This Progress Report is mostly about my Wolves, and I thought this image from Valheim fits perfectly. You see, it’s from a cave in the Mountains, where people worship wolves and have learned to turn into a kind of werewolf.
But first things first.
Writing Progress Report
You already know that I pivoted back to the Wolves in my writing. Words are still not flowing as quickly as I want them to, but I am making progress.
I’m also getting two stories ready for publication that have been sitting on my hard drive for much too long. Maybe getting those out will inspire me to write the next book in that series, as well. More about that below.
Wolves Progress Report
First of all, A Wolf’s Hacker is now out in all stores (aka Amazon, Google Play Store, Apple, Kobo, Tolino and many more). Funny enough, this is the first ebook I actually had to hack in order to make the formatting better. (Yes, I’ll write a blog post about it soon.)
I can’t believe that there are eight books in the series now, and that I’m actually writing Book 9. It is almost half done, and things are doing to get intense very soon. Poor characters will get mangled, of course. I am quite excited about this! (You couldn’t tell, right?)
Do you think I should make a bundle or two?
(Learn all about my Wolves at the series page: Wolves of the South)
Winds & Pillars Progress Report
Not much going on with writing them right now – but there is great news, after all!
I am having a map made for the series.
That’s right. My wonderful Finish friend who runs Hiisikolo Art is working on a hand-drawn fantasy map of the continent where the stories are taking place. I’ve seen the preview – worked on it live with them – and I can already say it’ll be great.
They took a rough draft I made in Wonderdraft years ago (and that I abandoned eventually) as base and then filled in the missing parts the way I wanted. So what you see is something I dreamed up and they put into a shape that’ll actually work for the books. Yes, they are amazing and utterly awesome to work with.
Can’t wait to share the final result!
And I promise I’ll write Moon Rises soon.
Terragon Progress Report
This is a new one – the new series I mentioned above (not truly new, but new to you). I finally want to publish it, after it has been sitting on my hard drive for literally years. But as a friend reminded me (again), it’s very difficult for a book lounging about on a hard drive to earn any royalties for me.
Thing is, I had covers for both the Prequel and Book 1. One was a gift, one was actually a purchase of a pre-made that inspired the whole series. When I first started thinking of publishing them last year, I tried to contact the designers to get the covers finalized, since it had been a while.
Neither responded.
I will admit that it took me some time to reach the point of letting go of those existing covers and considering doing something else. Both covers weren’t a good fit anymore, either, nor did they have any branding. The same friend suggested making covers of my own, and since he and another friend (who chimed in) assured me they’d help with the design, I started tossing ideas around in my mind.
Long story short, after a false start that involve spending hours on Depositphotos, as well as a lot of flailing and agonizing, I ended up creating a symbol cover image in Canva and added the fontwork in GIMP. (That’s where I have my brand font.)
The Prequel is edited and ready to be formatted, and I plan to release it in February, in time for the next Progress Report. Have a sneak preview of the cover!
Also, Book 1 in the series just needs a few tweaks. I have a cover already, and I hope to be able to release it in March. Lots of books coming from me this year!
AO3 Progress Report
At the moment, I’m only updating the Twin Worlds story. I ran out of material for the Spicy Shifters, and while I know how the story will progress, I haven’t had the energy to write a new chapter. Same goes for the Valheim fic.
Alas.
If you want more of either story, let me know. I need your help to find motivation – and you’d do me an immense favor.
Valheim Progress Report
Just yesterday, my friend and I had some epic adventures in our world – both fun and tragic.
In fact, we ended up having a bit of a problem, with friend getting killed and our portal getting destroyed before I could reach him. We also have a solution, and I hope we can get his stuff back in our next session.
I’m also having fun with my Twinks again (which are mostly at the Mountain level right now). They are exploring, trying to prepare for the big boss fight there. I love that part of the game, filling in the map, discovering new places (and yeah, taking pics). Valheim can be very scenic, after all.
Most of all, however, it’s saving my sanity. And that is a big thing in this world right now.
Life Progress report
I’m worried. I think all of you will understand that. We’re looking at systems collapse and not in a good way, either. And I do not like dystopian books or timelines. Really do not like.
So I’m trying to focus on the good, on finding friends, on building connections – and on no longer supporting the bad guys. Which means I’ll be leaving Facebook. I already killed my Instagram, I never used WhatsApp, and well, Xitter is also a thing of the past.
I just installed a bridge from Mastodon to Bluesky, if you want to look me up there. Search for Firlefanz and the horsie avatar will show you the right one, on either site.
If you want to join Mastodon, let me know. I’ll gladly help you pick a server and teach you how to use the interface. It’s a great place, even better than Twitter used to be. The fediverse is vast, full of great people and awesome opportunities.
Ember Progress Report Newsletter
Once again, I’m inviting you to sign up to my monthly newsletter.
You’ll get all the news about my writing and new books (never miss a release!), I’m offering special sales for my own online store (yes, you can buy directly from me), and of course, there is the Ember Tale that you won’t find anywhere else.
Ember is my little dragon familiar, in case you didn’t know.
I’m in the process of shifting newsletter systems, but never fear – I’ll take your subscription with me, so service won’t be interrupted.
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