Editing progress

I'm halfway there in edits. It's been interesting, as usual.

In editing, the mind shifts gears to ripping up everything that came out in the writing stage. In writing, the focus is getting the ideas out; and there is some editing along the way. In editing, it's about making it all make sense and read easily, to put it succinctly. All those vague thoughts of things that might be wrong in the first draft rise to the surface and become clear. They drag up other issues with them too that you didn't notice before. This can only happen after time away. Stepping back lets you see the forest through the trees.

For me, the first round is a familiarization round after months away from the particular story. I find some things to fix, but it's more to get back to that story. However, by halfway through the first round on Book 18, I was pretty well shifted into editing mode and caught some major fixes in the later chapters. I also started thinking again about the events of this book when not at the computer and have been making editing notes to apply when I get back to the computer.

I'm in the second round of edits now on Book 18, and this is typically where the rewriting really begins, which it has in earnest. I'll have rewrites in the third round too, but not likely as much as this round. Usually third round major rewrites happen because of seeing how second round edits affected the story. Not all stories have such massive issues. So far, I found an issue with chapter 2 and had a lot of rewriting to fix that this time through. It hasn't been as bad since, but that doesn't necessarily mean the book is ready. It could be that issues aren't getting caught. I'm halfway through this second round right now.

I'll have two more rounds. Typically, I find four rounds of edits is just right. Once I get past major issues in the second and third rounds, the fourth is pretty much all copyedits, which is catching the little mistakes (grammar, typos, double words, missed words, etc.) that get introduced in the rewrites. Sometimes, that copyedit stage doesn't happen until a fifth round, but usually four is sufficient. I do fix minor issues in all rounds of edits, but by the final phase, it's just a minor clean-up process. And by then, I'm past ready to move on.

I've also made some tweaks to the book's description. Summarizing a book into a short teaser is not an easy task, but it's a necessary evil.

In the data stolen from the Issan, Nya discovers her greatest fear about the Ethalian portal research—the Issan have the calculations for portals. In the hopes that the Dirnothril may have more current information, she and her friends decide to investigate the package left for L'Ni on Par Ti'jek. What they find shocks everyone… L'Ni isn't the only former Issan living on the outside.

However, the revelation is the least of concerns. An Inquisitor is ready for L'Ni's arrival, and, unknown to anyone, a more sinister threat lurks on the Cartegos, one that could destroy L'Ni and, through him, Nya.

My goal is to release Book 18 in early November.

Thanks for reading!

What Is A Ghost?

bumps, thumps, and... flowers

This is a little story about signs from heaven.

It started with a picture flying off the wall in front of me... sideways (August 2023). I already posted about that, so I won't repeat the details again. You can follow the link to read that part of this story. To sum it up, however, I took it as a sign that my uncle who died in a helicopter crash in Vietnam 55 years earlier (to the minute of when the picture flew off the wall!) needed prayers to reach heaven. I prayed a rosary novena and never thought of it much until this past summer.

Wondering if I had done enough started to bother me more and more, until August 27 rolled around (the anniversary of my brother's death in 1997--my brother who was absent from the family picture that flew off the wall in August 2023).

That day, I had been in the dining-kitchen area and heard a couple knocks from the dining table and investigated, but nothing was there, except one of the cats sleeping on a chair; she wouldn't have made the sound I heard. Later that afternoon, I was in my bedroom and heard a couple of knocks but dismissed it as the house creaking. That night, I was kneeling in prayer by my bed and nightstand and heard three knocks seemingly from the nightstand. That's when I realized it happened three times that day. It was the anniversary of the death of one of my two brothers, but I had been wondering over the few days prior if I needed to offer more prayers for my uncle, so I started adding my uncle to my rosary intentions and offering daily masses for him.

Then I got sick in September soon after my ten-year anniversary at my day job and took a lot of time off work and worked from home some days, in the hopes of not giving the crud to my boss. I also didn't go to any masses for three weeks. In that time, I offered my suffering as penance for my uncle.

