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!

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!

facepalm time...

Just when I start the first round to begin editing book 21, I get the ideas I need for continuing in book 23.

I've been going back and forth since the weekend.

Some days, my muse is confused.

I'll see how this plays out.

Also, at some point, I need to redo the cover image of Book 22.

The one thing you can be sure of with writing is that it's never boring. Agonizing. Frustrating. Even despairing. But never boring.

That's all I can say.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho. Back to work I go!

time for a change

I have decided that I need to set aside Book 23 of Forgotten Worlds where it's at (close to the end, as in right before the climax). This is tough one to write! I have been fighting it since the beginning and going back and forth. It's slowly evolved into what will be a good book. However, it's taking far too much time and I want to get book 21 out.

It's a bit like the AI tools I've been playing with to try to put together scenes for a movie-like trailer or series intro (haven't decided what style yet). I created some good clips so far, but I really need to focus on character references to create more. So, I'm working on that now and it's eating up my time. Just when I think I have a picture I like, I tweak one detail and the AI changes something else. 😫 It's coming along, but sometimes it eats up a whole day. (I have great models of L'Ni and Nik!) When that's done, I can also do a whole new character collection. AI has come a long ways since I first played with Midjourney.

So, I'm going to jump into edits for Book 21 now and get that out sooner than later. It's easier to edit than to write while I'm getting these character images as I want them. I need to take editing in pieces to keep my mind fresh while writing requires a more steady focus, so this is the best combination.

Besides that, when I publish book 21, I can go back to finish 23 and jump right into 24. That should make the transition easier... should (usually, but these final three books are a bigger challenge than anything else).

Thanks for reading.

small update

Book 23 is progressing well. I still deal with the usual hiccups of worrying about the quality, oscillating back and forth between "it stinks worse than a latrine after taco Tuesday" and "it's the holy grail of the series!"

That's normal.

And it is growing. I'm learning something new about the origins of the Feri. I knew and I've revealed enough, but I wanted to give it something more, a more complete picture. There was just speculation among Nya and her friends in Book 20 in the brief stop at the beginning of that book. This completes the picture, but I need to find the real gem hidden within it and bring that out for you.

That's all I'll say, except that the book is over 30K words now and things are about to really heat up. Also, if I encounter any more trouble in drafting this, I'll set this aside to edit and publish Book 21. That needs some major rewrites, and I'm in the right mindset in the struggle to make 23 a good story to deal with those issues. Whether I follow my usual pattern of finishing one book before publishing a previously written but next-to-be-released book or not is the only question. 😕

Thanks for reading!

ps- after writing this, I had a great writing session that gave me another breakthrough. The title ANGELS AND HERETICS is going to be perfect!

Another Book 23 update

Book 23 is very different from all the other books in the course of writing it, but it wasn't unexpected.

I anguish over every lag in a story... and then I pray and... the inspiration comes. It's similar to what happened with writing Book 19.

Often, the books that are hardest to write end up being among my best. My agonizing over turning them into stories that keep the readers' attention from beginning to end pushes me to find the right elements to do that. There's a certain sense of immediacy and question of how each story could be resolved that I work to create, along with answering questions important to the conclusion of the series.

If I'm getting bored, the readers will definitely be bored. That's how I know a certain tension is missing. The problem is figuring out how to increase it.

The ideas on this book have only trickled in a little at a time after a lot of trial and error. It's been one of my most difficult so far, which means I have been scrutinizing every detail to determine what's missing and what works or doesn't work for the story. It's been coming together in a way that's inconvenient, but each piece adds a new satisfaction in its increasing tension for the plot.

Tonight, that piece created an imminent threat of a suspected sleeper agent on a Starfire world, which gave me a whole bunch of ways to increase the dangers to the characters. 😈 The plan is now set up pretty well. This is going to be a lot of fun to write from this point on!

Thanks for reading!

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

update 12/21/25: I wrote 1600 word scene today for the end of the book and will write more this evening. That scene will need a little change by the time I write to that point, but it was a scene I couldn't wait to write, especially now that I have the rest of the story planned.

progress on Book 23

Progress on Book 23 is not the speed of progress I'd like, but I've been juggling a lot of things lately. With a new small business and my regular part-time day job (which pays the bills to start a new small business), along with my daily walking, church, and prayer time, there isn't much left. (And then I took a week off to rewrite/edit Book 1 when I finally saw it through a different lens.)

