originally posted by Gill
Thanks for the update
Just finishing Reading all once again. Longing for the final book. Thought I might be able to preorder but Amazon don’t seem to know it exists.
That aside glad your mother is settled I wish her well and happy in her new home
originally posted by Annette
Thanks for the update Janny, had been wondering how things were going.
Here we are: I passed the 200 manuscript page mark last week, or more…but…starts of books are a nuisance, regardless, and this, the last volume HAS to explode…I had thought I'd achieved that with the starting chapter/all seemed OK - and with the second set, yeah, but…third set really started to BUG ME - for no easy reason. It SEEMED to be cooking along, but I just felt something was MISSING, not quite in line…I'd held off sending out even the final sub chapter of 1 set to test read because…niggle niggle niggle. This has gone on for what feels like MONTHS - every day in the chair working but - grrrr - some bit not quite lighting the rocket as it should - not all thrusters were screaming as they need to be for the finale volume.
And. Then. Two days ago - BAM! Here we go - the old outline was all there, all the planning, but - the 'blow all the gaskets moment' I'd assumed would finale at the half-point - whelp, NO, it doesn't go there…
It had to start in the FIRST scene, first chapter…all the groundwork's been laid in ALL the prior volumes; so NO reason to hold off the build to explosion or the 'reveal' of that thread in play…damn the muse, she had it all there, I was just stupidly following an older bread trail.
So - I am 'retooling' that thread into the existing material - feels SO RIGHT. NOTHING I wrote was 'off track' at all/no bit wasted or discarded - just - this thread will be interwoven and now it is SO RIGHT!!
I don't expect the revision to take long at all, and it is making SUCH a difference, lighting the stakes underneath the existing action to a fever pitch.
You will like it, you will. :X for now.
originally posted by Gill
Can’t wait. Thanks for the update. Getting exciting. Will it be out in 2020?
First set revisions are in place, and a chunk of them entered into Set 3; I am now reviewing set 2 to be sure everything follows through, though end of year accounting is gonna dent the schedule just a little.
originally posted by Arend
Best wishes for 2019, Janny!
It's been a while since I was on here, and it's great to read how Song of the Mysteries is progressing (especially that aha-moment, so recognizable).
Some sadness as I see the end of a reading era approaching. I started this series when it first came out; I was still in college, crazy thought!
originally posted by Neil
Happy New Year 2019 all!
Likewise, having followed this story from the beginning I will be wondering a while longer how it all finishes in this book.
My curse of the mistwraith in nearly in pieces 
My copies of Sword of the Cannon are in too good a condition since I read them mostly on my kindle…
Really looking forward to this final volume of War of Light and Shadows. I do wonder whether we will still have questions after the "end" though 
Thank you Neil and Arend!
The good news: we've ripped through our year end accounting and tax prep is nearly DONE, so it will be a clear sail into getting to work and back up to pace after the Holidays (though this year, with front end planning, I managed to do more than many). Mom's settled into assisted living and is happy and adjusted so THAT hurdle's behind as well.
Yes, Light and Shadows is gonna come to a close - but the world of Athera has massive possibilities, and I've got short fiction bits all lined up. So if there are lingering questions they can all be addressed that way.
ALSO, I am damned well champing at the bit to try on some brand new ideas. So there will be a future, not to worry about that!
originally posted by Gill
Janny
Thanks for the up date. Glad you are all sorted
Happy New Year to you and all your fans
originally posted by Hunter
Neil - my fear/delight/trepidation is not that we'll have questions, but whether the answers will satisfy the questions in our head - and our expectations/desires for what happens to our respective favourite characters compared to what devious plans Janny actually has for them. I still think it's one of those (like GoT) stories where "if you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention".
originally posted by Gill
Ah Hunter, don’t say that. At 75 I am too young to want anything other than a happy ending
originally posted by Mark Bradley
Hi Janny and hi everyone here too,
after lurking here for well over a decade, the series is drawing to a close and I find that, at least once, I want to write and thank you!
For well over twenty years this story has accompanied and inspired me, through the highs and lows of that time. It helped this idealistic and mostly all-too theoretical nerd to better get in touch with his emotional side. It helped me to better undestand why my extremely oversensitive husband developed a very prickly shell, long before I met him. It provided a crutch, after I developed a fear of flying, every time I had to board a plane for work reasons (which for a couple of years was every week) - ok, a bit superstitious, this one, but for some reason a belief grew in me, that the universe would not let me die in a plane crash until I had finally read the series' end. Depite the million shades of ethical gray that confuse our daily lives, this tale of an unblemished character who is oathbound, cursed, and hounded out of all avenues of escape and nevertheless stays true to doing the right thing (the mistakes made under influence of the curse were always due to the obfuscation of the curse, never a flaw in his character) is heartwarming.
