[Tatterdemalion]

Hey everyone! So nice for you guys to keep the seat warm while I was locked out of the forum. Special shout out to the Whisperzzzzzz-y man for emailing me about Purge of Ashes, allowing me to weasel my insidious self back onto the site!

So in 2016 I had a three-book deal with a small press to publish Purge of Ashes book one of the Imbalance series. Small press went bankrupt the week of the release. I self-published in a rush. The self-publishing ended up with a poor cover, messed up interior formatting (sentences too close to the top/bottom of the page???), no maps, etc. Otherwise, it wasn't half bad. But not half bad isn't half good enough. Or, uh, "good" enough. You get the idea. Anyway, I took the book down after a few months to lick my wounds, despite some wonderful reviews from 4-5 of you on here, including: Macros, worry, RACHEL, Whisperzzzzzz, and Mentalist.

I made a pact to myself: I would not try to publish again until I was DONE Book 2, entitled Grip of Dust. Then, like orcs rolling a battering ram up to Helm's Deep, I would begin the slow, trundling process of publishing Purge of Ashes again. After all, a year could pass and I'd already have the sequel written and ready. I have two autistic children both also diagnosed with ADHD - one 9-year-old who can't be in regular classrooms and one 12-year-old who can but has trouble making friends. It's a hard row to hoe. Well, after ten (TEN!) damned years I finished Grip of Dust - and it's hella awesome.

So now it's on.

I hired Santiago Lozano to do my cover - you all know his work and if not, shame! - his Malazan artwork is inclredible. I chose him cuz of the Malazan love, but also because he pictured Fiddler, QB, Kalam, Ganoes, Kruppe... all just like I did. Well, Santiago's DONE the cover!

I hired Sarah Chorn to do one last line edit. A fanciful author in her own right, she's a well-known editor who I found out loves Malazan. She also loved Purge of Ashes, going a little nuts over it, and gave me a sweet blurb (below). Said it's the most Malazan book she's read without feeling derivative, which I believe many of you felt as well. Well, Sarah's DONE the edits. I'm working through her notes, currently on Chapter 13.

I am working with Grimdark Magazine to do a cover reveal NEXT SUNDAY. In one week. I will post a link to their cover reveal page someweere in this thread, probably.

ALSO ALSO Grip of Dust is being beta read. My original 4 beta readers are on it: Dyrk Ashton (Paternus), James Downe (Sisters of Jade <- a great trilogy), Debdip and Michael - and add one more. For his nobility in helping me get back on here, I added Whisperzzzzzz to the crew and sent him the sequel last night.

AND THE BEST THING:
I'm hustling to get as many Advanced Reader Copies into reviewers / authors' hands as I can, right? In addition to FanFiAddict Blog, which signed on yesterday, my one ARC reader is none other than CHRISTIAN CAMERON (Miles Cameron in fantasy) author of over 50 damn books, including the Red Knight trilogy!! This has me so stoked! If he likes it - and I know he likes Malazan too - then that's a doozy of a blurb to slap on the cover, especially for a self-pub like me. So I'm really hustling to produce a physical copy to send to him.

So that's my big update. Purge of Ashes is being released PROPERLY on August 25th, 2026 and I'd love y'all to be there (in spirit) while Grip of Dust is complete and let loose into the beta reading world. Anyone who bought the OG Purge of Ashes I feel obliged to help provide a copy of the DEFINITIVE version - for free if I can - and will do my best to honour and resect the 2016 original crew.

Now: please don't yell at me for not reading No Life Forsaken yet! I'm still working on "The Devils" by Abercrombie. It's next!

DA BLURBS:

"Expansive in scope and flawlessly executed, this is epic fantasy at its best."

~ Sarah Chorn, author of 'Of Honey and Wildflowers'


“The races and characters a fresh but familiar enough, and your world-building is amazing and deep. I personally love your prose and storytelling style… I wouldn’t change the way you choose your words and construct your sentences at all. I was wide-eyed-jealous much of the way through.”

~ Dyrk Ashton, author of Paternus.


“You’ve got a huge world here, and a great start on unveiling it for your readers. ”

~James Downe, author of the Legacy of Ash series.


“I read books sometimes for worldbuilding and battles alone, and this has both in excellence… This book has the markings of a true masterpiece.”

~ Michael Baker, author of The Thousand Scars.