I began writing Peregrine shortly after I finished the first draft of Reckoning of the Gods, my fantasy/mythology series. Well, I say first draft, but this is more like the fifteenth or sixteenth draft (I’ve lost count over the nine years I’ve been working on it). In any case, I knew that I needed to walk away from the story for a few months, but I didn’t want to lose my writing momentum. I wrote a few short stories (which you can find on my website), but I began running out of ideas for those fairly quickly. Then, I remembered an idea that I had for a story called Peregrine.

The inspiration for Peregrine came from an episode of Planet Earth 2 where they focused on Peregrine falcons living in New York City. I found it fascinating how well these birds had adapted to the concrete jungle, and eventually, I began to wonder if human beings could find themselves in a similar situation. A concept formed in my mind of humans with wingsuits swooping through floating refineries in the sky. From that initial seed grew the rest of Peregrine.

For a long time, I had hoped to make Peregrine a graphic novel (and if I’m being honest I still have that same hope), but when I realized that I needed to start working on something that wasn’t a short story, Peregrine came to mind. What if I made Peregrine a series? Once that decision had been made, I remembered that Wattpad seemed to be a great place for series, so I began creating arcs for the story with the intent of finishing each arc between drafts of Reckoning of the Gods.

Now, I would like to tell you that I spent weeks coming up with the first arc for Peregrine, but that would be a lie.

I didn’t.

I spent a few days brainstorming the characters, the ragtag group of high-fliers that comprised the Peregrines. Once I had a basic understanding of the story, I hit the ground running, and if I’m being honest, I’m pretty happy with how everything turned out.

More than anything, Peregrine was a challenge to write a chapter a week, and I’m happy to say that I managed to do that. I made a few mistakes along the way, and I fully intend to revise the first arc at a later date, but the basic ingredients are all there: action, adventure, wingsuits.

My current plan is to start working on the second draft of Reckoning of the Gods, then return to Peregrine after that’s finished. In the meantime, feel free to visit the world of Nisi as many times as you like. We’ve only cracked the surface of what’s in store for the Peregrines, and I hope you’ll stick around to find out what’s next.

Read Peregrine on Wattpad.
Read Peregrine on ARBrasch.com.

If you’ve been following me on social media for the past year, you’ve probably heard about Reckoning of the Gods. Given that I stopped writing years ago, there’s a good chance that you might ask yourself, “What exactly is Reckoning of the Gods?” The simple answer is this: it’s a fantasy/mythology story that I’ve been writing off-and-on for approximately nine years. The more complicated answer follows below.

For many years, I was writing two main books—a horror epic called Demon Hunter and a fantasy series called Gorgon. I had attempted writing several other books, but none of them held my interest for very long. With both Demon Hunter and Gorgon, I had no real outline, so after a while it became hard to keep writing consistently. Eventually, the plots became too convoluted for me to finish either of those stories, so I ditched both and started a new series focused on gods and men.

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A scene from Gorgon: the hero Sparta engages Vae in mortal combat.

The first draft of this mythology story commenced on December 29th, 2009 and was abandoned on February 10th, 2010. I originally planned to write a trilogy of books about a king that rose to power with the help of a dastardly god, but after almost nine years and fifteen drafts, the series expanded to five books. The plot changed completely, characters changed completely, and even the gods changed completely. For all intents and purposes, I wasn’t even writing the same story after a certain point, so why do I consider this first draft the beginning of my journey for Reckoning of the Gods?

The answer is simple.

No matter what iteration I’ve been on, Reckoning of the Gods has always been about the struggle between gods and their subjects. I was raised on a steady diet of Greek epics like The Iliad and The Odyssey so when Troy released in 2004, I was disappointed that none of the Greek gods appeared in the movie. Years later, I decided that I would write a story where the gods were alive and very present in the story, just like the original Iliad and Odyssey. So in some ways, Reckoning of the Gods is a response to Troy.

Over these past nine years, I’ve learned many lessons about writing, story, character, motivation, life, etc., and it is my intent to share these lessons with whomever wants to hear them. Reckoning of the Gods isn’t just a series of books; it’s become a part of me. As I read through old drafts, I can see what state my life was in, what hobbies I had, even what books I was reading. While I may never share these older drafts, rest assured that I will impart any relevant knowledge to you, dear reader.

Of course, I don’t intend to only dwell on the past. I’ve finished reviewing nine of the fifteen drafts, searching for any ideas, themes, plots, or characters that I want to save for my next draft. I hope to start outlining the next draft no later than December of this year, and with only six drafts left to review, I’d say my odds are looking good. If you want to learn more about Reckoning of the Gods, simply stay tuned to this website or to my Twitter account. I’m beyond excited to start writing, and the only promise that I’ll make to you now is this:

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