Monday, September 25, 2023

It's here!

Last night, after I finished the fifth round of edits, I finally published BENEATH THE SURFACE.

Book 15 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds is slowly arriving at the bookstores. You can find all the currently available retail links on the book page here--https://melanienilles.com/books/beneath-the-surface/.

The newsletter announcement will go out in the next day or two (as soon as I have a link for Barnes and Noble, the last of the major retailers).

Now, I sit and wonder what the edit gremlins have been up to since I published. 😳

And get back to work on the other books. I have two more written and 25 books planned in this series, so eight more to write. Hi ho! Hi ho! Back to work I go!

Friday, September 22, 2023

religious topic - transformation stories

I love conversion stories, but this is more than that. Anyone who wants to love Jesus Christ more needs to listen to this. I love Gabi's Youtube channel, but I never knew his background.


And there's the incredible conversion story of Fr. Don Calloway.



Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Almost time... update on editing

It's almost ready.

I've been quiet about writing because I've been editing Book 15. And when I think I've finished, I find something major to tweak and wonder if I should give it another pass.

Worse than that, when I go back to look up something I thought I wrote in another book and want to verify some series canon that I've already established or simply verify some piece of information that I overlooked including in my wiki aka series bible, I then find typos. 🤦‍♀️

I swear I edited and everything was good. The edit gremlins love to wreak havoc on a writer's efforts. This is why I freak out about editing and why it takes me a while, aside from having a life outside my series, including a day job.

I've at least written a description of Book 15, which is now available on my website and on the series page of this blog:

Throughout her search for the Starfire shards, Nya has sought other resources her ancestors left behind. She gets her wish when her friends visit the coordinates of Nagami in the hopes that something was left to turn the tide of the war against the Issan.

However, they aren't the first to arrive. A private corporation has dug up the ruins of an ancient structure, and they aren't there for philanthropic reasons. They also aren't alone.

With a suspected traitor still at large on the Iludrin, the battle to control ancient Inari knowledge that has waited thousands of years to be discovered is only the beginning of trouble.

I promised this month. I just didn't expect it to be so late in the month, so I apologize for the delay.

Thank you for your patience. 


Sunday, September 10, 2023

Religious topic - Crazy Things Protestants Believe About Catholics

I highly recommend this channel. As one of many former protestants who have found the truth in the original church founded by Christ, which came to be known as the Catholic church, he clearly dispels all the misconceptions.

Something similar:



Saturday, September 2, 2023

more rounds of Midjourney - Forgotten Worlds characters - L'Ni in his hooded coat

Concurrently while I guided Midjourney to produce a suitable Vel image, I worked out the details of L'Ni in his long coat.

It wasn't easy. Midjourney wants to embellish such a coat. However, L'Ni's coat was made by the natives of Kurtuz. (See book 4, IN DARKNESS, LIGHT) They trade with outsiders, but it's mostly simple goods and useful items. There were forced through natural disaster into a simpler lifestyle. Their animals provide the hides that become leather. Although they would be capable of some fancy leatherwork, L'Ni isn't someone who wants to stand out. In that, I wanted a simple coat that fastened from neck to waist but had a loose bottom for freedom of movement but coverage. His coat also has some wear in it, so when I got a bottom that was uneven, I liked it. That's how I picture his long coat. Many of the options were open or had a cross-body strap. They also eliminated the gun holsters. And then they made the coat too long, but that was an easy adjustment once I got the style that worked. I had some nice results from different styles but finally settled on what seemed appropriate.

So, this is what I finally managed to obtain from many iterations and adjustments. Not quite as plain as I wanted but suitable. And the boots should have straps around them, not be plain like this. I'll take what I can get from Midjourney.




more rounds of Midjourney - Forgotten Worlds characters - Vel

After getting some good work on editing yesterday, I decided to reward myself with more playing on Midjourney. I actually got a twofer today. I concurrently worked on a hooded L'Ni and also Vel. I'll post that version of L'Ni after this.

For Vel, I wanted him working on some project. As a physicist/engineer type in a futuristic setting. I wanted to demonstrate that level of intelligence he has. Although his emotional intelligence is a bit on the immature side, his IQ is quite high. It would have to be to understand the calculations for creating portals instantly anywhere in space without using a Starfire crystal like a Crystal Keeper could. He was influenced by the Starfire, but he was also chosen by them for his high intelligence.

So, here is Svosted Vellin in his element, thanks to Midjourney. Getting the expression, hair, and facial structure (especially in light of his age) to come close to what my impression of what he should be was a challenge, but I'm getting better with Midjourney.



Monday, August 28, 2023

more rounds of Midjourney - Forgotten Worlds characters - Seska

I didn't think I'd have as much trouble as I did figuring out Seska, but Midjourney wanted to keep giving me someone too young looking.

Seska has quite the personality, but as a trained Paxon special agent who embeds herself into planetary governments where she stirs up suspicions and hostilities, she has a lot of skills and wears a lot of faces. Her job was to bring down the stability of societies so the Paxons could come in as saviors, but at a cost. Those who request their help come under their control as a protectorate. Special agents know how to manipulate others and blend in. But, like Ann, Seska has an added gift because of being the result of a secret Paxon experiment in their breeding program, one that has made her more successful than most special agents.