Book 23 will be a bit of a space western. I had to do it. After a high fantasy in Book 19 and a sort-of ancient Greco-Roman style in a couple of books, I settled on a western-ish setting for this, although with the usual elements of this series making it only somewhat of a western in style. I said early on that this series would have a lot of different story possibilities all rolled into one universe. I wasn't expecting this, but it works.

I'm making my time count for writing. Some days I can write 1,000 words, like today. Some days, I barely eek out a few dozen. Sometimes, I can't even think to write, but this has been the writing cycle for decades. I do what I can when I can, and I had a lot of trouble settling on the opening of this book, which set me back more than anything else. Now that I have the plot figured out, even the difficult days produce something.

I'm between a third and halfway on the first draft of Book 23; and, on the way to church yesterday (early evening mass), I had an idea for how to bring to a head a subplot of this series, a subplot I've been developing with the introduction of Alric. Most of it, you haven't seen yet--Books 21 & 22 get more into that. Having it come to fruition in Book 23 will work out well. When I get to the final battles of the series in Books 24 & 25, that subplot will kick up the emotions more fully.

I also just started reading Book 20 again. I've been reading around a chapter each time I walk on the treadmill, and the timing is always about what I need in relation to what I'm writing or plotting. Once I get through that, I'll start formatting Collection 4 (Books 16-20) for print and ebook editions.

In a perfect world, I'd be finishing up the first draft by now, but that's not happening. That's a good thing, though. When I slow down, I discover new aspects of the overall series, like realizing what needs to be brought out with Alric and the setting in Book 23.

I knew the final books of the series would be difficult. It will delay publishing the next book until February or March, and then writing the series climax begins.

Thanks for reading!

Book 23... back on track

This short break from Book 23 to fix Book 1 is proving to be exactly what I needed, along with the meditation and contemplation of a good Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

On the drive home from my regular adoration time at my local parish, the answer I needed for Book 23 came to me. I want this book to explain a key (and final) missing piece of the history of the Feri not yet revealed. Although the characters do speculate on it, the truth has some gaps that I want to fill in, and I was waiting to reach this point before providing that final piece of the puzzle.

The Lord provides when we seek Him with all our heart and are willing to surrender to His will over ours. It could only have been Him piercing the brain fog with the explanation that came to me on the drive home (and keeping it in today's otherwise fleeting memory so that I could remember to write it down) to make the story work the way I hoped. My idea wasn't working. His always works best. I gave it up to the Lord and waited for His time, ready to listen. He provided what I need to give you a great story.

Once I wrap up this rewrite of Book 1 (and register a new copyright for it), I'll jump back into Book 23. I expect to finish the rewrites by Saturday and upload the updated version. This new version is longer (now a short novel--yay!) with more depth and more consistency and less freneticism. The narrative doesn't bounce around and the characters, especially Nya, will have more depth to them.

It'll be the same story but be much smoother and easier to follow. Some of the dialogue has changed and internal narrative is more thoroughly explained. Details have been added and some pieces removed that didn't add anything but confusion. This will replace the current version.

The new version isn't a completely new story but a more developed story, and it'll be better matched to the rest of the series. When I wrote Book 1, I had a slightly different vision of the series. If you've followed me through this, you may recall some posts where I expressed surprise at new characters and unexpected situations or details (like the Book 23 situation above) that altered the original vision.

Now, while working on the homestretch of the series, I have a fully developed vision and can go back and give the first book the treatment it needs without taking away from the rest of the series. It happened in God's time, not my time. I built the series on that first book, so I can't change it completely, but I can make it a better reading experience.

Thanks for sticking this out with me one book at a time! (20 published, five more to go! This is actually 22 written and three to finish.)

God bless!

Book 1... update

Three thousand words. That's the net difference added to Book 1. It is officially a novel (40K words or more by SFWA standards). And it is much MUCH better than it was. The story is the same, but the details are much more fleshed out and consistent with the later books.

I honestly don't know what happened. I can only guess that I had such a vision for the series that I got ahead of myself with Book 1, which feel like an introduction and is probably what was going on at the time I wrote and edited this. These updates will make a huge difference in the flow of the story. It feels more meaty now and not so thin.

It also doesn't feel agitated and clunky like I had ADD in the original writing and editing. The story is still fast and there, but the details and dialogue are much smoother in transitions and characters more consistent with what they settle into in books two and three.

