Forgotten Worlds book 24 update

Nearly there!

Book 24 is past the climax, if you can call it that. The whole book is like a build up to Book 25, so the climax in this feels small by comparison to what I have planned for 25, a bit like they need to be taken together as one book split into two but each does have their respective arcs.

All that said, book 24 is over 45K words and I have just a couple short scenes and the end of the current scene to finish. I should be within 3,000 words of the end, but I won't know until it's done done. One way or another, I intend to keep this first draft under 50K words.

Whatever comes, the main story is done and I'm in the denouement and stinger lead into book 25 (as if this whole series hasn't been that, but when the time comes, you'll understand... it's a doozy!)

It will be done by the end of July and I can finally start editing Book 22 for a planned early September release (barring any interruptions).

I can't believe I'm so close to the end.

Stay tuned and keep reading!

Getting closer

It would seem that I had been overly optimistic about finishing Forgotten Worlds Book 24 by the end of June. However, It will be finished by the end of this month.

The first draft is at 42K words right now with just a handful of short scenes left. This whole book is a series of short scenes, but it has a lot going on. The pacing isn't what it was in the previous book, but it's setting up for the final book. This book is a little bit of the calm before the storm.

It has conflict, but not in the same way as the other books in the series.

I could say it's different, but each book in this series is unique in its own way. There is no formula to these except that they're each different, because I hate series books all following a formula.

I estimate only about 4-5K left for word count on this, or about two regular-length chapters, although it could be less.

We're halfway through July. If everything stays steady, I will definitely finish by the end of this month. That means Book 22 editing would take place during August, possibly into September, with a September publishing date likely. After that, it would be time to write the final book.

I can't believe it's nearly complete.

I hope you're enjoying it. The best is yet to come!

Thanks for reading!

In the homestretch

I had an unexpectedly busy last month, but I've been making progress on Forgotten Worlds book 24. It's nearing the end-- in the final buildup to the climax. I can say it's in the homestretch.

The word count should be at 39K by the end of tonight, but it's going to be a few chapters more before it's done.

But it is nearing the end.

Once I finish this, I'll start the edits on Book 22 to publish that this fall, likely in early September.

Once that's published, I'll start work on the final book!

After that's done, the final three books will be published in rapid succession, probably one every 6-8 weeks. I won't be writing anything in between at that point, unless some weird inspiration for something else hits. However, I want to finish this. It'll be quite an accomplishment and has been an exciting journey for me; and, I hope, a great journey for you as well.

Thanks for reading!

God bless!

writing update

I feel that I owe readers an update. It's been just under two weeks, but the writing has been a bit more difficult.

That has multiple reasons that I won't get into, but I will say that it's moving ahead. The word count is at 30K on Book 24, so there's at least modest progress since my last update. Some days it can fly and some days a few words is all I've managed.

I can say that one of the factors is the change of characters and the number of characters.

One of those is the Starfire. The entities always been their own character, observing and recording events. I don't remember how it happened, but it just seemed like from the beginning they were meant to record like a video camera. No sensory experiences except visual, but at least they have that. Sometimes I think I should have done that differently, but when I started, I just felt that they could "see" in the normal spectrum and had perfect memories, which the Inari took on by blending with them.

And the Starfire entities can only observe, so everything that they experience is generally a distant third-person POV. The regular characters all have a close third-person POV. It does help distinguish the Starfire visions/memories from regular character experiences.

In this book, I am giving the reader two events--the history of the Starfire to answer the questions that have been left for this point and the Ethalian coalition battles, so multiple perspectives, as usual. I didn't want to get too many, however, so I've limited what parts of the story to tell of the battles.

But this isn't the final book. There's a big showdown coming in Book 25. Book 24 simply sets up the final battle. And it will be final.

Buckle up! This ride is just getting started... THE END IS THE BEGINNING describes this book perfectly, and it's also the beginning of the end.

Keep reading!

The Secret to Overcoming Anger: Meekness and Mortification | Fr. Ripperger (video title)

This explains a lot of my character of L'Ni in Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. He has nearly perfect control over his emotions. The interesting thing is that his pride has been replaced by humility by the end of the series, when you really look closely, which is why Nya and the other characters respect him and follow him, besides that he is intelligent and capable of inflicting torture but only inflicts injury on others when necessary. He's actually in meekness, prudence, and modesty what I aspire to be, so he's somewhat my ideal self in many ways, except I couldn't hurt anyone (in that way, I'm more like Nya).

(I think I may have posted this in a different post, but it's worth sharing again.)

Book 24 status

The quick news is that Book 24 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds is very close to the halfway point at over 19K words.