Putting a face to her was a bit harder than I expected. I never really pictured the face of Paxon Special Agent Seska Levat (to those who know her true identity), but now I have it. One of the big problems with Midjourney is the way it wants to make women super thin. Well, that's not only unrealistic in the real world but especially wrong for Paxons who are bred to be warriors, both men and women. This image of Seska is a woman with that fuller body, although I would have preferred smaller breasts.

GHOSTS (Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds book 16) will be out around February-ish 2024 at my best guess (preferably sooner, but it depends on how writing Book 18 goes). You'll find out then what happened to her.

more rounds of Midjourney - Forgotten Worlds characters - Nik

I took a break from Midjourney yesterday to finish the latest round of edits on BENEATH THE SURFACE. It'll go through a couple more before it's done, but the major work is done. Now, it's more into subtle things and catching the little details that might have slipped past.

Today, I let myself play with Midjourney again, and it FINALLY started giving me what I wanted for Nik, the prince who prefers to be recognized as a doctor and who has the skills to be respected as such. The face isn't exactly what I'd imagine, but it's pretty darn close. You'd be amazed at the subtle changes MJ makes with each iteration. His was a tough one to pin down--I've tried on several different occasions since I started playing with MJ--along with a gray and red uniform that was anywhere near what I had in mind for his work as a medic on an Ethalian starship. Like with Ann's armor, this uniform isn't perfect but it's pretty close, maybe even better than what I could have imagined. (When I "see" my characters, it's not actually as specific as readers may think. I generally leave a lot for readers to interpret for themselves.)


Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with this, except for the eyes. It's a glassy stare like they're zoning out.

But, I have my Lord (and doctor) Ivandru Nikkolas. He has a princely charm about him, wouldn't you say?

ps--I still prefer actual artists. This AI is hard to work with and leaves a lot lacking, even as I learn to use it more effectively.

Saturday, August 26, 2023

more rounds of Midjourney - Forgotten Worlds characters - the Black Dragon (Ann)

I'm still trying to get more characters to turn out with Midjourney. This took me over an hour to get right. But this is the face of Ann nearly identical as I see her and nearly perfect in the armor she would have worn in the battle games. The worst is the phoenix head, or whatever it's supposed to be, instead of a proper dragon head that MJ put on this. It takes forever for the AI to bring all the pieces together, but it can be done!

I present to you Andretta Draksten, Captain of the Paxon Dominion battlecruiser Predator as her secret alter ego battle games persona The Black Dragon:


The problem with using this face is the near impossibility of being able to get it to match with any other design for her that I'd want to play with. I really like this, though! It is so her.

Edit: I like the background below better, but the original arm was a mess. MJ makes changes you don't want to get changes you do want at times. Very frustrating. But I Photoshopped it with the correct arm from the above image.



Thursday, August 24, 2023

Playing with Midjourney - including Forgotten Worlds characters Nya and L'Ni

I signed up yesterday on Midjourney, against the advice of my artist oldest child. I finally bit the bullet and paid the pro fee so I could keep my images private. Except I'll share them here.

First off, I wish I'd had this fourteen years ago, when I released Starfire Angels, the book that really started my writing career to the point of meeting the indie requirements to join SFWA, although I've quit that organization after just a few years since it wasn't serving me.

Anyway, Midjourney gave me Elis (pronounced EE-lis, not El-lis) after all this time of wishing I could get a good picture of him. The fans back then swooned over his description. I made this promo for the series with the image Midjourney gave me:



And for Legend of the White Dragon, I managed to get princess Istaria with the white dragon, even though he should technically be a ghost:


Last of all, I started my dive into the AI with Forgotten Worlds characters. They're not quite right but as close as I could get Midjourney to give me so far. I also haven't played with all the characters yet. I think readers can figure out who these are meant to be.



And he looks an awful lot like Henry Cavill's Witcher, imo; but it's as close as I could get when the AI made hair grow out of a hood on the pictures that would otherwise be perfect:



Of course, I started with Nya and L'Ni. I've tried Zaer, but it comes out as an anthropomorphic cat with a tail. The cat I can live with, but she doesn't have a tail.

Unfortunately, the more iterations one does of women, the less clothes they end up wearing on Midjourney. I'm not crazy about that. 

ps--I may keep trying for a better version of Nya and L'Ni, but these are good starts.

Monday, August 21, 2023

Book promotional features

I'm planting these here for myself. However, these are open to everyone, so feel free to share these images and videos. I'll make more in time, but for now, this is what I have. I'll add to this as I make more media to share, but the main task is to write and edit, so making graphics and videos is squeezed in where I can.

These are available as ebooks 
and also in paperback with beautiful wrap-around covers.

This will be updated as books are added. This particular
image shows books 1-17 covers.
ps - I purposely offset these covers because they
looked too blah perfectly aligned, but I can change that to preference.

This is also available on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/855488536?share=copy.



This is also available on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/855490721?share=copy.



Friday, August 11, 2023

Book cover reveal... Book 17

I've been playing with cover images and made some tweaks to Book 16 after finding the right image for Book 17.