This past week was the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux (the little flower) on October 1; I went to daily mass that day. I had finally been getting back to Sunday and daily masses, although scaring people away with clearing my throat frequently (I'm on antibiotics now, which seem to finally be kicking out the crud). I had asked St. Therese for a sign that my uncle had finally reached heaven after all my rosaries and the masses I had offered up for him. I had wanted to know if I had done enough and could switch to offering masses for my brother and others (aside from the rosaries, which I pray for several intentions).

I didn't know it at the time that those who pray to Saint Therese of Lisieux have been known to receive flowers in answer, usually roses but it can happen with any flowers. Friday morning (yesterday; three days after my request for a sign), I went in to work to find a lovely bouquet from my boss with a note of thanks for 10 years with the organization. I almost never get flowers from anyone, and this was a month after my anniversary date. (I was at work a few days in early September before the first crud hit and in mid-September as I was getting over one illness before the second hit.) I just learned that flowers are the way one gets an answer from St. Therese.

Along with this, I had an incredible joy and good feeling all day that left me puzzled about why I felt so good, and my senses of taste and smell were cranked up high. I found this described as a flower for the soul, also credited to the intercession of St. Therese. That all returned to normal today, but Friday was special.

And today (Oct. 5), the day I realized all this, would have been my brother's birthday. There are no coincidences with God.

The saints are alive in heaven, and to ask their intercession is to honor God's goodness. They are closest to Him and looking upon Him to eternity. From heaven, they help us and bring us closer to God to become saints ourselves. St. Therese is one of many whose intercessions result in miracles and even simple answers like this. 🥰 

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us.

God bless!

Still looking good on Monday
(added 10/7/24)

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10/7/24 updates: 

• I added a picture of how the bouquet looked Monday morning when I went into the office. Still beautiful!
• I removed what I had written about completing a 54-day novena because I realized I hadn't yet reached that count. I made one of my stupid math errors that happens on occasion (especially since I was still dealing with some lingering illness crud that affected my sleep). I have two weeks left to finish the novena, but there's an extra sense of gratitude as I am completing it in appreciation of God's grace through the Blessed Virgin Mary.
• I added another detail from Friday, which had puzzled me at the time but I dismissed, and then I learned from some more research of the flowers of St. Therese--the spiritual flowers. I believe I received this gift as well.

ps- for more on purgatory, check out the Uniquely Mary Youtube channel, which is also included on the Faith Resources tab listings.

Symbols of Tolkien's faith within Lord of the Rings

Something many readers either don't understand or choose to ignore is that John Ronald Ruel Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He incorporated that into Lord of the Rings. I once read that when the Novus Ordo mass became the main format (versus the Traditional Latin Mass), he continued to respond in the Latin responses (instead of English).

In this video is an interesting discussion about the ways that aspects of Tolkien's faith are incorporated into LOTR and some of the deeper symbolisms we don't necessarily think about when enjoying the story.

I write Starfire Angels, especially Forgotten Worlds, from the perspective of my own Catholic faith. I have a special affinity for angels and all that they do for us, especially our guardian angels. Like Padre Pio suggested, I thank my angel every day for taking care of me and helping me. In my deepening faith, I've developed an ability to hear him more clearly, and the outcome of obeying God's will as shared by one's guardian angel (whose job is to bring us to God) is far more rewarding than ignoring Him. (I'm not talking about earthly rewards but spiritual benefits, although often there are more tangible benefits in our lives too.)

The Starfire entities in my Starfire Angels are much like our real guardian angels, the reason they are alternatively known as Guardians. They only provide what is needed when it's needed. This helps the story but it is also based on the Keeper needing to have faith and obeying the Starfire. Keepers have to give up themselves in order to serve the will of the Starfire, like we are asked to give up our free will to love God by complete obedience through the virtues, especially faith, hope, and charity (divine virtues) and the many other virtues He expects from us (which counter sin).

