Oh, Ok! That’s a good question.

Over the years, I’ve spoken about starting Project Two and Project Three, and sometimes it’s hard to keep track. What are the chances my answer is “more than one”?

A physical proof copy of TILDY SILVERLEAF AND THE STARFALL OMEN just shipped and it’s scheduled to arrive Monday! I can hardly begin to imagine what it will feel like to open that box and hold my book for the first time. This journey started more than ten years ago, and many times I thought the day would never come. To be honest, many other times I considered giving up and destroying the book due to soul-crushing self-doubt. I imagine it will take a few days to fine-tooth-comb the print to verify it’s ready for sale.

I honestly can’t believe I’m finally at this point.

So that’s technically one book. Number two is the ebook version of that. You might think that would be an easy task, considering I already have a finished manuscript, but they require different formatting. Some of that is a real pain in the rear because of the effort I put into the interior design. I also lose control of the font because readers can choose their own. That’s, sigh, not the end of the world, but I used different fonts a few times to create an experience for readers. Fortunately, my favorite example of this, “Thems Trolls” survived due to some creative thinking I’d done when I wrote that verse a few years ago. Once I wrangle the formatting, we’re ready to publish. So, that’s two books I’m working on.

Of course, I’m not stopping there. Oh no. This is a millennia-spanning epic fantasy tale with many stories to tell.

Last week, I started a novella that spawned from some tough choices in Starfall Omen. My original storytelling strategy had a prologue and epilogue for each book that told the tale of a third character: the Mellifluent, the indentured servant of the Dark God, who had its own schemes involving the royal children, who are now known as Tildy and Samor. But, “murder your darlings” they say, and the prologue was a regular source of criticism by Trusted Readers. So it had to go. It was slowing down the opening of the book significantly. As they say in Monty Python:

If I cut most of the prologue, then the epilogue wouldn’t work, either. Both had important information to the overall story, but they were a distraction here. These darlings were ruthless murdered, culled from the book like dead weight!

Which means I put them in a separate file like a hoarder, hoping to use them again.

One of the people wisely encouraging the prologue overhaul was my wife, Kirsten, a smart and voracious wolf-reader (you’ll see some of her in Tildy). She’s my sounding board, Trusted Reader #1, a full-time encouragement-giver, and if she’s not careful, something of a manager for me. One day, she mentioned how some authors use a novella to bridge the time for readers between books. She thought it might be a good idea for my series, since my novels are pretty long. Suddenly, I had a home for the Mellifluent’s story. I even kept the original prologue’s name, THE DARK GOD’S PATH, for use in this third book. I’m about 20,000 words in now, with a goal of 40,000 – 50,000. These numbers make me giggle because I originally wanted the Starfall Omen to be around 80,000, and I more than doubled that.

But what about Projects Two and Three?

Project Two is Samor’s book. I, uh, still don’t have a last name for him, so I suppose the working title is SAMOR LASTNAME and the WARLOCK of NEVERMORE. I’ve been working on the first draft for a couple years, and have about 150,000 words in the story. The biggest challenge here is the ensemble cast, something I deliberately avoided in Tildy’s book. I didn’t think I’d be able to manage it.

It also contains the first appearance of the dragons, who have existed on paper for 30 years, back to the earliest stories I wrote in this universe. I’ve lost track of how many times they’ve been in and out of this book. As of today, August 1, 2026, I’m putting them back in as a way to streamline the first act and cement their place in the overall story of the Lost Royals. So, that’s a fourth book.

Project Three is the sequel to the Starfall Omen, entitled TILDY SILVERLEAF AND THE DUNGEON OF THE DREADWYRM. The working title is a tribute to one of my favorite childhood stories, THE DUNGEON OF DREAD by Rose Estes, which sits in a place of honor on my bookshelf. It was probably the second in the series I purchased, since I started with number 4, THE RETURN TO BROOKMERE, and my brain needs to get things into the correct sequences. I talk about that book’s influence here.

BTW, if my naming conventions are confusing – Project Two for Samor’s first book, Project Three for Tildy’s second, and now a Mellifluent book, a fourth project that will be the second published tile – yeah, you’re absolutely right! I simply code the titles for myself: T1, T2, etc; S1, S2, etc.; and M1. It is a lot to manage, and I only have so much brain. I’ll probably start doing the same here.

I started writing this book in 2020 when I thought I was done with the Starfall Omen. Silly writer. While I wanted to finish Nevermore first, I knew I’d have to make a choice if Starfall was popular enough to create demand for a sequel. A fella can hope. This one is about 36,000 words with a goal of 100,000 to 150,000.

So that’s a fifth book.

Whew.

Oh, and that doesn’t mean Chew isn’t still rattling around my brain, though that lovable beast is currently docile. I’m reserving that novella for when I need a break from this universe. It’s just shy of 20,000 words with a target of 40,000. I guess that’s a sixth book.

And I’m also working on an album with my music partner. Not a book, obs, but one more project to keep my writer’s hands out of mischief. More info here: Wait…you’re also a lyricist?

Reading back through that post, I’d say I have very ambitious writing plans, though I don’t think most people would use that adjective to describe me. That’s fine, I keep most of this to myself, and I reserve my passion for things that are important and personal to me. Make no mistake, my plans are deliberately ambitious. I have a lot of story to tell.

I share a post like this not to brag or to impress people; rather, I write this for other authors who wonder if their dreams are too big or beyond their reach. I’m here to help you stretch out your arms and embrace the possible.

Good luck with your writing!

Mike

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(C) Michael Wallevand, August 2026