And in putting together the cover for Book 17, I had to write up a cover blurb. This one was actually pretty easy to write, but the image didn't seem right with my working title for the book, so I changed it slightly. HOMECOMING seemed more appropriate, although I'm still not sure of that. HOME was a placeholder, since Nya returns to her homeworld, but it seemed too simple. HOMECOMING is better, but I may still change it. I have time to consider that.

I had considered playing with Midjourney, but there's plenty of good art available by actual people, so I'm trying to use that rather than AI art, as long as I can find something to fit the story from stock images (and most of what I have of that is from before AI art programs became available). The image I found fits the story almost perfectly. There is a space battle in this one with a variety of ships (whatever the Shirukan remnant could get their hands on), although most of the action is inside one of the ships, which none of the ships on the image match, so that will be up to your imagination.

Without further ado, here is the cover for Book 17 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds:


Quite the homecoming, isn't it?

ps--I also wrote up a description for Book 17. I need to be doing that for Books 15 and 16. My brain doesn't work in order with this series. 🤦‍♀️

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

done... sort of

The main part of Book 17 is finished. I just need to figure out what I want for a stinger scene. You know I can't end these books without something to tease for the future, a sort of epilogue or transition scene for the next book or for a few books later. That's all that remains to write, but I'm going to read through this before I do that and probably even start edits on Book 15.

Often it's while editing one book that I finally come up with those elusive scenes I want in other books. My mind can never stay on the book it's supposed to be working on.

I'll also have to design a cover image or find one that's right. Maybe I'll finally give Midjourney a try. I've been wanting to play with it since I learned about it. And there are other AI art programs now too, so I have options. We'll see what I feel like doing.

In the meantime, the first draft of Book 17 is about 45K words and a stinger scene won't add more than 1,000 words to that, so I'll likely hit the top of the range I expected. 

Sunday, July 30, 2023

So close to done (so I took a break to have some fun)

I'm excited to say that Book 17 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds is currently over 43K words and just two short scenes from being finished. If all goes well, I might achieve that by tomorrow.

I had a great writing streak Friday and Saturday with over 4K words getting written on this project. With all that momentum, one's creativity can get a bit drained and need a moment to refresh.

And since the weather ended up being so beautiful, I went out to play with my boy. I haven't posted horse pics in a while, but I still have Buddy. He's been at a boarding facility closer to where I live than my parents, but it's been exactly what he needed. I get out to him regularly, although not as often as I'd like.

This past weekend, there was an event at the facility, so I waited until today. I could have gone yesterday, but I was really on a roll with the writing and with the event, I figured one more day would be worth the wait. I ended up arriving after most of those who had hauled in for the event had left. The outdoor arena was open, so I was able to do whatever I wanted. (While there, I found a horseshoe with nails still in it and took it out so no one steps on it. One of the horses at the event threw a shoe.)

And I remembered to get some pictures after we rode. Buddy is ten years old now, and fat on a good pasture. The drought of the last two years is over and clearly he gets plenty to eat. I could work him harder, but I'm not as young as I used to be.





Watch for an announcement on the completion of the first draft of Book 17 soon. Once that's done, I'll give it a read through and then start editing Book 15, which I hope to publish by the beginning of September.

Sunday, July 23, 2023

almost there

I'm getting close to finishing Book 17 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. I suspect it will need a lot of editing but at least I'll soon have a first draft done. I'm aiming to finish by July 31 so I can move on to editing Book 15 to publish that around end of August/early September.

Right now, the first draft of the book tentatively titled HOME is around 37,000 words, and I expect it to wrap up by 42K words. I'm not far from that, but it's also just an estimate based on the events that I still need to write out and how much I expect it will add to the length. You'll notice it's back to the shorter length that I had originally for the books in this series. The books were growing longer and longer, so I'm glad to get back to shorter. I write what the story dictates, and this didn't want to be as long as those last several books. The length can change in rewrites, but usually not too dramatically--within a few thousand words either way.

So far, the shortest book in the series is the first, A NEW BEGINNING, and the story alone came in just under the minimum SFWA novel length (not counting my forward and all the other stuff that isn't story), which is 40,000 words.

As you can see, I am working to finish. I don't use AI or ghostwriters. Everything in my books comes from me. I write for the enjoyment of writing the story I need to tell, and sometimes life gets in the way or the creativity is disrupted. It's not about the churn but about the adventure and the challenge. I hope you enjoy the results.

Thanks for reading!

-----------------------

COMING SOON:


Monday, July 10, 2023

Writing Status

Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds Book 17 is moving along, and my goal is to finish by the end of this month, but we'll see what life throws at me.

It's been strange to go back to revisit old characters. Along with Raea and Elis (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles), I've also dived into the lives of Valdas (Dark Angel Chronicles & Revelations) and Leksel (Dark Angel Chronicles & Revelations). An update on them came about as a natural part of the events of the story.

I mentioned some time ago that I couldn't wait to get L'Ni and Leksel together. Well, it's been interesting. They're far more alike than I expected, yet different in many ways.

