Proof of Life – A Long Over-Due Update

Blog, Kalestra, Publishing, Writing, Zack Jackson

From Young Frankenstein: Froedrick Fronkenstein (Gene Wilder) shouting I’m still unable to safely attend conventions, and such, there hasn’t been much to say. It’s been a long several years of feel sad waiting for something to change so I don’t put my family at mortal risk by mingling in large crowds and sitting in dealer halls all day.
Nevertheless, as Gen Con approaches (and I’m still not attending), I feel I should offer an update. Despite the radio silence, I have several new first drafts written awaiting editing:
Zack Jackson & The Ruins of Athos
This will be book 5 in the series. Unless something changes, it appears that book 6, Zack Jackson & The Ringworld of Sol will be the final volume in the series. That’s not to say I may not revisit the ZJ universe or the characters at a later date, but there is nothing planned beyond book 6.
Dark Shepherd
This will be book 1 of a new fantasy series… maybe book 2. The way the series is structure, books 1 and 2 tell a stories of different viewpoint characters up until they meet at the end of their respective books. Book 3 then continued their journey together with them both as viewpoint characters. A reader could, therefore, read either book 1 or book 2 first, then the other one, before moving on to book 3. I don’t want to give too much away at this point, but I’ve chose to do this because it’s the story of two brothers who were separated at a young age (not separated at birth) and are only reunited after having each lived full lives apart.

The world, Kalestra, is new and while it is fantasy, it has a technology level more equivalent to a magic-powered 19th century, so sort of fantasy magitek.

Illustration of a peasant bride from ancient Greece. Artwork by Kaylee Dollar

One of the chapter illustrations for First Fire, artwork by Kaylee Dollar.

First Fire
This is a YA fantasy story set in Ancient Greece. It will also include a primer on Greek mythology with synopses of many of the major mythology figures and stories. Not quite as comprehensive a resource as Bullfinch’s Mythology, but will serve as a place for young readers to learn more with references pointing them to more in-depth sources. EDUTAINMENT!

I am also working on publishing an adventure I’ve written for Dungeons & Dragons, called “Faerie, Fairy, Quite Contrary.” It will be, officially, the first gaming-releated product for the World of Calliome. To assist in that endeavor, I have applied and been accepted into the Tabletop Mentorship Program. I also plan to release the same adventure for Cypher System. Hopefully, this will be the first of many, but we’ll see how it goes.
Finally, while producing the audio book version of Malediction, my wife and I discovered that a older version of the manuscript had been uploaded to Amazon and published without my final revisions and horror of horrors, the file with those final revisions appears to have been lost or overwritten. Malediction has been reedited and I’m working on implementing those revisions now and releasing a second edition of that book. If you have a Kindle version, the update should occur the next time you update your library after I upload the file. If you have a print version, you need only provide me with proof of purchase and I will replace your copy of Malediction with the second edition free of charge (second-handed purchases of Malediction made after the second edition is published are not eligible). For the sake of piece-of-mind, I’m putting Lament and Salvation through another editing pass, though at this point, it does not appear that drastic updates are needed for either of those.

I know there is some interest in my Seven Galaxies setting and further stories or novels there, and I am still planning to expand that universe. I just haven’t found the right story yet. Plus, I’m aware of a few problematic elements in the short stories that I will have to retcon in order to continue with a good conscience (like the fact that the “always-evil” Aelfar are dark-skinned; it was not my intention to imply that having dark skin makes one evil, nor that an entire species is always evil as a matter of genetics, so any future stories will have to address this in a way that isn’t a cop out).

A wise man once told me self-improvement was a journey we take, and with any journey, there are missteps and mistakes along the way. By the way, you can still follow my current RPG campaign over at Doctor StrangeRoll. We’re on a 13th session of a D&D 5E Ptolus campaign, though we’re still playing virtually over Discord and Foundry Virtual Tabletop.