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.

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.

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.

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.