The bad news is that writing slowed down recently. It comes in spurts, though, so I'm not worried. It will get written.

In the meantime, I've created a shorter book trailer video with text instead of a voiceover. I also changed up the background music. The book and trailer are included in the new spotlightonindiesff.com site with lots of other independently published science fiction and fantasy.

I did not expect this!

Book 24 is revealing much more than I expected!

While the battle to save the universe is revving up, the history of the Starfire is also. THE END IS THE BEGINNING is such a perfect title for this!

I have just discovered how to tie this into a piece in CRYSTAL TOMB! Mind. Blown! I did not expect that, but it's perfect! I thought I would need to work around those events, but I had forgotten the details, which fit precisely for what I needed in this. If you never read CT, you won't miss anything. This will just put a different twist on some of the details there.

Sorry I can't reveal more, but that would give away too many spoilers.

At least the writing is progressing. I had some slow down last week in writing the first battle scenes, but tonight was incredibly productive when switching POV characters and focusing on the Starfire. The story is 15,500 words so far, or a third done.

That's all I have for a quick update.

Thanks for reading!

short update on writing

It's been eight days since I last reported on the status of Book 24 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. I'm happy to say that It appears that I've been making decent progress, even if I missed a day or two of writing.

The word count went from 6,600 words to now 10,500 words, and I'm happy with this opening. It's the right place in the overall series for what I'm doing in this. It's bringing the complete Starfire Angels series back to the beginning beginning before the big finale. THE END IS THE BEGINNING is a very appropriate title, and it's looking like that's going to stick.

The final book will be quite the battle of heightened stakes and perfect for the series, and it will end.

So, Book 24 is around 1/4 written and making steady progress.

Stay tuned!

St. Michael the Archangel... in Starfire Angels

I've mentioned previously that I have a devotion to St. Michael. Fr. Ripperger explains it here pretty concisely. It's probably obvious that I have a special interest in angels (Starfire Angels), with my fictional aliens that look like our impression of angels having a mechanism for similar abilities, but they're nothing like the real angels, who are beings of pure spirit, not flesh and blood.

Minor Forgotten Worlds spoilers below

Because of my devotion to St. Michael, I found a way to include him in Book 22 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds, although I don't identify him by name. In the setting of the story, what I personally refer to as the St. Michael door will be thought to be an Inari and Issa. That door also has a modified-for-the-series portion of the St. Michael prayer. Those who know will recognize it and the changes I made to accommodate the setting.

It's no coincidence that, after writing that, I started having more trouble writing the series--St. Michael is the archangel who was assigned to cast Lucifer (Satan) into hell. Fr. Ripperger and other exorcists (restating what has been written by church fathers from the early centuries) have said that demons can affect our imaginations (to stop us from doing what is right and/or lead us to what is wrong (i.e. graphic sex scenes, glorifying witchcraft and murder, etc.)). They can affect our mental faculties in multiple ways. I've had to increase my prayer life to finish this series, but God has given me the best of ideas as a result! God turns all things for the good of our souls. I just had to struggle a bit and learn to rely on God for the right inspiration, not myself.

And then there's the name of the baby finally revealed in Book 21, where I honored another great archangel. St. Gabriel is the archangel who delivered the news to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would be the mother of God, months after having delivered the message to Zachariah that he would have a son who would be named John (the Baptist). I felt that this name would best fit the series for naming styles and what that baby represents in the story. I added Seldar to that because of the name of affection given to his mother by the baby's father in the story and what I created as a meaning for that word in the fictional language.

And on that note, I've come full circle to the video above, which was created and published by Gabi After Hours. Gabi is the nickname of Gabriel Castillo, the man who created and manages the channel, which has many more great videos. I highly recommend you check it out. He even interviewed Jordan Peterson's wife about her conversion and miraculous cancer recovery.

God bless!

ps--Book 24 is over 6,600 words presently. Making good progress!

space opera communications systems

Something has been bothering me for some time with space opera communications systems, especially those that seem instantaneous across interstellar space. It’s just not possible! However, it wouldn’t make the stories as interesting without some way to instantly communicate across those vast distances.

I used my knowledge of networking and communications system to come up with a system for the communications network in my space opera Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds but didn’t feel the need to explain it through most of the series, except to mention a network of communications beacons across the galaxy, including space stations, a system valuable to every space-faring race. To not have it would mean signals that take lifetimes to cross the vastness of space. These beacons act like network switches and more. However, early on, I also made it known that hyperspace could cause interference in such communications. I knew there was something more to this, but I could never explain it and just let it be as long as readers could accept that it just works that way in my universe without further details.

