So I’m sitting on my porch, digging how the ominously gorgeous Minneapolis weather (context: it is March) pairs with Weather Report’s I Sing the Body Electric and trying really, really hard not to fling my laptop aside and start shouting my excitement at dogs and pedestrians. Just trying to keep it together.
Because you guys. YOU GUYS.
*frantically waves arms while jumping up and down*
I am so super excited to tell you all that No Dragons Press HAS A PLAN FOR RELEASE. I am bursting with excitement at finally sharing this with you.
(Literally bursting. Seriously. Call a medic. And a janitor.)
No Dragons Press Coming Soon
True to form, this initial release plan resembles its original version about as much as “real-life stoners” resemble media’s two-dimensional caricatures of them: pretty much in no way at all.
An early draft of No Dragons Press. (Seriously, my stack of hand-edited drafts is astonishing—in both size and amount of red ink.)
I had first intended No Dragons Press as a series of episodes. When that became an administrative nightmare (and when I found an agent whose bio was basically my Ideal Reader—and who only accepted full-length novels), it all clicked into place that No Dragons Press would become a straight-up book series, each of five planned season becoming a book.
That was all I needed to be off and running. Something about no longer having to worry about the structure made me feel free to just write—and write I did. Now I’ve got one book ready for release, one halfway there, and a complete five-book outline.
No Dragons Press Is Still a Book Series
The five-book series is still the plan—eventually. But I’m the kind of person who wants to be able to finish what I start, and five books is a lot to finish when I’ve got oh let’s say just a few more tricks up my sleeve.
I am more than just a one-trick wizard. STOP TRYING TO SHOVE MY WIZARD PEG INTO YOUR NON-WIZARD HOLE.
But mostly, I don’t want to make readers wait between books (while No Dragons Press may no longer be structured in actual episode format, it definitely steals a few tricks from television as far as cliffhangers and open questions!). And I equally don’t want to make myself wait to get the story out there.
For these and many other reasons, now is the time.
No Dragons Press Is a Blog Series
After a few high-energy meetings over a sampling of the delicious craft beer the Twin Cities are known for, it was decided: before any books are published, No Dragons Press will be released, chapter by chapter, in its entirety, for free, to you, even as I write it.
*cue the Monty Python butt-trumpeters*
I am thrilled to announce that my partners at Ascraeus Press will be publishing each chapter of No Dragons Press on their blog, once a week, for (at least as far as can be reasonably predicted) the entire five-book series.
But here’s the other exciting part:
No Dragons Press Is a Podcast Series
That’s right, friends: in tandem with the blog series, No Dragons Press will also be released as a podcast.
*more butt-trumpeters*
Every week, another chapter of No Dragons Press: A High Fantasy Adventure will be read for you by yours truly, along with updates on current drafts, news, and special opportunities for listeners.
(I won’t talk your ear off, I promise—I plan for just a few minutes of this on each episode. But I’ll try to mention in the show notes when the actual story kicks in, just because let’s get to the story already, amiright?)
My current plan is for the show notes here at nodragonspress.com to include a transcription of the “updates” portion of the podcast, then a link to the post at Ascraeus Press of the chapter I read for you that day. The podcast will be posted at nodragonspress.com/podcast, linked to from each new blog chapter, and available wherever podcasts are found. Huzzah!
Stay Tuned for Updates
I look forward to bringing you details (including the release date) for the No Dragons Press joint blog and podcast series. As always, thank you so much for your support.
Love,
Maggie
