Almost there...

Book 22 of Forgotten Worlds is nearly finished.

I am at the climax and have just a couple of chapters to go, maybe 5K words max. It's currently at 40K, the minimum for novel length, so this is perfect. It will be right in the target length that I set for these books. Some have grown longer, but most are around 45-50K words in length.

This is just the first draft, so the word count will change a bit, and I'm guesstimating on the final word count of the first draft as it is. If I can get 1000 words/day in for the rest of the month, I'll be right around hitting my goal of finishing by the end of June. Then, I'll jump into editing Book 20, DARKEST DEPTHS and aim to publish that by the end of July, a bit over four months after Book 19 was released.

I've had some issues with writing Book 22, but those were resolved with amazing insights. It turned into another great addition to this series, although I notice L'NI kind of taking over. It makes sense, given his involvement with Nya and his past as one of the enemy, but Nya kind of took a side seat to his presence. She still gets her main story, however.

After I finish this book, the work will only get more difficult--putting it all together for a series finale that makes the wait and dedication to reading it all completely satisfying. The final three books will be the toughest to plan out and write. I know the ending. I just am not quite sure of the details to get there, but that's not unusual. I'll figure it out.

It's been quite a journey writing this series and even more fun re-reading it all, but in another year or a bit more (depending on the lengths of the final three books and the planning and issues that might come up in the first drafts), I'll be done with writing Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. The final few books will see plenty of editing before they're ready. With Book 25, it's done, and I have the title for that. The two before that, I don't know yet.

I can't believe I'm so close to finishing. This has been a HUGE project for me. When I started writing, I never planned a series, and certainly never one like this; but readers asked for more in the Starfire Angels universe, and I loved what I had created, so I continued with it. It has become something I never would have thought possible but a project that I've loved for over seventeen years so far, since the first spark hit me for an angel story like none other at the time. By the time I'm done, it'll be a good chunk of my life devoted to this universe.

Lastly, and back to the update, I want to see if I can do something better for the cover image of Book 22. The more I look at it, the less happy I am with how that image turned out. The general theme is good, but the overall style of the ruins, not so much.

So, that's what's coming up. I'm excited to finish this and present Book 20 to you when it's ready.

Thanks for reading!