Update on the Ned's Next Story

I have finished writing the sequel to Ned Bear and the Dirty Whisker Curse and I have completed a couple self edits. I will be sending it off to some Beta readers in the incoming weeks(Sept2025) and I'll see where it goes from there.

Right now, it has the working title of Ned Bear and the Sea Monsters. This story takes place on the high seas as Ned visits several new places including the Land of the Barbarians. Some familiar faces will return, along with an entire pawful of new characters I can't wait to introduce you to.

I'm a bit of a slow editor, so I'm not sure if it will be completed in 2025. It will likely see a Spring 2026 release. (Fingers crossed) It depends on what comes back from the readers and the editor. I hope it doesn't need a lot of changes, however The Dirty Whisker Curse went through some heavy editing with entire chapter being removed and rewritten. Hoping that won't be the case with this one.

I plan on continuing the series for at least two more books. After book three I will be publishing audio versions of the stories and for every book that were to follow. I'm looking to get it done where I have multiple actors playing the roles, with sound effects, and maybe music. I've always enjoyed those versions of audio books and if I can make it cost effective, I will do it that way.

I've also named this series of books as "The Bear Odysses". With The Dirty Whisker Curse being book 1 and The Sea Monsters being book 2.

I have outlined 2 different stories for book 3. I'm just not sure which one I want to start writing. After I've finished editing book 2, I see which of those stories seems to flow onto to the page the best.

I had written an entirely different book 2 before shelving it and starting The Sea Monsters. This is part of the reason it took me so long to finish the sequel, as I have written two books since the release of the first one. I liked the first version of book 2, however I felt the themes were a little dark, it excluded alot of the characters from the first book, and felt Ned suffered a little too much... It also introduced the human characters a little too early for where this series is headed. I may publish some chapters from that book on my blog, as there were some things I really liked about that book, but I don't see me ever revisiting that story.

I would like to thank everyone who is reading this and who has read Ned's stories. Your support means the world to me and I look forward to continueing Ned's story.