Hey folks.
 
That’s it. Another year gone by! Slightly less crazy than the last two, but no less busy.
 
The Common Saga:

2022 was the first year for me not to have a novel published, since Stormblood debuted back in 2020. Blindspace was published on one of the last days of 2021, and due to all the delays with distribution and shipping it (sort of) is a 2022 release.

Blindspace released to solid praise, and the responses from readers have almost unanimously agreed it’s a superior book to Stormblood. It’s much more of a space opera, more diverse in set-piece and world-building, more focused on the whole cast of characters rather than just one. I’m still immensely pleased with it. It only released in the US a few weeks ago, so it’s still picking up readers.

But, for some reason, it’s had very, very few reviews and ratings on Goodreads/Amazon. So, please drop a little review, even if it’s just a sentence, that would be very appreciated. Books, unfortunately, depend on word of mouth (and algorithms, it seems, these days) for success, so every review helps.
 
Stormblood: https://www.amazon.com/Stormblood-Jeremy-Szal/dp/1473227437/

Blindspace: https://www.amazon.com/Blindspace-Jeremy-Szal/dp/1473227488/
 
And on that note, ordering books in for libraries are a fantastic way to support authors without actually spending any money. And in some countries, we even get paid everytime someone borrows our books. You don’t want me to starve, right?

 
Goldsboro:
 
The good folks over at Goldsboro books have informed me that there’s still some of the signed hardback, sprayed edges edition of Blindspace left available. There’s only 250 of them in existence, and once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.
 
You know you want it:
 
https://www.goldsborobooks.com/product/blindspace
 
Wolfskin:

I spent the majority of 2022 focused on nailing down a draft of Wolfskin. It’s a rambling, bloated, monster of a draft, with a dozen missing scenes and a dozen other scenes that need to be gutted/rewritten/reworked, but it exists, and I’m very happy in the big picture.

I’m honestly not optimistic on a 2023 release date, as early 2024 seems more likely, but that’s all up in the air at the moment. My agent is having a look at the (very very) early draft over the holidays, so we’ll see what his thoughts are in January.

But I can promise you: I’ll be putting out all the stops to make sure Vakov’s last (?) adventure is as bad-ass, brutal, emotional, satisfying, intense, and insane as I can possibly make it.
 
Short Fiction/Anthologies

I only had two short stories published in 2022. The first is Mindstrings, published in the anthology Night, Rain, and Neon.

The second is The Black Horse, published in Grimdark Magazine’s stellar anthology The King Must Fall. The anthology has an insane line up of talented authors, and I’m stoked to be amoung them. My novelette is the longest short story I’ve ever written, and is also the first fantasy story I’ve written in almost five years. It also may be my personal favourite of all the short stories I’ve written.

Give the anthology a crack when it releases to the public in a few weeks.

Link:
https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/announcement-the-king-must-fall-dark-fantasy-anthology-kickstarter/



 
Self-publishing
I dived into the world of self-publishing by releasing Scream in Blue, a novelette set in the world of the Common. It was mainly meant for newsletter subscribers, but it’s been picking up a few sales on Amazon, too.

I’ll be self-publishing more of my work in the future (including, perhaps, a few of my trunk novels, if I have the time).

Scream in Blue link:

 https://www.amazon.com/Scream-Blue-Jeremy-Szal-ebook/dp/B0BM6LFFLK

Conventions:

I attended Supanova Gold Coast and Melbourne in early 2022, which were both new conventions for me. I had a blast at both, and got the chance to meet readers and fans who were actually excited to meet me, which was a great experience (albeit a little intimidating).

I also got to hang out with a few of the actors and writers and artists there, including the wonderful Georgina Haig (who you may know as Elsa from Once Upon a Time, and other shows like Limitless, Archive 81, etc). She ended up grabbing both my books (signed to her, of course), which wasn’t nerve-wracking at all.


 
And then there’s this crazy photo we all did. We’re not usually allowed to share these, but this time we were. You’ll spot folks from *deep breath*  The Book of Boba Fett/Once Were Warriors, Lost/Once Upon A Time, The Lord of the Rings, Spartacus/The Vampire Diaries, Wolf Creek, Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, The Amazing Spider-Man/The Sound of Music/Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood.

 
Upcoming Appearances
 

• I hope to be attending a Supanova convention sometime in 2023, down here in Australia.
• I hope to attend a major convention, either in the UK or the US, sometime in 2023.
• I may be attending WorldCon China in 2023.
• I will be attending WorldCon Glasgow in 2024

 
 
Finally, I wanted to say thanks to everyone who bought Stormblood and Blindspace, and all the bloggers, book-Tubers, readers, fans, booksellers, and fellow writers, who make it possible for me to continue to do this. Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to be a published writer and to have my books read by folks around the world. That’s now possible because of your support and help and I couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you so much for letting me do this crazy little thing, and for reading about the wild adventures of Vakov as he charges through his savage little world.
 
Have a safe holiday!
 
Best,
Jeremy Szal