Q1: What else can you tell us about the series, where is it going?

The huge focus for me when writing Oathbound was trying to examine how hard it is to hold a person to account when they have too much power, be it political or personal as well as pushing Erebus as far as he could be pushed through his moral code, up to and including accepting his own death.

As to where it's going... that's a tough one to answer in terms of the overarching series due to the dangers of spoiling major events. What I will say is that the focus on Oathbound was on the cost to Erebus of adhering to his morals, the sequel, Oathkeeper, will focus on the cost it has on his friends.

Q2: Obviously you're not going to reveal the gender bender, but what made you want to write that? and when you did, or are doing what kind of challenges did you find or might you come up against. In that sense, do you have sensitivity editors? or good beta/alpha readers?

Ah the gender bender tag, I often regret adding it so early in the day, or at all really. As to what made me want to write it, I didn't, not really. Like a number of things that happened in Oathbound, such as Erebus' surrender or Holly's unconsciousness, the gender bend element arose as a consequence of choices I'd made in the worldbuilding and how certain facts interacted with each other.

Short version, and carefully avoiding who it is, I'd have had to restart how the magic works from scratch or drastically alter some major character arcs to avoid the gender bender aspects to come in Volume 3.

I'm somewhat tentative even calling it gender bending, that's not quite right but it's as close to what's going to happen as Royal Road has a tag for and close enough I feel I can put it in good conscience.

I do have sensitivity readers, for Oathkeeper onwards, in some ways they've made my job a lot less scary as I want to examine difficult issues in my work and the last thing I want to do is hurt someone in the process. I, and my future stomach ulcers, just wish I could say they agreed with one another on anything whatsoever.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Q3: This is or looks a big series, how long are you planning for?

I have plans for up to seven books in the main series as well as plans for three stand alone novels that will address aspects of the world that I simply won't be able to in the main series. The problem with a species of demon that lives at the bottom of the ocean in total darkness and silence, fearing every day they'll be wiped from Reath if discovered by one of the leviathans that roam the oceans, is it makes them awfully hard to loop them into the story.

Q4: What made you go to amazon first, rather than here?

That's a surprisingly complicated question. Part of it is ego I suppose, I was turned down by the major publishers, at least those few still accepting fantasy novels but a small publisher did accept my book, provided an editor and offered me a cover artist (though I went with an artist I knew who's art I was a huge fan of). This novel has been posted here with the publisher's permission thanks to the argument of 'If noone ever sees it noone can ever buy it' carrying the day though I will almost certainly have to take most of it down when the Kindle edition is ready down the line.

Another part was that I wasn't sure if Oathbound would even be a good fit for Royal Road given the prevalence of LitRPG and xianxia over other forms of fantasy, only deciding that even if it flubbed completely that was no good reason not to at least try.

While it hasn't been an unmitigated success I am happy with the results I've had in building a small following which will hopefully stand me in good stead for the sequels.

Q5: What's your writing schedule? and do you prefer coffee or tea!

I try to write every day, and have been getting better and better at it, putting in an average of five hours a day on weekdays now. And I prefer tea all the way, black with a splash of oat milk. On a related tangent I am hoping to move my upload schedule to twice a week, it will be a strain and I may have to stop but I do think I'm writing enough to do it. My big problem there is my philosophy isn't to use set chapter lengths, when the chapter is done it's done.

Anywho that covers all the questions I received. Oathkeeper; The Conspiracy of Fire and Shadow will begin here next week with three chapters being dropped at once. By that point the Patreon will up to Chapter 11.