So. After about three thousand years, the Wolfskin finally has an official release date:
March 3, 2026.
And yes, it is available for pre-order.
(The copy description has massive spoilers in it, so unless you’ve finished Blindspace, I do not recommend reading it!)
I do not exaggerate when I say that Wolfskin is the best thing I’ve ever written. The character arcs, the storylines, the set-pieces, even the prose, just works. Never before have I written something so epic, so brutal, so heart-wrenching. It is, in my humble and totally unbiased opinion, a damn good book.
Yes, it’s taken a long time to come out. But that’s given me the time to make sure that what I’ve put down is my absolute best, and my exact vision for the story. Again, it is my best book.
However, because of various reasons, including things that are totally beyond my control, my career is not the best place at the moment. Wolfskin is still coming out, but after that? I don’t know. Things are unclear. I’ve suffered a lot of sleepless nights because of it, and there have been days where I’ve contemplated giving up this gig for good.
I’m not giving up. But that also means that I cannot afford to hold back, either.
So. I am going to ask you all to please pre-order Wolfskin.
Pre-orders are disproportionately helpful for authors. It helps the book trade to gauge the interest on a book, or a series. The more pre-orders there are, the more copies get printed. The more copies get printed, the more the publisher has to work to sell said copies, and the greater likelihood of those copies selling.
I kinda hate that I have to weigh all these things up instead of, you know, writing. But that’s the business we’re in.
So, any and all pre-orders and support is much, much appreciated.
If you cannot pre-order it, then there’s a lot of other things you can do for Wolfskin and for the Common series. You can buy them. Ask your local library to purchase them. Tell others about them. Review them on Amazon and Goodreads. Sacrifice goats on an altar of black stone in their name.
Not sure about the last one, but you can always give it a go.
If you are a reviewer with a blog/review channel/BookTube/Instagram account, please get in touch with me and I’ll get my publisher to send out a review copy to you.
It’s been a hell of a long journey, for me and Vakov both. But we’re nearly at the end of his story. I hope that you’ll all stand by my side and see it through to the end.
I’ve never done an author event in the United States before. Next week, that changes!
I’ll be joining this group of mega talented folk at Barnes and Nobles (Ryan Cahill, Shauna Lawless, MJ Kuhn, Zack Argyle and others) to sign books and talk with readers and possibly drink copious amounts of beer. If you can’t make it, feel free to place an order with the store and I’ll happily sign a copy of one of my books over to you.
It’s been a little while since I’ve done one of these so I thought I’d just provide a mid-year update.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my career and my brand as an author. I’ve published. 40 short stories over 10 years across all genres of speculative fiction. But I’m mostly known as a writer of science-fiction. More specifically, novels in the military SF/space opera region. And while I’ve enjoyed my time immensely in with the Common Saga, it is no accident that the books became progressively more space opera as they went along. I don’t particularly want to be known as the guy who writes science fiction. I want to be a Jack of all trades, someone who branches out, who is versatile, who’s able to write in a variety of styles and genres and voices, a la Adrian Tchaikovsky.
It is no secret that some publishers are generally wary of this. I have some strong feelings about that, but the point is that I feel that writers should be able to write whatever they like, at whatever stage they are in their careers, regardless of what’s “expected” of them.
My tastes have always been broad, and I want those tastes to reflect in the books that I write: science fantasy, epic fantasy, space opera, secondary world fantasy, whatever. Limiting myself to one genre limits my readership and my growth as a writer.
So you are unlikely to see a book from me anytime soon that’s in the same style of Stormblood: straight SF, noirish, cyberpunk-adjacent, with a thriller/mystery element. I’m being beckoned to write things that are epic and sweeping and grandiose, and I feel like I’m much more comfortable in such a space.
Does that mean I’m leaving SF behind? No. Not at all. But I am expanding my horizons. And I’m excited about what’s to come.
So. Book updates.
