Tookan Attack is out in e-book format and will be available as a paperback in time for Christmas. I’m so excited to get this book done for the readers who have asked for months, “Where’s the next book?”
Twice now I’ve been at art openings and the dear grandmother of a twelve year old who loves the Arken series comes up to me and asks, “When is your next book coming out? My grandson is bugging me to buy it for him!”
This is very encouraging as a writer but it has made me feel guilty during the times I wasn’t working on it like when I took my daughter buffalo hunting this fall or salmon fishing on the Columbia. However I have chalked these adventures up to the idea that I’m doing critical writing research and if someone invents a time machine I will volunteer to go back in time if they send me to Florida 13,000 years ago with a video camera.
Of course I’d probably be devoured within minutes of arriving and then the video camera would be found and the introduction of this technology would entirely disrupt the trajectory of civilization so on second thought, no I won’t time travel back to Arken’s time, I’ll just imagine it and write about it!
Writing the Tookan attack over the last two years has been so much fun for me. I think the greatest delight of all has been the surprises that the characters have presented me. Writing about Arken’s life has become more of a sense of recording the actions and events. Most times when I’m writing it’s not, “Ok what will I cook up for Arken to deal with next”.
Instead it feels like the character’s lives are playing out in some kind of movie in my brain that I’m privileged to watch and I just type as fast as possible to record the events. So when some surprise or plot twist comes up (and trust me there are a ton of them in Tookan Attack), know that I was as surprised by the turn of events as my readers will be.
Hang on for a thrilling read. The Tookans aren’t returning to the Water Cave to share stories and visit. War has called them to the Nander’s coast and war is what Arken will give them in full measure.