And I was a bit surprised by Valdas yet not. I guess I had things in the back of my mind for certain events in her life and also events in Leksel's life that would happen in the nearly eleven years (plot timeline) between Nemesis and this book. They've changed, but at the end of Nemesis, they were already much different from where they started. In that light, not much has changed except personal events in each of their lives and the choices that put them where they are to be involved with Nya's mission. It should be interesting for those who have stuck with the series. I've tried to fill in gaps for those who haven't so events and decisions make sense, just like I would for any book.

I won't give anything away, but I can say their present circumstances may not be what some expet. I have had to go back to the original Starfire Angels series (Dark Angel Chronicles) and the first expansion of it (Revelations) to check facts. In doing so, I see all the more that I need to refresh Revelations with new covers and maybe another editing pass. (I found a typo of the kind that spellcheck wouldn't catch.) So, there's another project to take on, probably prior to publishing this book when the time comes.

For now, I can also say that Book 17 is just a hairsbreadth from 30,000 words. I expect this to finish around the 40K word mark by the end of the first draft. The last few books have been creeping over 50K, so it's good to get back to my original length goal for these books.

That's all I have for now, but it's enough. I can't believe I've been writing the Starfire Angels series for fifteen years! (And it started with an idea for a YA science fiction that seemed to be an urban fantasy type story based on an old novella with changes inspired by an anime series I liked.)

Thanks for reading!

Sunday, June 25, 2023

summer home project

Every year it seems we take on some project around our home or yard. Last year, it was the grape trellis and garden fence.

This year, we replaced our deck. It's nineteen years old, as old as our house, which we've lived in since it was built. Our first house. We're still living in it, which is why we've taken to making upgrades in recent years.

Staining the deck is a constant hassle. We had talked over the years of wanting to replace it. This year, when my husband looked at the deck and said he should probably stain it again, I suggested that we look into replacing it with Trex. We figured out the materials we would need and priced it out on Lowes.com, the only store in our area that carries the brand. We've had to go back for some other additions, but drops in the bucket compared to the initial investment.

It wouldn't be cheap for our 10x10 ft. deck and stairs, but my husband was determined to do it himself and did the research. He took time off this past week to get it done. Aside from some rain delays, he finished most of it--the deck portion. He'll work on the stairs when he burns off more vacation time in a few weeks.

On the first day, he had help pulling up all the deck planks, balusters, and rails. The frame was still good after all this time, so we left that in place. It was all treated wood.

Before:

deer fence was the keep the cats on the deck


After:


Hubby did all the plank work with grooved boards and brackets. After the prep work of applying a special tape to the tops of all the old joists (for water protection) and getting the 4x4 posts in place, he had a good day and installed the planks all in one day. We had record rainfall yesterday, but we had a family reunion anyway, so we had a day off the project. The weather today was good to finish this. I helped today, and we put up all the post sleeves and rails around the deck area. The stairs aren't ready yet, or there would be rails going down also.

The planks are the Trex toasted sand color, and we used white for fascia to match the trim of our house and the railing. It looks great! And it's always good to work on a project together. Hubby did most of the work, but there are some things where it's better to let him work alone. And then there are things that are too tricky to take on alone, so I try to step in and help when I can, like installing the rails.

The cats don't get to go out loose on this since we have no way of keeping them from getting out, but we're working on getting a catio for them.

I didn't get much writing done today, but it was a good day to finish this part of this project.

Tomorrow, back to writing! (Forgotten worlds Book 17 reached 23,000 words, so past the halfway point.)

Friday, June 16, 2023

2023 garden status

It's been a few weeks since we planted the garden and we had to reseed some of the corn, but everything is coming up beautifully. Of course, the rhubarb, dill, and strawberries are perennials and were already waking up by the end of April. I had a couple of strawberries disappear as soon as they started to ripen, so I put a cage around them last weekend to keep the birds away.

Grapes

The biggest surprise is that we already have grapes! That big bush of a grape plant was just a tiny twig when we planted it last year with only a few leaves that were halved when one of our cats chewed them off while the plant was inside, but it sure took once planted in its permanent home. This spring it roared out of dormancy with a vengeance and more than doubled in size. Plus, you can see the cluster of grapes growing on it. They've doubled in size in the last week alone. I wasn't expecting grapes for another year or two.

The back grape plant in the pic was a new one this year, It was already bigger than the first one when we ordered it to replace one that had died.



The main garden




Cucumbers love to climb, so we always plant those near the corn. This year, we also put in some panels to encourage the two plants to climb something else instead of becoming a ground bush hiding all the fruit. It does that in the corn too, but more often than not, they will wrap upwards on the cornstalks naturally. It doesn't harm the corn. Those stalks are strong.

Last year, hubby and I built the trellis for the grapes together, then he spent much of the summer building the 2-ft garden fence. You may not see it in the pics, but there is chicken wire on the inside of the white lattice. The white lattice is for looks. The chicken wire is what we used all the years prior to keep the ground critters out.

The tall fence in the middle is a temporary fence that we always put up for the peas to climb. That does require some attention. I regularly help the peas by taking their vines that curl in seeking something to latch onto and gently wrapping them around the fence wire. I'll do that as they need it, and they will climb to the top of that four-foot fence.

