Somebody’s got a birthday today.
No Time For Kings is 12 years old! Geez Louise, in a few more years, it’ll be old enough to drive. Books grow up so fast these days.
When my novel was published on August 9, 2011, it was probably the proudest accomplishment of my life. Not counting kids, wife, house, that really bitchin’ homemade BBQ sauce I make, etc. I wasn’t even a professional writer yet–I was, in fact, unemployed at the time–which made the whole thing that much sweeter.
Publishing a novel is like carving out a slice of immortality. It’s humbling to think that, long after I die, my words will live on. Here on the blog, sure, but a physical book is different. Actual pages, an ISBN (978-1-61434-460-5).
It’s humbling. I feel eternal.
Tara was my very first customer, by the way. I love that. We weren’t even a couple yet (but we were close). The day I published my novel, my whole life changed. And it was about to change a whole lot more.
Today, I did something I haven’t done since…well, probably August, 2011. I cracked open my novel and began reading it.
Here’s the thing about writers: we’re our own worst critics. I hadn’t yet polished my craft when writing No Time For Kings (a process that began in 2006, was derailed for a few years while I went through a divorce, and then resumed in earnest again in 2009). I feel like a much more proficient writer now and was honestly afraid I’d start redlining my own book page after page. Groaning over my virgin sentence structure. Chiding myself for excessive comma use and lazy metaphors.
But actually, none of those things happened. After finishing Chapter 1, I told Tara, “Hey, this is really good!” Which sounds extremely egotistical, I get that. But is it wrong to feel proud of something you created all on your own? I don’t think so.
No Time For Kings hasn’t made me a fortune. I haven’t even recouped the publishing costs. But I never expected to. I didn’t write it for money; I wrote it for love. I had a story I felt compelled to share, and by god, I did exactly that. It’s my modest legacy, and you can’t put a price tag on that.
To mark this auspicious occasion, I am officially announcing that there will be a sequel called Earth Fights Back.
(At least, I think so. Just gotta turn the threads of an idea that have been percolating around my brain for a few weeks into something concrete–an actual plot–and then write the damn thing. No biggie.)
The basics, if I can work them out:
Twelve years after bringing down the ecoterrorist group Earth Fights Back, investigative journalist Rachel Sullivan-Warren is covering an unfolding global climate crisis. As an endless series of disasters strikes and the death toll from a warming planet continues to climb, she is forced to wrestle with a previously unthinkable question…
Was Earth Fights Back right all along?
Anyway, that’s my elevator pitch. For many years I shied away from a sequel, wanting to focus on other stories. I published Dream Sailors on the Kindle Vella platform, but that has gone absolutely nowhere. Tara asked if I’ve given up on it. I have not; I am very proud of the story, and with a few additional tweaks, I think it might yet end up an actual physical book, too. But No Time For Kings is like a first love, and revisiting those characters excites me. The timing feels right, and with real life looking more and more like fiction every day, I might be able to capitalize on current events while also helping to raise awareness over the fact that our planet is doomed unless we get serious about taking action.
Earth Fights Back won’t be happening anytime soon, and honestly, may never see the light of day. But I’m feeling more inspired than I have in years, and I figure this blog post will at least make me accountable.
Mark My Words 
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