I originally planned to release Caleb & Bastet: Recognition on September 26. I’ve decided to move that date, and I want to explain why.

The book is currently going through another professional editorial pass. Michael, my current editor, is about halfway through and expects to finish on schedule—but he gave me a piece of advice I agree with completely:

Never be in a hurry to publish.

I’ve spent nearly twenty years building this series. I’m not going to rush the final few weeks just so I can say I hit a date on a calendar.

Book One has always been the difficult one.

The original versions of the first three Caleb & Bastet books followed Caleb from childhood until he was around eighteen. Years ago, I realized something wasn’t working. Eventually, I made the difficult decision to scrap that approach, rebuild Caleb as an adult, expand the team around him, and preserve the strongest pieces of those earlier stories as carefully selected flashbacks throughout the series.

My mother, who was one of the biggest influences behind my love of books, once gave me a deceptively simple piece of advice when I was struggling with the beginning:

“You keep telling me you know how the story ends, so why not start at the end and work your way back?”

So I did.

That’s one reason I’m able to tell readers something important: I’m much farther ahead on this series than Book One makes it appear. Books Two and Three are already substantially written, and later installments have been developed as well. Recognition was the bottleneck. Once Book One is through this final process, my goal is to keep the series moving at a much steadier pace.

I’m also making one final adjustment to the cover artwork. I create much of the visual material you see for Caleb & Bastet myself, but doing that with my eyesight isn’t exactly a normal workflow. I’m blind in one eye and have very limited vision in the other, so I work inches from the screen using accessibility tools, voice-to-text, and other technology. For this final cover stage, I’ve sent my updated artwork to my designer so another set of eyes can finish what mine physically can’t.

And that’s really what this delay comes down to:

Another set of eyes.

I’ve had multiple professional editors involved because, after living inside this world for so long, I want people who haven’t spent twenty years staring at it to challenge it before you spend your money on it.

I’m currently targeting October 26 at 12:12 for publication, provided the final editorial review, my own revision pass, formatting, and cover production are all where they need to be. If something genuinely needs more time, I’ll take more time.

I would rather disappoint someone by moving a release date than disappoint them with a book I knew I could have made better.

For everyone already waiting for the free 52-page preview: I haven’t forgotten you. I’ve asked whether the Prologue and Chapter One are far enough through the current editorial pass for me to finalize that PDF separately. As soon as I know, I’ll update you.

And to everyone following, sharing, commenting, signing up, watching these ridiculous classified files, arguing with Bastet in the comments, and waiting to enter the Hidden World:

Thank you.

You’ve felt that pull toward this story, not thorough algorythm, but resonance. You’ve been searching for something that doesn’t feel like the same old trope, a familiar story dressed in different clothes—that’s another reason I’ve refused to rush it.

Caleb & Bastet wasn’t built to follow the same road you’ve already traveled a hundred times.

Hidden history. Ancient guardians. Supernatural warfare. Conspiracy. Science. Humor. Action. And a black cat who is entirely too certain she’s the smartest one in the room.

It all collides in one world.

You’ve been searching for this story without knowing its name.

That’s why you’re here.

The Hidden World is waiting.

Twenty years is a long road.

Another few weeks to get the first book right?

Worth it.

— Darrin Matthew Peppers

Caleb & Bastet: Recognition

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