First up, Wolfskin. I do not yet have a release date for the book. I delivered the full edited version to my publisher in mid January and I have since been waiting to receive my line edits. Publishing being what it is, things are moving at a glacial rate. I wish that I had news for you, but I don’t yet, since my publisher wants to hold off on pining anything down until they give me my line edits for Wolfskin. But the story is 99% locked-in, and I’m confident that once the edits do come in, it’ll be smooth sailing. By then I will hopefully be able to start sending out proof copies to reviewers – cue the mix of exhilaration and anxiety that comes from releasing a new baby out into the big wide world.
But I have not been idle. Oh no.
The past year I’ve been chipping away at my new book, tentatively entitled “Rage”. I got a first draft nailed down about a month and a half ago, but I’ve since run into, shall we say, some existential crisises about the book (see the first half of this post). Where it sits in the genre. What readership it will appeal to. I don’t really want to be more specific than that, but I will say that my comparisons to it include The Red Rising Saga, House of the Dragon, The First Law, and Sun Eater.
Why I love all my books equally. I do think that there’s something truly special about this one, and I’m hoping to make it the next book that I traditionally publish.
Here is the tiniest of sneak peeks:
Part 1
“The Wolves have no King”
– The Cinder Knight, before his execution
However this book comes out, I think it will mark a turning point in my career, and will hopefully be exciting for readers, both old and new.
But because there ain’t no rest for the wicked, that’s not all I’ve been working on.
I’ve been chipping away at a straig-up secondary world fantasy with a female protagonist. This book, I’d say, sits firmly at the intersection between Scott Lynch, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Adrian Tchaikovsky. I’m definitely playing a lot faster and loose with the structure, and the freedom of it is both exhilarating and a little scary, but I am enjoying the process of seeing this world unfurl before my eyes.
I don’t know what I’m gonna do with it when it is done, but I’m gravitating towards self-publishing it. We’ll see.
As I’ve already mentioned, in late 2023 I suffered a nailgun injury to my left hand. This, of course, is a big deal for a writer, especially as my career, and my life, has been greatly impacted as a result.
I’m not totally ready to discuss what’s transpire over the past 19 months. But I will say that I recently had several surgeries on my left hand. Things have been dark for a long time, and I’ve feared that my writing career has been in jeopardy. But things should be looking up for me soon. Hopefully.
And on that note, I would greatly appreciate it if you could grab one of my books. If you’ve already done so (and honestly, you’re unlikely to be reading this unless you’re already one of my readers!), then you can always convince one of your friends to buy my books, or spread the word in some other way.
And not just because it would cheer me up immensely after several surgeries. But also because May happens to be the month of my birth! So you’d be getting me a gift for me and you. How is that not a bargain?
Thanks again for everything, guys. I know it’s been a long gap since books, but I’ve been busy cooking and marinating, and soon there will be a literary feast!
2024 wasn’t the worst of years. Nor was it the best of years.
As many of you know, in late 2023 I impaled myself with a nailgun in my left hand, missing the bone by less than a millimeter. If it had connected, I’d have shattered the digit. It did not connect.
But that didn’t mean I got away scot free. Oh, no. The incident gave me complex pain regional syndrome, nerve damage and ulnar nerve damage, which led to a slew of pain management therapies, new medications, weekly doctor visits, constant appointments, required exercises, and dealing with the red tape of it all, which triggered further mental health issues and gave rise to other health issues that were simmering away beneath the surface.
I don’t like to talk about this much, because I live it every week, and I really don’t want to be one of those Professional Pain Sufferers, as my GP calls them, who can only talk about their own agonies. But it’s safe to say that 2024 was a very stop-start year for me, and no one wants to spend the last year of their 20s dealing with a critical hand injury, not knowing how much longer it’ll continue on for.
