Today’s not over, but there has been further progress here. One of the things Wes had pointed out was the layout of Alderlast, the capital of the Angladaics, is something that needs to be clarified for the reader. This is especially important because the actual design of the city is part of the plot of a few books, so it really needs to be clear how the layout looks!

I’m sketching a rough version of the city now:

It’s a little fuzzy, but the image does render more clarity about how Alderlast is designed. The eight “slices” of the pie are the Highlord districts, while the “spokes” of the wheel are raised roads that lead from main gates (the sections that splay out like spikes on the wheel) to the Angladaic Palace. Between each district there are two tunnels through the roads, gated with big doors, and smaller staircases allow foot traffic up from the district to the raised roads.

The idea is a city that is supremely difficult to take for an invading force. You could, in theory, push through and level or occupy the palace, but every surrounding district would be against you if you never came down from the elevated roads/walls. And, if you did do that, taking one district would only secure 1/8th of the city, meaning a long and hard fight for the other seven.

Hopefully, polishing this map up and including it in book three will help readers get a clearer idea of what the Angladaic capital looks like.

Additionally, I added about 2000 words to clarify some character motivations and personalities. The next steps are going through some smaller notes on later chapters and then starting from the beginning of the book and adding in reminders here and there of what characters look like, what happened to them in previous books, what certain places or things are and why they matter, and so on.

The goal is to help the reader say, “Oh right, that person/place! Now I remember” instead of “why am I getting reminded of this thing I already know about from before?” The balancing act continues.

T.H.

As the semester ends and I finally head into a long break, I am working on a steady list of fixes and alterations for book three. Today, the Story Thus Far got revised completely and, I feel, works much better now. I also made adjustments to a character’s internal thoughts and development, which should flesh them out better than in the earlier drafts.

Tomorrow, I plan to tackle the missing details of one major plot thread and begin the slow process of filling in “reminder details” on characters from previous books. As the series is 1) long and 2) has a lot of characters in it, I am now realizing I’ve got to strike a balance between reminding the reader who is who and not bogging them down in arduous descriptive stretches.

T.H.

It won’t make a major impact now, and probably won’t later, but I need to draw attention to an author that I have discovered only recently but am now deeply invested in.

Derek Owusu is a writer from London who published his first work, a combination of fictionalized and semi-autobiographical memories that began as a work of poetry, called That Reminds Me. Derek’s book is a real achievement. It uses the lens of partial, incomplete, and complex memories we all have of our experiences to specifically cover the lives of black people in London, taking the reader through narrator K’s experiences as a child and adult.

For me, the eye-opening parts were related to the 2011 England Riots around the killing of Mark Duggan by police. It highlighted how the plight of black people and their relationship to police is not an issue exclusive to the United States. Additionally, Derek writes very realistically from the perspective of someone battling mental health issues. As someone who has become more and more open about his own anxiety and depression, I appreciated how real and relatable this all felt.

Finally, Derek was kind enough to take time out of his day to talk to one of my English classes that read That Reminds Me and he was an incredible presence. He spoke honestly and directly, and was willing to address each and every question that came his way. Treating the students as equals was something I was so happy to see him do, and it meant a lot to them and to me.

So there is my plug for Derek Owusu. I can’t wait to see what he writes next, and I know he is working on his second book now.

As for my own status, I have simply a brief update to report on the progress with the audio book: it is closing in on a completed version of the Prologue, which will be released here on the website. Additionally, I have a content meeting with Wes today to iron out necessary changes and tweaks to the third book so I can plunge headfirst into finalizing that this month. Look for an early 2021 release date for The Steed.

T.H.

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been radio silent for a while, but that’s largely been due to the intensity of teaching during the 2020 COVID pandemic. I had thought, rather foolishly it seems now, that the lockdown and subsequent regulations would give me more time to write and finish the third book in The Legacy Chronicle before the winter.

I forgot I had a two year old at home. And no child care. And a regular day job.

But, here we are, with the other big project I wanted to get off the ground in 2020, an actual website. So, from this point forward, all of the major content for The Legacy Chronicle and my other projects will live here. The Facebook page will remain up, at least for a while, but ultimately the intention is to migrate to a standalone website, store, and content hub.

For now, the web store functionally won’t let you make purchases straight from it, but that’s something I hope to have sorted out soon. You can always email me directly to place orders with PayPal, Venmo, or by mailing a check. All the information is on the Contact T.H. page, and you can reach out if you want to know about shirt sizes or other details.

Additionally, you can still purchase the books from Amazon. More excitingly, we will be offering audio books with professional voice work really soon! Zach Aguilar has built a nice little team of voice actors and is working to record the prologue from The Sword as I type this. Right now the plan is to release that finished product on this website for free, though there is a preview of it on The Legacy Chronicle tab right now if you are interested. Once we have recorded a good chunk of the book, it will be available for purchase on Audible. The plan is to offer it in sections, say 5-10 chapters at a time, and then as a complete novel at a slight discount from buying it section by section. All of this could change, but the bottom line is yes, we really will have an audio book of the series!

And finally, yes, book three of The Legacy Chronicle is coming. I have to have some substantial content meetings with Wes to hash out a number of alterations it needs and Shane is working on a larger, two-page map for the third book, but it is coming. Please, if you have questions, send them along! There is the About page where those can be left right on the site and as mentioned above you can also email me or find me on Twitter under @LegacyChronicle.

So, welcome to the new site and thank you for your continued support!

T.H.