The Assassin's Code, the 3rd book in the Assassin Without a Name series, is coming along nicely, currently sitting at just over 51,000 words. The books in this series tend to come in at about 100,000 words, so I guess you could say I'm about halfway done with the rough draft.
What does this mean in terms of the release date of October 22?
It probably means I'm going to push the date back. I'm not certain of a new date yet, but it will likely fall in December. So, not much of a delay, and still in time for Christmas.
One of the things I'm trying to do more is focus less on the daily word count grind and more on the fun of being creative. I think this will show with this book. The plot from story to story is very tightly interwoven. Old faces and plenty of new ones. Lots of intrigue, adventure, magic, technology, and fun. Plus, the overall story takes leaps and bounds forward in terms of concluding. I might be overstating that, but suffice it to say, there will be more books and adventures for the Nameless Assassin after this one.
In the meantime, enjoy a small excerpt from the new book.
Fresh snow blanketed the night dark avenues. Street lanterns, which had guided me this far, shone no longer the moment I passed into the temple district. The world didn’t have a use for gods anymore, so why fill streetlights with oil when no one came this way other than vagrants, beggars, and tattooed death priests? I barely walked a block, with the picked-over ruins of minor temples rising on either side, when I felt eyes on me. Sequestered in deep shadow, the priests did nothing more than observe my passing, though I imagined callused hands settling on dagger hilts and gazes narrowing as they wondered what I was about. I made no effort to hide my presence. On the contrary, though I wore my assassin’s garb with all my usual weapons, I stayed in the middle of the street, my arms lifted and hands empty.
“I’m here to talk to Onius,” I said into the darkness, stopping when a Jakaree emerged ahead of me. This one held a torch, which he lifted high to take the measure of me. Though armed, the lanky priest kept his weapons sheathed. I took that as a good sign.
“Come with me,” the priest said, turning without bothering to see if I followed.
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