Chapter one of Loyalty Fallen Book 2: The Desert Crossing is now live! You can read it here. In the first chapter, Kathryn and Ren have decided on a plan of action, but Ren continues to struggle with doubts as a fight with Xian seems inevitable.

At the same time, if you’ve been following my blog posts you know that I’m also working on completing a 50,000-word novel in a single month as part of the National Novel Writing Month challenge. I am not, however, interacting with the actual NaNoWriMo organization due to the controversies they are currently undergoing, so this is just a personal challenge for the month of November. Here I’m giving more details on my goals and how I hope to complete them.

Also, if you saw this post earlier today, that’s because I accidentally set it to post int he morning instead of the afternoon, before I had made final edits. This is the corrected version.

Daily goals

My plan has been to try to write 2000 words per day in my new novel Ashbranded. This will give me a bit of a buffer in case I miss some days, as November is a particularly busy month for me. I’m also still working full time, which means I’ll have to juggle this on top of everything else.

Fortunately, the first chapters of Loyalty Fallen book two are already uploaded and scheduled, so you’ll be getting one each week on schedule even while I’m focusing on Ashbranded.

The future of the blog

I’ve been increasingly focused on making my blog more informative and helpful rather than just story-based, so along with the usual chapter updates for Loyalty Fallen, I want to continue offering educational resources, tips, and more.

Naturally, I’ll also be posting new artworks and character profiles, both from Loyalty Fallen and Ashbranded. Each week, I will give an update of exactly how far I have gotten in terms of word count for the novel and how well I feel it is going. I will not, however, be sharing any of the actual chapters until December 1st, when I’ll share the entire novel.

My current plan for the three remaining Tuesdays in November is:

1. Post on writing neurodivergent characters plus NaNoWriMo week two update and Loyalty Fallen chapter 2
2. Post on the use of foreshadowing in Loyalty Fallen plus NaNoWriMo week three update and Loyalty Fallen chapter 3
3. Post on how to write faster for NaNoWriMo (assuming I have some useful tips for you by then), plus NaNoWriMo week four update and Loyalty Fallen chapter 4

Current progress

So far, I’ve been able to exceed my 2000-words-per-day goal, which has left me at 18, 588 words already! I’m certainly feeling the strain though. Here’s a sneak peak at a small portion of what I’ve written in Ashbranded so far.

“Ashbinders control the ash. They do not connect to it. Not them. But you do.” 

“I…don’t…”

Dare saw and felt it coming before it actually happened, but he was helpless to dodge as a small cloud of ash burst into his face, blocking his vision and filling his lungs as he coughed violently, pulling away from her. He was blinded and his eyes burned, but her voice was calm. “What do you see?” 

“I can’t see! You blinded me,” he accused, trying to clear his burning eyes but only succeeding in making them worse. 

The High Volcaryn gripped his hands, pulling them away from his eyes. “What do you see?” she repeated. 

Dare grit his teeth and lowered his head. A soft cloud of ash emanated from his body, spreading out through the small cavern and the tunnel adjoining it. He started. “The Second Volcaryn is here,” he managed to say between coughs. 

“What else?” she said. 

“There are moths above us…and there is a baby emberlizard in the back corner.” 

“Just one?” 

He thought again, reaching out through the ash. “There are five.” 

“Do you see? You are the only one qualified to be my successor.” He felt her hand pat him on the shoulder, then he felt her turn away from him. “Come to me tomorrow after your ceremony to begin your training.” 

“My…training? 

“Of course. You must train before you can take your position.You will know the lava and the quakes as well as the ash when you are done. You will know all of it.” 

She paused before saying in that calm, matter-of-fact voice, “And then, of course, you will kill me.” 

Final thoughts

If you’ve been reading Loyalty Fallen or are looking forward to Ashbranded, please subscribe to the blog to get notified whenever a new chapter goes live. In the meantime, enjoy Loyalty Fallen!