening in the next twelve months is looking somewhat dubious.

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 Atirse and Bastian Dennel taking priority.

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. Book 4 will be Jack and the Beanstalk (yes, I'm serious); other stories planned include The Little Mermaid, The Goose Girl, The Nutcracker, Rumplestiltskin, and Pwyll & Rhiannon.

Status: I think I have a new, reasonably solid series order that I like, makes sense, and allows me to write the books I'm really excited about somewhat sooner. In the process of working out that series order, I also more or less decided that what I had meant as Book 4 and then switched to Book 5 is half in the wrong place — so the half that's in the right place is going to be repurposed for another book, while the rest is being moved further down the series line. I think this will be a general improvement. I'm also looking at writing Book 4 this summer in between working on Daughters of Atirse #2.

Future Daughters of Atirse books

What is it? What the headline said, again. Multiple other stories connected with Song of the Selkies. Specifically, I have plans for some variation on Beauty and the Beast (sequel), Tam Lin (prequel), and Pwyll & Rhiannon (sequel), as well as a prequel and at least one other sequel that don't have specific fairy tales but will be written because I want to tell their main characters' stories.

Status: Lots of plans, and I only write so fast, but I spend enough time brainstorming these with a friend that I should have them pretty well planned out by the time I actually get to start drafting.

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. May end up being set in the same world as Daughters of Atirse, though not in the same series and later in the world's timeline.

What projects (writing or otherwise) are you working on currently, and how are they going for you? Tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!