I'm Not Wasting Time On Starting the Third Book
Although, it's not "Barbarians of the Storm - Book III"...
It’s been less than two weeks since Atomic Beasts and Where to Kill Them, the second book in the Barbarians of the Storm series, was released. However, I’m not taking as much time off between books, and I’ve actually already mapped out a story that is going to be the centerpiece of an anthology that I want to write.
Even though, the second book ends on multiple cliffhangers, which will immediately be picked up at the start of Barbarians of the Storm - Book III, I’ve been neglecting the short stories that I’ve wanted to write since I was working on Book I, Dan the Destructor.
I hate not immediately picking up where the last book left off, but these short stories tie directly to characters in the book series, and this first anthology will essentially be full of origin stories for several key characters that exist in this universe.
The reason I want to jump on this first, is because I want to add more context and nuance to these characters. I love several of them, have big plans for them, and want those who enjoy this series, to know everything that they possibly can about them. And frankly, these characters should have their own stories and this is the best way to do that.
I don’t want to say which characters I plan to feature in this first anthology, as I’d like to let it be revealed within the stories themselves. What I can say is that there is one theme that does tie this collection together and that’s horror.
These stories will be much darker (and gruesome) than what has come out, thus far, in the Barbarians of the Storm series. With that, the stories will be more serious with less humor, but I also want to show how serious this world can be when the buddy adventure formula is removed from the equation.
While I love Fenrik, Dan and their banter, this book will feature none of it, as all the stories take place before Dan’s arrival on this bizarre, barbarous world. It’s possible that Fenrik could pop up, but I guess you’ll have to wait and see.
Speaking of which, I intended to do the Fenrik short story anthology first, but I think that this one is more important, especially with how some characters will develop in Book III, which I may still start while working on this anthology.
At the end of the day, I wish I could clone myself, so that I could work on both. I hate leaving people waiting, especially when Book II ended without a proper resolution. Granted, I do think Book II will leave people satisfied, as they wait for more.
This is where I’m at and where I am going, though. I also worked up the promo image above to show the tone of the anthology. It also gives clues to the biggest story I have planned out of the half dozen or so.