For those of you who don’t know the story, even though I have been a long-time fan of The Lord of the Rings, I hadn’t intended on writing an epic fantasy series. But I surveyed my VIP Readers’ Club and they loudly told me “Yes! Write it.”
As, with any genre I tackle I had to put my own unique spin on my new epic fantasy series. I made it simple: no dwarves (never been a fan) and no dragons (used far too much). The latter might seem strange because I am a Black guy with the Chinese last name who collects dragon knick-knacks, along with other Ancient Chinese and Japanese artistic pieces, but that’s another story. What has always puzzled me with epic fantasy mythology is there are hundreds of beasts, races, and malevolent creatures (ie. manticores!) but you never see them. I wanted to change that. The European continent – British, Irish, German, Netherlands, etc. – is filled with rich and fascinating mythological history. All the creatures in the Fabled Quest Chronicles — many you’ve never heard of — are from that existing folklore. But I had to add to the Fabled Quest glossary my own mythological creations – a land kraken and a dwelf! But only two.
I always imagined the series as a trek from our world (The Lands of Man) into these magical worlds (The Lands of Fae and beyond). My plan from the beginning was the caravan would be comprised of many disparate factions — not only from the human world but the lands of fae. They all would need each other to get to legendary kingdom of Atlantea. No faction could get there by themselves – the journey was far too dangerous.
However, they would be led by one (a human) who had been to Atlantea before. The mysterious Traveler with his wolf dog companion (a dog but not really a dog at all).
Half of the journey has begun with three novels:
Now to complete the dangerous journey to Atlantea.
So what’s next for Traveler’s Caravan? They have left the Lands of the Fae and stand at the threshold of the Great Forest…also known as the Giant Forest.
Since some of you have indicated that you’ll hire bounty hunters to track me down unless I finish the story I’m using the backdrop of the international National November Writers Month to jump right in. I’ll do the same as I did for my Liquid Cool series: write multiple books back-to-back. In this case, I’ll write Books 4, 5, and 6 back-to-back. Unlike other fantasy writers, I have a rule not to write those 1,000 plus novels. However, the genre definitely fits with a longer novel than my sci-fi books. Also each of the Fabled Quest Chronicles books is longer than the one before it.
Just to reassure Fabled Quest fans, the books are already mapped out and in one sense, already written. I just need to plant butt to chair with fingers on the keys of the laptop and Write!
So let’s use this blog post for a quick survey.
Question: 1) Release one book at a time or 2) Release all at once?
Comment Below:
Austin Dragon is the author of over 30 books in science fiction, fantasy, and classic horror. His works include the sci-fi detective LIQUID COOL series, the epic fantasy FABLED QUEST CHRONICLES, the international futuristic epic AFTER EDEN Series, the classic SLEEPY HOLLOW HORRORS, and new military sci-fi PLANET TAMERS series. He is a native New Yorker but has called Los Angeles, California home for more than twenty years. Words to describe him, in no particular order: U.S. Army, English teacher, one-time resident of Paris, ex-political junkie, movie buff, Fortune 500 corporate recruiter, renaissance man, futurist, and dreamer.
LATEST RELEASE: THE OFFICIAL FABLED QUEST BESTIARY
32 Responses
All at once and when???
Best to have them one at a time, with about a month between. That way we can savor each one, and with a published schedule, we know the next is coming, not just promised.
One at a time would be fine.
I have been known to binge read a series (usually when i discover a new author who writes a good story); however, I’d rather see the release of each book to be a singular event. My rationale being that it give us the opportunity to provide feedback on each book which you need to for the seller’s web site.
Being able to read the next in a series right away is better for me, as I haven’t read 20 books meanwhile and don’t really remember much of that book I wanted to get into right away because the first one was so good. All at once Please!