Christopher Ruz's Blog

June 4th, team. I’m still trying to get my head around that date. June 4th. Three weeks from now. It’s been a long road we’ve taken, me and this little book. Twelve years since the first words hit the page. Five years of rewrites on what was then called Century of Sand. Two years of queries. Then Parvus Press gave me a chance and we dove back into rewrites for another 18 months, so extensive that the beautiful beast about to hit stores all across the US is something entirely new, all sleek and honed and ready for action. I’m so proud of what me and my editor Kaelyn have created. It’s a bloody good book, and I can’t wait for you all to see it. Three weeks. That’s all.     Now, here comes the sales pitch. If you want to grab a copy of The Ragged Blade – and I sincerely hope you do – then the best thing you can do is preorder. Why? You get the book as soon as possible You do all sorts of magical algorithmic things that makes The Ragged Blade really visible on Amazon on launch day You prove to my publishers that there’s a market for books 2 and 3 So grab your copy of The Ragged Blade today! You can do that direct from the publisher, or through: Amazon Kindle Amazon Paperback B&N Nook and Paperback Indiebound or use Bookto to grab The Ragged Blade from a local Aussie bookshop! Thanks, […]

Back in 2010-2014 I was writing a lot. 3 novels a year, 3-4 drafts each, plus time for side projects like X-Com fanfic (I promise to revive the B-Team one day!), all while working as a design contractor and teaching part-time. I felt like I’d cracked the code to productivity. That the energy would never fizzle out. Then, in 2014, I went back to school to get my Masters of Teaching. In 2016, I began teaching high school. Surprise! I fizzled. This is partly because teaching consumes your entire life (80 hour work weeks, every week, forever.) But what I also found was that, even when I did have the time, I couldn’t make the words come. What’d once been so easy was now a struggle. I’d sit down with three hours to spare and end up with 200 limp words and a Youtube playlist of AGDQ speedruns. Writing wasn’t an escape any more. It was extra work, and it was somehow harder than the real work. From 2015-2018, I wrote one book (Rust Four), edited two others (The Ragged Blade, which I’m immensely proud of, and God Factory, which is getting better), and abandoned a lot of half-finished drafts along the way. At the end of 2018, I looked back at my output and decided this was officially Not Good Enough. So, over Christmas, I decided to take a serious look at my work habits, figure out what was holding me back, and reboot. It worked. For the past weeks I’ve been writing non-stop. Projects […]

How many times have I rewritten this sucker now? Too many. But I have a plan for this novel now, and I’m confident I can really make it sing. Just gotta find the time in between revising Century of Sand 2… It’ll happen. I promise.   — CEMETERY DOGS A YOUNG ADULT HEIST CAPER Chapter One — I kept the pedal to the floor until the sirens had faded into the distance. My brother William was in the back of the van, trembling, swearing every time we hit a pothole. I watched him in the rear view mirror. Sweat shone on his brow. His hands trembled in his lap. “They’re not gonna catch us, right? Right?” Dad was sitting beside me, in the passenger seat. He couldn’t sit still. Looking left, looking right, twisting to look back behind us through the window, to see if the cops were closing. His pupils were huge. I hear adrenaline does that to your eyes. Adrenaline, or fear. “I think we left them behind,” he said, finally. His voice shook just like William’s hands. On his lap, zip bulging, was a duffel bag. Whenever the van bounced he clutched it tight, like the whole thing would fly away if he didn’t keep it hugged close. “Slow down a little, or you’ll get pulled over for speeding.” “Yeah!” William called from the back. “Wouldn’t want to lose your learner license!” My mouth was dry and my heart was smashing against my ribs so hard I […]

It’s taken a while to get all the ingredients right, but Rust Four is out of the oven and into all major ebook stores. And let me tell you, friends – this book gets heavy.   “That’s what you think we are? Soldiers?” “Mrs Archer, it’s been a war since day one.” Kimberly Archer fought her way to the border of Rustwood looking for an escape. Instead, she uncovered the town’s greatest secret – and with it, brought the attention of the old and new queens down on her head. Now she’s on the run, fighting enemies on all sides while struggling to control the creature living inside her chest. Her powers are growing but she won’t have time to flex them if the pretender queen’s army of repurposed dead catches up with her. And with Fitch, Chan and Goodwell scattered across Rustwood in the aftermath of Kimberly’s border crossing, will she be able to get the crew back together before the pretender crushes them all? Available now on: Amazon Kindle B&N Nook Kobo iBooks   Phew! I know you’ve all been waiting a long time. I get messages about Rust regularly, asking when the next part of the saga will be complete, and I’m so pleased to finally be able to say: it’s ready now. I truly wish I’d been able to bring you this book sooner. But I couldn’t rush. It had to be done properly. I think I pulled it off. And just in time for Halloween, […]

Hey, friends! Remember RUST? It’s been a billion years since I released Rust Three. Life got in the way, you know. You see, I became a full-time teacher. Then I sold a trilogy to Parvus Press. Then I wrote a cyberpunk novel and, and, and… A lot of excuses, sure. But right now, Rust Four is returning from beta readers, the cover is looking fiiiine and I’m prepping for launch. I know it’s been a long wait. I sincerely appreciate your patience. This book will, I hope, be worth the wait. Keep an eye out, friends.

