The Long Journey for the Quests of the Lost Jungle
The image above is taken from Culpepper’s Statue, the third book in my 11 Quests children’s fantasy series. I really did expect to publish more 11 Quests books in 2013, but I should have known better than to put that in writing. Especially for a side project.
I did, sort of, meet that goal in that I put the first draft of book 4, The Unicorn Guide, on my site for all to read. But, I know that what I truly meant with my teaser page was that at least one new book would be in print in 2013. Oh well.
It took me a long time to find myself in the right frame of mind and to come up with the story that I wanted to tell.
Now for the good news!
On Christmas Eve, 2016, I finished writing the first draft of The Quests of the Lost Jungle (books 4, 5 and 6 in 11 Quests)! I think my writing has gotten better, and I’m happy with the story I’ve put together. I heard from a number of kids who liked books 1–3 and I hope they’ll enjoy 4–6 at least as much! The biggest risk there is that those kids are now 3 years older and might not appreciate a story for 8–12 year olds as much.
What’s next?
Given my extreme tardiness in publishing The Quests of the Lost Jungle, you’d think I’d want to get those books out the door as quickly as I could. You’d only be partially right.
I am now considering seeking out a publisher for 11 Quests. Eight- to twelve-year-olds aren’t an easy group to reach as a self-published author, and I would like a chance to reach a wider audience. Whether 11 Quests continues to be self-published or is published by someone else, I plan to do another polish round on The Quests of Underice and I have some new ideas on marketing for the series.
So, there’s going to be a bit of a delay in bringing these new books to print, but I think the wait will be worth it.
