I know you guys have been waiting a LONG TIME for this. You’ve been so patient, and it’s meant so much. Pirate War is officially available for preorder. A real book, with a real blurb, and a new cover that showcases Mercy.

This book has been the most difficult so far. Part of that is my fault. I went into this series with a definite idea of how I expected it to go. I had a basic outline for the series, a number of books in mind, an overall arc and individual arcs. With each book, I start with the story beats for that book, and inevitably, those change as I write it. So Pirate Nemesis, Pirate Consort, and Pirate Throne all underwent change as I wrote them. Some of those original story beats changed organically. That’s normal.

Yet, somehow, I expected the overall series outline to stay the same. I clung to that original outline. When I started this book, it fought me every step of the way. Every word was like pulling teeth to write. Then COVID happened and some other major life stuff took place, and my writing schedule went all to hell. It was the perfect storm, and I ended up in a place where I couldn’t see what to do next. I had no idea.

I continued beating my head against that brick wall for quite a while, all while health issues and life kept happening. Eventually, I had no choice but to cancel the book with the many, many preorders it had. Nothing I’ve ever done in this writing gig has hurt quite so much.

In the writing world, there is a phrase. “Kill your darlings”. Generally, this means sometimes you have to edit out scenes or dialogue or bits you might absolutely love, but they don’t actually serve the story. This was my first experience with realizing that just clinging to an idea you once had can also be a darling you must kill. I realized I was trying for all I was worth to make Pirate War into the book I originally imagined, even though the way the series took shape meant that was no longer the book it needed to be. I completely scrapped that draft, every last word. I ordered a revised cover from my cover artist. I wrote a new story beat outline for the series. I wrote a new story beat outline for the book. I started over.

Pirate War isn’t the book I thought it was going to be. It’s better. It’s what it needed to be for the series.

So. Here is the new preorder link. Here is the new cover, the new blurb. Now I know: expect change to happen across all levels, and the best laid plans don’t always come out the way you expect. Killing your darlings sometimes has to happen, and it’s usually a good thing, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.

Without further ado. Pirate War.

A tide of war has risen across the galaxy, with the Alpha Queen’s forces seemingly everywhere. Without the monarchy to lead, the Commonwealth has fallen to individual factions and planets, each fighting desperately to survive. Mercy and her pirates are all that is keeping the galaxy from falling under Fareena’s control. Their only hope is to somehow restore order, and the monarchy. 

But no one in the Commonwealth wants to listen to a pirate Queen, and the last heir to the royal line of Ashir is working for the enemy. As planets slowly fall to Fareena, Mercy and her allies struggle to unite what remains of the Commonwealth. Worse, the true depths of Fareena’s plan for humanity is about to be unveiled, and if Mercy can’t succeed in stopping it, there won’t be a galaxy left to save.