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve been going through some rough patches, mentally, due to the stresses of publishing, and how the writing has suffered as a consequence. As you can imagine, the injury has not helped. I wasn’t able to publish Wolfskin in 2024 like I wanted, and so sometimes it’s felt like publishing has been moving on without me, like I’ve fallen overboard on a ship and I’m stuck floating in the water, watching the ship move further away from me, leaving me behind until it’s an inscrutable speck on the horizon.
To watch authors who debuted after you get proofs and cover art and special edition deals for their next series while you’re still stuck on the one feels extremely disheartening, especially when compounded with a whirlwind of other doubts and stresses (is anyone even reading my stuff? Does anyone care? What’s the point of this?). Doubly so when all of your peers keep talking about how much fun writing is and how another day at the keyboard is another day doing the best job ever, and you feel like setting your computer and your face on fire. There’s been times when I’ve seriously considered leaving publishing for good, unable to take the anxiety and pressure (and anger) that stems from the meatgrinder of the publishing industry and how it feels like it poisons the passion you have for your creative work.
This isn’t a “woe is me” post. But I do believe in honesty, both on a professional and personal level, and this is the narrative I’m telling.
But I won’t be quitting of course. Because I’m a writer. And this is what I do. And there isn’t a single person on earth or heaven that’ll stop me. (Where do you think Vakov gets his stubborn streak from?)
While those feelings have not always disappeared, 2024 has seen them become far less intense and overwhelming, especially towards the latter months. Things have been better. Much better. Sometimes, all you need to do is to take a step back, stay in the shade, reframe your thinking, and then step forward again. Attitude and positivity matters. A lot. Fighting off the Raging Demon Voices isn’t always easy, but the less space I give them, the smaller they get.
And because of all that, I’ve had a very, very productive year. Which brings us to….
Publishing
The only project I published in 2024 was independently publishing Broken Stars in Nov 2024. All these stories were previously published except two, but I still consider the entire collection to be an original publication. It’s picked up some really solid reviews, and has been stocked in a few local bookstores and libraries, which always makes me happy.
Interestingly, releasing a new book means that your previous titles get a fresh wave of attention. I’ve had a few people say that they wanted to check out my traditionally published books because of Broken Stars being released. I mainly put Broken Stars out so I could keep my name in the spotlight between major releases, and to dust off some of my older works and give them a bit of new life, so I’m pleased to see that it’s all going to plan.
The majority of my year has seen me work on a new project. I don’t want to say too much about it, only that it’s science-fantasy and is set some 20,000 years in the future. It’s somewhat similar to my other books, but it’s also . . . not. It’s more epic. More poetic, grandiose. But fear not, it’s still very much me, and I’m hoping that it’ll be the next thing that I publish. I’ve got about 140,000 words down, not including material that I’ve already cut or reworked. I hoped to have it finished, by the end of this year, but Wolfskin edits have derailed those plans.
And because I don’t have enough on my plate, I’m working on another project. A secondary world fantasy with a female protagonist and some very nonhuman characters, on an epic quest. I won’t say more than that.
As for Wolfskin, I’m doing another pass on it as we speak, with the goal of delivering it to my editor in January. It’s been interesting to see how I’ve evolved as a writer since I discovered this character and his voice all the way back in 2026, when I was only 22 years old. It’s been tempting to sometimes rewrite the odd paragraph or sentence to the way I would have written them now, but I’m making sure to hold true to my former self and to Vakov by keeping the voice consistent.
On this read, my goal is to fall in love with the book, to read it as a cohesive whole narrative. And so far, I’ve been really, really enjoying it. If you’ll allow me to flex a little bit: the narrative beats are working, the character dynamics are solid, the emotional moments feel earned and hit like a sledgehammer, and the action scenes crackle off the page. Why, it’s like someone wrote a book just for me!
Sure, it’s my own damn book I’m banging on about. But after being stuck in a cycle of disliking my own work, seeing the worst of it in the worst light, I’d rather build up what I know to be my novel’s strengths. It’s my baby, after all. And what a damn fine baby it’s turning out to be!
