Okay, so, if you watch the ‘What I’m Working On’ page, you may have noticed that Liberty is into the editing cycle and I’m now onto the ninth Fox Meridian book. It’s going to be ‘Fox 9’ for a while, I think, though it may end up being The Hellas Find. We’ll see.
Anyway, when Liberty hits the virtual shelves I’ll have done three Ultrahumans books in a row. Two of those were intended to be back-to-back since Guardian and True Dark are heavily linked together. Then I had no ideas for anything else, so I went ahead with Liberty. I’m happy with the outcome (or as happy as an English author can get), but I am really happy to be moving on to a different series. Ultra fatigue has set in. Three consecutive books in the same world is, I think, too much.
I’m used to this with reading. Generally, if I read the same author for a long time, I start to suffer from ‘content fatigue.’ I first noticed it with Anne McCaffrey when I was in my twenties (I think). I had collected the then extant Pern books (this was before they proliferated into the billions) and decided I would read them in chronological order (or as best as possible since some overlap). I was doing pretty well, but by the time I was reading The White Dragon it was getting really hard to keep going. I think Moreta came out not long after and I just couldn’t finish it. Too much of the same world/characters, and the same author’s style.
Writing is the same, but worse. There were seven Pern books to read, IIRC, but it takes a lot longer to write a book than to read one. (With you lot, that seems to be quite an extreme understatement.) Two books should be my limit, I think. After two books in the same setting, I’m starting to get tired of the same universe.
And now, back to researching Mars and living in Fox’s head for a while.
Witches and Ray-Guns 
Need to change On the Drawing Board it still has Ultrahumans 7 listed
Done.
I pretty much did the same thing with Pern, except I did it in 2000 so had a bit more to read.
Will be nice to get another Fox book or two. Any plans on what comes after, like hopefully new Thaumatology? I think I may have commented once or twice in the past that Im hoping to see those soon, LOL.
Thaumatology is a problem. So is Aneka, tbh. Getting either of those out is going to take some form of magic I haven’t figured out yet.
But, no, I have no idea what comes after Fox 9, so a miracle could happen. I wouldn’t suggest holding your breath however. (For starters, it’ll probably be early next year when it appears, whatever it is, and holding your breath until January could be unhealthy.)
I recall that at some point you commented on how Thaumatology and Aneke were both being stubborn plot wise, so Ive got no problem waiting patiently (mostly) for it to come to you rather than get something forced and thus, sub par. Id rather wait a long time for an author to get it right, as long as they let it be known that there are issues. Seriously, with the age of social media that we live in now, there is no reason for an author to leave their readers in the dark about whats going on. A simple FB or blog post on occasion isnt much to ask for. A “What am I working on” section works too. 🙂
There are a number of authors I like who are very interactive with their readers, and thus build loyalty because it makes them accessible and not feel like some vague person pounding away at a keyboard somewhere who you only get an impression of through a couple paragraph author bio. I think when an you can actually have a conversation with an author, be it FB, blog, or forum, it makes the experience of reading their work that much better. Yet another reason I like indies, they tend to be more in touch with fans.
I thought we’d see Misfits 3 earlier; there are so many hints for a showdown to come soon…
I tent to avoid readin fatigue by readen multiple autors at one time and atleast you get a book finished befor it sets in
While I would also like to see those older series continued there is a grumpy part of me that gets tired of long stretches of the same characters.
That grumpy geezer has also gotten spoiled in this digital age with excellent authors who put out several books a year. Not like the dead tree publishing industry where you’re lucky if a favorite author puts out one book a year. We all used to suffer those waits and now we’re all like, “You haven’t released anything this month. C’mon, hurry up!”
Maybe consider a book (or several) that are intentionally singletons, stories to blow the cobwebs out and experiment with very different characters, plots and genres. Not everything has to be a series, where you’re pushing too hard to come up with interesting new plot devices for the same old characters.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to whatever’s next …. however long it takes.
