On Loss, and Art (and also writing update)

(Scroll to the bottom if you just want the update)

Dear friends and fellow readers, it’s been awhile. I apologize if I’ve been hard to reach, sparse in feedback, or (more) unreliable in general. There’s no real excuse, and don’t worry – my health and mind are as sound as usual (so, marginally). However for the past few years my mother has been very ill, and over the last months finally succumbed. It seems despite my ameteurish attempts at stoicism, I was not immune to the effects.

There’s much waxing poetic on the topic of grief and art. I find it very useful in starting projects, or working furiously for a night or two – imagine the drunken, bleary eyed writer raging back and forth across his garret, smashing the keys as emotion pours. However, it is worse than useless over time. Like most other negative emotion it hardly assists in thoughtful, disciplined work, where craft and careful consideration are required to move a large, complex project forward.

I’ve had to make some sacrifices to keep myself working, and it’s fair to say I let most everything go. As with your typical selfish artist, those dearest to me suffer the most. There’s a guilt that comes in the doing, but I fear I know no other path save to lock myself away and carry on with the one thing I can, the one thing I exist to do, the most important thing when all is said and done. And so I have.

The update

First, don’t get excited. The amount of work left to do is tremendous and God only knows what it will look like – but, it can be said: the first draft of Kings of Heaven, the final book in the series, has taken form. The story is essentially complete.

Now comes the second, far more real draft, then the editing, then the beta reading and more editing, all of which will take months and months of effort I assure you, and probably take us to the end of the year. But, the story is done. I fear the characters won’t leave my mind until it’s all polished to a sickening sheen, and even then… Still, things are on track. I’m emerging from the fog, and I hope over the next weeks and months to get Kings of Ash out in vastly overdue paperback (and maybe start thinking about audio). I’ll probably, er, answer some emails. I might take my wife on a date.

So if I’ve promised you something or if you’ve contacted me and I haven’t responded or delivered, please accept my apologies, and feel free to remind me. I’m forgetful even in the best of times, and this isn’t one of those. But life goes on.

Stay strong my friends. To those of you who inevitably know your own tragedies, I say this – pet cute puppies; laugh at the sillyness of children, and keep getting out of bed. I’m rooting for you.

-Richard