Travelling:
I went overseas three times this year. I went to Japan twice, a place that is easily my favourite in the world, and I have plans to go again sometime next year.
I also went to Europe for Glasgow Worldcon, which was a fantastic and inspiring event. It was my first time in Europe with my books published, and I was able to do a lot of signings and events, and meet a lot of readers, including one reader who brought his copy of Stormblood all the way from Brazil for me to sign.
People are best part of any Worldcon and I was really fortunate enough to hang out with a bunch of friends I haven’t seen in years, people that I’ve only met online and completely new writers. It really felt like I was part of the publishing community, a professional author who was respected by his peers and that is always lovely feeling because this gig involves a lot of time spent locked away in a small room, hunched over a keyboard, and it’s only when someone tells you in person how much they loved your book, does it actually feel real. I also got to see copies of my book in bookstores in both Scotland and Denmark, which was incredibly cool.
I don’t know when my next Worldcon will be. But I will certainly be endeavouring to attend one, or at least another major publishing convention, in the near future.
Reading:
The amount of books I read went down considerably in 2024. Both on account of the injury and the fact that I was learning Japanese. Spoiler alert, it’s an incredibly crushingly difficult language to learn. Relative to English, the grammar and sentence structures are both backwards and let’s not even get started on the polite versus impolite forms, or three different alphabets (I loathe Kanji with the fury of a thousand suns). But being able to speak Japanese is also incredibly rewarding, especially when you go to Japan and you’re actually able to communicate with people and order food in a restaurant and understand a good percentage of what you hear. I am by no means fluent, but I’m slowly getting there. Hopefully.
But the books that I did read this year I really enjoyed. Here’s the best of them:
The Will of the Many, by James Islington
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio
Shards of Earth, by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
My goals is to read more in 2025. The size of my TBR is threatening to crush me, so I’m hoping to put a solid dent in it.
***
I want to close off my last post of the year by saying: thank you, dear reader.
For reading my books, for supporting me, and for letting me tell these wild, crazy stories. This is not an easy job, and there have been some very, very rough patches along the way. But I’m on the upswing and I do aim to be doing a lot of writing in the upcoming year and to be putting many, many books on the shelves in the coming few years.
The contract has been signed, so I’m pleased to say that my short story “A Love Like Bruises” (which appears in my upcoming collection) will be translated into Chinese and published by the awesome Science Fiction World. This marks my 5th story with them. When they invited me to Chengdu for Worldcon last year, I was pretty awestruck by just how viscerally passionate Chinese fans are for science fiction novels and stories. And I’m delighted that another one of my weird little dottings will get to reach them.
If you want to read the story (in English!), then you can do so in BROKEN STARS. Pre-orders are available on Amazon.
Remember when I told you that you’d be getting something from me soon?
Well . . . surprise!
“Broken Stars combines previously published short stories and novelettes with new and exciting tales, ranging from space opera to military SF to science-fantasy and everything in-between. Tales of broken heroes fighting for hope in dark worlds, full of aliens and outcasts, drug dealers and bounty hunters, mercenaries and soldiers. Tales of far-flung worlds where the lines between machine and human become blurred, the humanity of monsters is explored, and victory always comes with a heavy price. In these eighteen stories of far-flung worlds, violence explodes, betrayals abound, and no one is safe.
A smuggler for alien drugs is thrust into a high stakes of subterfuge and interstellar drug trades, only to find herself out of her depth.
Yharv, a mercenary, must escort the King through a besieged city and see him crowned. The only problem is, Yharv isn’t human, and neither is the king, and nonhumans usually end up dead in a gutter. And luck has never been on Yharv’s side.
An alien and a human fight to liberate a planet where aliens are treated as second-class citizens. But freedom comes at a steep price.
A kidnapped warrior discovers her memories may not be her own, and she may be on the wrong side of her war.
And many more . . .”
