Monthly Wrap Up

May-hem of Progress

It’s been a wild month for both my writing and life. I worked around caring for a husband that got sick to the point it took antibiotics and a steroid to clear out his lungs. He’s much improved, but after a long winter and that, getting around with the yard work and flower planting proved trying. We’re down to setting up bird feeders once we have the hanging post set. We never had one before, so this will surely drive the cats nuts from the dining-room window, maybe even some from my den.

I have no book reviews for this month. I’m still chugging through a couple of books and read a few chapters as a beta reader. Later today, I plan to get further in the beta read. I’ve liked the start, though it is harder to get through because it still needs a heavy line edit.

Let’s dive into the major things accomplished and the plans for June.

The Light Series

The series has gone wide! I’ve updated the links on the book page of my website, my StoryOrigin author page, and at Books2Read. The main five places to buy are:

• Amazon

• Barnes & Noble

• Kobo

• Apple

• Smashwords

The only thing missing from all of this is getting the paperback of Council of Light wide. I am waiting for my designer to adjust the cover to the Draft2Digital template. They are not quite the same setup as Amazon’s KDP, so require a minor change. I never requested the D2D cover for it when I had them create the cover last year.

I haven’t setup buying direct from me via my website. I have a store setup there already, but it will take a bit of work to have the books setup on the backend. It’s something on the to-do list, though not the highest priority for June.

I plan to have discussions with a printer this coming week about the possibility of special edition hardcovers I would like to use in a Kickstarter. Connection with the printer was established before the holiday, but I did not have time this past week to reach out. I want to run this Kickstarter for more visibility, a way to offer the special editions, and see what fun stretch goals we can aim for, like audio.

I also need to get marketing wrapped around this going wide update. This is the part most authors hate to do because they don’t want to sound salesy. Well, how are people beyond our network to find us without throwing some ads out there, collaborating with other authors for launches and other fun things? I want people to read my stories and enjoy them enough to stick around for more. Thanks to those of you reading this that are doing just that and inspiring me to keep going. On a side note to this, searching my name on Google now is pretty much all me on the first two pages. I just haven’t grown up enough for the special info box that pops up for more famous people.

This sums up where I am at with this series and what I would like to see happen in the future. It’s amazing how much time some of this stuff takes while still trying to write, read, help other writers, and make sure hubby and the cats have some of my time. Boots slept on the desk in front of the monitor while I did the final preparations to post this on a Sunday afternoon.

Last of Dragons is the Next Novel

Per the few votes from the last monthly wrap up, 75% of you wanted me to work on this novel next. Then again, I’m not surprised since it has dragons in it and shows more of how the old magics truly waned and what happened to those dragons. Nuggets about this story were dropped in book 3, Council of Light. I’ll have a short story that goes with this novel as well.

For those that wanted the books to carry on what happens after the Light Series, I have a Scrivener project setup so I can throw notes and ideas in there when they interrupt working on Last of Dragons. This way, I’ll be able to dive into it more deeply when Last of Dragons is out to beta readers and editors through the phases of polishing it for publishing.

I have Last of Dragons about two-thirds of the way drafted. It might be more like half by the time I run through outlining what I have while reacquainting myself with it. I am planning for a 2026 launch, but not setting a month to aim for until I have the draft complete and about ready for beta readers.

Allies of Majesty Anthology

This is in the final stages, with the story I took over being the last one through the editing process. There is about half of it requiring further lore and line editing before it is sent to the publisher’s editor. At this time, it is looking like they will have the book ready for the Realm Makers Expo in mid-July.

This project has been an enjoyable challenge and I’m glad I had this opportunity to try my hand at something different. It’s far easier for my wild imagination to run off with its own ideas than to work within someone else’s world. The second story which I did not write, but was asked to massage to make it work, took a lot more work because I had to wrap my mind around the core story of the other author and do all the lore filling in to show the game action.

I can’t wait to read all the other stories in this anthology and see where my future with them leads as this is only the beginning of what they are doing.

Cyborg Claude

I had one of my craziest edits yet to get episode 17 out. I did not track the plot and characters at all while pantsering this draft so long ago. So what came up for episode 17 and 18 led to me going, “Oh my, this needs some huge decisions made.” So the second scene from Salindra’s point of view got a lot of rewriting. I think I yanked at least 600 words and went a new way with it. And that meant a few tweaks to Claude’s memory at the start of the episode. Plus, all the fun of fixing this plot disconnect allowed adding a fun tidbit that was developed for this universe after Cyborg Claude was drafted.

Pantsering is fine, but it needs a lot more work in the editing phase to sort out what is going on in the story. There will be plot holes to fill, disconnects to rewire, and extraneous expositions to cut. Cyborg Claude will take up my writing time this coming week to get a few episodes prepared.

What to Expect in June

I’m hoping to have a book review or two completed around figuring out marketing needs, determining the designer hardcovers, keeping Cyborg Claude on time, and reacquainting myself with Last of Dragons. Stay tuned for all that fun. I have way more ideas to share than I may have time on earth, but that time is totally up to God since He is the pilot of this writing adventure.