After the misery of last year (see my previous blog post) some good things happened on two fronts: the publication of Shirareta Sekai 3 and a new house! An update is overdue, so here we go. I'll admit that I haven't been writing much for the past months.
Of course, I've been busy moving (the appartment was new and presented with the bare minimum - it had no floorboards, for example - so it took some blood, sweat, tears and mostly time). Apart from that, after finishing my series I wasn't entirely sure which project to devote myself to next.
What next?
Some fellow authors warned me about the black hole you fall into after finishing a series. I have plenty of ideas so that wasn't the problem. What I also have, though, is difficulty choosing, haha. It took quite some time to figure out which project to prioritize. I'm still working on multiple things at the same time (because efficiency has never been my strong suit and my brain is fickle when it comes to attention, so I'll just follow where it leads me).
I did manage to rank my projects based on priority. To keep you in the loop, I'll share my three main projects with you:
Shirareta Sekai 1 – The Return of Layhar
I've got 50 more pages to go and then I'll be done with the first version of my English translation of my first book! I've taken a long time to work on this, because the completion of the Dutch series was more important. Once in a while I could take a moment to translate, but now I'm free to make this my top priority.
As soon as I'm done, I'll edit it and send it to some proofreaders (mainly to check my use of language, since I'm not a native speaker). Then, I'll look for an agent and see if I can introduce my series to the international market. Exciting!
The Fallen King
Besides writing I also really enjoy drawing. That's why I draw my characters. I got my initial idea for Shirareta Sekai when I was 14 years old and the story has grown and changed a lot since then. It wasn't the only idea I worked on at the time, though. For a couple of years in high school I barely touched my manuscript, because a different story claimed all of my attention: a manga.
Perhaps I'll give a more elaborate introduction in a future blog post. For now I'll share that this story changed a lot since high school as well. I've reached the point where I'm satisfied enough with my plan that I've started drawing. The sketches for the first three pages are finished!
It will truly be a longterm project. I can't predict how long every chapter will take to draw, but I intend to post the story per chapter, as is usual for manga. So you won't have to wait until I have enough chapters to fill a book 😉
The title of the story is The Fallen King (Japanese: 落ちた王様). It will be written in English. If I have spare time, I could make a Dutch translation – maybe even a Japanese one –, but we're not there yet.
Collection of short stories 'The Red Thread'
Maybe you're thinking: "Yeah, that's great, Kirsten, but I don't like manga or comics. Are you going to write another book ?" My answer would be: "Yes." I have multiple ideas for books, but most of them aren't a priority right now. Something I will be working on in the meantime, is a collection of short stories set in the same world as Shirareta Sekai.
I would categorize this collection as a type of slice-of-life fantasy. The stories will revolve around the theme of 'the red thread' and the different ways in which that can manifest. At this point I'm still working out the concept, so I don't expect to release it this year. I'll let you know as soon as I'm done with the draft.
To give you a little glimpse: you'll find out who Nilima's red thread is.
We're going for it
So, there's a lot to do, but I'm fired up! (looking at you, Natsu) I can't wait to share new stories with you and I'll try my best to make them worthy of your readership. What are you looking forward to the most? 🙂
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