Update #10: Christmas

Merry Christmas y'all!

It's been a bit, once again.

But things have happened, work is getting done. My personal life is going well right now, so I'm getting time in to write and edit.

Origins II is the next book slated to release, and it's been sent off to an editor. Actually, a friend of mine. I'm excited to see the work she'll get done, and I'm currently planning on a late January release date. I'll have to make updates as we get closer. (Editing isn't the only piece of the publishing process, last time I messed up the cover art by comissioning it too early. Won't do that this time, though I'll try to stick with the same artist from og Origins.)

With Origins II onto the next stage, that means I can turn my attention ahead. 2025 turned into a strange year for writing. I got less done than I thought, but learned a lot t`hat should make my writing better in 2026+

My sights are now set on 2026. I have a 1 year plan in my head. Time to explain...

I plan to release 3 books again in 2026, Origins II, Foundations II, and their cross-over sequel Heroes. (Not sure if I've mentioned that before. Exciting news!)

Additionally, I plan to start working on the book after Heroes. Hopefully I'll go the tradtional publishing route with that one. (I can share more details later.)

2026 will be a packed year. But better to plan big and miss the mark slightly than to do the opposite and plan too small. I gave myself grace in 2025, but 2026 needs to be successful and productive. I wouldn't be thinking this way now if not for 2025 though, so I'm thankful for it.

With all this in mind, I've started work on Foundations II. It was originally published online with all the other content, but I'm handling it a different way. The first Foundations, I more or less took what I had online and reformated and edited a little. That wasn't enough. As such I believe the books suffers because of it. I hope to explore the idea of a Foundations rerelease in the future with better details, but the same story and characters.

Foundations II will be my focus for a little while going forward, at least until I get Origins II back. Then I'll dive into it for another two weeks or so before publication. Foundations II is starting pre-production however, and it's my new baby.

I've started on the prologue, but that's going to be a labor of love. The prologue is important in this book, as it's a sort of short-story in its own. The details can be ironed out as I readjust to Ai's story and how to write Foundations. Otherwise, I'm making some format changes here. Shorter, but focused chapters. I read a few series this year from other authors and got inspired on great storytelling. My future books wont feel too different, but they'll take a step up in quality. Origins II already has a bit of this in it, toward the end. You shouldn't notice any shift, just better explainations.

Now, to comment on Origins II. It's a bit of a strange book compare to my others. It's purpose isn't to drive the overarching Ngash narrative forward, but to push the Origins storyline along. As such, there's not too many grand reveals, but that's my personal opinion. I already know everything I can about my world, the info revealed here isn't shocking to me. But it's a great story all the same, just more "small-scale".

Foundations II will shape itself as I write it anew. I think my personal complaints about Origins II wont appear again here. I should restate though, Origins II is a great book, just different than the others. I'm excited to see other people's opinions on it.

That's the 2025 end update. I'll see you all again sometime in 2026!

Have a blessed Christmas and New Years!