The communications beacon network provides similar locating to how our cellphone tower pinging works for determining the area where a cell phone is generally located. Primarily, it works similar to how data packets flow in the real world, by changing the headers and trailers of data packets in the network of beacons and the tables updated through the network to identify which beacons are closest to each end of a data stream. In this way, a ship can be generally known where it’s located, and I used this to pull some comms tricks with my characters early in the series and a little in later places, doing things like locking out the locations in the data headers to hide the beacons through which the data traveled or using ciphers that act like our VPNs act.

I don’t go into details about the system unless there is a small piece to explain for these fun little ways of using it in the plot of a given story. It’s just a part of the worldbuilding/setting, a tool used by the characters, but it’s the little details that make everything feel more plausible.

As I’m writing the first draft of Book 24, I’ve finally been inspired and know the piece that was missing. I’ve added a brief explanation of how the system provides nearly instantaneous communications even across the galaxy and why they can have some interference when a ship is in hyperspace while accessing this network. Readers may or may not care, but it’s always bothered me that I didn’t have that explanation. It turns out the beacons access something similar to hyperspace and are massive for the equipment to do this across the vast expanse of space.

I won’t go into the specific technology, but I will say that my explanation for instant communications will make sense in the setting.

I know we like to just accept instant communications, since that’s what we get on our little third rock from the sun, but it really would not happen that way in space. If you understood the intricacies of high-speed broadband communications, you’d realize that this little handwavium of science fiction is a detail often overlooked for convenience. I wanted to finally close that gap with a tool that I think adds a new layer to the setting, something designed specifically for my world based on real-world telecommunications networks and which I could exploit in the series. I could never have conceived of this if not for working in this industry.

And in the second-to-last book of the series, that final piece of this communications network will be revealed.

Thanks for reading!

The work begins again

I've started writing Book 24. I have 2500 words on it, nearly a complete first chapter. This is the second-to-last book of the series.

I also have a tentative/working title from a title of a composition of the music that I listen to while writing - The End is the Beginning. It fits with what I have planned for the story, but it's only a working title. I'll see if the story takes any detours that warrant a different title. For what I have planned, it couldn't have a more appropriate match than the name of the Two Steps From Hell album that includes this composition and this title, and the music fits well too. 😁

For now, this is where I am, the (relative) calm before the storm (aka the series climax).

Thanks for reading.

Horse time

It's been a while since I've done this, so here's some horse pics to brighten your spring. (Btw, I was wearing a lot of that coat on me today. It's shedding season.)

Grass is starting to grow here, so the geldings were wandering out to the grass. Unfortunately, the hay this late in the season isn't the best. Buddy has a hay cough that was bad today. That, or he has something else going on, but it's not a virus or anything like that.

In other news, I also re-covered one of my books, one that doesn't get much attention--When Angels Cry--probably because it's just a side book to the Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles and not part of the main series. Anyway, here's the new cover to look for:

One more done... and a cover reveal

I finished Book 23.

I agonized over the stinger scene for that, in coordination with the one at the end of Book 22, all weekend, considering how it would work with the final two books of the series in a way that isn't detracting and could be resolved within the remaining books. The Paxons in Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds never play fair and always play to win power through every wily conniving way they can. I wanted to bring that to the forefront, because I can't ignore that issue that was being set up. I just wasn't sure exactly how it would play out.

Supreme Commander Soren Draksten has an ego that won't let him look like a fool, and he certainly isn't. As I did with L'Ni in Book 21, I had to come up with something that added an extra layer of complexity to the story while revealing his intelligence in this, because he won't lose face. Losing his own offspring to a culture of "breeders" is a stain he can't get out, but he's going to try... by making the other side look dirty. Yes, he's a bit vindictive, but he loves power.

Anyway, I could have started a whole new storyline and continued this series in that direction, and it could still continue in that, but that's not my end game. My goal is to wrap it all up in Book 25. While this plot thread could potentially be continued in a new direction, I don't want to start something big now. I wanted to add that layer without it being too big; just enough to make sense for the series and add conflict and difficulties for the heroes and heroines. It's hard to really say much without giving things away.

Let's just say it was a long weekend of pondering this issue and finally settling on the simpler route. Although it is a big deal, it's nothing that can't be resolved in the final two books.

NOW, I can start writing Book 24, including weaving in that new thread from the stingers of Books 22 and 23.

And this weekend, I finally found an image that fit Book 23, so the cover is done and uploaded to my website:

Thanks for reading!

