I can't believe how Book 17 is still going strong. I had started a chapter and had to rewrite it, but I'm still at 10,000 words that I plan to keep. I love it when the writing keeps going at a good pace, when the story is there ready to write itself.
And for those who have read the first Starfire Angels series, Dark Angel Chronicles, I have a special treat in this--a glimpse of Raea and Elis all these years later and where they are. It's a short cameo, but you'll have that treat in this book, HOME.
Whether you have or haven't read the first (young adult) part of the full series, it still has significance to what's happening with Nya. I was able to bring in past characters and keep it relevant to the story, not just a service to long-time fans.
Aside from that, this book overall will also help Nya with what happened in Book 6 when she was fighting to distinguish reality from dreams (nightmares) of her homeworld.
We'll see how writing the middle goes, but for now, the opening of this book in the Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds series has been pretty easy to write.
It's been two months since I released Book 14, UNBROKEN BONDS. If I can finish this in a reasonable time, I'll work on edits on Book 15 after the first draft of 17. We're already at the beginning of June. I'm hoping to finish by the end of July. Fingers crossed. It depends on how well the story continues to develop from my outline.
Book 17 is off and running full-on. The first chapter is almost written. It's a doozy of a revelation to start off the book; but I've been dropping clues for a long time. Subtle as they may have been, some readers might have picked up enough to suspect this. As of this post, I already have over 2400 words, and I just started yesterday!
Below is a current list of titles that I know so far of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds for those who want a condensed list in order:
A New Beginning
The Rule of Yonder
Vault of the Celestials
In Darkness, Light
The Destruction of Walls
Disposition of Dreams
Remnants
Racing the Orast Belt
Ferious
Dragon and Fury
Voices in the Dark
Messages
Soul Shadow
Unbroken Bonds
Beneath the Surface*
Ghosts*
Home**
Sins of the Father**
* books written but not yet published
** books in first draft progress or to be written
I have 25 books planned in this series but don't know the titles for all of them yet. This is what I have for confirmed titles so far.
🥳 The first draft of Book 16, GHOSTS, is done! I want to rewrite the final short scene, but at least I have something. The first draft is 52,000 words. I'd like to get that down below 50K; we'll see what happens in edits.
And I already have 900 words written on Book 17, which is tentatively titled HOME. Yay! It's off and running.
Just a quick note, since I'm not on social media for people to follow...
I am so close to finishing Book 16, GHOSTS, that it could be done within days. I'm almost done with the climax and even wrote one of the denouement scenes yesterday instead of finishing the climax of this story. I thought I would finish with fewer words then realized it would be rushing the climax. I don't like rushed endings.
Book 16 is about 49K words right now, including that scene I wrote that hasn't come up yet, and should be finished within 4K more (the end of one chapter, a small denouement chapter, and the stinger scene). These books have slowly crept longer, the last few ending up around 10K more than expected but necessary for the stories. That's one reason they've taken so long to write, other than my own health issues (multiple autoimmunities and mid-life effects). I also had to rewrite this climax chapter from a different POV; it reached a point that the writing flowed again with the right action. MUCH better!
I don't always get things right the first time. The rewrites usually turn out better, but they do delay finishing. On a good note, those stories where I struggle, those that make me really work hard and don't come easy, usually turn out as some of my best.
I'm anxious to begin book 17 and am now having scene ideas for Book 18, which is also outlined. I can never seem to keep my mind on the current WIP in this series. 🤦♀️
Anyway, that's where things are right now. Once I finish this, I'll be jumping right to Book 17 without pause.
Ugh! Book 16, GHOSTS, is taking longer to finish than expected. I can't just wrap it up quickly because the ending would be rushed. There has to be a careful balance to it. So, it'll be a bit longer than I had anticipated.
I also had some issues interrupt my writing, so I lost a few days since I thought I would be done by the end of April.
But I'm working on it. Really, I am. It's just a tricky one to write. As I mentioned when I started and restarted, I had completely changed the original plan for this into something else. It meant a complete rework of the plot, mostly as I wrote. This isn't the original story I had outlined, but it is something better, I think.
I'll be so glad to have it finished and be able to start writing Book 17. With twenty-five books planned, I still have a ways to go, but I'm getting there. Each book just has its own issues to resolve.
I'm so close to finishing Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds Book 16!
I know it's been delayed, but that has been a good thing. Not only have I figured out the book's climax and how to resolve the plot, but I also have a title and cover.
