Okay, sorry for the lack of updates. Been a busy month on all fronts. Work, personal ventures, keeping pace with my writing schedule, and squeezing in time for myself has been kind of a juggling act, but I’m managing. World’s also slowly growing crazier, but I’ve mostly stayed sane and safe, so I’m grateful for that too.

Anyway, the paperback copy of Cradle of Sea and Soil is still on the way. All I’m waiting on right now is the wrap-around cover, as the book itself is formatted and ready to go.

The next book is in progress and, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m tentatively hoping to release in November. The book’s current title is Stormbringers, and it’s what I want to talk a little about today.

While writing this series, there were a few concepts that I wanted to try and express. For one, the cultural and historical layers of Puerto Rico and Latin America. I quickly realized that this wouldn’t be a simple task, and, after several “failed” attempts, I decided I would have to slowly add those layers the same slow way they were added through real-life history.

You’ll probably see what I mean the moment you begin Stormbringers, as the opening chapter clearly sets one of the focal themes for the book, and this will be duplicated in the third and final book of the trilogy. These “themes” however are the only things I really borrow wholesale from reality. I’m the kind of author that keeps reality as a palette, and only for a little dab here and there. Then I combine them with other colors and techniques to create something entirely original.

So, yeah, I’m structuring the trilogy around these themes and will use them to create the battlegrounds across which each book’s conflict spans. In Cradle of Sea and Soil, it was mostly about the Halfborn and the internal culture of the Islandborn as a whole. To be more specific, about being hated for something you were born with and have no control over.

Each of the three books also features one particular character as a subplot focus. Colibrí herself remains the “main” character for the entire series, though she shares the role (and an equal amount of chapters) with her son. Of course, many of Narune’s chapters either directly or indirectly involve his mother, so the balance is still skewed towards her. The first book’s subplot, on the other hand, is centered around Narune. The second book will focus on Ixchel, while the final book will have a very strong focus on Kisari and her powers as a Halfborn.

Colibrí and Narune will continue to be the only two main POVs throughout the trilogy, but, starting with book two, there will be short chapters from a different POV that will offer important insight into events and characters neither of them would ever experience. The balance so far is one of these chapters to every four of theirs (two of Colibrí’s and two of Narune’s), and they’re usually much shorter, but I feel they will still help flesh out the story overall and truly believe they’ll help readers better understand the overarching plot (which is why I added them).

So, right now all the basic planning for Stormbringers is done. I’ve already commissioned the cover artwork, and hope to have something to show in September around when I’ll also announce some other cool little fun stuff that’s going down that month. If all goes well, I’ll have the book with my editor sometime in October, and release the book mid to late November before taking a break in December.

And that’s that! Just a little update to say I’m alive and to talk about what I’m doing. Hope you’re all well!