This past week to now has included quite a few little milestones with Realm of Chaos! Foremost, in the past week, I have finished a chapter and written three whole chapters, totaling over 15,000 words! My highest amount was 7,000 in a single day—way more than I’ve previously been able to write. I made full use of my new writing sanctuary, sitting with a schedule and sticking to it.
So, after months of being stuck on a single chapter, petrified of disappointing the readers to the point of not writing anything at all, I wrote three full chapters in under a week! Additionally, by the end of Chapter 12 yesterday, I’d hit 150 manuscript pages and over 50,000 words!
Chapter 12 (working title “Harsh Lessons”) is one I’ve been anticipating since my initial blocking of RoC. This is the great turning point for some of the characters, and events in this chapter form the foundation for the first standalone I have planned in the Tales of Ambergrove—which in itself holds the birth of a new race, a new way of life, and a great change in the world. Without this, another destiny wouldn’t be realized. However, it is also dark. The darkest moment these characters may face—and that’s including the Ranger trial’s required loss.
It’s also a turning point within RoC, and I do believe that the rest of the chapters will go fairly smoothly from here on out. There’s definitely a lot of revision in my future, but the biggest hurdle is the first draft, and I’m expecting that to be completed by the end of next month. Then, we’ll be down to editing, revisions, and the completion of the cover. Sadly, no new updates on the cover front. The cover artist had some unforeseen obstacles and has been unable to work on the cover in over a month, but she’s hoping to get back to it soon. She didn’t start on the Ranger’s Odyssey cover until May of last year, and it was completed on time, so I’m not worried. Though I am really impatient to be able to see the characters come to life!
Speaking of completing on time, today marks just 200 days until Realm of Chaos goes to the publisher! 5 months still seems so far away, but, man, is it just around the corner! Soon, those of you who enjoyed Ranger’s Odyssey will be able to follow Mara in the second installment of her journey. My helper’s permanent reaction to my excitement while writing (and waking her from her slumber) is a fitting reaction for this as well:
So, here we are. Just a few months away. Again, I do want to give the final (or perhaps next-to-final) reminder about the Terrible Typos Tournament. This giveaway closes in about 6 weeks, so be sure to submit your entry if you plan to do so. The deadline will not be extended due to lack of participation. At this time, there is a single entrant, and this person will win a free hardback copy of Realm of Chaos by default if there are no additional entries. As a refresher, the initially posted rules:
I’ll be taking a short break this week from RoC, because my birthday is coming up and I have a few little things I’d like to do, but I’ll be back to work by the weekend. My writing sanctuary has really made a huge difference in my writing, and I’m seeing real results because of it. The ability to work on a TV screen has solved regular irritation of a chronic neck problem while also being gentle on my eyes after working at a computer all day. Additionally, no matter how hard they try to distract me, the flexibility of this setup thwarts even the princess’s most invasive attention seeking.
I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made the past week, and I’m so excited to be this much closer to bringing you Realm of Chaos!
Until next time, adventurers!
Tales of Ambergrove 