Ryan M. Patrick

Quick thread on my books/series and where they’re going.

The Martian Incident was released as a standalone. It now is the first book in a trilogy. I’m 80,000 words into the first draft of The Saturn Anomaly and have the 3rd book nearly outlined. Expect the 2nd novel in late 2025/early 2026.

Lag Delay’s standalone sequel is Crush Depth, which I’m currently editing. I’m sending to the Pentagon at the end of September, which should result in a Dec 2025 release date. There’s some sequels outlined (one about UFOs, one about DUMBs and Area 51) but I may not get to them for a bit.

The Europan Deception is the first of 7 books. The sequel is outlined – I’m about 4,000 words into and will be my next project after The Saturn Anomaly. Hoping to get around one book out a year for the foreseeable future.

I have two primary-world fantasy projects in work – I’ll go over them separately.

Memento Vivere is a fantasy conspiracy thriller set where I grew up – historic Chester County, PA – in the mid-2000s. I got a little over 60,000 words into it this year but got blocked. I’m unblocked, but am targeting 2026 to finish it.

Black Sails and Sorcery is a mash-up of Assassin’s Creed IV, On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, and Pirates of the Caribbean – a historical fantasy revenge story set in the Golden Age of Piracy. I’m slowly working on it in the background but don’t have a good timeline. I also may try and traditionally publish this one; I think it perfectly fits what some of the newer SF/F presses are looking for.

After that? Who knows! But I have some ideas – one for a sci-fi take on James Rollins’ Sigma Force series, the other an Elder Scrolls-inspired epic fantasy romp in a deep secondary world. And a whole bunch of standalone ideas that I hope will see the light of day.

The plan is to get a second book out this year, whether it’s Crush Depth or The Saturn Anomaly, and then three next year. It’s going to take a lot of writing and editing but I think I’m up to it. I’m probably more a 2 books/year guy but we’ll see how 3 goes….especially if I start a Ph.D. program.

This writing thing is hard! And I think most of my author friends here would agree. Regardless, I’m having a blast, and it’s a great hobby that keeps my creative juices flowing.