The Arucadi Series, Past, Present, and (I Hope) Future

I’ve already written a good bit about my Arucadi series of books, but I thought today I’d do a general overview of the series: the books already published and those in the planning stages.

The books haven’t been written or published in chronological order. The first published was A School for Sorcery, a YA fantasy that I didn’t intend to be part of a series. But things often work out differently for me from the way I plan. I had A Perilous Power mostly written when I saw how I could relate it to A School for Sorcery as a prequel. So I did that, and it became the second published book, although it recounts events that happened around fifty years before Tria arrives at the Lesley Simonton School for the Magically Gifted in A School for Sorcery. Then I went on to write a sequel to School—When the Beast Ravens, which takes place at the Lesley Simonton School two years after the beginning of School. That book is followed by Bryte’s Ascent, the events of which take place in the year following the conclusion of When the Beast Ravens.

I had written Mistress of the Wind earlier, but got it published just last year as the first book of a new trilogy titled Arucadi: The Beginning. So it is actually the first of the Arucadi books. It has now been followed by the second book of that trilogy, Bringers of Magic. Bringers takes place about a century before A Perilous Power. It will be followed by the third book of that trilogy, A Mix of Magics, which I am currently writing. It will, like all the books in the series, be a complete story, but it will also set up a situation that will only be resolved in the final book of the series. I don’t know what that final book will be titled, but I have a general idea of the plot. And chronologically it will come several years after Bryte’s Ascent.

I do know what the plot is and what the title is for the book that will directly follow Bryte’s Ascent. It will be titled Mother Lode, which is something of a play on words, as it involves gem mining in the area of the Arucadian desert town of Marquez, a nefarious scheme to enslave orphaned children to work in the mines, and Lina in her unwanted position of being mother to some of the rescued orphans. It’s started, but not very far along. Why? Because until I got Bryte’s Ascent published there seemed little point in continuing to work on it. Now I’m eager to get going, but I have a couple of other books that have to be completed first.

I have the title and setting but as yet no plot for the book that follows Mother Lode. Throughout Mother Lode, people keep mentioning the town of Pescatil, and they say words to this effect, “Pescatil’s a peculiar place. Don’t know why anyone’d want to go there.” So, of course, my characters are curious about this, especially because no one seems able to explain why Pescatil is such a peculiar place. So they go there to find out. I’ll have to find out along with them, because at this point I don’t have any idea. But I have no doubt that the idea will come. I do know that the book will have a direct connection to the final book in the series.

Then I have an idea for a novel that returns to Tria and also to Wilce, her boyfriend in A School for Sorcery, both now adults and using their magical powers to benefit others. I’ve said several times that Arucadi is similar in many ways to an earlier period in U.S. history, but one difference is, while they have developed trains and buses and cars, they do not have airplanes. So this book will deal with the development of manned flight.

Now, I know that it’s a bit foolish to announce books that are not yet written and may never get written—although I have the best of intentions. I hope that announcing my plans for them will spur me on to actually writing them. Yes, I do need to get very busy if I’m to achieve my goal of completing the series as I have envisioned it. Wish me luck!

So here’s the list of published books with the projected ones included in brackets, in chronological order:
Mistress of the Wind
Bringers of Magic
[A Mix of Magics]
A Perilous Power
A School for Sorcery
When the Beast Ravens
Bryte’s Ascent
[Mother Lode]
[untitled book about conflict between development of airplanes and forces of magic]
[A Peculiar Place]
[final book of series]

And for your enjoyment, here is a promotional video for Bringers of Magic. Please take a look.
Click here. http://youtu.be/jmnhC1wrOG0