This year, we cut back on the amount of corn, since no one is really eating it (and I can't anymore) but we still like having some to give away to family. We also needed the room since we have the perennials on one end and my husband has a LOT of peppers (three types of hot peppers and three different colors of bell peppers). I also have one tomato plant in this and the two rows of peas.

We also have our raspberry patch near the house, and if the birds don't get them, I'll be eating them by the handfuls soon! The branches are thick with raspberries almost ready to turn.

And we'll have our pumpkins again. Those are planted outside the garden about twenty feet away and getting bigger by the day. We learned early that if we planted pumpkins in the main garden, we only had a pumpkin patch, so we started planting those well away from the main garden. Pumpkin vines grow like weeds, once they really get going, sometimes a foot or more overnight! Cucumbers and squash can be the same way, but they are all in the same general family of fruits. Cukes are just a bit easier to control because they can climb without being too much of a burden when full of fruits. These pumpkins are HUGE and sweet, good for puree or jack-o-lanterns.

One other trick we learned is to keep the ground moist until things sprout a few inches, then cut back the frequency of watering to encourage roots to grow deeper.

Gardening is rewarding but a lot of work. We don't use pesticides on our garden, although we do use herbicide around the fence to control the weeds there. Rather, we do the work of weeding.

We'll see how it looks in another month.

Friday, June 2, 2023

runaway writing... I love it!

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.

Thanks for reading.

Thursday, May 25, 2023

off and running

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:

  1. A New Beginning
  2. The Rule of Yonder
  3. Vault of the Celestials
  4. In Darkness, Light
  5. The Destruction of Walls
  6. Disposition of Dreams
  7. Remnants
  8. Racing the Orast Belt
  9. Ferious
  10. Dragon and Fury
  11. Voices in the Dark
  12. Messages
  13. Soul Shadow
  14. Unbroken Bonds
  15. Beneath the Surface*
  16. Ghosts*
  17. Home**
  18. 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.

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Finally!

🥳 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.

Monday, May 22, 2023

almost done

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.

Thanks for reading.

Friday, May 5, 2023

taking longer than expected - short update

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.

Friday, April 21, 2023

Cover reveal - GHOSTS

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.


Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Writing update

I hope readers of the Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds series have had the opportunity to pick up Book 14. It's not going anywhere; I just want to remind people that it's available. That is the romantic story of the series. Life will change dramatically for some characters afterwards. I also tried to wrap up a lot of unanswered issues from earlier books that I wanted to make clear, and I majorly teased some developments in the works. You won't really know until those come out in future books, but no detail is left to chance. Chekov's gun.

Now, I'm back in Book 16. The break from completing it is just what I needed. I remember some of what my original idea was, but since it's completely different and I've had a break, it's easier to focus on what's there now and develop that story. I'm so glad I set it aside without completing it. That break opened my eyes. I'm unstuck in the story.

I have a working title for Book 16 too... GHOSTS. The cover is mostly done, but I still need to work on the tagline/blurb of this one before I can reveal the cover. I'll need to think about that a bit more. Next time I have a good update on the progress, I hope to have that ready. 

I've already mentioned that this book focuses on Seska's illicit work against the system of Paxons being simply made to serve their people rather than being free to choose. Seska made sure they disappeared and reported them dead so they wouldn't be hunted. Those who disappeared became... ghosts. They take identities and live new lives off the radar of Central Command, except that she might have accidentally revealed part of her secret to SecurCom, which intends to investigate. And to her friends, she might as well be a ghost, having come back from the dead.

This, like many of the titles I choose in this series, has multiple intentions for different aspects of the story. That's just a way of saying it fits pretty well, so I'll probably keep it.

I won't be releasing another book immediately after finishing writing 16, since I want to get back to writing two books ahead of publishing. Rather, I'll jump right into writing Book 17, which will contain a major--HUGE--revelation. I only released 14 now because I needed the break from writing 16, which was taking too long, and it had been six months since the last book in the series was released (and I didn't want to keep readers waiting any longer).

That's where I'm at right now and what I'm up to. Book 16 is coming along well since I took the break from it, and I hope to finish by the end of April and jump right into 17, which I hope will go fast since that isn't changing from what I had planned. But, we'll see.

Thanks for reading.

Sunday, March 26, 2023

Available now - Unbroken Bonds

I did it. I finished UNBROKEN BONDS (Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds Book 14). It is available at most of the major ebook retailers but not quite all. Once the last one lists it, I'll be sending out my newsletter announcement, but I thought I'd share it here first.

Ann and Nik's wedding is supposed to be a joyous occasion. However, they and their friends have underestimated their enemies, and even worse, their supposed allies. In the midst of the celebration on Ethal, L'Ni is taken with few clues about who or why.

When L'Ni awakens chained in a dark chamber, too numb and weak to free himself amid the torture by his captors, he soon realizes his fate. The methods to subdue him could only have been advised by his own people. The Issa Pralemmar want their heretic and will do anything to capture him.

L'Ni's friends are determined to find him. Through memories and clues, Nya and the others must solve the mystery of his disappearance and locate him before it's too late, but as the pieces come together, they soon realize the full threat to Ethal.

