Tag Archives: novels

Auran Chronicles #3 Update

“It’s all our fault. Nazgath. The Sharding. This. It’s all our fault.”

And so continues the Auran Chronicles. In the final part (yes, it’s going to be 3 parts) of the trilogy, a war that has spanned thousands of years and destroyed countless universes finally comes to an end over seven nights, here on Earth.

Book 3 sees Seb trapped on a world far from ours, seeking to finally understand where he came from, who he really is, and who the hell is the red serpentine warrior that referred to him as brother at the end of Consensus Breaking? Cade is now a balsheol, a terrifying daemon warrior under the control of Nazgath, and Sylph and the rest of the survivors from Sanctuary continue to fight a losing battle against the ever growing sheol threat.

And through it all, a strange malaise has fallen upon humanity. Known as the Fugue, it is slowly draining the Unaware of their connection to reality. No one understands why, or how, this is happening, but all are agreed that the final outcome will not be a good one.

As Nazgath’s forces gather for the final assault that will rid Earth of its last defenders against the sheol, Seb battles across terrifying and alien worlds in order to find his way back. The only question is, will there be anything left when he returns?

That’s book 3 in a nutshell. I’m 40,000 words in now, with another 50,000 to go. I know how it ends. I’ve always known how it ends. This story has been 15 years in the making and I’m glad I finally managed to get it down on (virtual) paper and do it justice.

Now all I need to do is finish it 🙂

Auran Chronicles #2 is almost here!

Long time no speak!

It’s been a while since I posted, so thought I’d better raise my head above the parapet to let the world know I’m still alive.

So, what’s been happening? In summary – Consensus Breaking (Auran Chronicles #2).

After finishing the first draft of Consensus Breaking I made the mistake of putting it up for pre-order almost straight away. With hindsight, this was a bit of a mistake, as, although it gave me a deadline to work to, it also hung over me like the Sword of Damocles whilst I cracked on with the inevitable rewrites. The pressure was a bit too much, and caused a few sleepless nights in the process.

Anyway, lesson learned for the future.

And finally, the end is in sight now. Consensus has been through two bouts of proof reading (thanks everyone!), and it’s with two more proof readers as we speak to try and catch all the errors, typos etc that I always miss.

So – * drum roll* – Consensus Breaking, book 2 of the Auran Chronicles, is officially out on the 27th May, but depending on the changes required from the last proof reads, I may release it earlier.

If you like an urban fantasy mash-up of the Matrix and an adult Harry Potter, then check it out:

The Consensus is broken. Magic is returning to the world…

When Seb and his friends are found by the very mage Families that they’d been seeking, he begins to think that his luck is turning at last, that he’s finally found somewhere to continue the journey he began with the Magistry.

Unfortunately, returning to this secret world is not the homecoming he thought it would be, and when rumors of another faction surface, one that is welcoming the newly awoken without prejudice, Seb is torn between his loyalty to his friends and to those of his fellow magi. He must make a choice. One that will have repercussions far beyond the internal struggles of the Aware.

And across the Shards, a new force is rising, a shadow from before the Weave itself. Long thought defeated, it soon becomes clear that the sheol were just the vanguard of a much greater terror, one that threatens the very foundations of reality.

Consensus Breaking is the second book of the Auran Chronicles, a dark fantasy adventure series from M. S. Dobing.

ConsensusBreaking_MED

75,000 words of draft two reached – so, so painful!

Well, this has been a struggle.

I hit 75k last night, but the last few days have been a trickle of writing that I just know will be obliterated in the now certain-to-be-needed third draft.

I’m not really sure what the problem is either. The outline is holding true, I’m still loving Scrivener, but it suddenly feels like someone’s drained 90% of my vocabulary. I look at earlier sections of the novel and I can literally see that the words were flowing so much more easily at that phase. Now, though, every word is a chore, every choice labored over for minutes before putting something down on (virtual) paper.

It’s frustrating, but trying to put a positive slant on it, it’s all a learning experience isn’t it? I suspect deep down the reason I’m struggling is that there’s a flaw in the story that I’m writing around that I just need to identify and face up to. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure it’s nothing that a good red pen and scissors exercise when this draft is complete won’t solve.

Anyway, I’m going to plough on with this draft, as painful as it has become. The end is in sight now (100K words), my main characters are all in their right places and the scene is set for the climactic battle. I just need to get there, as painful as that might be.

It’s a shame really – I’ve actually loved writing this novel, and compared to previous works I haven’t found it hard to put fingers to keyboard on a daily basis at all until recently. Earlier on I was nailing 1500 words + easily per day, but recent efforts are 600-1000, and a lot of it could/will be cut with no real impact to the story. Hey ho!

On the plus side – still loving Scrivener – easily the best part for me so far is that each scene is a separate file, which breaks the story down into nice manageable chunks for me to deal with. I’m even trying the Linux version now as part of my transition to a Ubuntu-running laptop. This bit is working alright actually, it’s the Google drive integration that’s proving irksome. But that’s another story.

Anyways – back to the WIP. I was going to lay my cards on the table this week and put down an anticipated release date but I think I might hold off from that, at least until this draft is completed.

Mike