I have completed my last read-through of Vhan, and am now doing my last final quick edit before going to beta readers, putting in the corrections that I noted, and throwing in a scattering of hints and changes that will tie it together with the (now planned) prequel. I expect to be done, with luck, before the middle of May. Honestly, I don’t think it will take even that long.

Again, if you have any interest in being a beta reader for Vhantalya, please email me at Melaradark@gmail.com with the subject ‘Vhan Beta Read’. I have beta readers lined up for Scarlett but only one or two for Vhan. I would like four, if possible, so there are a couple of slots available for anyone who feels they have the time, desire, or energy to read it cover to cover and answer a few questions.

Thank you!

Hello everyone! Writing is ticking along steadily if not as profusely as I would like. I’m deep into editing on Vhantalya now, including some fleshing out of some scenes and characters. I am very on track to getting its editing finished and to beta readers hopefully by end of February, or end of March at the latest.

I’m also well on track to getting the first draft and edit of Reboot finished and to beta readers’ come June. I will begin my rewrite of Scarlett, and expect to begin my official search for an agent/trad publisher, at that time.

In the meantime, I have created a comprehensive project list and timeline that I will be putting up here shortly on this website. I currently have 38 solid projects in various states of completion and there are a couple beyond even that, that haven’t yet made the ‘official’ list for reasons. Obviously I cannot do one of these a year so my goal is to get at least three done per year. At a certain point, if I have not been able to secure an agent or had luck with traditional publishing, I will switch once again to a self-publishing avenue.

The main page will still only contain the three works expected to be finished in a given year, but you’ll have more of an idea of what is to come!

Hello everyone! Yes, I’m still alive and still working diligently on my projects. I realized while editing Vhantalya that the story was only about a hundred and sixty pages, and as I want it to be a novel and not a novella or short story, I have been adding in new scenes that will set up and tie in the sequels a bit more, and expanding some scenes a bit more realistically. As well, I am delving into the characters, their histories, and their development in a far more rich way.

My plan is to still have this ready for beta readers by summer, along with Reboot. After the holidays, my writing time and ability should be taking off a bit more. I am also working on the cover art for Vhantalya so expect to see that posted up in the next day or two.

For those who follow my Facebook page, you might notice that I have posted up some Wombo art. For those unfamiliar with Wombo, it takes a set of words and paints a unique image via AI based on those keywords and different art styles. I won’t be posting the Wombo art here, but on the page I have taken certain scenes I am currently in the middle of writing and used key words from those scenes to create a ‘dream art’ of what I am working on. I have also cut and pasted the part of the scene that inspired said art. It’s kind of both a teaser and a metric of what I am working on in particular at that time.

That’s it for now! I just wanted to say Happy Holidays and a grand New Year to all!

Back up your work! Right now. Do it. Back it up. Preferably to a thousand different places. Whatever it is.

So I haven’t posted any updates in a little bit and here is why.

Despite the fact that I know better – I really really KNOW better- I didn’t have Scarlett backed up to anything other than an old USB drive I’ve been using for a donkey’s age. Everything else? Backed up elsewhere. Scarlett? Nope.

Well, the USB crapped itself. After working for an entire day with various recovery software, and then even shipping it to a professional recovery service with a stellar reputation – second only to actual law enforcement forensic data recoveries – it’s gone. A year and a half of writing, 90,000 words, over 200 pages. Just gone.

There’s no getting it back.

BACK UP YOUR WORK RIGHT NOW! Even if you know better. Even if you usually do.

For now, clearly Scarlett will not be done by end of year. I’m pretty much stuck starting from scratch. So I have pushed Scarlett back to the end of NEXT year, and for now will instead be focusing on Vhantalya’s rewrite/final edits, and getting Reboot finished. I’m still aiming for summer on both of those. More specific dates will be upcoming as I know them.

That’s all for now.

I’m seeing an eggnog and fireball in my future.