The final two books of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds

Yesterday, I received the grace of plotting out the courses of Books 24 and 25 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. Before that, I knew what had to be in them, but I didn't have the full stories. Yesterday's creativity was bursting, and I outlined the plots with those points in them and more. The Lord was good in that and also the incredible consolations he provided for the Lord's Supper (Holy Thursday) mass.

I have just one scene to write for Book 23 - the stinger scene - and that book will be done (at around 48K words). I'll search for a cover image for Book 23 and jump right into writing Book 24, which is going to be a format different than the others. Book 23 gave me much more than I had expected to create a pre-climax mini-climax to the series in Book 24 (before the big climax in Book 25) like I haven't done before. Book 24 will actually be two stories running in parallel.

I know that sounds confusing, but Armor was worse and only one story interweaving two timelines.

Book 24 is also going to focus on a variety of other characters, which really emphasizes one of the big themes concluding in Book 25 and tying a nice big bow on everything when all the plot threads wrap up.

I prayed for creativity for the final two books and received in abundance everything I needed for a perfect conclusion to the series. The Lord is good!

God bless!

Writing update and a note to new readers

I have a quick update on the writing and a note for any new readers picking up the ebook boxed sets of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds.

I've been plugging away on Book 23 again and it is finally coming to a conclusion. It should be less than 50,000 words, unlike 21 and 22. The length creep is read in a series. I see it in many, but I try to keep these between 40K-50K words, or half the doorstopper length of most modern novels. By SFWA standards, they are novels, but short novels. Some have gotten a bit longer, however.

I should have this finished soon, and then I'll start writing Book 24.

For those new to the series, it is planned as 25 books, so there will be one more boxed set (Collection 5) by the time it's done. Also, I write two books ahead of what I publish, except that Book 23 was taking so long that I had to interrupt the first draft to edit Book 21.

I expect to release Book 22 in the fall/winter of this year and the final three books in 2027, along with the final boxed set. Those new to the series will only have another year and a half or so to wait for the final books. The first book in the series was published originally in 2019, so you're coming in near the end and don't have the wait that those who have been with it since the beginning.

I appreciate the support of all readers, especially those who have had the patience to stick with me all these years waiting on each book.

Thank you for reading!

Back on track

That break to edit and publish Book 21 was exactly what I needed!

It has yet to fail... taking a break from writing when the gears of creativity get stuck.

Dropping the writing on Book 23 to edit Book 21 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds was exactly what I needed to get those gears grinding again. I've been back at it for the last week, and the transformation is complete. All the rewriting that was making it take forever was laying down the tracks to take it forward.

However, I was still having trouble before stepping away. Now, coming back to it after the editing and publication of Book 21 took my mind off Book 23 enough to allow me a fresh perspective. That distance allowed my mind to be able to let go of the wrong ideas and better develop what worked. The last remnants of the original opening are gone and the story has a strong opening hook. It isn't immediate action but more subdued that way, although it's coming. You can't have one of these books without lots of sci-fi action!

I can't wait to share this one--and I say that about all of them--but this answers a LOT of questions in the setup to the finale, which will be a two-parter, although in complete episodes. It's a bit hard to explain how that works, but you'll have to trust me that it will work.

I'm presently working my way to where I left off, rewriting where I need to make it all blend seamlessly, and will end Book 23 with a much stronger plot that I had originally, one that meets my standards for the series. I'm quite happy with it now, if you couldn't tell.

Once I'm done with this, I'll jump right into writing Book 24.

And I've also added a description for Book 22 to the series listing on this blog and to my website. You can check it out to see what comes next. 

Finally, I've added the latest omnibus as an ebook and am working on the paperback. (I noticed some issues with copying and pasting from Word to Pages, which is where I set up the paperback and will now be going through the first three collections in paperback to clean up any similar issues in those. 😩)

That's it for now.

(The plan is that by the end of 2027, the whole series will be published.)

Thanks for reading!

Reality is weirder than fiction...

The weirdest thing happened at church this evening. (One of the parishes in town has a 5:15 pm weekday mass that I attend.)

Two of my characters walked into real life! Raea and Elis

Okay, so they weren't exact matches, but I had to fight to keep my attention on mass when I saw this young couple who couldn’t have been older than preschoolers when I wrote the first Starfire Angels book. The young woman had long brown hair and the man had black wavy, shortish hair. He wasn’t tall and skinny like my dark angel of the books, but close enough to make me question what reality I was in.

I posted this on Substack and had a comment about my characters going to mass. That isn't much different than the Dark Angel Chronicles books, however. As I replied, "One of them does in the books too. In the series, an old Catholic widow provides a home for the young man while he’s on earth and knows his secret, and he drives her to mass and helps her like an adopted son."

