Happy 3 Year Anniversary! + A Big Decision

Yesterday, this little project of mine turned 3 years old!  It felt like a good time to pop in and let everyone now that this project is NOT DEAD.  The Uncrucified has been waylaid once more by my other responsibilities (haaa I just finished running like 4 Kickstarters in a row) with an extra layer of pandemic craziness that seems to be slowing down every facet of my life as an independent artist.

The Uncrucified has always been in the back of my mind, however!  I've been brewing on it and thinking where I want to go and I've made a BIG decision.

I want to publish this story via the official Storyteller's Vault!  And not just the story, but also I'd like to create bundles that include the audiobook, homebrew locales, character sheets, items, etc. inspired by this story.  I'm so excited by the prospect of having an excuse to draw even more art for this little world within a world I've been putting together here!

My goal now is to really make this story as polished it can be!  I hope to carve out more time to write now that life is slowing down again.  I'm also already in talks with a possible editor to help me make this story the best it can be and other folks who love this project who might lend me a hand with creating stat sheets and the like.

I've also been pondering on launching an Uncrucified-themed Patreon to help me be able to focus on this ambitious endeavor, but that's still a long ways off and I'll need to think about how it might be structured, if it would be worth the extra effort to upkeep, etc.  What would you guys like as rewards if I ever did make a Patreon specifically for this project?

So hang in there, dear readers!  This project will rise again.  I'm so excited to begin with renewed vigor and new focus!

Plan of Action + Kalara Fan Art

I’ve been quiet again here while I’ve been involved in yet another round of Kickstarters for my art business and a most needed vacation!  First off, I really want to thank everyone who went through the beta draft of the first arc of this story.  You’ve all provided such useful feedback and a great barometer of what I’m trying to accomplish with this undertaking!  I wanted to let you know I'm so very grateful and also where I intend to go from here.

Feedback Summary

The most important bit of feedback I got from nearly all of you was that the beginning of this story was very difficult to engage with in the very beginning. In truth, the beginning of this story was the most difficult part to write and I fear it shows!  I hadn't quite settled on a POV, if I wanted there to be a glimpse of Future Solar Kalara making observations (a holdover from the pre-Alpha draft written in a 1st person memoir format) or if any other Powers That Be should be mentioned.  The result was something rough that needs a fair amount of polish to shine!

Also, it seemed most readers weren’t opposed to the concept of Auntie Niyan, but so much of the beginning was paraphrased to rush us along to meeting Djali that it felt like a lot of exposition rather than something compelling enough to hook people into the beginning of this story.  During my time away, I've also been pondering on how I can fix this.

How to fix this?  The plan so far:

More of Kalara’s time in Auntie’s household - I want to expand on this time and immerse readers immediately into this household and into Kalara’s experience there.  Auntie was the one who taught Kalara the Immaculate Faith, about clever shrewdness, and eventually about deception.  Every master Kalara ever had in her lifetime taught her a skill she would utilize or respect later in life and it only feels proper for Auntie to have taught her something as well.

Prelude to Asha’s Fate - It probably shows that I invented the character Asha on a whim to show a dark mirror of what Kalara’s fate could’ve been if she were bought by the wrong person.  Why not show how she and Kalara bonded earlier before Auntie’s betrayal? Auntie grooming the children for nefarious purposes and Asha’s eventual sale could be what tips Kalara off to Auntie’s duplicitous nature.

What next?

The Beta draft continues! - Instead of making you guys endure yet another rewrite/expansion of the beginning of this story, I’m going to forge ahead and worry about writing it later.  I realized that instead of going back to add in Gem as I have, I’m cutting off opportunities for me to forge ahead and realize the flaws in my story structure that only hindsight can grant me.

So upwards and onwards!  Adding the expanded chapters for Gem was a good foundation to build on, but I’m going to leave adding more expansion and improvements for the final rough draft before the FINAL FINAL version of this story, which will also be posted here for your perusal when it's ready for the feedback phase!

I'll be completely rewriting Kalara's journey through the desert and her time in Chiaroscuro from the Alpha draft and continuing on into the next parts of this story that have never been expanded on from that original memoir before (IE. her time with Ahrun, in the Guild Academy, etc).

I was writing Alpha and Beta versions of this story in arcs instead of the full and complete story and now I think it would be best if I just barrel through one single Alpha draft including all arcs so that the future events can inform the past events, since that circularity has already happened to me when spontaneous character creation (a la Djali) led to the need to expand upon past events.

Prepping for Chiaroscuro - Before I wrote Gem, it helped immensely for me to create a Visual Guide for that location.  Making this guide helped me get a better sense of how I wanted to visualize the location and all the tiny little world-building details I might not have thought of without studying the source material and laying down some basics.  I want to do the same for the Glittering Desert and Chiaroscuro before I continue writing, which means I’ll be combing through all the reference material I’ve been collecting over the years and making another visual guide like I did for Gem.

So bear with me, folks!  Progress is always slow here because of my day job as an artist that tends to take up all my creative energy, but I haven’t given up on this endeavor yet.  I’m determined to make this story happen!

LET’S DO THIS!

For making it to the end of this post, here’s a treat for you!  Behold this adorable fan art of Kalara by Samantha Seaman.

“Oh did you think I didn’t notice those disreputable dealings? Sorry, darling, but you’ve been outbid! If you have bad luck settling paperwork for unknown reasons for the next 5 centuries, you know who to thank.”

