Hello there!

It is with the greatest pleasure that I share with you that the first full draft of Captains of Oartheca is now finished!

It's been a long, long journey with many hiccups along the way, but I've pushed these past few months to get the the story out of my head and on to paper. I'm proud of the result, but there are still some final touches that are needed before publishing.

What happens next?
Edits. Chapter by chapter, line by line. A lengthy process that will take at least six or so weeks, given the length of the story. Again, I'm going to push to get this done as soon as possible—I am so eager to share this story, but there's always a chance for improvement.

Once the edits are finished, it's off to a beta-reader to make sure there's nothing wonky about the story, and when that comes back, I'll send out a call for an ARC team to get their hands on it!

If all goes well, we're looking at mid-July for the final version to be finished. From there, I'm going to run a book launch tour, and so I am hoping by September the book is published and available exclusively on Amazon!

Can I be a part of the ARC Team?
Hopefully, yes! After I'm satisfied with the edits and the beta-reader feedback, I'm looking to form a five-person Goodreads ARC team for the polished version. Please stay tuned for the ARC call, some time (hopefully) by August.

In addition to that, I will post an ARC call on Booksprout. Between those two sources, if you're keen to get your hands on Captains before its official release, that will be your chance.

What's the story like?
Currently, Captains clocks in at around 190,000 words (39 Chapters). It's told in three major acts, and, like the first two books, it takes our heroes across the galaxy and back again.

Expect high adventure, touching romance, a little bit of naughty stuff, but also drama and conflict. There's a lot going on in Captains, and it's all told in loving detail.

When do we get to see the cover?
After the beta-read is done, when I will have a better understanding of how physically 'thick' the story is, which affects how the cover is designed. I'm going to ask the same artist, Ryan Carriere (here on Goodreads) to design the cover in the same theme as Allure and Barons, so hopefully he's available!

Will there be an audio version of the story?
That would be a dream, eh? Due to costs, there's no plans at this time to release an audiobook, as much as I'd like. Maybe, just maybe, a major media company (*cough* Tantor *cough*) will pick up the rights to the audio version of the story, and we can hear Toar's sing-song voice in real-life.

That's all for now but keep checking this blog for future updates and timelines. And as always, thank you so much for your interest and being a fan—this story is for you as much as anyone, and you've all been a major reason it's been written.

Cheers and all the best,
James