I’ve had the same problem with content fatigue in the past but not for EVERY series. I did churn through the previously existing April series consecutively last year. But yes, a regular change is nice. Then again I do tend to be reading at least two books at a time usually (one kindle, one or two hard copy). And I mix fact with fiction.
I never did like the Moreta story so it usually gets skipped in rereads lol.
I think you need to forget about the Thaumatology spin offs and get back to Ceri and Lilly forget about having a big bad and just write a slice of life\supernatural detective story as that was my favourite parts of the story.
^ That. Ive always liked authors who include chapters that are just the characters living their life. Not everything has to be focused on advancing the main plot line. Some people complain that books that contain alot of that type of thing lack character or plot development, Id argue its just the opposite as you are getting a look at the a characters day to day life.
For the Fox and Aneka universes, it’d be kinda fun to have a series of chapters in a book setup sorta like Ghost in the Shell’s individual episodes. Take something like Fox’s investigation into the organjacking ring in Ghost in the Doll (I think) and stretch it out into a full chapter by itself. Then tack another chapter onto it with another investigation and so on. Might even work in Thaumatology universe, but I’m not so sure about that.
Some famous authors don’t seem to know when to end a series. While it is always nice to keep “Honor”, the last in that series was an unreadable mess. I know the publishers must hate the idea but sometimes you need to stick a fork into it and see if is done.
I can’t speak to writer fatigue not having done any fiction writing since university, but reader fatigue isn’t always an issue for me. Mood depending, I’ve been known to plow through a series by a favorite author with no problems. Other times, I won’t even make it through a single book before quitting on it, even if it’s something that initially held a very high engagement for me. Just how my brain works.
I’ve failed to finish books. More than once. Usually I have a pretty good idea that’s going to happen early on though. I generally try to push onward: I think writing this stuff makes me feel like I should give other authors a fair chance before giving up. Or I paid for it so I’m damn well going to finish it… or not.
I personally think with Aneka that something should come out of that pyramid they are sitting on top off – and all of the crew are clueless – except for Aneka, who vaguely recalls seeing something similar in a movie…
I think with Thaumatology, that a book centered on Lily and her sorceress having to adapt to their being outed to the world would be a good plot…bigotry, meddling incompetent officials, mobs, etc… Can you imagine the difficulty of working on a project or paper and you are constantly getting interrupted by howling mobs, persistent paparazzi, or bumbling bureaucrats?
Any chances of some more Shil? Or maybe dragons 🙂 You’ve got such a rich pool of characters to pick from, if you get tired of one set, there’s plenty to choose from.
Both will happen. Eventually. :s
Any update on Liberty yet?
Due out around Halloween.
Cool. Next request would be for a new Fox, Sequel to Iron Empress, or a sequel to Vanity Case. Please keep up the good work!!!! I am busy re-reading all of your stuff since Chris Nuttall has gotten ill.
New Fox, currently called ‘The Hellas Find,’ will come out in December, IIRC.
I’m not saying I’m telepathic or anything, but, you know… evidence. 😉
What? Is no one else wondering what our Gunwitch is getting up to? I know I’ld like to find out. Thanks for all the hard work. I know I’ll be buying the new books as soon as they hit the shelves as always.
I’ve got part of a plot for a new Gunwitch book. It needs a lot more work to make into an actual book. I’ll get there, sooner or later.
I know Ive mentioned a desire to see the, for lack of a better term, orphaned series get conclusions. Cant remember if I mentioned Gunwitch directly or not, but I know I at least brought up Reality Hack.
I was thinking about Reality Hack today. I really would like to do the second book. Getting the plot for it together gives me a headache every time.
As of tonight, I think you’re getting Ultrahumans, Fox Meridian, and then Sondra Blake, though that third one has been changing all the way through writing the Fox book. Maybe I’ll finally crack Reality Hack. Right now, all bets are off.
Personally hoping to hear more about a Misfits 3 soon, given the spacing between release of 1 and 2.
Good place to post the question. After banging through two of those in short order, getting the story wrapped became a problem. I’m hoping to get the third one out next year.