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I read Fourth Wing recently. Yarros is talented. I also read pieces of three other books: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Souless, and Name of the Wind. There’s nothing like reading popular published books to humble oneself. I have to admit, when comparing my drafts against the text in these novels, I’m overwhelmed. Even sad. I seriously wonder why I’m writing. Is my stuff terrible? Cringy? Boring? Confusing? Doubt and fear are my greatest foes.

The last few days were especially bad. But I wrote again today. I’m on the second-to-last chapter of my rewrites. After the epilogue I can shift into full editing mode. Add some neat diagrams and pictures. Take a break from the intensity of conjuring a story from nothing.

Lifting me a bit out of my mental strife, a beautiful event happened today in the United States. Aid for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific passed in the House. It will surely pass in the Senate and be signed by President Biden. This will save countless lives and hopefully begins the end of Russia’s unprovoked invasion. Deterence is better than war. But ending a war is better than a conflict dragging on, or Russia occupying all of Ukraine and committing endless war crimes. And this hopefully deters China from invading Taiwan.

For you reader, I wish only happiness and peace in your life. Success and prosperity.

– Jeff

I’m in the final stretch of revisions as I attempt to get my draft into an alpha quality state. At least the plot makes sense now, and the main characters have a more compelling journey. This process over the last six months has made my respect and admiration of full-time authors soar. Carving a story from nothing is the most mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done.

I’ve learned much about myself and others writing this first book. My writing classes and Brandon Sanderson’s online lectures have been super helpful. A few people have dared venture into this early text and I want to express my sincere gratitude for them taking time out of their busy schedules to give me feedback. I am still looking for alpha readers, and soon beta readers, so if you are interested, send an email to [email protected].

May joy and peace fill your life.

This little sweetheart is our adopted pup from the shelter. We’ve had her over a year now. Whenever soft things are near, you will often find her laying on them, content as can be.

I hope this image of our dog brought a smile to your day. It certainly did to mine 🙂

Anastasiia made a second book cover. This one is a great action shot of chapter one’s ending. I’ve dreamed of visualizing this scene since I wrote it four months ago. Saffa brings the pain to this wraith in glorious fashion.

I’m taking a writing class! I’ve learned a ton, and realize some of my patterns, structure, and prose need fixing, along with plot design.

I’m pleased to report I’m 2/3 through the book reworking plot and characters to be more inline with compelling stories. I hope to have the remainder done in the next few months.

Afterwards, I’ll be doing an in-depth pass to cleanup my writing, before finding two alpha readers.