Letting Go

Children are funny little things. One moment they’re young and demanding every minute of your existence and you crave for a moment of time you could have that’s truly for yourself, and the next, they’re all grown and ready to fly away, and you’re left wishing you could go back to those days when they sprawled over your every moment of existence.

Since I started writing, I discovered that books are somewhat similar too. Somewhat, that’s the keyword. While they are no real comparison to children, they too, are such integral parts of an author that when it’s time to finish a long project once and for all, you suddenly realize life will be different without it on your mind anymore, and that you’ll miss having it hover on you, demanding your attention.

Every story is different. And some stories endear more than others. Firstborns are extra special too. And so, as the last of The Lightbound Saga Series is about to head out the door on Tuesday, the 15th, I’m having a moment. I’m prepared to let go, and yet, I’m not. I want it to reach it’s happily ever after, and yet, I wish it to stay with me forever. It’s bittersweet for sure.

I’ve been trying to make sense of it all. This isn’t the first series I’ve completed. I’ve finished multiple under various pen names. However, this is the series that began it all and the longest (both in word count and time spent) project so far. Also, the age of the characters likely have something to do with it. I’ve watched the gang meander through their teenage years into young adulthood and after having spent years watching these kids grow up, the kinship is undeniable. I will miss them living in my head.

All that been said, I am proud as I could be. There were times when I didn’t think I’d be able to finish the series, but now I have. I have given these characters life and helped them complete their journey and I couldn’t be happier. My journey with Maia and the gang wasn’t always full of wins, but I treasure every moment of it. At the end of it all, the biggest and most unexpected treasure of all was the joy my middle grader found in these books. Seeing how much she cares about each of these characters, seeing her practically living in their world, is more than I had hoped for and I could never be thankful enough for it. Tansi is a world that will remain ours forever, a special place in our hearts and full of incomparable memories we share.

All right! Now that I’ve lightened my heart a little, time to share a bit about the virtual book tour I’m on with Pump Up Your Book. You can click the graphic below to be taken to the excellent lineup PUYB has set up for The Lightbound Saga. There’s a lot of fun stuff at every stop, don’t forget to check them out every week.

If you are interested in a quick peek, here are some personal favorites.

Want to find out about the story behind the series?

Click me to find out how this started!

Not yet tired of my eccentricity? Check out a few of my confessions.

Click me for the scoop on this author!

And finally, if you want to check out The Lightbound Saga Series, here’s the link to it on Amazon.

That’s all for the moment. More soon.

Done! Done! Done!

The final book of The Lightbound Saga (200,000+ words, 650+ pages) is now complete. And I wrote this mammoth in a little over 3 months. I am happy, proud, and most of all so thankful to have brought this series (6 novels, 800,000 words, 3000 pages in total) to a satisfying conclusion. My middle-grader, the biggest fan of Maia and the gang and a super member of my beta team, finished reading it in a day. She gave me two thumbs up and I couldn’t be any happier.

Yay for 2022! It has been a hectic but super enjoyable last few months and a very productive year. It was about time too.

Without further ado, here’s the cover of Maia and the Legend of Tansi. This is one of my favorite covers of the series, I just love the colors my artist chose for it. As with everything else with this book, the length of it came as a surprise, too. It is HUGE at 200,000+ words. It is the longest book I have ever written and will probably stay that way for a while. So yes, the projected Oct 1 launch date moved to Nov 15 and everyone, starting from the alpha readers, to my editor, to the beta team, everyone needed extra time for this one.

But, boy oh boy, has this been fun to write or what? I have laughed, I have cried with Maia in this book, and had sooo much fun along the way. I hope you have just as much fun reading it.

As a thanks to you all, I have a special preorder price of $4.99 (regular post-launch price of $8.99) for Maia and the Legend of Tansi from now until Nov 10. Click on the book or the link below to be taken to the preorder page on Amazon.

More coming soon!

Maia Returns!

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.

Welcome …

… to novelist S.G. Basu’s blog.

Here, I share my interests in science fiction and fantasy, technology and science, my books and current projectsMaia and the Xifarian Conspiracy (the first book of the Lightbound Saga series) is currently free at all fine online retailers.

The S.G. Basu Starter Collection (includes Population Morpheus, Jumpers, and The Firefly League) is a free gift when you sign up for my newsletter. These are great places to start if you haven’t read my books before. Please help yourself!

Here is the list of my books in order by series:

The Lightbound Saga Series (MG/YA Science Fiction Fantasy):
Maia and the Xifarian Conspiracy (Book 1)
Maia and the Secrets of Zagran (Book 2)
Maia and the Regency Protocol (Book 3)
Maia and the R’armimon Gambit (Book 4)
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The Lightbound Saga Boxed Set (3 book bundle)
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Once Upon a Planet (MG/YA Science Fiction Fantasy in the Lightbound Saga world):
The Firefly League
The Seeder Chapters (Near Apocalyptic Science Fiction):
Population Morpheus (Book 1)
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Elementals (Paranormal Fantasy Thriller)
Turned (Book 1)
Forged (Book 2)
SQUAD (The Accidental Superheroes Series):
Jumpers (Book 1)

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EMPIRE (Standalone Novel Series):
The Eternity Prophecy (Kindle Scout Winner, published by Kindle Press)

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