I’ve been investigating ways to get the word out about The Daybringer, and one thing I’ve come across talked about lead magnets. From what I’ve seen and heard, free ebooks are some of the most popular lead magnets for attracting new readers or subscribers. That’s great and everything, but when all you have (so far!) is one book, what’s the point? Instead of giving away Beneath the Vault of Stars (BVS), I chose another direction.

In my notes (or outline or whatever that monstrosity of a document really is), I wrote down typed out an idea about telling a story from one of BVS’ secondary character’s perspectives. A story from a time when Lohwàlar was fields and forests, not sand and, well, more sand. If you’ve read BVS, you’ve already met Tsharak. My goal was to present a fourth novel (in some distant future) about his origin and all the years leading up to BVS. A prequel, I guess. After considering what I might have to offer for a lead magnet—you need something!—I revisited this notion of a prequel and sped up my nonexistent timetable for it.

Rather than the “simple” novel I’d originally imagined, my new goal is to write it like a memoir, something half-journal, half-notebook. Something with diagrams and charts — hold on! — that will provide a keener glimpse of the world in which this arc takes place. And maps, if I ever get my other computer (and its hostage hard drive) functioning again. The novel can still happen: this little side project doesn’t obviate its (potential) existence! Depending on the amount of content I generate for Tsharak’s Tale, I may have enough for additional volumes. (The guy’s lived a full life: I’m sure there’s more than a single story buried under all those years!)

Here’s a brief passage. (I won’t tell you from when or where: I don’t want to spoil too much!):

That’s when I felt…I don’t really know what I felt, if I’m honest. Energy, maybe. Some kind of vibration in my bones. Nothing overt—I used to wonder if I’d imagined it, but all these Sevens later…At the same time, it felt like something inside of me had been unlocked. Or unstopped. It’s hard to describe, but picture this: you’re standing high above the city, looking down on it and its people going about their business. There’s wind in your hair, suns on your skin, and something within you whispers a command: Leap! You won’t, of course, but there’s a moment—the briefest moment—before you remind yourself what will happen if you obey that voice. There’s an upwelling of some sensation that’s a cross between fear and freedom, a sensation that lasts until the moment passes.

Yeah? Yeah?! If you’re interested in downloading an ebook or PDF of Tsharak’s Tale (when Volume I is complete), register for my newsletter! I still have a lot of work to do before either’s ready for public consumption, but building a mailing list (a private mailing list) is an important next step in generating awareness and interacting with my readers: I can’t keep them well-informed if I can’t get in touch!

All right. Enough for now. Time to get back to both projects! (I’m almost done with Chapter V. One (or two) more section(s)! I know where we’re headed next: I just have to get there!