Well, Christmas 2014 has come and gone, and my relatives have once again piled me with books to get next year’s reading started. As I continue my quest to dip my toes in the water of every notable series I can lay my hands on, 4 of the 5 books are either first in a series or stand alone. The one exception is The Wise Man’s Fear, which follows The Name of the Wind.

I still find it ironic that becoming a writer has led to me reading less than I used to, but much of the time that once would have been spent reading is now spent on writing instead. Still, I refuse to fall too far behind, and I still want to get flavors of all the major series that fans talk about.

Without further ado (or further spoilers), 2015’s books:

Now to choose one to read first

Of particular note are Eye of the World (first of 14 Wheel of Time books) and Gardens of the Moon (first of 10 from Malazan Book of the Fallen). Those two alone are pits of words from which entire months might be spent escaping. Promise of Blood is by relative newcomer Brian McClellan, who was first published around the same time I put out Firehurler. The Ocean at the End of the Lane was a blockbuster his by Neil Gaiman. The only sequel in the mix is the aforementioned The Wise Man’s Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss. This is a holdover from last year’s list. While I enjoyed all the books from that pile, this was one where I just had to get the second book.

2015 Writing Update

This is the year of Black Ocean. I published the first two missions last year: A Pilot’s Pilot, and A Smuggler’s Conscience. I’ve also put out an introductory short story, Tech, Lies, and Wizardry, which is free on Kobo, but still awaiting Amazon’s price matching to be free there. Holiday prep slowed the manuscript for the 3rd mission, but it’s ramming speed ahead! in the new year. I’ll be focusing on the adventures of the crew of the Mobius for most of my writing.

But that isn’t all I have planned. I’ve had a few little projects on the side, and I may put one or two together on the side to pitch to publishers. I have been saving them because I was thinking they were a better fit than my self-published works, where they’d fit into the mainstream and get better exposure.

I’ve also been picked up for an anthology that isn’t quite ready to announce yet. I’ll keep you all updated when details go public, but it’s something I’m hoping really catches on.