Glorious Stories

Greetings!

Last post I promised to come back with news about what I’ve been up to, so here I am with many updates. I’ll not beat about the bush, so let’s dive right into it.

COMING SOON

If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen recently that I have been working on a *secret project*! I’m pleased to announce that starting in on October 1st, I will be releasing an illustrated Christmas-themed novelette in fourteen parts, right here on this blog.

Set in Israel, circa 30 A.D., Hosts of Heaven follows Achim ben Amman, a struggling innkeeper in Bethlehem, whose doleful rumination on the purpose of his weary life is interrupted when a terrible storm fills up his shabby inn with guests for the first time in years… foreigners and strangers who may alter the course of his family’s future.

Each chapter will be freely available for subscribers–so if you haven’t subscribed yet, now would be the perfect time!

LONG TERM PROJECTS

For the Big Folks —

My four-novel series, Rise of Ralienah, which I’ve been working on for the last twelve years, is progressing. Pace? Glacial. But there IS a pace. I was about 30% into Book 4 when I encountered a major bout of writer’s block a few months ago, and that usually means that there’s something wrong with an earlier book. I did some evaluating and discovered that Book 1 has some pacing issues and information gaps which, once they have been addressed, will smooth out the wrinkles in Book 4 so I can move on and *finally* finish this series.

As soon as Book 4 is complete, I plan to edit and release books 1-4 over a four-year period, one Rise of Ralienah book per year. I can’t tell you how excited I am to begin that process–I’ve wanted to bring this story out in public for a LONG time, and I think my fellow lovers of fantasy and character drama will like it.

I’m also making plans to do more fairytale retellings in the same vein as Thief, Witch, & Liar, bringing more obscure tales to light in full novel form. I have two in mind currently which are in the early development phase. For now, we will call them Project Weaver and Project Seaside.

Speaking of Thief, Witch, & Liar, I’m planning to release a few short-stories this spring on its one-year anniversary. These short stories include two from Bensiabel’s perspective (set during the events of the novel), one about Daniela’s parents before they were married, and one multi-perspective story that takes place between scenes in the book. Possibly one more, but we’ll see.

For the Kids

I currently have three projects I’m working on for young readers: Wilbur Gilfy, Castle Kids and Dinner With Dragons.

Wilbur Gilfy is a series of illustrated short stories about a little boy named Wilbur and his adventures with his family and friends, slowly learning what it means to follow God and make his faith his own. These are stories I originally created for my first Sunday school class about ten years ago, and I’ve been slowly adding to their number ever since. If you or your kids have taken part in the North Dakota Homeschool Convention the last few years, you might recognize these stories.

Castle Kids and Dinner With Dragons both have the same origins: last year, while on lunchroom supervision duty at school, I started telling five-minute stories for the kindergarteners and first graders to keep them quite long enough for them to actually eat something. I’d ask a few kids for ideas to put in the story, and then come up with something short that included all those things. At first, these stories were unconnected and wholly random. After a while, though, I began to develop a continuity, and the kids caught on. Two separate threads emerged which I began to record to eventually write down and turn into junior novels.

Castle Kids is about a brother and sister who live with their father and mother as prince and princess of a small kingdom. Their adventures range from dealing with mermaids and dragons to sorting out interpersonal issues that every kid has to face.

Dinner With Dragons follows a family of dragons with vastly different personalities and the zaney adventures they each face in their own caves.

STAY TUNED

Next week I’ll be taking a poll for the Hosts of Heaven cover art–so be watching on Instagram and Facebook for a chance to cast your vote! I’ll also do a post here on it, so if you follow the blog only you can still reach out to my via my email and tell me which cover you like the best.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy reading,

–Emmarayn