Hey all! So you can pretty much glean the purpose of this post by the title – book two’s editing is done! That means Embers of Orden is on track for submission this month and for release this holiday season – stay tuned for the specific dates!
Embers of Orden has been a journey to write. Besides the five years since the rerelease of Sovereign Soul: Akin Minds, the second book has been in development for almost 15 years and seen multiple iterations. It used to be part of Book One, then I split the book in half. I published it under Hierarchy of Lars in 2016 before I set to rereleasing Akin Minds, and it was a very different book back then.
A long time ago, the second book was one I became sick of by the end. It felt like a necessary chapter I had to share of the story, but parts of it were grueling to write. I dreaded switching points of view and had my clear favorite sections. It was far from my favorite in the series, quickly overshadowed by the events of Book Three: Remnant Shadows.
All of that changed. I rearranged events, changed things around, and rewrote the entire story from front to back. While editing, I kept getting excited that I was at ‘that part’ of the story, getting caught up in my writing, and feeling the emotions I wanted to convey. I’m much happier with Embers of Orden – and I hope you, the readers, will experience the same emotional rollercoaster!
Let’s compare the original PDFs, before book layout was done. This is raw PDF format, not the formatted/published versions of the books!
| Hierarchy of Lars | Embers of Orden | |
| Page Count | 794 | 936 |
| Word Count | 381,279 | 450,699 |
| Release Year | 2016 | 2024 |
It’s gotten a lot bigger! In fact, Embers of Orden reached a problematic length – I’ve had to trim multiple scenes in order for it to work, and there’s more I might have to trim depending on the final size of the manuscript. I don’t like removing content at all. I think every bit I’ve written contributes to the narrative, and removing what I had to was done with great disdain.
In the future, I hope to make the trimmed scenes (59 pages right now!) available for devoted readers to view. Embers of Orden is a massive story that had several aspects to tell in preparation for the dramatic conclusion. Truth be told, I feel like I could’ve written a lot more. I held back in my editing with that page limit in mind, but I’m not tired of the characters yet – their story will continue soon in Sovereign Soul Book 3: Remnant Shadows!
A great deal of content awaits in Sovereign Soul: Embers of Orden. My writing has grown and evolved. The subject matter is more mature, and the novel covers intense feelings of loss, inadequacy, love, companionship, and more. My goal is to inspire laughter and tears, anger and desperation, hope and love, all in one novel. I experienced a great deal of things life threw at me while I wrote this, which fueled my narrative and my writing. I won’t get too into it. There were things I needed to share to help others pull through the darkness I lived through.
Stay tuned, readers, because there will be a lot news more about Embers of Orden to come! And, of course, Book 3: Remnant Shadows is already well underway. I hope not to have a 5-year gap between my books again!
Sovereign Soul 