The romance between Arithon and Elaira touches me to tears. The tragedy of Lysaer breaks my heart. And, of course, the iron commitment of the sorceror's, that the ends do not justify the means - such a marked contrast to the corrupted morality of the Koriathain - helps at least this idealist stay true to my convictions and belief in people.
Which, I guess, is just a long whaffly way, before this journey ends, to say Thank you for the time and energy you have devoted to sharing this tale with us!
Mark
Mark - thank you. What a lovely note. So pleased the series has been more to you than 'just a book' it's the best when hearts are touched.
I have read many many books by many authors who've done the same for me - so the 'giving back' is wonderful - as I work on the last volume, I will imagine light under the wings of every single airplane you have to ride - that your mainstay becomes your own belief in your fate, and that the last book is a needless talisman.
On the note written by one of the other posters above yours, that 'if you think this is a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention' - whelp, we aren't THERE yet, so I can't say what you'll find :X - you will have to read and find out - but that statement is far more about the person who posted it than about the books!
Let each person read and see the happy and the sad/the good and the evil for themselves.
I will promise this: you will NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! The last book - you will HAVE to finish it/there are things that are going to run VERY VERY DEEP and I won't give you the reveal without the ride - but it will be all that you hope for.
originally posted by Julie
It has been very quiet here! Just read Destiny's Conflict for the 3rd time. Even knowing the ending I was still blown away by the ending scenes. So looking forward to Song of the Mysteries.
Janny, can you give us an update? Sneak peak??
Hi - all's well, just my password messed up for a stretch.
I have solid draft up to ch IV main completed - but had to side track for a bunch of artwork.
Sorcerer's Legacy is undergoing a print run/reprint and required new cover art done; expect a cover art reveal soon.
I have completed the art for the e short single release of Black Bargain, and it will need type design to finish up (picking at it in the late evenings)
Cover art is two thirds done for The Gallant's e single short release - (late evening/slack time, it's slow and steady but it will get done soon)
Both of these shorts are little oil paintings/not the water color style of the short stories surrounding the uprising.
LAST - the big project - cover art, oil painting, full wraparound, is underway for Daughter of the Empire's special edition, coming soon from Grim Oak Press. There will be extensive interior art, too…this had to be slotted in because: pub date is this summer, and - paycheck - bills have to be paid, no choice about that.
I've had some family issues in the background, centering around my elderly mother/a cat with an abcessed tooth that required some vet trips - but Don and I are BOTH fine! and working like the hammers.
More on the artwork soon; more on the writing, too. I've only been quiet because: working from daybreak until midnight about every single day.
clarification: Ch 4 main IS completed, I am pushing into the subchapters…the way I worded it was a little confusing.
There is a buddy read of Ships of Merior starting up at Fantasy Buddy Reads on GoodReads if anybody wants to join in. The read for Curse of the Mistwraith had write up summaries by chapter done by a dedicated reader: those have been added to the Paravia wiki/so if you have a new reader starting in, they may ease the confusion a little - but advise them not to read ahead, since there would be spoilers there.
Back to writing after Empire cover art completion/though there is more art (interior illos) yet to finish up.
Annual Reminder!!!
r/fantasy's TOP LIST VOTE is happening for this year - you get to vote for TEN of your favorite titles - your chance to make your preferences count, in under a minute. The thread is stickied at the top of the forum; it will only be open for a few days so make it happen for your favorites.
Other news: I have completed cover paintings (small works, in oils) for the e releases of Black Bargain and The Gallant. I'll be chipping away at the typography in between everything else - so those releases will be available on Paravia soon.
The Decoy is already up.
Well, this is a first, I'm working on two subchapters simultaneously, with ALL the edits on the main chapter done/but hanging fire to enter in.
Too many irons in the fire, but after too many irons in other fires (necessary family stuff and projects to pay bills) it's actually welcome!
originally posted by Annette
Thanks for the update Janny, I did read it a lot earlier but got distracted and forgot to post.
Thank you to the one person who posted a rating/review for The Decoy on GoodReads - that advanced it one page. Two pages off, yet, from the other shorts.
I am thinking it may be time for a preview post. What say you?