The past week has been a little wild.

Nick and I cracked the halfway point in the second book of our duology. The last time we did this, the second half of the book was written in about 10 days. His work schedule is hectic right now, though, so maybe two more weeks. We’re definitely going to make our self-imposed March 31 deadline though, and then we can turn in the first two books of what we’ve been calling the Salvage Invasion. Pending approval of the series creator, Kevin Steverson, that is.

Meanwhile, I finally finished WINTERBORN and started the final book in the Kin Wars series, HAMMERFALL. This should be done in the coming months, and then I will complete the final Warp book (OBLITERATOR). For short story readers, SIDE HUSTLE: VOL. 2 is done and ready to go, but since I won’t have the rights to one of the stories back until Oct 31, you’re going to have to wait until November 4 to get your hands on it. This one will be a little shorter than the first volume. Probably closer to 550 pages instead of the 738 the first one was.

For those of you keeping score, that’s a potential 8 books released this year (if you’re counting MOUNTAIN OF FIRE, which you totally should be, since it’s my first solo trad published hardcover and is coming out this year, even though it was written in 2023).

I knew this coming year was going to be a good one back in December, when my final word count came in for 2023. I wrote 537,000 words last year. The more you produce, the more you get published. It’s pretty par for the course. This year I want to crack 500,000 words again (last year’s total was my highest yearly total ever) but I’d be happy hitting 450,000 words.

One of the things that allow for a writer to continue producing is consistency. I’ve seen many authors over the years crank out one or two books rapidly, then fall off the face of the earth. You see, to be a creator you have to create. Core part of the word, you know? I know of a few who decided to take a few months off from writing and then could never really find the drive to come back. It sucks, because some of them were very talented authors, but the best way to create is to do it every day. Muscle and mental training isn’t done by doing it once or twice a month. You set your routine, you stick to your routine, and eventually your brain and body adapt to the new routine.

Yeah, this is coming from the guy who would rather plug in a new Civilization game than write some days. Gaming is more fun and less work than writing, but I know what pays the bills (it’s the writing, by the way).

It’s wild over here.

Have you picked up your copy of SIDE HUSTLE: VOL. 1 yet? 15 stories from national bestselling author Jason Cordova. You should get a copy and help feed his kittens. They have expensive tastes.