Soul of the Sun is Finally Here!

“I’m going to do it for real this time. I’m going to write a whole series from start to finish.” Was the promise I made when I sat down to pen Symphony of the Stars, what became the first book in the Celestial Serenade.

It was somewhere in the area of 2008. I was about to finish my college program, and I had just secured my first real job in the form of a work placement. I had been writing since middle school (a year I will not pull from the ether). My history was littered with unfinished projects abandoned at various stages of development.

At this point, I had only managed to finish two novels. Both were meant to be book ones, and both series were abandoned midway or less through the second book.

Ideas were my forte. I had a folder full of them on my hard drive. If I sat down with one, I could even expand the concept into a decent novel summary. But finishing was not yet a skill I had mastered.

Symphony of the Stars was the first book I outlined before starting. It was the first time I more than a rudimentarily developed the world in which a story was going to take place. I created a wiki-style document of characters, places and forms of cultural address; everything I thought I would need to breathe a world to life.

It was not the first book to grow several sequels in the process of its development. Nor was it the first to receive a total re-write with skills I learned along the way. But it was, indeed, the first project that felt serious from the time I started penning it till the moment I published the final volume. (Which is right now.)

Writers Celebrate in Odd Ways

People often ask me how it feels when I finish a project. “It must be really exciting,” they tell me.

And it is. There’s something really special about writing the end and knowing you got all the way through the execution of a project. Often, I hold scenes in my head for several years before I finally get to write them down. And it always feels good to pull something from the ether and give it a solid form.

But the mind of a writer is always moving on to other things. Thinking up the next idea. Churning out the next chapter. Figuring out where the next story is going. And sometimes, working out how it all fits into the bigger picture.

The honest truth is that, by the time most other people are aware that a project of mine has come to an end, I’m already halfway through another. My buffer is big enough that by the time I publish a book one, I’m usually halfway through an entirely new series. (I’m penning Book 14 of the Aruvalia Chronicles right now, and the first book won’t see publication until February.)

Writing is such a lengthy process, that the delay between finishing and celebrating can be considerable. In my case, the time I should take to celebrate (release day), often gets lost in the shuffle of whatever new thing I’m working on. I used to always go out to eat when I finished a series. Now I’m lucky if I remember to pour myself a glass of wine.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t exciting or that I never celebrate. It is and I do. Today in particular, as today is a day I never thought would actually arrive despite the promise I made over a decade ago.

It Feels Weird to Reach the End

A decade ago, I wanted to believe I would be able to stick to a project long enough to finish it. And I wanted to believe I would find a way to deliver that story to the rest of the world. (Something that has become so normal for me now, I don’t stress over it.)

But there was a part of me that lived these years in constant doubt. Even now, as I push the publish button on what has arguably been the largest project I’ve tackled in my life so far, a piece of me can’t entirely believe it’s happening.

I still have the fake covers I created to motivate myself to get through that roughest of rough first drafts. The fragile hope of a dream that seemed impossible at the time.

But today I fulfill the promise I made to publish this crazy little trilogy in 9 books.

This is not the last series I will release into the wild. It will not be the longest, or the craziest or the one that makes me cry the most. My future is littered with works in progress, and I can only hope I live long enough to complete a fraction of them.

But this was the project that got me over the hurdle of never finishing – and for that I will always be grateful.

This is not goodbye for the world or characters I created to craft this story. They have already crept through the cracks to demand more attention. And that makes it a little easier to say goodbye (for now).

I just hope people will treasure and cherish the enjoyment of this story as much as I have embraced penning it. And I can’t wait to share my next great adventure with all of you!

Soul of the Sun is Available Now!

When the endless march of time ceased to touch Kantis Isrical, he grew weary of life in the empire. But before he departed, he spoke a promise – whenever you need me, I will return.

According to Rynick Zylockman, Earth has never needed the legendary Kantis more. It’s been several centuries since Sol ceded from their union with the Calteran Empire, forcing their magnificent floating city and luxury ships to abandon orbit and move elsewhere. Since then, the Dragonmen, once protectors of the system, have become tyrants, oppressing what remains of humanity by grinding them ever deeper into the dust.

Day to day life is a constant struggle for Rynick and his sister, Syril. There’s never enough money to pay the bills, their mother is sick and now Syril is pregnant. In Earth’s hidden crevices, a movement gathers, hoping to free the planet from its tyrannical rulers. But if Rynick doesn’t act now, their efforts won’t do him or his family any good.

But convincing the legendary Kantis to help Earth might not be as straightforward as it initially seems.

Three wars lay in Kantis’s past, making him no stranger to suffering. But the world that lies before him now is entirely different than the one he left, making it feel strange and alien. Never before has he awakened to peace. This might be his first chance to avert the disaster of bloodshed.

But the Caltaran Empire has grown apathetic to everything outside of their immediate concerns. And Earth has moved beyond the border of the land to which Kantis is bound. While he cannot ignore the strange behavior of his creations, he can only do so much without committing an ethical violation.

When the moment to decide Earth’s ultimate fate finally arrives, who will rise in triumph – and who will fall in flames?

Soul of the Sun contains the final 3 books in the Celestial Serenade (Smooth Jazz, Careless Electronica and Headstrong Heavy Metal) previously published separately.

Grab your copy today!