We can choose not to obey, but that way lies damnation and slavery, as described in the discussion in the video above. There is freedom in virtues and absence of sin, which is obedience to God - "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Like only those souls who perfect the virtues will be allowed in the presence of God (no stain of the least sin is allowed, the reason for spending time purging ourselves of the stain of sin before entering heaven), so too will only those Keepers who are virtuous be accepted to bear the power and responsibility of the Starfire shards. The Starfire entities (Guardians) have been known to destroy worlds where evil is too entrenched, just as God throughout the Bible and events since the last letter of the Bible and continuing throughout history has unleashed punishments when humanity has become so evil that a chastisement is necessary.

There are more subtle aspects to the Starfire Angels universe that are based on Catholic theology, but the Pints with Aquinas video started me thinking about this aspect of my world.

God uses each of us to help others; we just need to listen and obey. This song has always been one of my favorites about angels and even describes how we need to be loving to one another, to be angels to others.

You don't have to be Catholic to enjoy it (just as you don't have to be Catholic to enjoy Lord of the Rings or Starfire Angels).

ps--In the Catholic church, October 2nd is the feast day to celebrate our guardian angels.

Book 20... Done

One more book is complete. I finished Book 20 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds yesterday at just over 41,000 words for the first draft. That will change with rewriting and general edits.

Now, I'm giving the reading more attention and will edit Book 18 for publication. I hope to have that ready by early November.

I have Book 21 pretty well outlined, and it should be easy to jump into writing when I'm ready. (I say that now but when the time comes, I'll struggle... 🙄 Never fails, but I always get past that.) A new character that comes in Book 18 has brought a new set of talents and has added some new things I can do with the cast, which made the planned events of Book 21 more interesting.

Now, it's time to shift gears. I won't be saying much here for a while, but I'll try to peak in with some updates or videos I find interesting. I have finished the read-through of Book 2 and uploaded the update with some minor changes. I can definitely see the improvement of the writing that happens after the initial excitement of the first story of a series when I, like any author, settle into the setting and characters.

Before I go, I'll leave this:

I only have five more books to write in this series to finish it. The series is 4/5 written. 🥳

Thanks for reading!

Back into the swing of things

Two viruses in a row, back-to-back is an awful way to be sick. Just as I was recovering from one, including my sleep, I had the second to contend with. Now, that's passing by, at last. On a good note, I'll have immunity for those illnesses at least through the winter. I'm glad to get those out of the way now, because winter is always very busy for me.

Writing

And this winter, I expect to publish Book 18 and write Book 21 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds, so I want to be able to get that done. I have just a few hundred words left of Book 20 to finish a scene, although I could add another if I want, but I'm not sure if that's needed. It will end up right around 41,000 words, at least in the first draft.

I also have the reading project of my previous books in this series.

Gardening

And now that fall is here, we're coming to the end of the growing season. Since I've been feeling better, it's been time to catch up on a few items. One of those was the rhubarb. It was getting out of control again. It's been 4-5 weeks since I last harvested. The stalks were pretty thick, but there were still a lot of them. I left a good 1/4-1/3 on the plants to keep them viable through winter. We're not expecting a hard freeze this week, but the lows are getting close to that first freeze or frost of the season. Below is the final harvest of rhubarb cleaned and drying on the kitchen counter. This is about the amount I end up harvesting each time from the two plants. It should fill 4 or 5 gallon freezer bags (left as stalks) about 2/3-3/4 full each. That's about the right amount for a good rhubarb crisp. Since I'm the only one in my house who likes rhubarb, some of this will go to friends.

I don't have pics of the peppers and cucumbers. Those have been pretty steady for the last month and plenty of them. Hubby's been putting them away, at least the bell peppers. He's kept some of the chilis but he has so many serranos that we're giving those to friends too. And there's lots more to come before they freeze off for the season. To extend that, we have some plant blankets, so on the cold nights, we'll cover those and the tomato plant.

