As of last Monday, Codex Nekromantia was completed in all of its forms when I posted the final entry.

Whew.

Don’t worry, I took a break of a few hours between finishing Codex and gearing up on the next project. A few short, horrible hours. I’ve dropped hints about the new novel in interviews and drunken tweets, but I’m happy to announce not only the subject matter but also the posting schedule.

The novel concerns the waning Belle Époque and the thunderous clash of World War I, back in those heady days at the dawn of the Atomic Age.

Did I mention that the novel is alternate history?

But, by god, there’s a lot of regular history to be read first so that my history is alternate and not just garbage. I’ve spent several years researching the era, and I’m continuing to scour the historical record for the rest of this year while I finish the outline. What does that mean for you, dear reader?

First, that you can expect the beginning of the new novel on a Monday in January. That feels like a long way off, but it’ll come sooner than I think.

Second, the chapters will come less regularly than Codex, on a monthly schedule, but what they lack in frequency they’ll make up for in girth.

Third, the publishing schedule of the Guide to Moral Living in Examples remains unchanged: piping hot updates will still scald your brain on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Apologies, lords and ladies, boys and girls, faces and butts, for the lack of consistency in the updates to the site. I’ve done the best that I can between some unavoidable travel (non-writing related work), some inevitable housemate-shuffling, and a variety of other uninteresting excuses like this cloud of bees that seems to have settled around my head.

One of the more interesting excuses, however, is that I’m approaching the end of the draft of Codex Nekromantia that I’m submitting to my publisher. Note that it’ll have to be broken, taped, eyeballed and finally welded back together before we reach the final draft, but the characters have been birthed, killed and revived as abominations at least once by now. Progress has been made!

I’m intending to continue providing updates to Codex with the current draft, as I’ve done so far. The finished, published copy will be more polished but will be largely the same narrative as the edition on the site. This is not only because I want to abuse your wallet, but also because I firmly believe that seeing the rougher version helps lift the veil of profound mystique around the process of novel creation. Also I like abusing your wallet so that I can get my Big Author Bucks.

Please look forward to a Moral Guide entry following this post, featuring the finest things in life!

I hear you ask: but Greg, what are the finest things in life?

My answer, the same as always: some vampires, a barn, a rainy night and a goddamned castle.

I’ve changed the background of the site to black today to show support for Culture Stops! Recognize the importance of arts & culture!

The Guide to Moral Living in Examples has been online for a month shy of a year, and for most of that time I’ve kept the design untouched. In that eleven months, though, the site has grown. The novel Codex Nekromantia was launched as a serial and my traffic has been steadily growing. Readers that I’ve never met have been reading the site (though you’re going to have to work pretty hard to dethrone my mom as my #1 fan. Hi!) and that gives me the warm tinglies in a way that you wish it wouldn’t.

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I moved from Chicago to Rhode Island, asked Poor Brenton to write me a Moral for my trip, then butterfingered the ball straight to the weekend after I moved, leaving everyone adrift in a sea of immorality.

Especially Brent, because he supplied me with a great moral.

Don’t betray people who are doing you a favor, kids, or else one day they might summon a skeleton to sit outside of your bedroom window with a double-neck bass and lay down a super sweet bass line. All night. And then wail out a soulful solo sometime around 3am when you’re already staring at the shadows, praying for the Grim Reaper to come save you from the acoustic torment, but he’s down on the lawn with his skeleton buddy playing the xylophone accompaniment.

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Bad news first: my gerbil had a stroke this morning and is on his way out, so there isn’t going to be a Moral Guide today.

The good news is that all next week is going to be Guest Week for the Guide to Moral Living in Examples! I have an array of talented writers to supply you with examples on how to live morally, in case I’ve missed any big ones.