When I first mapped out the latest (and last) return to the Axis of Time universe, I thought I could wrap it up neatly in three books. One tight trilogy, finishing in November this year. Job done.
Hmmm. Yeah, nah. That’s… not going to happen.
As the writing has accelerated over the last couple of weeks, I’ve realised the story is still stretching its arms, refusing to be neatly tucked in. The characters keep getting up off the page, demanding their say. And the narrative possibilities keep offering more corners to explore and conflicts to resolve than my initial story map encompasses.
At the moment, I’ve got 100,000 words written for World War 3.2 and the action has advanced all of two days. There’s been a lot happening in those days, but we haven’t even circled back to some of the biggest players yet.
Also, as I moved away from the battlefield into a couple of chapters exploring the idea of folding our culture war conflicts back through seven decades, I realised this alternate history could do with some more alternate history.
I think Elvis might be making an appearance as a PoV character. And B.B. King. And maybe Colonel Sanders and Hugh Hefner. Some kick arse 1950s ladies might be nice too.
Bottom line, I’ve a fuck-this realisation: I’mma write the number of books this story needs. World War 3.2 will land in a couple of weeks, cos it’s pretty much written. WW3.3 is still gonna drop in November, but then we’ll roll into more volumes across 2026. By the end, the 3.X series will sprawl to around three-quarters of a million words. Maybe it’ll even crack the million by Christmas 2026. That feels like a big-ass writer goal to shoot for.
And it would be the send-off AoT deserves.
The beauty of working outside trade publishing for this project is that I don’t have to move on before I’m ready. I can follow the story where it leads—and right now, it’s leading to a proper farewell for the characters who’ve stuck with me (and you) for two decades.