So, we’re finally getting close to my latest series, and arguably my biggest series. (So far.)
For those of you who don’t know, a bit of history. I originally wrote A Warm Place under a pen name, Crystal Candy, in 2019 as a 12-part serial fiction. I finished it, I had fun writing it, and people seemed to like it. Ultimately, I took everything related to Crystal Candy down after I abandoned the name, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about A Warm Place.
So pretty quickly I decided I was going to have to rewrite it as a full-blown series of novels as Misty Vixen. After some planning, I began doing some actual writing around mid 2020.
Now, what’s this series all about?
It’s different than basically everything else I’ve written. It’s near future, taking place in 2038, and the most fantastical element of all is the weather. There’s no sci-fi, no fantasy, no monster, alien, or otherwise inhuman ladies around. This is as close to grounded in reality as I’ve ever come.
In A Warm Place, it has been two years since a lot of crazy-ass weather abruptly culminated in a worldwide snowstorm that turned the whole planet into a frozen wasteland. Civilization collapsed as billions were killed by starvation, plague, and the cold temperatures. People live in small enclaves or settlements for the most part, money is gone, and people trade goods, food, or services. Survival can be a struggle, especially in the vast wilderness between settlements.
The protagonist, Chris, finds himself oddly suited for survival in this new brutal wasteland. He can hunt and skin game, build fires, make camp, and has a knack for finding hidden supplies. And, naturally, someone like him would appeal to the women of the wilderness.
Practically speaking, a few things have changed on a writing and presentation level. These novels will be longer than my average books. My average books, I use Haven for a benchmark now, were roughly 60,000 words apiece. I am aiming for closer to 80,000 words apiece with these novels. It’s also written in first person. And the chapters are shorter. On average, Haven chapters are 5,000 words apiece, and with A Warm Place I averaged 3,000 words per chapters. Personally I think it helped the book flow a bit more smoothly, and I think it helped me with the writing, but ultimately that’ll be up to you to determine.
One last thing, if you are one of the people who have read the series in its original incarnation, and are wondering when exactly this new series takes place, this is the answer: the series starts several months before the beginning of the previous serial fiction. The first two thirds of this version will be all new content, and the final third will be a rewritten, expanded version of the original series. So there’s a lot of new stuff coming.
The first title, called A Warm Place: Prelude, will be released soon. It is a 34,000 word novella that serves as kind of an appetizer for the main series. It isn’t required reading, just a fun little prelude featuring a hot brunette.
A Warm Place will release on January 1st, 2021, and I intend to release a new novel in the series every month for the following eight months. Right now the series is projected to be nine novels (plus the Prelude). At present, I’m not sure if I will continue the series beyond that or end it there. Honestly, it could go either way.
One more thing: given the series’ length, I believe I will reinstitute my triple pack policy, and will almost certainly pick back up the notion of bonus content, as I already have a few ideas.
I hope you enjoy this new series.