Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress

I've been dutifully writing over the past few weeks, and wrapping up the first draft of the new novel.  The title is going to be "Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress: The Maker's Fire, Book III, Vol I".  Quite a mouthful, huh?   It looks like the word count is going to come in at a little over 40K words.  So, as I've mentioned in previous blog posts, it's going to be a shorter work.  What can I say about this new book without giving anything away?  How about revealing a first draft of the synopsis!

Hemlock has retreated back into the shadows of the Warrens, content, for a time, to let events come and go as they may.  But she knows that a new enemy is returning to the City: a titan of the past who intends to wrest control from Gwineval and the wizards.  When word reaches the City that the rogue wizards have moved against the eastern mountains, it becomes clear that DuLoc's campaign has begun--even if the man himself has not yet arrived.  Gwineval marshals the forces of the City to resist DuLoc's plans, but Hemlock feels she must take another path.  She makes a radical decision to forgo the initial campaign in order to pursue what she hopes will be a greater boon.  But she doesn't anticipate that another dark presence stands between her and her goals.  She must face this unanticipated foe in order to advance her plans to save the City.

I've contacted the cover artist and plans are in place to start work on the cover toward the end of April.  Assuming I can complete and edit the first draft by the end of May, I hope to release the book sometime in the beginning of the summer.  I hope readers are as excited as I am about this release.  It's funny how every novel I've written so far feels different.  This one is shorter than Dead God's Legacy, and for the most part it is more focused.  This is the first novel in the series that does not use the flashback structure, and therefore it is much more of a straight ahead adventure than the past novels have been.  I've really enjoyed writing this novel and I can't wait to share it with you!