I also had one final little handful of strawberries from my growing strawberry patch. The garden spider has moved off, thankfully. (I almost ended up with him on my arm a few weeks ago before I noticed him there.) The strawberry patch has been growing and producing all summer. I just have to keep the birds away with a fence. It's going to be bigger next year as they spread out even more; and I haven't seen any bugs eating on the plants, although I found a caterpillar on them this afternoon. I've provided plenty of room for expansion so I can get a good strawberry patch in that section of the garden. And they're super sweet. 😋 Once I start getting enough, I'll be able to make strawberry-rhubarb deserts. There's a method to this madness. 😉

Last of all, the grapes are done. The birds took some of those, but we had a good amount of grapes this year from the one plant and were able to enjoy our fair share. Since the newer plant grew eight feet this year, I expect it to produce plenty next year, so double the grapes. Both plants reached the top of the trellis and I look forward to them reaching over it next year; the newer plant already is somewhat. With all the leaves, they're a pretty decoration even without fruit.

Back to the rest of life

Soon, I'll get back to my horse. It's been a month, because I've been too sick to get out. Today was a gardening day, however. There's only so much one can get done in a day. And it's a warm day with lots of boxelder bugs and wasps around buildings, so not sure I want to contend with that at the barn.

At least I could get back to church this morning. That was much-needed. And I wasn't the only one recovering from being sick. A few Saturday mass-goers were clearing throats and coughing once in a while like me. I was worried about standing out, but I fit right in.

This crud is making its way through the local community. When my daughter said all her friends were sick and she probably got it from them, I had thought she meant the cough that hubby and I started out with, not the crud she actually gave to the rest of us (with a fever, fatigue, and sinus congestion) after we were recovering from the cough. At least that's all done now.

Anyway, it's good to get back my health and into the swing of things again. I get cabin fever too easily and don't like TV anymore. There's only so much I can tolerate.

Now, time to get back to work on the stories. I have been writing, but now that I'm finishing Book 20 this weekend, it'll be time for editing.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday, Bilbo and Frodo!

Lord of the Rings day

It's September 22nd, the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. I didn't realize it until after I put on Lord of the Rings this morning. I'm too sick to go to church and I'm tired of bingeing Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, or sort of bingeing. I slept through most of those yesterday while dealing with a 104 F fever at its peak (no Tylenol). Needless to say, I didn't get any writing done, or maybe a sentence worth, yesterday.

Today, I'm feeling better--lots of Tylenol and liquids later. Yesterday I lost my sense of taste, so that kind of confirmed what this nasty crud is, at least this second go-round. I was just getting over whatever I had last weekend and Friday night flared up in misery that is letting up somewhat today. I still have a fever, but it's been coming down (102 between Tylenol doses this morning). My sense of taste is improved too.

I was going to put LOTR on yesterday but figured it was easier to put on Pluto TV and let Stargate just play through while I rested and wasn't paying much attention anyway. So, today, Lord of the Rings day, I ended up putting the first movie on without thinking about what day it was until after the opening text showed the date of the start, Bilbo's birthday party... today.

Since I'm feeling better today, I'll try to get back to writing, when I'm not resting. Book 20 of Forgotten Worlds is currently just under 36K words. It's very close to being done. I expect to finish by the end of this month. I also expect that it will be the shortest or second shortest of the books in the series.

Stay healthy!

Thanks for reading!

divine guidance and writing

dreamstime image

I've had one of the nastiest colds of the last two years this past week. For a few days, I didn't get much of anything done. I was mostly resting and coughing. I'm still coughing, but I think I'm on the tail end of this after it started with a sore throat on Tuesday. I took off the rest of the week from the day job to rest, but the cold has persisted. Today, I have more energy and am coughing less, but there's still lots of crud draining down my throat from the sinuses. (Like you needed to know that.)

I'm hoping for a good night's sleep tonight and to be ready to get back to the day job tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I've had to sleep on the recliner loveseat to be partly sitting up the last few nights because of the crud. I couldn't lay flat in bed or the coughing fits were worse.

