The long-intended sequel to THE BARROW, titled BLACK HEART, has been just as long-delayed for a whole host of reasons, complicated last year by the loss of its publisher, Pyr. Originally an imprint at Prometheus Books, Pyr was sold to another outfit which is uninterested in publishing the sequels, leaving the unfinished manuscript at least temporarily without a future home. Without an immediate publisher for BLACK HEART, I have found myself looking for a new way forward for the book, and recently resolved to start a Patreon, both as a venue where chapters of the book can be published and shared with interested readers, and as a staging ground for perhaps eventually self-publishing the novel when it is finished (250k+ words are already done, with about another 75k to go). While self-publishing is not an ideal solution, it is a path I am familiar with, having started Archaia a long time ago to publish my comic book Artesia.

The further adventures of the survivors of THE BARROW–along with new characters (some familiar to readers of the comic); expanded histories of the Known World, the setting for the books; and eventually gaming material as well–can all be found on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/marksmylie