You probably haven’t heard from me in a little while. That’s because I’ve spent one entire month in Japan!
I’ve wanted to visit the land of the rising sun ever since I can remember. I’ve wanted to go, but I told myself I had to get Book 3 finished and delivered first. So I did. And less than 48 hours after putting the book on my editor’s desk, I was on a plane to Tokyo.
The long and short of it: I loved it. It’s the best place I’ve ever been. I traipsed between Tokyo, Nagano, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. Describing all the details about my trip would take another blog post entirely (which is coming).
I’ve been learning Japanese since November last year. It’s a tough language. Really, really tough. It’ll be years before I’m anywhere close to fluent. As it is, my Japanese is conversational at best, but I can easily get buy. I understand about 20-30% of what is being said (depending on context). I have plans to move over there. Possibly for a few months, possibly for a year or two, if certain employment contracts pan out. We shall see.
Future Books:
Between all the sushi and sake and ramen, I have not been idle on the writing front. I’ve been writing. A lot.
I currently have two projects in the making. While I won’t go into too much detail, I will say that the first, and primary project, is a science-fantasy space opera. It’s set almost 20,000 years in the future, and the main cast, including the main character, are all half-human, half-alien. It’s first person (of course), and in present-tense.
I’ve got about 40,000 words of it nailed down, and I’m on track to have a solid first draft before the year is up. This one is what I’m hoping to get traditionally published.
The next project is very very different. It’s a fantasy, written in first-person with a female protagonist, on an adventure with two non-human characters. And one of them is her lover and partner.
Told ya it’s different.
I’ll be looking to self-publish it at some point, when it’s done. I have an idea to be a hybrid author, I think. I’ll never stop trying to be traditionally published, but I have a lot of stories to tell, and I want to explore some alternative options. Either way, you’ll get to read them sooner rather than later.
Buying Signed Books:
So. I’ve opened up a shop!
I have a limited number of copies of Stormblood and Blindspace for sale. These include the Trade Paperbacks, which are now out of print, and are notoriously difficult to find (especially for Stormblood).
You can now buy them directly from me, and I can sign, personalise, and otherwise deface them however you like. (Life hack: personalised copies make GREAT gifts for friends).
Please do be aware that because I’m located in Australia, the price of postage is likely to be high. How high, I do not know. I have a form on my website, which you can use to query me, and I’ll find out for you.
My shop can be found here. Support me and feed your local author.
Till next time!
Best,
JEREMY SZAL 
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