Hey everyone,
Welcome to Episode 3 of Vox Auctoris—the strange little podcast I started as a way to keep you updated on what’s happening behind the scenes, both with the books and with life in general.
🎧 You can listen to the full episode above.
The Heart of the Wasteland Update
First and foremost: The Heart of the Wasteland has officially blown past my original word-count estimate.
I had projected around 285,000 words. As of this week, the manuscript has crossed 287,500 words, and I’ll include a screenshot from Scrivener so you can see the exact number for yourselves.
This week I wrote some genuinely heavy scenes—spoiler-free, but yes, a couple of long-standing characters didn’t make it. That hit harder than I expected. This series has been with me for years, through war, upheaval, rewrites, and even one incident where someone literally destroyed my notes. It has grown and changed as I’ve changed, and bringing it to a close has been… weighty, in the best way.
The book isn’t finished yet, and I know my last update mentioned the 10th. That estimate was based on the old word count, and it simply took more words to reach the ending properly. I’m carving out one more week to finish strong.
At this point, I have four remaining scenes plus an epilogue, which has been outlined for nearly a year. At my current pace—15,000 words this week, up from the previous week—I’m confident the book will be complete by the end of next week. This will be the largest and most complex novel I’ve ever written, without question.
Codex Equitum
I plan to release the next Codex Equitum around the 16th, giving paid patrons access to the entire first draft of The Heart of the Wasteland. That will be the major update for this month’s codex.
Other Projects
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Through Burning Skies remains in revisions—no major changes there yet.
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All other works are paused while I finish THotW. It’s been my sole focus for weeks now.
This has pushed my production schedule slightly behind, as I originally wanted to begin a new series on January 1st. Instead, I chose to prioritize establishing my full-time writing word-count baseline, and that decision feels right. Slowly increasing my output has been an incredible experience, and I feel very good about this year.
Promos & Free Books
I’ve joined a BookFunnel promo this month featuring 93 free books.
You can find it by clicking the banner below:
If you’re on the mailing list, you’ll also receive the link by email. The promo runs through the end of January.
Life, Games, and the World
Arizona has been strange lately—cold, rainy, flowers blooming everywhere. I’ll post a few pictures here.
Beyond that… the world feels like it’s unraveling a bit. Between real-world events and the constant flood of information, it’s hard not to draw comparisons to satire becoming reality. Lately, that’s been on my mind while playing Helldivers 2 with my son—a game that openly riffs on Starship Troopers–style propaganda and absurd jingoism.
At times, the line between parody and reality feels uncomfortably thin.
Still—head down, stay focused. If it’s not authoritarian nonsense, it’ll be robots or aliens eventually, right?
What’s Next
Once The Heart of the Wasteland is complete, we’ll move into Dragon Riders of Zerath, and I’ll keep you fully looped in as things progress.
These Vox Auctoris updates will continue weekly, posted here and available for free, even to non-paying patrons. Patreon remains the best hub for everything I’m doing.
Thanks for being here. I’ll see you next week—hopefully with The Seven Signs finally complete.
—D.W. Hawkins