For updated purchase links, visit https://www.melanienilles.com/books/unbroken-bonds/

Saturday, March 18, 2023

one more round of edits

Editing Book 14 is taking more work than it should, but the writing projects compete with other issues I have to deal with. Sometimes I can't focus clear enough to feel like the work is satisfactory, and I have to take a break until my mind is in a place where I know I'll better evaluate what the story needs.

I did all the major rewrites a while ago on Book 14. I added descriptions where they were needed, but the biggest piece was adding to a subplot that had been just simmering beneath the surface. Bringing that more into the limelight adds a layer of conflict that the story needed, not that having one of the main characters abducted isn't enough of a conflict.

Since then, what I've done in the last couple of passes is to clean up the story. In some places, I rephrase/rearrange ideas and in others, I cut entirely. After a day or so break, I did more in the latest pass than I had anticipated and want one more to evaluate the flow of the story and make sure I didn't leave words out and that punctuation is correct. Since the first editing pass, when I added to the story length because of rewrites and adding description, I've now removed about 2,000 odd words in subsequent editing. It's the great clean-up, which means the work is nearly done. Similar to what Zaer tells L'Ni at one point in Book 14 on the wedding day, it cleans up nicely. 😁

This is taking longer than expected, but, as I mentioned, I have other issues impeding my focus. One thing that readers may not realize is that I deal with multiple autoimmunities and food sensitivities (for many years, but one I didn't realize I had until recently). I never imagined when I was "healthy" what the life of someone with autoimmune issues involves (kind of like being pregnant and giving birth--no amount of birthing classes can fully prepare you for the experience!). I never realized that when I was "healthy", I was actually getting sick. So, here's my warning to you--eat clean, exercise, get out in the sun, laugh and smile, and love life while you can. I've learned to deal with my issues joyfully; it makes me appreciate what I have even more. It can make some things more difficult, like focusing on writing, but I get through it.

I guess you could say that L'Ni's training of Nya in the Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds series is a lot of what I've learned in conquering my issues--the lessons about fighting on and not giving up. A lot of the wisdom I've gained in life comes out in the writing in some form or another.

So, I missed my goal of this past week, but I am hoping I'm in the final round of edits and can publish this week.

If you're not on my mailing list for notifications, you can sign up at https://www.melanienilles.com/contact/ . If you frequent Amazon, you can also sign up to follow my author page there to be notified when a new book is available.

Thanks for reading.

Saturday, March 4, 2023

Almost there

I've been editing Book 14 of the Forgotten Worlds series.

I always go into each editing round thinking this will be the last, but just one more pass to be sure... and I find even more and think "just more more pass." Fortunately, each round tends to have fewer changes and farther between, until it's comma placement and spelling issues. It starts with fleshing out descriptions where they're needed, replacing bland sentences with active sentence formats, enhancing points in the story or removing them, and moving things around--basically, major rewrites. It then progresses to adding more in the second round while taking out redundancies and scraps that get missed from major rewrites. By the third round, I'm doing much more cutting than anything else to clean up scenes and make them more concise while fixing minor issues of punctuation and spelling. Then it's just one more pass for simple copyedits.

And that pattern isn't changing. Despite having gone through and rewritten sections while trying to write books 15 and 16, I'm in round three of edits on Book 14 and still nitpicking . I'll need that fourth round for final review before publishing.

I would expect to have this ready to publish sometime in the next ten days, if not sooner. No more waiting on the wedding of Ann and Nik. Since I first mentioned the connection between Nik and Ann in Book 2, it's been a point I've been eager to reach. Twelve books later, it will be realized. I hope you enjoy it!

Friday, February 24, 2023

More pieces falling into place... and status of series

Walking never fails. Walking, showering, or driving--Those three are the biggest activities for juicing up the creativity. In this case, I was on the treadmill. (I'm not going walking outside when it's 30 F above, much less in a -20F windchill, as we have this afternoon.)

I had an explosive insight into the whole of the Starfire Angels and Forgotten Worlds series. I have the origins of the dark creature served by the Issan, and why the Starfire entities aka Guardians are so focused on it. I won't reveal that in a blog post. You'll have to stick with the series for that major revelation, which probably won't be until the end. (I have to give you something big to wait on, especially since there's already a big revelation coming in Book 17.)

This revelation is going to twist everything on another dimension completely. Everything is falling into place and coming to me before I need it but only close to when I need to reveal it.

Sounds kind of familiar... like how the Starfire tends to think. No more wondering where that aspect of their behavior comes from (my unconscious mind).🙃

And in the status of the series, I did decide to go to Book 14 for edits. It's been too long since book 13 was released and I want to get 14 out for readers. And it will also allow me to move from book 16 right into book 17. The two will be close in the days setting, so it should be easier in writing to jump from one right into the other without a break.

Look for Book 14 sometime next month!

Coming March 2023

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Science and Christianity do mix

This is an amazing story:


Aside from this, I highly recommend The Return of the God Hypotheses by Stephen C. Meyer. It is mentioned in the video and I have been reading it myself. It is an excellent book. I have always believed in God (blessed to have been born into a Christian family), but this book provides a way to explain what I already knew and answers some of my questions about science. It requires some deep thinking and reasoning. It isn't a light read.

And be sure to read the comments under the video.

God bless you and keep you!

