Dear Readers,
I enjoy the tradition some authors have of writing an end of the year letter to the fans on their blog, so I’ve decided this year to begin one myself. While your numbers are few, you are all awesome people, and your appreciation of my work humbles me.
So, how was 2019 in the world of Aaron Volner, fantasy author? Filled with ups and downs, to be sure. I won’t go into details about my personal and library work and what was good and what was unsatisfying. Plenty of both occurred, but I will say that I am quite ready for 2019 to be on its way and let us welcome in a new decade.
Of course, the lingering question in my fans’ minds is still, I’m sure, “When is the second roc rider book releasing?” A legitimate question, especially given the multiple delays I’ve experienced with the project this year. While the initial delays were about allowing my wonderful beta readers the time they needed to provide their feedback and my underestimating the amount of revision that would be necessary, other factors contributed.
My physical health has, overall, been poor this past year. Frequent (almost monthly) bouts of illness that knocked me out for a week or better provided constant disruptions to my routine. The necessary catching up on life required after each disease added even more. After struggling with this for quite some time, I finally found a doctor who was able to pinpoint a cause.
I’ll spare you all the gruesome details but suffice it to say that a bit of surgery was involved, and in the wake of my recovery, I feel better than I have in years. I have more energy, I’m sleeping better, and I’m getting more done in almost every arena of life in the weeks since I went under the knife than I have in the last several months. It remains to be seen if the operation will keep me from getting sick as often, but the results have been worth it either way.
Also, among the reasons for the delay were emotional issues involving my best friend who passed away the same day I published Chronicles of the Roc Rider. To say that the experience has created something of a block that I’ve had to fight against to get book two done would be an understatement, but it was quite some time before I realized what was happening. Since realizing that it hasn’t been nearly as much of a hindrance, but still it contributed to the delays on book two.
Despite all this, I’ve continued to make steady progress, and we’re now well within the final stages of getting the book to print. Finally, you’ll get to see how the next chapter of Tanin and Zera’s story plays out, and I hope you’re as excited to read it as I am to at last deliver it to you.
No end of the year letter would be complete without a look toward the coming new year, and so I’d like to do a little speculating and dreaming about what’s to come in 2020.
Following the release of Roc Rider 2, I’ll be focusing on completing a short story that will be available for free to those who subscribe to my newsletter. The story doesn’t have much work left to do on it, but I’ve put it solidly on the back burner until Roc Rider 2 is finished. I think it’s pretty cool and I think my readers will enjoy it as well.
The next project I’ll dive into will, of course, be the third Roc Rider novel, which given the improvements to my health, shouldn’t take nearly as long to get into your hands as the second one has.
However, I have learned my lesson on predicting completion dates too early. While I fully intend to continue setting deadlines for myself, I have no intention of making them public until much later in the process. You’ll still get updates on my progress, particularly if you subscribe to the newsletter, but dates won’t be attached until I’m convinced of their accuracy.
Further, I’m planning on resurrecting a project that has lain abandoned for too long: the Chronicles of the Roc Rider audiobooks. I know for a fact that there are readers out there anticipating them, and I definitely want to get them to you, so I plan on making this project a priority in 2020.
There are other writerly things I have planned for this coming year.
More activity on the blog (as you’ve already seen the past few weeks).
More short stories are on the docket. I know, I say I’m going to do more shorts every year, and they always get pushed back. But given my improved health going into 2020, I have confidence that at least a few will get done this year :).
I could go on, but this letter has gotten relatively long already, and I think we’ve covered all the important bits. Let me say before I end this that I appreciate every reader who has given my work a chance. You guys are one of the big reasons I do this. Thank you.
Sincerely, and Happy New Year,
Aaron Volner
