2016 is finally at an end.
Man, this has been a pretty awful year, hasn’t it? From the deaths of beloved celebrities to the election of quite possibly the most unqualified, inexperienced, ill-tempered, idiotic President in American history.
And, of course, there was Batman v. Superman, which we’re better off just forgetting.
That being said, the year still had some good things for me. For starters, I got married this year. And two, this has so far been my most profitable year as an author. My sales have really gone up a lot this year. Still not enough to make a full-time living off my writing, but it’s getting to the point where the earnings are adding up.
It’s also a year of endings. I closed the book on all the series I was publishing on my own—The Myth Hunter, Infernum, and Vanguard have all seen the release of the final books in the series. Why did I choose to end all my existing series? In the case of Infernum, I’d always planned for that series to be finite.
As for The Myth Hunter and Vanguard, that’s a different story. I had hoped to continue publishing more books in both series. But unfortunately, sales and reviews just weren’t high enough to justify continuing with those series. If people who enjoyed those books didn’t review them, then that’s why there won’t be any other books. Publishing is a tough racket and I can only keep up the projects that are turning a profit.
And now I’m setting the stage for a lot of new stuff in 2017.
That kicks off in January with the launch of Fallen Idol, the first book in my new mystery series, the Nakamura Detective Agency, set in Osaka and featuring Kyoko Nakamura who first appeared in a story in The Dame Did It. I’ve seen some advance reviews for the book already and they’ve been very positive, so I’m hoping this book will prove to be my most successful launch yet.
The second book in the series, Murder Walk, is close to being finished.
I’ve also got some other stuff lined up for 2017. There will be more Luther Cross stuff, so if you’ve been waiting for that, just be patient a little bit longer. And I’m working on some more superhero stuff with some pretty impressive people. Not Vanguard, but something else. But I can’t say anything more on that yet.
Here’s hoping 2017 proves to be a better year.