Since the last time I posted, the world has become a different place. The last two years, in particular, have changed everything, my life, my everyday habits, and everything and everyone I knew. While I have been lucky enough to not be physically touched by the virus, it has affected me in unexpected and profound ways.
Although at the beginning of 2020, I was determined to stick to my pre-2020 plans, and for a while, I did too, the forces at play turned out to be too powerful to ignore. An altered lifestyle touched my writing, both my routine and my creativity. And soon I found myself stuck in an unending cycle of unproductive days that led to self-criticism and back to more unproductive times. That continued, until, in 2022, I dug myself out. Finally, early in 2022, I made some progress, and then I pulled out the half-finished manuscript of my fifth Lightbound Saga book.
This was supposed to be the fifth and final installment of the Lightbound Saga. However, I was in for a surprise there as well. As I read through the draft, I discovered I had so much story left to tell that I couldn’t have it all fitted into one book without turning it into a tome. I didn’t want that, so the other option was to split the remainder in two. That would have been easy, but now, I needed a new cover for the unplanned book. So back to my cover artists I went. Slowly but steadily, the art was done, the manuscript completed, and after taking two extra years, Maia and the Blades of ThulaSu is finally ready to be launched on August 1.
Maia has been a favorite of many. In these past years, I have received numerous queries about the next book. To all those who have eagerly and patiently waited, I apologize for the delay and I hope the book makes you happy. I am thankful, truly thankful, for everyone who still remembers Maia.
As thanks, I have a special preorder price of $2.99 (regular post-launch price $4.99) on Maia and the Blades of ThulaSu from now until July 31.
Also happy to share that the sixth and final book in this series, Maia and the Legend of Tansi, is more than 75% complete and is scheduled for an October 1 release. More on that soon.
S. G. Basu 