I will be uploading the new version this weekend, along with updating a new print omnibus of Collection 1 of these books. I'm just getting into a final pass tonight, so it'll take a couple of days to finish.

Final three... Forgotten Worlds

Last time I posted about the status of the series, I quoted Ivanova from Babylon 5. If you know the show, you know what that meant.

Today, I feel more confident in sharing news.

This third to the last book (Book 23) of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds has been a special kind of challenge. I've rewritten the first three chapters three or four times before figuring out what the setup for the latest world is.

Then, in chapter four, I got stuck again on the plot. I finally prayed for help. 

The Lord provided.

The answer came to me of what the main plot would be. I realized it's a twist I hadn't used yet in the series, and I still get to keep the initial expectation of introducing a different effect of the Starfire on making Keepers. I wanted to keep the basic idea of Nya and the others finding the final shards, and this does.

It's been a special challenge writing this book because it's the final adventure before the closing. Yes, it will be two books to close the series. The finale is going to be more than one battle. There's much more than one book can contain. And even then, I suspect the final book may be a long one.

So, to summarize, Book 23 is taking longer than expected, but it's been a bigger challenge than expected. It's at 11K words, only a quarter complete, but that's after writing a full book worth of words in all the rewrites.

I'm also rereading the previous books in the series and am up to Book 19, which has become my personal favorite so far. Once I finish rereading Book 20, I'll set up the print book for books 16-20.

That's the status of the series. It should go better now on Book 23, but we'll see. I'm at the stage of preparing to wrap up a HUGE story. I knew it would be difficult, but I am determined to finish this.

Thanks for reading.

I can't say anything

Every time I post an update on Book 23, the action crashes and I end up starting over. So, I'm not saying anything. I'm saying nothing or I'll jinx myself again.

Absolutely nothing happened in Sector 83 by 9 by 12 today. I repeat, nothing happened in Sector 83 by 9 by 12.

IFYKYK

A new start on Book 23

I was so stuck on 23 for a while, after it was getting worse since my last post about it. It was to the point of trying to swim in cured cement--not happening.

I started over. It took some stepping back, but that's what the story needed. Within two days, I had over 2,000 words on it. The last few days, I was a bit busy and writing slowed a little, but right now it's around 4,000 and a much better opening. It'll keep some elements but is much closer to what I had in mind in my original notes.

You can't force a story. It has be feel natural for the setting and characters, although it's not about feeling. The creativity is a bit of... exaggerated parts of oneself, sometimes grotesquely exaggerated as to be pretty much something else, but it all comes from within and what we've absorbed of other stories, other books, our culture, etc.

I feel much better about this opening, because the other was missing that hook or mystery and then I just couldn't give some of it enough of a reason for happening. It was forced and I could feel that too. That's why I got stuck at 10K words.

I would rather it take a bit longer to write the right book for the series than try to force myself to write words that didn't fit the pieces.

Anyway, it's moving along very well. It was a rough start the first time, but this time, it's flowing easily, like it should.

And here's the old man. He still has what I call his bracelet from the vet when he had his teeth cleaned a short while ago:

He's losing weight, but in his old age, he's sleeping a lot and not eating as much as he needs to. It's especially tough because he has to be on a super special diet or bad things happen. On the good side, he's not acting quite so odd like he has dementia. He's back to being more of himself. I'll take what I can get, because I would bet, from my experience, that he won't make it to sixteen. I'll enjoy what time we have left together.

God bless!

Happy Independence Day!

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." - 2 Corinthians 3:17

This is my single favorite Bible quote. It encompasses everything about the faith and true freedom--from sin, from corruption, from worry about this world. In the Spirit of the Lord is a true sense of freedom like nothing else you can imagine, but it requires obedience to God. The best part is that, when you love God fully, you want to obey every edict He has set-- to please Him--and all of that is upheld in the fullness of the truth. You will only find true freedom by strict obedience and humility to God.

But... Happy U.S. Independence Day! It is still a great worldly cause to be independent of corrupt governments like what America suffered under British rule when it was founded. Many of our country's founders were Christians (read this tidbit about George Washington) and even stated that our Constitution only works in a society based on faith in God. It only fails when we kick God out of society. Those who are disappointed in this country need God more than anyone, which fits perfectly with 2 Corinthians 3:17.

Writing:

In writing updates, I had some setbacks. I really need to quit posting when I get close to finishing. It never fails that something comes up and I can't get into writing the way I should. My stage of life and chronic illnesses love to pull the rug out from my plans, along with other distractions.

Writing slowed right after my last update but in a good spot. I'm at 43K words on Book 22, but the climax got a bit more complicated than I had anticipated. I also wanted to be sure no plot holes or inconsistencies existed, so that meant a bit different action than I was expecting. I'm hoping that only about three or four more scenes are left, and those will be somewhat short as events are wrapping up. Maybe this weekend I can finish so I can go on to editing Book 20 so that can be published soon.

Horse time:

If you think writing is bad, that's nothing compared to my horse. Either we have heat, smoke, or rain for weather OR the weather is perfect but I don't have the time or don't feel good. I made it out to see Buddy recently, after three weeks away. But after nearly ten years together, I called his name and his head lifted and he looked; no other horse looked. He knows the sound of my voice. That makes me think of the gospel quote of Jesus - “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" The way Buddy responds in hearing my voice, even after some time away, gives me a different perspective of what Our Lord said. That's a discussion for another time, though.

The good thing is that Buddy is at a boarding facility in a pasture with other geldings. He doesn't have any special supplement, health, or training needs. He can be a pasture pet. Besides, someone would say something if he had a problem, but he's a pretty durable, stocky guy with very little athletic ability, which is what I love best about him.

Buddy is perfect for my age. He doesn't buck or rear. At worst, he spooks, but I've learned how to minimize that risk. I give him a calming supplement first thing before I do anything else, so it has time to work into his system. I've learned that a pad that doesn't press on his withers alleviates some tension for him (by giving him more comfort). And I found a sort of horse Tums from Chewy that sooths any stomach issues like ulcers, at least temporarily. Pain will make any horse more sensitive, especially ulcers.

When I was out this past Saturday, I rode him. I hadn't ridden in about two months, but with him, it doesn't matter. He's still just as good as the last time. It had stormed the night before (quite a night with major natural fireworks show, hail, and something like 13 tornadoes that mostly hit in fields and pastures or didn't touch down; we had rotating clouds above our house, but I was praying the Rosary the whole time and nothing hit us or the boarding facility). What rain fell at the boarding facility left the outdoor arenas wet, so I rode in the grass, not going too far down the road. Buddy is most comfortable when he can see his herd or at least horses he knows, and I didn't have anyone else to ride with. It was fun and light.

Hopefully the gaps between don't go as long from this point on, but we'll see how summer goes.

That's it for now.

Have a wonderful July 4 holiday, U.S.A.!

writer's block unlocked

I was stuck, stuck, STUCK! As if I'd fallen into quicksand and was only sinking further. The more I tried to walk through it, the deeper I sank.

I could not do a thing of what I had expected... for a week! My mind was completely at a halt. And I had been doing so well with the writing on Book 22 up to that point.

A couple of days ago, I finally escaped.

I realized I needed a different POV scene. I kind of knew, but I didn't know how.

The answer only came after lots of prayer and my scheduled adoration time. I had been so completely blocked in writing that I said to the Lord (interiorly) in front of the Blessed Sacrament--paraphrasing--if you want me to write this to serve you, I need you to make it clear that it's your will, not just mine. (I know that anything promoting sin (i.e. deeply romantic or sexy scenes or gratuitous violence, occult, etc.) does not come from the Lord, so I do exercise discernment.)

He came through and showed me a glimpse at that time of the way out of the mire into which I had fallen. The next time I sat to write, the scene I needed just flowed out onto the document effortlessly, by the grace of God. It was an antagonist POV that added a layer to the story that I hadn't even considered!

Eucharistic adoration isn't where I go for writing ideas. It's where I've had wonderful encounters with Jesus, my guardian angel, and the Holy Spirit; but I'll take writing inspiration, if that's what He wants to give me. Generally, I'm there just to be with Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the Holy Eucharist exposed in a monstrance, and I pray for others; and sometimes He provides insights that completely blow me away. And when I bring a trouble like this to Him, and it's the right time, He gives me something I want.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that the 35K I have written on Book 22 is moving along again after a week of a complete block.

ps--All the rose shrubs are in; we planted the last one this morning. After a night of storms that downed tree limbs in the area (and some whole trees completely uprooted in town), two tornadoes in the east that took lives, hurricane-force winds, thousands without power in the north, etc., they're doing well and one is really leafing out already; the company cuts them down and takes off all the leaves for shipping and they're already growing. Also, I was praying my Rosary and the chaplet of St. Michael through the storm; and we had, at worst, some strong wind, but the corn will recover from that. As for the roses, we didn't kill them--yay! We'll see how they look in a month. I can't wait to see blossoms. 😊

When the time is right...

Book 22 had some delays from me stumbling to figure out some pieces of the plot, but that has been a good thing. As I'm trying to finish the reveals of some details I want in the series before the big finale, it's getting a bit more complicated to work those into the plots I wanted to use. I no longer get to make up new stuff to set as cannon as I did early in the series; although I had some established cannon from the previous series of the Starfire Angels universe, that was fairly easy to remember. In this case, it's a new setting and situation, so I was having fun discovering new worldbuilding (cultures, technologies, economic systems, etc.) and now have to worry about not breaking cannon. So, more complicated. It's not the end of the world, though.

Reading through the series has been helping (and I found a few things that required corrections). Generally, however, my system of writing two books ahead of what will be published has been a great system for avoiding issues.

Still, I occasionally deal with writer's block, which really just means the subconscious is aware of a problem that the conscious mind hasn't yet identified. Something wasn't working in this, but I didn't have the plot fully outlined. I knew what I wanted to reveal in Book 22 and a general situation idea, but wasn't sure how that was going to happen. So, writer's block set in. I wasn't totally not writing, but it was slow, and had me tweaking what I had written, until things started to take shape. The last few days, the writing has been taking off again as ideas have been coming. The big issues was that I had to let go of thinking things had to be one way in order to let them go the way they needed to go.

Writer's block isn't bad if you give yourself time to analyze the situation in the story and see it from a new angle. My stumbling around a bit on this gave the right idea a chance to come out when the time was right. Instead of forcing a square peg in a round hole, the square peg gets reshaped to fit into the round hole.

The word count on Book 22 is at 16K, or a bit over a third of my final goal. I'm behind where I'd like to be, but I won't force the word count on a bad idea.

Thanks for reading and for your patience!

More tension... never let a plot sputter

A good start to the story always has strong tension.

I would define tension in a story as words or actions that create an expectation that something will happen. It produces in the audience the need to know what comes next. It comes in different levels with multiple issues throughout a book.

This past week, book 22's opening was holding me up from writing past a certain point because it needed more tension. I had some tension in the story that started great but quickly faded so it wasn't enough for my expectations.

This is why in some of the books of Forgotten Worlds I start at a pre-climactic point and then go back (or back and forth) in the timeline to (usually a slow point) where the decision was made to start the characters down the path that led to that point, then the story reaches that opening scene and continues into the climax and denouement. In those cases, such story structures create two questions--how did this happen and how will the characters resolve it? This creates a strong tension immediately where it wouldn't have existed in a linear timeline. This can be confusing for the reader, but if done right works very well (such as adding a time stamp at each new scene or break so the audience knows where in the story the scene takes place).

This technique is a bit different than simple flashbacks. It incorporates flashbacks heavily but focuses on an earlier timeline to bring the story from a quiet beginning into the conflict of the present timeline. It is a true in media res start to a story; but to understand the progress, the audience needs to know the backstory to that point too and gets it in pieces as flashbacks at key points in the present timeline. I've liked it in many SF shows and sought to use it in writing some of these books. I don't like to use it all the time, or it loses its luster and becomes a crutch instead of a novelty; but I have used it in a handful of the books. (I'm expecting that Book 21 is the last book in this series to use that structure, and that one is all over the place, because it uses scenes from previous books in the series amid the structure of flashbacks explaining how L'Ni designed his plan.)

Most of the Forgotten Worlds stories have linear, normal flowing plots that open at the true beginning with some degree of flashbacks that aren't directly in the timeline of that particular story plot or other sequences (from the Starfire memories, a different type of flashback). In these stories, I need more standard writing techniques. That means a way to get reader's attention. Not every story needs to begin with a big conflict or risk of death. That gets to be too cliche. My goal is to keep the series moving while having some fun with the characters in any way I can but to introduce tension as early as I can.

By this point in the series, the readers know my style and the characters and series plot. I decided I could let my hair down a bit with the opening of Book 22... or it seems that way. I had some fun with the conflict that comes into play and the setup for the story. It creates tension, just not the life or death type that I have in many of the book openings. I hate slow stories, but other pieces of the lives of the character than fighting the bad guys all the time have developed.

The problem I had with the first few chapters was that the tension wasn't adequate for my tastes. It sputtered out. The rule I discovered in reading SF thriller books was to never let the reader completely rest on the down beats of the action. There must always be an unanswered question such as "Will it work?", "How will the characters resolve this?", "What did they mean by that?", and/or "Did that really happen?!" Always keep something unanswered and layer those so the reader is always hanging until the end.

In the opening of Book 22, events are misleadingly normal. However, by this point readers can expect in the series that what seems like a normal event won't stay that way for long. The interactions of the characters are fun and, as I mentioned in the last writing post, opened a big door for character development. But when that sputtered a bit, I felt it. It nagged at me.

This past week, I found an answer. I started rewriting a couple of scenes to bring in more conflict to increase the tension but then realized how much I would lose of the good stuff I wanted to keep. So, I moved the new conflict to a different point and added a bit to the older scene, all to increase the opening tension until I get into the big stuff, which is the only way to describe it without giving anything away. Now I feel like I have something to move the story forward again; the writing block is resolved. (This happens frequently while writing and at different stages of every book, but this time, it inspired an explanation using this particular point as an example of resolving the issue.)

Through all the writing and rewriting and organizing, the word count didn't increase as much as I would have liked, but after all of that, Book 22 is at about 11K words, or about a quarter done. I don't have a title for this one yet and probably won't until it's done. I'm waiting to see how the main theme plays out. Every book in the series gives me a few surprises.

Thanks for reading!

Not what I expected

This manuscript is really making me work to fine-tune it. I knew it was rough, but I didn't imagine it would need this much work!

Part of the delay was trying some ideas that didn't work for certain points of the subplots, so I had to change some things back. In other aspects, the smaller plot holes revealed themselves from behind the curtain that was pulled away during previous big edits. I feel like this will never end. The problem is that it's improved so much that it makes me wonder what else I'm missing. I hate that feeling.

I'm midway through round four of edits, and Book 19 is finally having the fat trimmed. I'm at the point of being ready to be done, but these changes are more than a few words here there as I had expected at this point. Unfortunately, it's still in the stage of major trimming. Copyedits will require one more round.

Help! I feel like I'm stuck in editing Groundhog Day!

All the King's Men - editing update

After the first pass of Book 19 for review, I'm into major edits in the second pass. As a result, I have completely rearranged some scenes in the first few chapters. I kept getting to chapter 2 and thinking that would make a better opening, but there were aspects of chapter 1 that I really wanted to keep.

In starting my second pass, where the real editing begins, the answer came to me. I figured out where certain parts of chapter 1 should be moved to keep the focus on the book's specific main characters and the series characters for certain subplots to keep their points later in the story. Without giving anything away, that's the most I can reveal.

I also had to change a description of an area a bit, since this is in a castle, but I didn't want to have to rewrite too much. It had to give the impression of being a sort of vanity area for the lord of the castle as a grander palace might have yet be practical for the space. It's a small scene and passes in a page, but what I had originally was bothering me, since Miram Castle is a fortress against attack... and not just by other lords and their armies. That actually took a while to figure out after a couple of iterations of redesign and describing it.

It could happen again, but with these big changes, the worst I foresee is making sure everything still flows and that the story structure remains as it was, because overall, it's a good story. I like the subplots but don't want to make certain aspects too big that they take away from the main plot but, rather, intertwine organically.

This is the book that has a bit of GoT type underpinnings while serving the series purpose. It was fun to write and is as much fun to return to editing. I enjoy every book of the series, and the breaks between the original writing and the editing for publishing give them a freshness I especially enjoy. I also wanted to write a book on a cold, snowy world; and with this, I compromised with a winter season. How appropriate to be returning to this after one of the harshest winters in real life that I can remember. It puts the editing in a more accurate perspective for the setting. Since I live on the northern plains, I know winter!

This is also the book that I said has a horse like one I knew in real life growing up. Quint was mean! (And he was gelded--I can't imagine if he had been a stud!) I used that in this book, along with the name and his description.

Because of real life interruptions and reviewing these major changes, I will have to push back ALL THE KING'S MEN to a mid-March release timeframe. It's not much later than I had expected, and I appreciate your patience. I have a lot to manage in my life and writing doesn't always take center stage.

Thanks for reading!

divine guidance and writing

dreamstime image

I've had one of the nastiest colds of the last two years this past week. For a few days, I didn't get much of anything done. I was mostly resting and coughing. I'm still coughing, but I think I'm on the tail end of this after it started with a sore throat on Tuesday. I took off the rest of the week from the day job to rest, but the cold has persisted. Today, I have more energy and am coughing less, but there's still lots of crud draining down my throat from the sinuses. (Like you needed to know that.)

I'm hoping for a good night's sleep tonight and to be ready to get back to the day job tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I've had to sleep on the recliner loveseat to be partly sitting up the last few nights because of the crud. I couldn't lay flat in bed or the coughing fits were worse.

While I've been sick, I've been surprised at the ideas flowing for writing when I wasn't resting, considering how fuzzy my head has been from the fatigue. I actually had some good writing, but this weekend I realized something wasn't right about what I had written. I've mentioned that I've also been putting in reading time of the series that's already written and published, but I had set that aside to recover from being sick. And as my devotion to my faith has grown, I've been offering my work to Our Lord in my morning prayers and throughout the day. This afternoon, I had a sudden prompt like I was being told to read, just read (my previous books). It was a strong push against my plans, because I thought I should be writing; but I listened, and not a whole page into reading from where I had left off, something I read struck me with what applied to a small issue in the current WIP (Book 20). I realized what I needed to do, fixed the issue, and was able to move the story forward again.

The prompt to read faded after that, but I know I should get back to that more fully. My focus is on finishing the first draft of Book 20, but I need to make time for reading The Rule of Yonder also. (I finished A New Beginning and uploaded a minorly updated version for the ebook already.) I need to finish reading what I had written in that first introduction of Zaer and Shen for Book 20.

And on that note, Book 20 is up to nearly 33,000 words and things are looking pretty dire for the characters. It'll be interesting to see how they get out of this situation.

Thanks for reading!

Naming characters

Naming characters is always a bit of a challenge. I try to derive from real nationalities that fit the culture of the characters. However, I do make some changes and set up rules.

In the Starfire Angels universe, there are some rules I established when it came to cultures. For instance, Inari names do kind of have a mash between Japanese and biblical names. There's also a general ending of male names of -is, although that's not a rule, just a general style. Their names are also backwards ordered from western names, which the Ethalians copy--familial name then individual name, or what we would consider last-name first-name order. They also are a matriarchal culture, so the mother's familial name is assigned to children.

For other fictional cultures, I used different styles. Since Feri don't use hard consonants (c/k, q, t) their language is softer in some ways, but I wanted it to be a language of beauty, an irony for their warrior and cultish religious discipline. Their name order is another that's unique, a first-name middle-name [of] father-name [and from] mother-name at their fullest. You'll see this in Book 13, SOUL SHADOW, when L'Ni is identified by his full name in his memories.

And sometimes, I name things after real life. The name Zaer was inspired by a real last name I saw and I thought that had just the right sound for the character. 

And in an upcoming book - ALL THE KING'S MEN - I have a horse named after a real horse I knew.

Red (aka Blood) bay horse - red body
with black mane & tail, ear tips, &
lower legs, often the muzzle too. 
(ID 28896658 © Virgonira
- Dreamstime.com)

In this case, the character is an animal and I didn't hesitate to make him identical to the real life namesake. In the case of the horse in the story, Quint was the real name of a Quarter Horse ridden by the men in my stepfamily when I was a kid. Quint was the meanest gelding I ever knew and I kept my distance from him. He would only respect men, until he was a senior and slowed down. He was cowy through and through, though, which means he could turn any cow and went after them like the devil he was.

In the story, the fictional Quint has very little page time but has a big presence like his namesake. I made him a red (blood) bay like his namesake too and just as mean, but a stallion instead of a gelding (the real Quint was a gelding and still as mean as any stallion might be). The fictional horse, however, has a touch of intelligence such as I've seen on some horses who can seem nuts but turn docile when a particular situation requires it. I once had a half-Arabian that did this--completely forward and ready to go for me but absolutely deadhead on a loose rein when a child rode him.

As a horseperson, it was fun for me to feature an equine minor character, and it kind of made up for being chased by that mean gelding I grew up fearing.

The horse in the story has a small part, but he became a big personality within the story and gets to kick some Issan in armor. And the reason there are horses on a planet in another galaxy is explained in the series--transplanted from Earth like the humans, same as the Ethalians.

Now, I just need to write the description for ALL THE KING'S MEN. In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to share some of the background on it.

Thanks for reading!