Why doesn't the scribe believe me?

Hi! It's Ran again, Sarn's chatty son from the Curse Breaker series and the Rogue Gods Trilogy.

Thank you for taking the poll last week. The results are in and 68% voted for each book to be released as it's finished. I told Melinda, my scribe, that's what most people will want and you proved me right. It makes sense though because our books are fun distractions from a world that's increasingly less friendly or fun.

I'm not sure why Melinda didn't believe me. Okay maybe that's not entirely true. I will do anything for page time and to get books out to you so I can understand why my scribe might not always believe me. After all, I have a vested interest in this. So I'm biased.

I said in last week's newsletter that we’re grappling with the rising printing costs for special editions. And we wondered, where is the line?

What is too much to charge for special edition books?

Why are we grappling with that question?

Because Melinda is trying to write the last chapters of the first Riders of the Apocalypse book, Chaos Rises and Catch the Scribe, which isn't part of that series. The characters have lots of opinions about what should happen in those chapters but I can't tell you about that because I’d give you too many spoilers.

I didn't get nearly enough page time in Chaos Rises. But That's not Melinda’s fault. She wanted to set the book after the Rogue Gods Trilogy and after Chasing Dragons (Curse Breaker #11).

But some characters pointed out that's not possible since Curse Breaker Trapped (Curse Breaker #8) references events in Chaos Rises. And Chaos Rises should reference events in Trapped you know for symmetry or something.

To say that Melinda wasn't happy about that would be the understatement of the century. She was pretty mad when that character pointed it out. And no it wasn't me.

Who pointed that out? I'll tell you in a minute I promise because this has big implications for the story.

But I digressed so let me go back to the question I need to ask this week and then I'll share all the hot gossip you missed out on during the Kickstarter. I made notes so I wouldn't forget.

So back to my question. With special editions getting more expensive and Melinda getting close to finishing two books at the same time (Catch the Scribe and Chaos Rises) we need to decide if we're doing special editions.

Special editions have all the extras like gold foiling, printed edges, lots of color artwork, etc which would not be in the retail edition since Amazon can't print books like that.

Why are we asking this?

I need to know what Melinda should do when she finishes those two books. She's taking a few days off from her day job to celebrate her birthday, March 10, and unless both books take wild turns at the end necessitating a lot more chapters, she'll finish both and hopefully start editing them really soon.

(During the editing process, characters try to get more page time by convincing our scribe that she needs to write more scenes to make the story flow better. I have a list for Catch the Scribe since I play a big role in that book and my aunt has a list for Chaos Rises since she plays a big role in that book.

So the books will likely get a little longer during the editing phase. Melinda writes kind of lean in the the first draft and leaves writing descriptions for later.)

And now it's time for that poll:

We really appreciate you taking our polls. It helps us make decisions about our books. At the end of the day, we just want to entertain you.

And now, I promised you some hot gossip, and this gossip is piping hot! Come behind the scenes with me and I’ll fill you in.

So who do you think told my scribe that Chaos Rises needs to be set not after the Rogue Gods Trilogy and before it?

Again, it wasn’t me! I was barely involved. I just wanted the drama unfold. Do you have your guess ready?

Okay, I’ll stop stalling. It was Fay! Yes, that Fay, the ex-goddess of Fate!

She also pointed out that Chaos Rises needs to start right after His Angelic Keeper Tempted ends because one of the riders of the apocalypse showed up in the Rogue Gods Trilogy. And we kind of need to know how that happened. Did anyone chase them?

I have lots of questions, and now, hopefully you do too. Chaos Rises will answer them and probably raise some new ones since that’s the job of a series starter, right?

Did you guess it was Fay?

If you did, how did you know? Did Melinda tell you?

If you didn’t know, don’t worry because I didn’t see that coming either. But as I said before it has big implications because Curse Breaker Jousts can’t take place during the Rogue Gods Trilogy since the Rogue Gods Trilogy ends in Chasing Dragons, which is the 11th book of the Curse Breaker series, making Jousts, the 12th book.

So Jousts might have to be the last book in the Riders of the Apocalypse story arc and that means we get the penultimate fight against the riders! The previous three books need to raise all the stakes so high that we get to do something possibly cataclysmic!

Or just really cool. I’ll settle for really cool if cataclysmic is too much. After all, we’re trying to stop the apocalypse not finish it. I still need somewhere to live so I can grow up.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds so exciting! Not only do I get new scenes but so does the whole cast of the Curse Breaker series because we’re going to need everyone if we’re going up against the forces of Hell again.

Yes, that means Jerlo will have to get back to work and stop chasing dragons for a while. Maybe the dragons will help us?

This is so exciting! Are you excited? Maybe that will be the next poll. ;)

Speaking of the Rogue Gods Trilogy, the video for part 1, chapters 1-4, of Storm the Gates, which is the last book and the best book in my humble opinion and not just because it has all the dragons. It’s the best book because I have a sizeable role in it!

In fact, chapter 1 is from my POV! So is chapter 4, so you get 2 chapters of me and my special brand of magical chaos in this video. It was challenging to edit since the voice we used really likes me and he kept trying to riff off the source material and give me extra lines.

I did not mind that at all, but Melinda wasn’t happy about that because it required her to do a lot of extra editing she wasn’t planning on. The universe has many ways to grant my wish for more page time. I hope you give it a listen and enjoy it. It’s also up on our podcast as well.

Have a great week!

New Podcast Episodes & Videos

Listen to our podcast in your player of choice. Or Watch it on YouTube.