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In other news, Book 21 of Forgotten Worlds is almost done! I thought it was done until I started noticing I was still making cuts, so I decided to read it one more time to make sure I don't leave any mistakes. All the major edits are done. This is the final round. I can't do more.

Within the next week, I will publish this one and get back to writing.

Thanks for reading.

God bless!

A greeting for the day

I cut up some potatoes to boil for mashed potatoes as a part of a late lunch and found this friendly greeting:

Book 21 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds is getting the hammering it deserves, so the story makes sense. I just have to resolve a small timeline glitch, or I think there's a glitch. After that, barring the discovery of any major issues, it goes into final copyedits. This weekend will be a busy one for me. I have a whole round of edits before that final round. Last night, I just started the third of (what I hope will be) four rounds of edits. As I posted yesterday, I expect it'll only be a couple more weeks before it's finished.

In the meantime, Mr. Potato says "Smile! It's Friday!" (That is a real picture, not AI or altered in anyway. I cut it just right under an eye and a bit of rot starting.)

Thanks for reading!

Update on editing Book 21

I will be starting the third round of edits on Book 21 tonight.

Why tonight and not now? I had a busy day, and I'm about to leave for a bit. I go to a weekday mass at a local church with a late afternoon/early evening mass time. It breaks up my day, but I manage. I'd rather be close to Christ than the world, and nothing could keep me from the Holy Eucharist, the Break of life aka body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, Son of God.

Anyway, I'll be diving back in for the next round of edits starting tonight, after I return from daily mass. I've ironed out a lot of issues, but there are a couple more I need to resolve. I gave myself a break after a massively busy week for work.

It is a complicated book, and I hope readers don't get lost in the flashbacks, some dated and some brief recaps from previous books. And it big time moves the plot forward from the big revelation of Book 20.

Probably just a couple of weeks to go!

Coming SOON!

Thank you for your patience!

Immersed in edits... finalizing Book 21, and other writing updates

At this point, I am immersed in the editing process of Book 21 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. I've made my first pass read-through and noted the first issues that jumped to the forefront. Now, the big edits happen. It'll take a few more passes, but it'll be refined and polished nicely before being published.

Regular readers of this blog will remember that I had a lot of trouble writing this one (although not nearly as much difficulty as writing Book 23). It's a complicated book advancing the present timeline while using flashbacks of the setup to the present timeline at key points. Because it's an interrogation, there are also a few short flashbacks from scenes in previous books and some scenes that would have happened in previous books but weren't in those books, because they were unimportant to those plots but are important to this plot.

L'Ni is a very intelligent character. As a former Inquisitor, he would have to be; along with unwavering devotion to their god, incredible intelligence and skills of perception are requirements to be chosen for the position. They're trained on interrogation techniques and how to stimulate memories to break the most disciplined mind. Hence, the drugs to loosen the victim's inhibitions and having to know exactly how to mix them for the results desired. The Issan Inquisitors have the primary task of rooting out dissidents in their own culture but also act as interrogators for any need. L'Ni had a natural aptitude for the duty and was trained in the techniques, refining those natural tendencies that made him one of the best. However, while that gives him an advantage in knowing what to expect, even he can be overcome.

Showing his planning as a way of revealing the immense acuity of his mind in using his knowledge of what would happen and how he planned his own interrogation to go the way he wants was a tricky writing test for me. The story turned out better than I expected, but it's not perfect. I did a lot of editing while writing, but it still needs a lot of work.

I have a busy month overall and this book is actually the longest, if not one of the longest, of the books in the series. I can't say it will be done by the end of the month, but I will be working to get it published sooner than later. I will also jump back and forth to writing on Book 23, but my main focus is now on editing Book 21.

In the meantime, I finally have the perfect cover for Book 22, which has been updated. The cover image is nearly exactly what I pictured in the book, and I won't have to do any updating of the description of the setting. I like that! 😊

So, while Book 21 will be published later than I wanted, it is coming soon. The good part is that it should be easier to jump into writing book 24, since I'll maintain the flow from finishing book 23. So close to the end! I can't believe this journey is nearly done. (Book 23 will answer some big questions and connect a bunch of dots from the first two books of the series. I was amazed with what came out in the writing so far and still have something more I want to include at the end.) A bit over two more books to write and the series will be complete.

At some point, I also need to format the next omnibus edition, Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds Collection 4 (Books 16-20). I'll get to that when I have time. Formatting print is an all-day, time-consuming process. Book 21 editing is my biggest priority.

Thanks for reading!