It's been unusually difficult to write, and I couldn't figure out why I had issues with being able to focus until recently. Through much trial and error, I've figured out that I have a food intolerance that has been impeding my health, and that food item is included as a filler in my current prescription. I hope that switching to a different brand is the answer.
In the meantime, I have reached 40,000 words on Book 16, GHOSTS, and expect to finish by the end of this month and jump right into writing Book 17. I'm so excited to dive into that one! In fact, it's been a bit distracting and probably has had a small part in making Book 16 difficult to write.
Here it is, the cover of Book 16, GHOSTS:
Note: The blurb may change, but the cover is generally set.
I have a confession. I was a cradle Catholic who was lukewarm about the faith most of my life, because I didn't fully understand it. That all started to change eight years ago, when my health collapsed and some things happened that most people wouldn't believe, except for priests, especially exorcists.
It really got a big jolt when I found Father Chad Ripperger last fall. His advice was golden. I've become a fan-girl, you could say, of everything he has to say. He makes the Catholic faith clear and engaging to learn, which is why I've posted some of his videos on this blog. Since him, I've found many other great channels to follow to help me increase my understanding of the Truth.
Since diving headlong into understanding my faith more deeply, I've overcome diabolical attacks and personal vices, thanks to Our Lord and His and our Blessed Mother Mary through the daily rosary and getting to church and communion at least once a week and seeking forgiveness of sins through confession and penance. And once I learned about it, I couldn't wait for Divine Mercy Sunday. I had prepared myself throughout Lent with prayer, fasting, study, and repentance. When I took communion and knelt to pray the prayer of St. Faustina, I felt everything lift. It was incredible! And I vowed to do my best to hold onto that. I've never felt such peace, and it's not fleeting. I am still in the process of reforming myself, but I'm working for that perfection. The devotions of the Catholic faith serve to bring us closer to God in a way nothing else can. There is an abundance of wonderful priests and other clergy and laypeople to help one in this, both in real life and online (Fr. Ripperger, Fr. Mike Schmitz/Ascension Presents, others on Youtube and/or Rumble, including U.S. Grace Force, Sensus Fedlium, Augustine Institute, Gabi After Hours, etc.)
This applies to entertainment too.
In learning what sins to avoid, I've discovered that even thinking/imagining a sinful act can be considered sin, and it's especially bad to induce others to sin in any way. In that, all the graphic sex scenes in entertainment are adding to the tallies of sins of all of those involved--writers, actors, producers, audiences, etc.. If you're inducing lust in your audience (lust being one of the seven deadly sins), you are sinning for each time they sin--not just once but each time a reader reads such a scene or a viewer watches such a scene. Christian writers realize that responsibility for their readers. I begin to understand why Christian stories seem boring to many people, but the writing also requires more creative techniques to engross the audience in ways that don't involve lust.
I have only attempted sex scenes a few times, although I never felt comfortable writing them. I scrapped one book I had attempted and took down another series that had a glossed over sex scene in the first book and some other titillating scenes, but nothing after that. I'm so thankful for the lengthy bad review that induced me to take that down! I've always been more comfortable closing the curtain instead of writing "the deed" and prefer writing emotional drama and action instead; but I thought it would boost sales, so I tried writing it. I'm glad I didn't continue with that.
There's only one reason I've ever felt that graphic sex was included in books--to excite the reader with lust. That never felt right to me, even if it could have sold more books. Now, I understand why--it is wrong in the eyes of God. You might even consider that in writing sex scenes, a writer is giving Satan exactly what he wants--the corruption of souls.
Whether you believe or not (Christian or not) doesn't matter. It is what it is. There is no altering God's laws, no matter how much someone may deny it. A person can ignore it at their own peril or seek to love God by obeying Him and loving each other by respecting each person's soul rather than seeing them only as body parts to be exploited for a brief carnal pleasure. We are above the animals, which do not control their desires, and we can do better. God knows what's in our hearts and judges us, and if our hearts cause us to sin or induce others to sin, we must do our penance and reform our hearts. We can still write books (or scripts or songs or games) that engage our audiences without causing others to sin.
"And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell." Matthew 18:9 (New Living Translation Bible)
"It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin." Luke 17:2 (New Living Translation Bible)
As an example of Christian entertainment not needing to be boring, a review by Gabi (from Gabi After Hours) of the movie Nefarious:
And if you need some help with lust, Gabi also has this to help free you:
