It has been three years since I released Firestone, the first book in the Lore of Tellus series. Since then, I have completed two more books, Orbis and Tempus, with a fourth now in progress. The world is growing.
If you had told me back then how this would turn out, I would not have believed you. The response has been overwhelming. From readers I have met at book fairs and markets, to those who found the books online, the support has meant more than I can properly explain. Thank you to everyone who took a chance on the story and spent time with it.
Releasing a book comes with a quiet worry. You never really know if anyone will enjoy what you have written. I went into this knowing the series would not be for everyone. That is still true. My aim has always been simple. I want to write something people enjoy reading. I want to give readers a place to step away from the real world for a while, even briefly.
So where am I now?
The first three books in the series are finished. I am around twenty five thousand words into book four, with a fifth planned to complete the core series. Alongside that, I have started planning additional stories set in the same world. The Lore of Tellus is not the only story this setting can hold.
If you want a clearer overview of how the books fit together, the reading order explains how the series unfolds.
I get asked often where the ideas come from. How the inspiration started. In an earlier post I mentioned the line that kept repeating in my head, the raindrops fell against the windowpane. At the time, I did not know what story I was writing. I only knew that I needed to write something.
I started with subjects I already enjoyed. Steampunk. Fantasy. That led naturally into research, which is still ongoing. I spent a lot of time reading about folklore, myths, and creatures, then began shaping a world that could hold those ideas. The steampunk element stayed, and everything else grew outward from there.
Around that time, I took a writing course called How to Write Best Selling Fiction by James Scott Bell. It helped me understand structure and direction. The biggest lesson I took from it was the importance of planning. I needed to know where I was heading, even if the details changed along the way.
There is more to writing than sitting at a keyboard. I paused the drafting to work out the shape of the series. That decision made a real difference. I did not lock ideas in permanently, but I gave myself a direction to work toward.
Each book is mapped out loosely. I know where it starts and where it needs to end. Between those points, I leave room to explore. That balance keeps me moving without feeling boxed in.
On a practical level, the process varies by day. My health plays a role. On good days, I can write over six thousand words. On other days, far less. Sometimes I read back what I wrote and barely remember doing it. That part still surprises me.
As the world expands, new characters and places appear. Each one needs work. Research helps, but personal experience plays a role too. Places I have visited often influence the settings, even if they change shape once they reach the page.
I always carry a notebook. Ideas arrive at inconvenient moments. If I do not write them down, they disappear. Some ideas are used straight away. Others sit for months or longer. Either way, capturing them matters.
Where ideas come from is never a clean answer. My thoughts tend to move faster than I can organise them. Hopefully this gives some sense of how the Lore of Tellus continues to grow. I will stop here for now. In the next post, I will look more closely at the characters and how they develop across the series.
If you have questions, you can contact me through the site.