While I've been sick, I've been surprised at the ideas flowing for writing when I wasn't resting, considering how fuzzy my head has been from the fatigue. I actually had some good writing, but this weekend I realized something wasn't right about what I had written. I've mentioned that I've also been putting in reading time of the series that's already written and published, but I had set that aside to recover from being sick. And as my devotion to my faith has grown, I've been offering my work to Our Lord in my morning prayers and throughout the day. This afternoon, I had a sudden prompt like I was being told to read, just read (my previous books). It was a strong push against my plans, because I thought I should be writing; but I listened, and not a whole page into reading from where I had left off, something I read struck me with what applied to a small issue in the current WIP (Book 20). I realized what I needed to do, fixed the issue, and was able to move the story forward again.

The prompt to read faded after that, but I know I should get back to that more fully. My focus is on finishing the first draft of Book 20, but I need to make time for reading The Rule of Yonder also. (I finished A New Beginning and uploaded a minorly updated version for the ebook already.) I need to finish reading what I had written in that first introduction of Zaer and Shen for Book 20.

And on that note, Book 20 is up to nearly 33,000 words and things are looking pretty dire for the characters. It'll be interesting to see how they get out of this situation.

Thanks for reading!

Exorcist Fr Dan Reehil Talks About HOPE In These Desperate Times!

If you're living in fear in this world, Fr. Reehil has some good advice for that:

Back to the beginning

It's been six years since I started writing the first book of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. I went back to it a couple of years ago, intending to fix any issues I found, but that's as far as I read. I was too focused on writing.

Now that I'm nearly 4/5 done with the series (will be once Book 20 is done), I think it's time to go back and read everything straight through. Along the way, I'll fix any editing issues that arise, although the books shouldn't require much. Mostly, I need this as a refresher. It's hard to keep it all straight after writing nearly twenty books in six years, even with a wiki file (aka series bible) and these being short novels.

Another reason for the re-read is that I write for myself, so I can go back and read the work and enjoy the journey again, although I also want to write for an audience besides myself, so that is at the back of my mind in writing. Mostly, I want to write something that I'll enjoy going back to, something that's fun and exciting and even clean, a series that harkens back to the days of that type of science fiction series, before sex and vulgarity took over our media. Before the 2000s, certain things weren't allowed in entertainment and a good story had be told above all else. Back then, good stories were told without the shock value of graphic violence, gore, and sex that we have so much of in our entertainment today. That only detracts from a good story, in my opinion. If you need those elements to keep your audience, you're not telling a compelling story. (Star Wars had none of those but became a force to be reckoned with... until it started to modernize.)

I explain a lot of what inspired this series in the foreword of the first book, A NEW BEGINNING, and why I am writing it, so I won't repeat it here, but this has turned into a more fulfilling project than I could have anticipated. I've started reading and don't want to quit, which means I'm not bored with it. 😁 That's good, because I still have a bit over five more books to write. It also means that it's been so long since I started this project that I see it with fresh eyes. In that, I've caught a few things to tweak. I'll update ebooks as I go. The print books will require a bit more work to update the interiors.

I still have a couple years of writing before the series will be completely finished, since I write it all myself--no AI and no ghostwriters--and I am not a full-time writer. This is a good point to reread it all. I've done that with some of my longer novels in the past at about the same point to refresh my view of the story flow so the climax would bring all the necessary pieces together with the right pacing. This is no different, just much MUCH bigger! (In relative size, so far, I've published somewhere around 800,000 words total in Books 1-17. Compared to a series of eight 100,000 word novels (aka "doorstoppers"), this has many more distinct plots and subplots in the overall arc.)

In the meantime, I'm also working on finishing the final segment of Book 20. It was because of this that I decided to reread--I need a refresher on what I've written about Zaer and Shen since I'm finally expounding on their past together in this episode, DARKEST DEPTHS. That made me realize I need to get an overall view of the entire series so far, before moving into the final segment of it.

I hope you're enjoying the series as much as I am.

Thanks for reading!