Thursday, February 9, 2023

resolving the writing issue

I finally have it. Book 16 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds is more than halfway done and I've finally figured out the rest of the story. I've been stumbling around in the near darkness for this one from the beginning, but I can now see the terrain around me.

I mentioned previously how initial progress was two steps forward and one step back. That can still happen, but now I have a plan for the rest of the book, which should reduce the stumbling around. I realized that I had started this book without a roadmap of where it was going and how to get there other than a vague idea of what it needed to accomplish.

This has led me to realize that I have the same issue in Book 17, although that one at least has the setting and the initial problem outlined. I'm just missing something important for the villain and the climax. At least by admitting that, I know what might cause some writing problems. I need to know where a story is going to figure out the path to take. That's something I'll have to put more thought into.

Next week I won't get much writing done because of a big event at work, so more delays.

I may just switch to editing Book 14 and publish that instead of delaying it further, then finish 16 and jump right into writing 17. I'll let you know if that happens, because I'd be making a book announcement when it's ready.

At least I know how to finish Book 16 now.

Friday, January 27, 2023

a quick update on print books

I've been working hard on formatting and setting up print books, but it's just not what I expected. I'm appalled at the poor quality of paperback on-demand books. Once upon a time, covers used to be a heavier card stock, but now they're far too lightweight. I've requested more than enough print jobs for my day jobs over the years, so I understand paper weights and qualities. I've also been seeing so much crookedness in how the paperback books are physically cut that I don't feel comfortable selling them.

For Forgotten Worlds, I'm going to stick with the hardcover omnibus collections on BN but will keep up the omnibus paper collections on Amazon, so I can price them much lower. Just be aware that the paperbacks are not of a very good quality, no matter where I have them printed (LSI vs. Amazon KDP). 

Stick with the hardcover collections if you want the stories in print. Unfortunately, I can only make those available from Barnes and Noble.

I'm going to have to figure out how I want to deal with this on the other series, if I want to move forward with printed books with those. Playing with different print options from different sources is not encouraging.


Sunday, January 22, 2023

progress on Forgotten Worlds Book 16


Writing on Book 16 is progressing well since I last reported the steps in writing-rewriting iterations. It found its feet, so to speak. There are pieces to balance, such as timing of events in the story (the "beats") and the nuances that flesh out the main plot; but overall, I have the setting established, some new world-building items to sprinkle in, which is always fun, and meaningful episodic characters.

In fact, although the old original writing of my base story of Nik and Ann is gone (over thirty years ago since I wrote their original story), I still remember pieces. In Book 16, meaningful for me but new to anyone else, is the mention of some secondary characters from the original two-book series I wrote way back as my first ever completed novels. Thank goodness they were never published back then!

Like Ann and Nik, these other characters are different. I've matured in my understanding of the world, which has changed a lot in my lifetime, and in the craft of writing. In that, I've realized all my errors of when I started out writing and why it was so bad back then that I've destroyed all copies of those first stories, although I never forgot the characters I created.

These introduced episodic characters are also Paxons, but some who wanted out in the original story and in this are already out, having been helped by Seska to disappear, along with dozens of others. Book 16 is about Seska, but more from the perspective of those she actually helped. It's a different way of revealing her background and what she did, rather than through her eyes and memories, although some of that is sprinkled in too.

I don't take important supporting characters for granted, but some mean more to me than others. I love that I have been able to integrate those first scrapped story ideas into this new universe. Writing this series is bringing me full circle to the start of my writing journey.

It's amazing how everything has come to fruition after three decades of writing. The original Starfire Angels book was twelve years in the making, and I thank the readers who loved Elis and Raea for pushing me to continue, because now it's become something bigger than I ever imagined.

I hope this inspires some creative minds out there not to rush with publishing just because you think your story is perfect, which it may or may not be. Sometimes the best ideas come only after letting them simmer for some time. I'm not saying you have to wait three decades. What I am saying is don't give up. Put the story aside and move on to other ideas. When the time is right, you'll figure out the flaws and what's missing. The wait will have been worthwhile, because you'll have something far richer to give to the world.

I hope you enjoy immersing yourself in reading as much as I do in writing it!

----------------

It's never too late to start. Books 1-13 are available now:

1 - A New Beginning

2 - The Rule of Yonder

3 - Vault of the Celestials

4 - In Darkness, Light

5 - The Destruction of Walls

6 - Disposition of Dreams

7 - Remnants

8 - Racing the Orast Belt

9 - Ferious

10 - Dragon and Fury

11 - Voices in the Dark

12 - Messages

13 - Soul Shadow

Coming soon:

14 - Unbroken Bonds

These and my other books can all be found at melanienilles.com



Monday, January 9, 2023

a horse update

I haven't mentioned my horse here in a while. Buddy turns 10 this year and I've now had him for 7 years as of October 2022.

Spring 2022, still a bit fuzzy with
what was left of his winter coat

He has come so far in the last year that I'm more excited than ever to work with him this spring. He's been such a flighty boy, but since this past summer, around a year since I brought him to a boarding facility closer to me than my parents' farm, he's really settled down. Most horses hit that between 3-4 years. Buddy--9 years. Now, he's going on 10 and is finally in that good spot mentally.

