At some point, in writing book two, I got a serious case of writer's block. Now I've come to see that writer's block really just means I'm trying to make my characters do something out of character, or forcing some part of the story that, based on everything that has already happened, really shouldn't happen.

So while I took time off to think about that, I picked up a few other projects. I wrote a few poems for my growing collection of Alabama Gulf poems. I dawdled over the Cook's Forest Fog which is the working title for my strange little, pensylvania woodlands cyber-mystery romance/fishing novel.  That one has been going on far longer than any other book I've got in the works, and will likely never see the light of day.

Then finally, I started in on this one. Here's what I wrote for the front page, then I'll follow with a little more about Cast in Sand:




Cast in Sand is a standalone novel that takes place in one of the many domes attached to the outer ring of Atlas.

We know Edwina Van Breuk from her brief appearance in book two, but we are more familiar with her from Sebastian's stories.

Now we find out what has really become of her.

The great thing about Cast in Sand is that, anyone can read it. You don't have to be a two books in. You can pick it up before the other two.

But for those who have read them all, and want to know more about the mysterious Edwina, Cast in Sand pulls back the curtain and lets you in on Edwina's terrible secret.
It has body jumping, sword fights, deserts, epic architecture, pretty exciting stuff. The plot itself is driven along by forces largely beyond Edwina's control, and the conflict, the real, meaningful conflict comes from her reaction to her circumstance.
Cast in Sand is a much lighter read that the main book, faster paced, relatively easy to understand. It is my hope that it will introduce a whole new group of readers to the world of Atlas. And as you can see at the bottom of the image, this is part of a colelction. I say collection and not series, because it is my hope with all of the Shattered Vessels books, to write standalones. I'd like for readers to be able to pick up any book in the collection and read it FIRST.
That means I have to introduce Atlas again each time. It's a challenge, but it think you're going to enjoy it. I certainly am.
As far as WHEN does it come out...I'd say less than six months from now. In theory I could be finished and onto my third round of edits by next week, but I've got just a few plot wrinkles to work out first, and the last time I was struggling with that...I would up starting this book. So I've learned not to put a timeline on things until I have a second draft in hand.
There will be updates, and my email list will be the first to know when it's ready to read.