Important Announcement

Beloved readers,

Over the past few weeks I have been mulling over a variety of points.

1. At my current pace of one novel published per year, it will take me seven more years to get through the backlog of my current Laconia novels.

2. While they certainly have their charms, books 8-12 have far diminished returns than books 1-7, because while books 1-7 can be each read independently, the latter novels are near-incomprehensible for people who have not read every single earlier one.

3. I will not flatter myself into thinking a lot of people would eagerly read all 12 in order. Some have, and some would, but it feels like I'll be making people go through a lengthy slog if they're gonna catch 'em all, so to speak.

4. Book 8 draws heavily on true-life events involving other parties whom I have realized could be hurt if the novel were widely circulated and anything recognized. Also I simply don't want to remind certain people of certain things they have managed to put behind them. And all the subsequent books require Book 8 as prior reading.

5. Book 7, thematically, is a near-perfect stopping point with just a little tweaking.

6. I'm having trouble finding a new publisher for my new Seasons Four series, and am contemplating going with Eternal Press for that as well. If so, it would be against my interest to clog their inbox with ever-more Laconia.

The upshot is that I have tentatively decided to end the published version of the series with Book 7 (there is a small possibility of a spinoff based on the backstory of Dr. Nat Silver, but that's in very early conceptual stages). Those who have read the online drafts from when I first wrote them will notice significant changes to books 6 and 7 to make it work, but hopefully they will be changes the readers are glad to see. 

I do not consider the novels I am putting aside as a waste in any way, because they were a joy to write and taught me more about the craft with every line. They also brought joy to a few people and thus were not posted in vain. However, I am willing to "kill my darlings" as Stephen King advises authors, for the sake of a better series. 

It is probable I will find some way to make the drafts of books 8-12 accessible for those interested, whether for free online or in some other format. Thank you for your time and attention, and stay tuned.