The Shadows are Talking: Announcing Steel Shadows by J.L. Gribble

Another year, another installment in J.L. Gribble’s urban fantasy/alternate history series! Speculative Chic’s resident Marvel Cinematic Universe fangirl-in-chic is taking a break from obsessing over all the new MCU Phase 4 news to share her latest book, Steel Shadows. This looks different from anything else in the series so far, but if you like a dose of weird with your fantasy, this might be the series you need to wrap up your summer reading goals.

Check out the premise, followed by a brief interview with J.L. Gribble below!

The Book:

Steel Shadows (2019)
Written by: J.L. Gribble
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Alternate History
Series: Steel Empires (Book 5)
Publisher: Dog Star Books

The Premise:

The shadows are talking and they won’t take no for an answer. Victory has returned safely to present-day Limani, sure that nothing so strange as time travel can ever happen to her again. Until the shadows begin speaking to her. And it turns out she’s not the only one.

Along with her sire Asaron and daywalker Mikelos, Victory will travel to a realm outside anything she could ever imagine. A previously unknown, ancient enemy threatens to tear apart the fabric of the world, and everything Victory thought she knew about magic will be completely rewritten.

In this unfamiliar world, accompanied by long-lost companions, Victory must find her way home once more. But if the shadows have manipulated her life all along, will she have a home to return to? Or will the darkness consume Limani as well?


You are one of the most consistent writers I know! Congrats on book number 5! While I’m getting ahead of myself a bit, I have to ask: how big will the Steel Empires series be?

Thank you! It’s been a hell of a ride so far. I’m aiming for a full story arc that will conclude with the seventh book. Currently, I’m almost done drafting book 6 (Steel Justice), and I can’t wait to dive into the exciting finale! I have a few pages of notes so far, and it’s shaping up to be at least as crazy as Steel Shadows.

So will you talk about your process a bit? How is it you manage to release a book a year? I know lots of authors do it, but how you stay on top of things to make sure your hungry readers have something new to devour year after year?

Time management. That’s all it boils down to. Also, I’m a detailed plotter, so I rarely have to “waste” time back-tracking or completing significant rewrites if something ends up not working out. Before I start writing, I know what is going to occur in every scene. The “bigger” secret is that I don’t write a book in a year — it’s actually a book in two years. For example, my first draft of the sixth book in the series should be completed by the time Steel Shadows releases, so I have an whole other year to complete edits with my publisher before it comes out in summer of 2020. I think the big magic trick that most readers don’t realize is that authors don’t usually exclusively work on a single project at a time. While something is being drafted, another project is being edited, and yet another is getting publicity attention. Which is how we circle back around to time management being the key to the whole process.

So given that you’re a detailed plotter, what does this mean for the arc of the entire series? Is that all plotted out? Do you ever get surprises as you go along?

Oh, there have definitely been surprises. I range from “detailed plot of the book I’m currently working on” to “vague idea about how the next book is going to go.” I start with a theme, and work from there. The theme of Steel Shadows was Let’s Get Weird. I knew about some plot developments that had to happen, but the rest was a total surprise while I was plotting it out. I ended up challenging myself with some of my most difficult scenes (and characters) to write, and I’m really pleased with the finished product.

Steel Shadows also led me to finish fully realizing all the power that that existed in this crazy world, while helped me solidify how I wanted the finale to play out in book 7. I have a lot of research and world-building left to develop, but I can’t wait to start working on it later this year. Now’s the perfect time to catch up on the series!


Speaking of getting caught up, below is a handy list of links so you can make sure you haven’t missed a book. Or if you haven’t yet started, this list will keep you on track!

  1. Steel Victory
  2. Steel Magic
  3. Steel Blood
  4. Steel Time
  5. Steel Shadows

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