Broken Stars is my debut short story collection. I’ve published dozens of shorter works over the years, mostly before Stormblood was released, and I decided that it’s time to give them new life! So, sixteen of my best tales are being collected together for the first time, in addition to two brand new stories that are original to this collection. There’ll also be some story notes, detailing the writing process and origin of each story.
This means that you’ll be getting 100,000 words from me! Given that a number of these short stories are buried behind paywalls or published only in anthologies, many of you would not have read them yet, so I’m delighted for you all to get them into your hands.
Although the genre and voice for these stories varies, you should expect the same sort of approach and style that my novels are known for, but in a more condensed volume: battle sequences, gritty yet exuberant worlds, aliens, all written with an eye towards emotional and character-driven storytelling.
The release date is Friday, November 1. It will be released both as an ebook and as print-on-demand. This collection is being self-published, so you won’t find it in bookstores, (although it can certainly be ordered in, for anyone who wants one).
If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you’ll be able to get the first three stories for free, as a thank you for sticking around. I’ll send a download link out soon.
It’s been a little while since I’ve had a book out, and I’m really excited to have this project out in the wild. I’ve also got several other projects brewing away, so you’ll be getting a lot of content from me in the future!
If you’re a reviewer/blogger and would like a free copy to review, please get in touch and I’ll hook you up. You can find my contact form over here on my website.
And finally, this awesome cover was designed by the incredible Mike Shackle, who’s a great writer in his own right. Thanks a lot, Mike!
The much-anticipated fandom event known as WorldCon Glasgow is starting this week, and I’m delighted to be attending it. I haven’t been to Europe since pre-COVID times, and Glasgow Worldcon will be my first European convention ever as a published novelist. So I’m very much looking forward to meeting readers, doing panels, and seeing people I haven’t seen for an awfully long time.
If you’re attending, here’s where you’ll be able to find me:
(Pre-convention): August 7, Signing at Forbidden Planet Glasgow from 5pm. (If you can’t attend in-person, email the store and place an order, and I’ll happily sign/personalise the book for you.)
August 8, Panel, How Real Aliens Would Behave on Earth, 8:30pm (GM1+), Hall 1
August 9, Autographing/Signing, 11:30am, Hall 4
That’s the official schedule. But I’ll also attending several social events through-out the weekend. They include:
Pop-up Social Glasgow:
August 8, August 9, August 10. 14:00-16:00, Hall 4 (open seating area)
Grim Socials:
Friday, August 9th, Hall 4 Bar, 3:30pm onwards
Sunday August 11th, Crowne Plaza Fan Bar, Argyll Foyer, 3pm onwards
Otherwise, I expect to be lurking in the bar or in the coffeehouses throughout the weekend. If you see me, feel free to say hi. And if you want a book signed, it doesn’t have to be at one of the signings, I’m happy to do it anywhere, anytime (as long as I’m not eating!).
I’ll also be bringing a ton of bookmarks and other swag with me to giveaway. If you see me, stop me and get one!
As for my own personal writing, I don’t have much else to say . . . yet. I’ve breached 100k on the new project I’ve been calling the Rage book, and it’s extremely promising. I’m also working on something else on the side, something I’ll be self publishing. I expect to get that into your hands very soon. Possibly as early as this year, or Q1 2025 at the very latest.
The good people over at Shepherd’s – a fantastic book blog dedicated to building up authors and supplying readers with good material to read – got in touch and asked me to do a little book post for them. More specifically, a post listing five of my favourite books, all connected by a linking topic or theme.
Anyone who knows me and my books knows that themes of brotherhood and platonic relationships between male characters are things I am passionate about. They’re the driving force of my stories. The core around which everything else is built. I couldn’t *not* write about it.
So I did.
I’ve got five books listed here that have spoken to me one way or another about this very subject of male friendships, and why they’re so damn important to me. It was a fun post to make, and I hope you get to discover a new read that way!
JEREMY SZAL 