Life Signs & Thoughts on Narrative Framing

So I took a break from writing more on the beta draft of The Uncrucified so I could have some time away from the words for awhile.

Time away turned into a hectic holiday season, vacation, and months since I last posted any chapters!  Sorry about that, but it was very hard to steal away any time to appease my writing muse after some very late work nights.

It's 2018 now and that means I want to re-dedicate myself to writing more!  This story has been a great way to stretch my legs and dust of those skills I haven't used since college when I was writing edgy poetry and Milton analysis for my English degree.

As for where we're going from here?  So far, the few folks who have made it through the new beta stuff have reacted positively to the new scenes and my writing style.  But as a writer, I have to admit I feel something is missing from this story.  Perhaps its urgency?  The way her story is structured is very linear and chronological right now.

This happens, then this, then this.  Unlike Kalara's original memoir that is written in the framework of her future badass self reflecting on her former self, this story reads like a calendar.

After thinking long and hard about this, I realized the problem might be that so much of what's awesome about Kalara happens later on in her life.  She's a gunslinging badass king of thieves with superpowers!  But we're just not there yet.

Kalara's early years interest me because there's poetry in the fact she isn't this amazing badass yet, that everything she ever chose to do in her life led up to this moment where she was given the power to unlock that potential lurking within herself to punch gods in the face and well and truly change the world the way she had always striven to do.

Surely there's a way to combine the two?  The longer I've thought about this, the longer I realize it would be amazing to bring that original framework back in to have Kalara's future self reflecting on moments from her past relevant to what adventures she might be having as a fledgling Solar struggling with her newfound powers and establishing her new Guild.  Non-linearity would allow for such wonderful potential with deeper suspense and the ability to bring more layers of meaning to the various moments of importance in her life.

lol so I guess this means I'm due for YET ANOTHER rewrite!  What would you even call that?  A Charlie draft? 

For now, however, I'm just going to keep writing this draft chronologically and exploring in long form all the little emotions and events that led up to Kalara's current self.  I can always cut bits of it into a rewrite later.  Writing what I have now has been a great exercise and valuable exploration of her character!  Plus, I wouldn't have discovered some of the fun spontaneous gems like Djali if I hadn't gone back and expanded.

So here's to more writing in 2018!  Let's keep this thing going!

Guest Art Feature: Formal Night Locust and Kalara by Raeliyah

I've been very busy with convention prep and projects, which has meant no time to continue writing on the beta draft!  This makes me a very sad panda.

Luckily, Sam aka. Raeliyah has done more amazing art of Kalara and her present day bodyguard, Night Locust, that I can share with you all in the meantime!

I just adore the detail Sam put into their outfits, like the embroidery in Night's vest and the flames in Kalara's armlet, as I'm always talking about how she enjoys flame motifs to reflect her Southern heritage.  She drew a very attractive Night Locust as well.  Very lovely job on his face!  I haven't drawn this character much yet (aside from that one time), so seeing another artist take on this character has helped me form a better mental image of him for myself, also.

You can see more of Sam's work at her tumblr and read more of her amazing Exalted fiction here, as she's written some fun stories in the setting, also!

I hope to get back to this project soon.  I just need to survive DragonCon and other deadlines!  In the meantime, if you haven't caught up on the beta draft of The Uncrucified yet, you can do so here.  Happy reading!

Where to Keep Up? + Progress Report!

EDIT: I've switched this blog to be public now to make it play friendly with RSS readers!  Now there's a Subscribe by Email button in the sidebar if you'd like an automatic email whenever new posts go up. Yay!

Checking in to let you know I haven't forgotten about The Uncrucified!  First up, I'm trying to figure out the best way to push out updates to readers since this private blog does not have RSS that can be used with standard subscription and RSS readers.

To that end, I've set up some update mirrors where you all can subscribe for updates about new chapters, posts, etc.:

- On Reddit
- On Tumblr
- On Twitter

So give your favorite outlet a Follow so you can keep up here!  I had started a mailing list, but I noticed no one has subscribed to it yet, so I removed the option.  It's also easier for me to just post to social media and be done with it rather than compose an email, honestly!

If you'd like email updates sent directly to you, I recommend using a service like blogtrottr to be emailed posts from this project's tumblr mirror.

Facebook Group?

I'm pondering a closed Facebook Group to push out updates and conduct discussions as well since I participate in groups often there. However, I don't want to be the only member there talking to myself.  If I started one up, would that be an easier way to communicate and see updates?  I'd like to hear your thoughts!

In Other News...

I haven't returned to writing yet, but after getting feedback from the couple of you who have finished Act 1 of this story and left your thoughts, I'm brimming with ideas for the next draft!  To be sure, there will be more adventures in Gem, more of Djali, and more refinement, overall.

I'm still studying up on the cities of Chiaroscuro and Gem and want to feel confident I can do justice to these amazing locales before I return to writing.  I want people to feel the shattered grandeur of Chiaroscuro and the resourcefulness of the mining community of Gem!

I glossed over a LOT in this Alpha draft and I have a feeling it's going to explode into something grandiose as I move into Beta form!

Till then, thanks as ever for providing your thoughts, those who have!  Those who haven't, I understand life gets busy.  If life isn't holding you back, but the story is, for one reason or another, that's feedback I need to hear as well!  Be brutal. That's what this process is about!

And now...back to hitting the rulebooks!