It’s been brutal, but OATH OF DUTY is out of writing and into beta reads and edits! HUZZAH!

But don’t worry. I’m doing fine! Totally fine.

Terminator giving a thumbs up as he sinks into lava with sparks and flames

This is running late, though, sadly. I’m going to try my best, but the timing of the preorder will likely be delayed a month or two. Possibly more, depending on editor availability. Cross your fingers for me!

Where does the time go? How is it August? How has it been five years since I started this trip with these crazy kids…

The Audacity Saga is five books long, which is the longest series I’ve ever written! I’m not sure I’ll intentionally write a five book series again. It’s been a fun, wild ride, but with my personality, life, and writing style, the longer a series gets, the harder it seems to get to write.

A trilogy seems like enough that I get to really dig into the characters, but it’s not half a decade of commitment… I do love my characters, though, no guarantees any of them are off the table. Ever.

Unless they die. Well, even then…

I started writing THE EMPRESS CAPSULE all the way back in 2017. It’s hard to believe it’s been so long. I’ve changed so much, and the world has changed incredibly as well. My file names tell the tale:

It’s also exhausting to work on a single project for so long, and other ideas sing their sirens’ songs. I have thousands more ideas than I’ll ever be able to execute.

Below is my dinner helping me through edits last night… Thanking my lucky stars.

Snip Snip

As promised, a short snip from what currently stands as Chapter 2.

I won’t leave!” Shirin’s voice rang out as Zhia strode up the hallway. “You can’t make me!”

“Now, Shirin. Please. Listen to reason.” Dr. Levereaux was trying to sound reasonable, but to Zhia’s ears—and probably Shirin’s—she sounded more exasperated than persuasive.

Feet were coming up the ladder. Zhia noted Vivaan was heading up the ladder to the third floor, with nothing so much to say to her. Now just where was he going?

“You’re not abandoning me on some stinking rusty space station full of pirates and rats!” Something pounded against the deck. Possibly a girl’s foot.

“It’s not full of pirates exactly, and we’re not abandoning—”

“So it is stinking and rusty and full of rats!”

“I think stinking is a matter of olfactory perspective.”

“What does that even mean?”

“You won’t be alone. They’ll be loads of others with you, including Mr. and Mrs. Simmons, Dr. Taylor, Dr. Persad—” Levereaux froze as Zhia appeared in the open hatch.

Yes, she was brilliant geneticist, but child psychology? A whole unindexed encyclopedia for the poor woman. Which was fair because she hadn’t exactly grown up around other children. Enhancers didn’t exactly care about every aspect of development in their experimental clones.

“Why don’t you let me try?” Zhia said, folding her arms with a smile.

Snippet from OATH OF DUTY, by RK Thorne, unedited and subject to change

Your Opinion Wanted

In other areas, I’ve been trying to figure out where to invest my time online connecting with readers. I have always been a big fan of facebook, but I am feeling the need to diversify, spread out. So if you’re interested, I’ve put together a survey – let me know if you’d want to chat / hangout / laugh at goofy pics memes together in one of these places.

Thanks for weighing in, if you felt so inclined!

Do you like trilogies, longer series, or standalones better?


As always, thanks for being a reader and a fan. If you’d like to support my ongoing writing efforts, you can buy me a coffee (or spaghetti, I mean, how could I resist?) on Kofi.

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