IT LIVES

The day has arrived.

Wolfskin, the third and final book in the Common Saga, has been published.
The trilogy that I started work on nine years ago, is complete.

This is an epic moment. A time of triumph and joy and celebration. A major milestone for this series and for me as a writer.

And yet, right now, I’m also very overwhelmed and tired.

Release weeks are usually monumental events. There’s interviews and podcasts and guest blog posts and social media posts and every other kind of posts and events and marketing and publicity and all the rest of it. I could do that here, sure. I could tell you how good the book is and why you should buy it immediately.

Instead, I want to do a little bit of introspection.

It was 2015. I was 20 years old. Brash, hot-headed, hyperactive. I’d written a sci-fi novel that had been widely rejected by almost every major agent in the business. One of those rejections arrived in my inbox mere hours before me and my family flew to the USA for a holiday.

I spent the entire flight, and part of my trip, ruminating on my failure.
Wondering what I’d done wrong. How I’d screwed up. How I’d missed my chance.

And how I would likely never, ever fulfill my dream of being a published author.

I was devastated.

But I’m stubborn. I didn’t quit.

And then, on one sweltering day in December 2016, I sat down to write chapter one, page one of what would become Stormblood.

Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would end up where I am today. That not only would I sell a book, I would sell three of them.

I’d publish a trilogy and would reach tens of thousands of people around the world.

I’d fulfill my dream of becoming a traditionally published author.

After a while, the work that you’ve put into your passions can fade into the background. before can fade into the distance.

You forget just how much effort and sweat and blood and tears went into the thing that you were put in, the emotional labour involved.

The hard nights, the loose plot threads, the uncertainty. The mountain, looming ahead, taunting you.

As some of you know, that did not go away when I sold these books. If anything, it increased.

Still, now that I have reached this high point, I like to remind myself where I came from. The place where I once was. How long and arduous this climb has been.

And how damn proud that 20-year-old kid, thinking that his dream of publishing a novel had been dashed forever, would be if he could see me now.

Especially because it’s these books that I’ve called my first series. I do believe that they are miles better than anything I was capable of writing or even envisioning myself writing when I first started them.

Wolfskin especially. It is the best book in the series by far. Everything from the aesthetic and set-pieces to the character work and even the prose, is firing on all cylinders. I edited it within an inch of its life (and my own) to make it so.

And so far, people have been agreeing.

The emails, Instagram photos, tweets, interviews, podcasts and responses I’ve had with this launch have been . . . a lot. Something about this launch feels different.

Like I’ve actually gained some traction.

Like, for the first time, my series could be a true part of SFF consciousness.
I don’t know. Early days.

All I know is that the days and weeks surrounding a book’s launch are some of the most important of its life. Especially now, as Wolfskin is the final title.

So if you haven’t already, I’d love for you to buy it. It is currently available in trade paperback and ebook, all around the world. (It comes out in print in the US/Canada in Jan 2027 but can be ordered online with shipping).

If you do want to support the book and the series further: Please talk about it.

Tell your friends. Your colleagues. Ask librarians to order it. Post on forums about it. Post pictures of it (and feel free to tag me in them), whether they’re your purchases or when you spot them in bookstores.

And if you’re inclined, please review them. Even a star rating on Amazon goes a long way.

It means the world to me.

This is not the last word on the Common, but it is last on Vakov’s story. I’m off to new horizons. But before I do that, I want to sit on this mountain ledge and feel the wind in my ears and see just how far I’ve come.

And, of course, I want you all to enjoy the final chapter in this trilogy that has taken most of my 20s to complete.

And so, thank you. Thank you for cheering me on and making this climb with me.

Love you all.

Till next time,
Jeremy.