Left-Hand Way

DoyleT-AuthorPic The final book in my American Craft trilogy, War and Craft, has just been released. It’s like sending the last kid to college — bittersweet emotion with a practical “so now what?” Before I move on to my next project, I’d like to share with you a few of my personal observations about the process, particularly if you’re a new writer planning on writing a series.

First lesson: never plan on writing a series.

Yeah, sounds like a joke, but seriously, don’t do it–unless someone has already said that they’re going to pay you for it. When I wrote American Craftsmen, I had intentionally not planned for a series. I recommend this same self-discipline to all new writers — don’t engage in heavier worldbuilding than necessary for something which may never see the light of day. The odds are long against your selling any given book to a publisher, so every minute you spend creating further material in that book’s universe has a high probability of being wasted. The best thing you can do for yourself while trying to sell a book is to start writing a completely different one. Continue reading →

The Left-Hand Way is a globe-spanning fantasy thriller, like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with ancient magic. Part of this description may surprise readers of my first book, American Craftsmen, as that story for the most part kept a tight focus on the U.S. Another surprising change is my new first-person point-of-view character. In my previous book, it was the nonbelieving and somewhat irreverent Dale Morton who told the main story. In book two, it’s his Puritan foil, Michael Endicott, who speaks with his own voice.

My reasons for these changes have to do with the dynamics of keeping a series fresh and the evolution of the worldbuilding. Some series of books are mere continuations of one running story. For my American Craft series of magic and military intrigue, I haven’t gone that route. Instead, I have each book’s story stand on its own, and readers will feel that they’ve gotten a beginning, middle, and end for their effort. Of course, I still have plenty of continuity elements, and each novel so far has an epilogue that slingshots the story into the next book as an invitation to readers to keep going. Continue reading →