With the launch of Afterlands: After the Return, it’s time to think about what’s next in the Afterlands lineup. A couple of things are underway: Book Three is drafted and going into revisions, Book Four is underway with about sixteen thousand words written, and a new Betweentimes story is fully drafted and scheduled to release October 13th.
Betweentimes stories have been somewhat experimental (and not all successes: “Feast & Famine” was originally supposed to be a picture book but I literally ran out of time with it). October’s story is titled “Crophaven”, which is the name of the secret house in which Nix’s children were hidden from the Continent throughout the war. The story is both longer than previous Betweentimes stories and, to my own disappointment honestly, darker as well.
If I had been more planful about the whole series from the start (which I thought I was!) I would have definitely handled this arc differently, but I hope you will stick with me because I really do promise that sunshine days are still to come. This Betweentimes story is also different as it is the only one I have planned for the Fall because I want to begin shifting my focus toward developing ideas for what’s to come once this first arc is concluded in Summer of 2023.
The other thing I want to, I guess, “officially” announce is that I will be publishing the four prequel Beforetimes stories as a book, maybe slightly revised, with a new cover and and new additional illustrations. I have received a number of questions about this and am happy to make these prequels available to purchase so that those of you who want a complete physical collection may have it. I am less decided about the Betweentimes stories as these need (in my opinion) much more work to be cohesive.
My publishing goal is to have Book Three available in the new year (first week of January), Book Four available the following July, and Beforetimes ready before Christmas of the same year. Because I am just starting to outline and develop ideas for what happens to Hyrhyn, Juba, Nix, and Laria beyond Book Four, this is as far as I can project for the future of the series for the time being.
Thank you for reading, for enjoying this world, for writing reviews, and giving me feedback at @NakedEchidna on the bird thing. The positive response has been such a joyful delight to me.
