The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz
Fancier graphic to come later…
Well, I’m dealing with the heap-load of unexpected tasks on my plate after my recent unfortunate news, but I’m at last ready to get back to Michael Reads Percy Jackson. It’s time for the final book in the series!
Gone at the end of the month.
On Friday I received some disheartening news: Booktrope, my publisher for the past two years, will be going out of business on May 31st. The news hit me and the rest of my fellow Booktropian authors pretty hard. While there were recent signs of problems, I hadn’t expected things to take this particular turn. [Read more…]
Plus my final thoughts on the book…
I bet you thought I’d never get here, huh?
At long last, I reach the final chapter of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth, a.k.a…
So I wondered how long it had taken me, in my tremendously stilted reading & blogging schedule, to read through this entire book. I knew it had been a while, but I was shocked to find out I started this particular volume of the Percy Jackson series all the way back in September! Yikes! It’s definitely not the fault of the book. I think The Battle of the Labyrinth has been my favorite in the series so far. [Read more…]
Don’t Panic.
A battle’s aftermath, Dionysus isn’t a total jerk, and denial ain’t just a river in– You know what? That saying doesn’t work nearly so well in text. Anyhoo, on we go to the 19th chapter of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth…
Yes, okay, so there will be more work done on it. My editor will surely have things to say, and I’m waiting to hear back from a beta-reader or two with some input, but it’s now in a state where I consider it ready to move on to the publishing phase. Note the use of the word “phase” in there. It’s not instantaneous. Along with the final editing, there’s also layout, setting things up regarding at least a little bit of marketing, and oh, gee, it still needs a cover!
Still not the actual cover!
And since I mentioned the cover, I’m really excited to be working with Amalia Chitulescu again to come up with another great cover that matches the style of the first two in the series–both of which are her work. I’m not yet sure when we’ll have the cover finalized, but you can bet I’ll be doing a reveal here.
“Yes, Michael,” I hear you asking, “that’s all well and good, but when do we get to READ the damn thing?!” Dates are still in flux, but once I and the editor/designer/publisher peoples get all of our ducks in a row, it’s likely to be late summer or early autumn. Hopefully very early autumn, if it does take that long. I don’t want to keep you all waiting too much longer. Then again, maybe I should keep pushing it back because given some of the events in book 3, I do wonder if some of you will wish to kill me. 😀
But now, I’ve got a little more free time than I used to! I’ll be diving back into Percy Jackson (more on that soon), hopefully getting some more general geek content on this site, and, at long last, start to make some real headway on the Zeus Is Dead sequel. I can’t tell you how many times something funny occurred to me as I was finishing up ADATG that I couldn’t put into the book because it’s not actually a comedy. Well, I mean, except for Felix’s sense of humor. But he can’t say everything I want him to.
Nearly named a fictional motorcycle model a “Thunder” until I realized it will be stolen, & I don’t want unintentional humor at that point.
— Michael G. Munz (@TheWriteMunz) March 23, 2016
…And maybe there’s an unpublished fantasy novel that I’ve already written that might be making an appearance. But that’s for another time…
The Battle of the Labyrinth! Or, I guess, just outside the Labyrinth. Near the Labyrinth! Above the Labyrinth?
…Okay, so I guess now I know why Riordan went with a different chapter title.
I’ve finally had time amid my writing schedule to do a little reading, and the battle of the Labyrinth finally takes place. All this and more on this 18th installment of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth, which eschews the obvious book title callback in favor of a chapter title of…
And this is still just a temporary cover.
This post is coming to you from one of those crowded, caffeine-fueled generators of books known as a café. (Yes, I often write in cafés. I’m a human cliché.) I’m closing in on the point where I can finally put the words “The End” on A Dragon at the Gate, the third and final book in the New Aeneid Cycle. Of course, this particular writing session is going about as well as a rowboat made of sugar, so I’m shifting my focus to the blog so as to best procrastinate and hide from my problems.
So here’s the skinny. (The “skinny”? Who talks like that?) I’m currently on day 3 of a 6-day forced writing march. (The fact that it’s also taking place IN March–and that I’m writing this on March 6th, come to think of it–is pure coincidence. But it is kinda neat, isn’t it?) I’ve taken off of my day job. I’ve (mostly) avoided my social media. I’ve shunned my friends. My goal in this is to finally finish the book by March 9th. There will still need to be rewrites, polishing, and a smattering of unwritten scenes, of course. Those I’ll be finishing up by the end of March, at which time I’ll be handing it over to my editor and entering the final stages of getting the book into published form, which will come in paperback and ebook forms.
Except for this afternoon’s troubles, it’s going pretty well. I’m pushing myself, but it’s paying off. I have a clear path to the end of the book, and I’m confident that I’m going to make it. As a certain psychopathic, delusional man-boy recently said, “I know the words. I have the best words.” 😉 A Dragon at the Gate is going to be a wild ride, and I want to make it the best of the series.
As for when you’ll finally be able to read it, things still need to be worked out on that front, but assuming I can stay on schedule, we’re looking at very late spring or early summer. And then you’ll get to know just what happens, who survives, and just what the heck is going on up there on the Moon, because even if you’ve read A Shadow in the Flames and A Memory in the Black, there’s a very key element missing.