Deadlines mean I don’t spend as much time on reddit as I used to, but I was messing around there today and remembered that woah, I posted an 8-part horror serial there just as I was wrapping up my Masters of Teaching. So I went hunting, and it was all still there. It’s a short story about child experimentation, brain reprogramming and body horror. I don’t know if it’s any good, but it’s 12,000 words of fiction that I shouldn’t leave to rot without at least evaluating it. So… Edit and polish? Or throw it in the bin? Have a read and tell me what you think! Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm... Part 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm... Part 3: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm... Part 4: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm... Part 5: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm... Part 6: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm... Part 7: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm... https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm... https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm...

Okay so I KNOW I have a novel due in 3 weeks. And I KNOW I have two other books (Rust 4 and Cemetery Dogs) that’re aaaaalmost ready to launch and I should be putting my spare time into them. And I KNOW that I won’t have time to work on this seriously for another year or two. AND YET I WROTE IT. And I need your help. This opening chapter is made of two scenes: a wide-perspective introduction to the world & current conflicts, and a close-in view of three assassins sneaking into a besieged city to kill a king. I’m keeping both scenes. My question is – which comes first? Start wide, then pan in? Or start close, and pan out? I’d love your opinions. If you’ve got five minutes, help a guy out? —————————————— CHRISTOPHER RUZ – EMINENT EMPIRE (WORKING TITLE) CHAPTER 1 Drop a smooth white pebble into a bowl of water. Watch closely. It all passes in a heartbeat. The pebble punches through the water’s surface and a crater forms, rippled, spreading outward toward the rim of the bowl. As the crater expands, the pebble vanishes, swallowed, plunging to the bottom. It leaves a void behind, a tunnel of scar tissue through fluid. Don’t blink. Not yet. The second law of natural physics states all things echo. Bone and stone, light and thread and steel and sound. The void left by the pebble fills. Water rushes to occupy the space. It spears upward, a finger of […]

Updates! A couple weeks back, I submitted the first revised draft of Century of Sand to my editors at Parvus Press. It was a big moment. A lot of hard work went into that rewrite. A lot of darlings got put up against the wall out the back of the chemical sheds. The opening 600 word scene of the old novel became a 2400 word chapter. The original chapter 1 grew into chapter 1, 2, 3 and 4. Later in the novel, entire scenes and chapters were scrapped. Relationships were strengthened. Characters were explored. Motivations I’d skimmed over became clear. It felt like a new novel. A hugely improved novel, too. A stronger story that I couldn’t wait to get into your hands. But that’s now how editors work. The team at Parvus are ruthless. Professional, insightful, storytelling geniuses… but ruthless. Which is why I’m already working on ANOTHER draft, based on reams of new feedback. A draft which works to reinforce major changes, to clarify the storytelling, to remove needless ambiguity. To twist the characters in subtle new directions. I don’t know how long this process will take. All I know is, at the end, Century of Sand is going to be an AMAZING story. Also, FYI – Parvus is aiming for a Jan 2019 launch. That gives me until June to have this draft locked down, 100%, polished, fancy, ready to fire. Intimidating? Oh god yes. Possible? With you watching my back, no sweat.

There’s good news, bad news, and more good news squeezed into this update. Indulge me, friends. THE GOOD NEWS I recently signed a deal with Parvus Press, a relatively new but highly professional US-based publishing house, to revamp and republish the Century of Sand trilogy. I’ll be working with them closely over the next 12-18 months to restructure, edit and polish Century of Sand 1, 2 and 3 into a fresh fantasy epic. Each novel will hit ebook stores in six month increments starting (hopefully) late 2018.   This is awesome news. The Parvus team have been fans of Century of Sand for a while but it was coincidence that brought us back into contact at just the right time to make this deal. Together, we’re going to make the story of Richard, Ana and the Kabbah shine. THE BAD NEWS As part of this deal, Century of Sand 1 & 2 have been removed from all online retailers. The original editions are gone and won’t return in their new forms for at least a year. This has also delayed the release of Century of Sand 3 from mid-late 2018 to mid-late 2019. This is so the team at Parvus have time to tear the manuscript apart and put it back together, as well as to give them the space they need to release and promote Century of Sand 1 & 2. I’m so sorry to all those who’re waiting for Century of Sand 3: The Broken Daughter. I never wanted the time […]

No shit, replies every author who persisted long enough to find an agent. I’ve been trying to find an agent for my work sporadically since I finished my third novel, Alpha Slip, in 2010. I’ve learned a lot about writing and the industry along the way (completing 10 novels and twice that many novellas will do that). What I’ve mostly learned is that querying agents is rough. You get ignored more than you get rejected. You get rejected more than you get asked for partial manuscripts. Full manuscript requests? Might as well lasso a unicorn. Except. Except. Things are different this time. Here’s my querying history: Alpha Slip (2010-2011): 9 queries. 1 partial request, 4 rejections, 4 no-replies. Gave up. Never published. Century of Sand (2011-2015): 24 queries. 1 full MS request, 12 rejections, 11 no-replies. Gave up. Self published. God Factory (2017): 13 queries (so far). 3 full MS requests, 1 partial. No rejections. No rejections. (yet) I’m not suggesting this is an unrejectable novel. They’ll come soon enough. But for now, for this glorious moment… I feel really good about this book, friends.