I've been told that he's become quite the herd boss, which takes some confidence, even chasing around new horses or lower hierarchy horses in his pasture gelding herd. I've noticed he's not so afraid of things anymore, even going up to something that he's not sure about to check it out. But he has his moments still, especially when air pressure drops. All horses get stupid in the head to some degree when the air pressure drops.

Buddy will never be a fancy show horse, but he gives me 110% of his effort... except when I ask for a right lead. Every once in a while, he doesn't want to step under and then has to give a little buck when I ask for the right lead. It can't be too easy, right? Aside from that, I've always said that he makes up for his lack of athletic ability in what he has for heart.

His dressage work took a huge leap forward since one riding lesson last summer in particular that reminded me to let go of my fear of a runaway, which is unlikely with him but has happened to me. I had to let him go forward. That helped him a lot in stretching through his topline and relaxing under saddle. I just have to remember to let him move forward and turn him on a tighter circle to sit him down if he gets too fast.

Now, I think he's ready for something new. I wanted to do this last year, but couldn't find the saddle in stock, which is just as well. We clearly still had some issues to work out in our dressage work.

Some people spend thousands of $$ on gaming stuff. Me (and any equestrian)... new saddle. Riders collect saddles like gamers collect controllers, headsets, and chairs. However, I don't need many saddles when I have a Wintec, now two (my old first dressage saddle and now a new general purpose for jumping and groundwork), since they're adjustable to most horses by changing out the gullet plate. The problem is when you have a very wide horse. Putting in the extra wide plate is quite the wrestling match with the saddle.

I also have my high-end dressage saddle (not adjustable) that I bought for a previous horse almost nine years ago and which also fits Buddy, by some perfectly random chance. Saddles never fit the same horses the same way and this did require a teeny bit of thin shim padding on a special half-pad to fit him right, but otherwise it's perfect for him.

I just bought my second Wintec, a general purpose, which arrived today, and I've finished the wrestling match of changing the gullet plate to what I know fits Buddy. I look forward to starting him on some jumping this spring. I hope it builds his confidence even more under saddle and that it helps him think more about sitting back on his haunches, as well as adjusting his stride, although the dressage work and our trail riding does much of that already. Mostly, the jumping will add some change to our riding and something to help his confidence go further, as well as mine. I haven't done any hunter/jumper work since switching to dressage over fourteen years ago. It will be fun to get back to my beginnings in english riding. I'm not as young as I was back then, so this will be interesting.

This summer will be a new adventure with my horse.

Saturday, January 7, 2023

A quick note... a delay (blame the writing process and being devoted to the series)

Forgotten Worlds Book 14 will not be released until I get Book 16 written. And right now, that means rewriting until I feel like I have the book I want. That means that I'm likely not looking at releasing Book 14 until March/April 2023.

I started with an idea outlined some time ago. Then, I wrote Book 13 in a similar style. So, I scrapped that original idea for Book 16. Start over, Idea #1, start writing.

Not quite what I wanted but some useful ideas. Idea #2--Revise that first part because ideas for the next few chapters need to fit.

Still not quite right. The story is beginning to form, but needs adjustments.

Idea #3... Rewrite from Chapters 4 onward. Setting is better, but too blah, no action. For goodness sake, I have Ann and L'Ni working together. I have to do something exciting with those two, right? Some good ideas in that new setting, but back to the drawing board--change one of the parameters.

Idea #4... Parameter changed at chapter 7. Aha! Now, the stakes are increased. Let's see how this goes.

I don't like to rewrite an entire book if I can figure out what's going wrong in the first draft process. It saves time overall and frustration, although this is frustrating enough.

I see it visually as something like this:


It's been a bit of a progression of iterations, as you can see. Each rewrite tends to build on the last idea. I hope this third time is the charm and that I have it down to what the plot needs to be so no more major rewrites are needed. This should establish the first part of the story and set the tension pretty high so I can move this along at a fast pace with lots of action.

The problem with this book is that I changed my initial plan and was left with just a rough idea, which is developing as I go (pantsing on a general plan). Luckily, I pretty much have Book 17 all planned out and intend to stick to it. Let's hope I can catch up on writing time with that one.

I have a high expectation for each book and want it done right to my satisfaction. For those who like the series, you clearly like what I like. I write because I want to tell a good story, not just to write. I need each story in the series to meet my expectations and sometimes that means delays in publishing. I'm so glad I'm not on a set schedule, which is also why I stopped setting up preorders.

Let's see where this iteration leads.

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Print books available

What a nightmare!

I hope people like the print formats, because it's been blood and sweat and lots of hair-pulling to get the formatting right. And even when using the cover templates from BN and D2D, they can still have misalignments.

Nevertheless, I have persisted. The first two collections are now available in paperback from print retailers and in hardcover versions from Barnes and Noble.

Hardcover
Paperback also available

Hardcover
Paperback also available

And the first four books of the Forgotten Worlds series are now in paperback (ranging in price from $9.99-$10.99 so far, depending on the book length and printing costs):





If they aren't appearing at a retailer yet, it could be a distribution delay or that I am still working on some formatting issues after seeing proofs.

More will be coming, but it does take time and money to make it happen. I'll continue with adding more individual books next month.