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Its been a short while since I last posted a blog. First, thank you everyone for continuing to read my tales. I know most just read and move on, but the few of you who have responded with comments and messages do mean quite a bit to me. Writing in some ways is a strangely solitary social task. You sit alone while writing praying that others enjoy the scribblings you come up with. It seems that I do have a few fans here. I just wish they'd come to my Patreon and support me there, or try my story at Royal Road and give it ratings to help more people discover it.
Ok, self-promotion over for now. I hate doing it, but if I'm going to keep writing I need more readers and paying ones, so... many apologies to all.
Now my current writing situation and plans: Warning, there's quite a bit to say.
Woman Warrior - reached what I'd call the end of book 1 at over 111K words. I have already started writing book 2, so this won't stop although the posting pace may slow a bit as I have so many other things I'm working on. And part is...
Teach Me To Fight - this was originally conceived and planned as a quasi-sister tale to Woman Warrior. It starts at about the same time and there are crossover characters. I've decided to start posting this story and will likely alternate chapters with Woman Warrior chapters. I hope this story gets an equal amount of love as Woman Warrior has.
ELSEWHERE - (stories not on SOL)
Royal Road continues to host Unwillingly to a New World. This is a new slice-of-life fantasy tale of a man who wakes up with a strange being offering him a chance in a new world. So far Royal Road has 16 chapters posted, but I'm working on writing chapter 39 or so. Its been a ton of fun to write, and while it has far less sex than any of my Swarm Cycle stories, if you like what I've posted here, I'm sure you'll enjoy that.
Patreon is carrying Unwillingly to a New World, but several chapters ahead of my postings at Royal Road for those who want to read ahead of the crowd. I've also been posting chapters of a tale called An Auspicious Invite, which is planned as the first book of a coming of age space opera. Its worth the read according to my alpha readers and editors.
I do have more ideas that come up. Just this past week my muse decided to grab a vague idea and solidify it. She's been beating me over the head with it so who knows, another tale might start appearing on screens somewhere. Most likely this one would be a Royal Road posting as its a found starship coming of age tale of adventure in a dangerous galaxy. (when are they safe galaxies?)
Keep reading. :)
Well, Since I resumed posting A Woman Warrior, the story has gone from 18 finished chapters to 30 with chapter 30 posting earlier today. I have realized that in a way chapter 31 will be an ending. Not to the posting or even to the story, but an ending to the beginning. I've already written over 106,000 words in this story which is usually about where I try to cut off and end a book, so we've come to the end of book 1. I can't say that book 2 will be as long, but I've definitely come to that point. However, rather than stop and later resume with a book 2 post, I'll be continuing to work on Woman Warrior for all of you. Its still not going to be more than 2 chapters a week, but I'll be continuing for my followers here.
On that, I might have over 800 followers and see any chapter of Woman Warrior quickly rise above 1500 views, but that hasn't translated to followers elsewhere. My story on Royal Road has just 9 people following it, and my Patreon sees equally dismal interaction numbers. I know you all hate the pushes to support your favorite authors, but it truly makes a huge difference. Please if you can visit my story at Royal Road and try a slightly different tale. And if you can back me on Patreon, so I can afford to take the time to write even more tales.
The funny thing is that while checking my file folders I discovered a partially finished Swarm Cycle story I was working on in 2014 (yes 11 years ago.) The story is one I think will be a ton of fun to read as soon as I finish it. I'm just astonished that it was there. I barely remembered starting it and now will have to review it before I can push it to completion. Its a short tale, and will probably end up published as a one shot of about 15000 words. Maybe this month? We'll see. I could be encouraged.
I know, you hate these probably half as much as I hate doing it, but for once I'm going to get down on my metaphoric knees and beg for your support. As some who read the blogs and in particular my blogs might note, I've said that my previous job vanished due to cutbacks within the department I worked for. I am presently trying to turn my writing into a way to pay for my life. Not a great chance in many ways, but I've seen some success in my writing. Right now if I publish a new chapter in Woman Warrior, I can expect that new chapter to receive over 1400 views in the first 24 hours. And if just 10% of the people viewing that story helped out on Patreon, it would make a difference.
But its not just Patreon. I've said in blog posts over the years that I do want to sell books on Amazon and I have 9 posted there already. Due to the long break I've taken I want to rebuild some momentum and interest so I currently have one story up on Royal Road, where I post a chapter every 3-4 days. Right now I have far fewer followers than at StoriesOnline and if a few of you could go over there and start following, it would help increase interest.
As I said, I hate making this kind of plea. I want my writing to be interesting enough and a fun enough read that I don't have to poke and prod people to offer support, but this is a time that tries my soul a bit.
Anyways, there is another chapter of Woman Warrior up, making 8 new chapters since I woke up and resumed posting. Enjoy.
Yes, just 3 days after the last chapter, you all get another chapter of Woman Warrior. I have said that for now I hope to keep writing and while other stories actually do have some priority, I have been concentrating on completing chapters of this story in rotation with the other in work stories. It usually goes 2-3 chapters of other stories and then one of Woman Warrior, so the pace of posting should indicate just how much writing I've done recently. Honestly, the amount surprises me.
At the same time as I've continued to post Woman Warrior here, I am now posting on Royal Road, this is a completely new story titled "Unwillingly to a New World" and more fantasy than sci-fi, but I believe that those who love the adventure side of my stories will enjoy this one as well. Just don't expect any sexy/spicy content at least for a while. I've never felt that I was all that great at those so I play more for a tease than a show it all style when writing bedroom scenes. Anyways, I'd love to see you reading my tale there and commenting/offering ratings reviews. If you want me writing more, I need to be able to afford it, and right now my writing doesn't exactly bring in the readers and financial rewards.
I also have my Patreon, again under my pen name of Allan Joyal. There I've posted the first 2 chapters of A Living Dungeon Besieged which is the 3rd in a series that has been posted on Amazon. I don't plan on posting additional chapters at this time as it will go up on Amazon in the future, but that could change if there is support for it. I also am posting Unwillingly to a New World there, and I'm 3 chapters ahead of where it is on Royal Road. This will increase to at least 5 chapters ahead and probably more. But that is for paid members only, sorry. One more story that will be exclusive to Royal Road will show up, just as soon as I decide what to post and get to work on it. :P
That's it for now. I do have my Facebook, but honestly, I forget to post there most of the time, I'm probably going to try to change that if interest is shown.
And as always, don't be afraid to post or comment. I truly enjoy reading your thoughts and I try to reply to comments. I know some of you might dislike a scene or even an entire plot, but I will take no offense if you decide to post and tell me why it didn't work for you. My thoughts are strange and I know their strange, so someone else not seeing a story the way I see it is bound to happen.
Hope the latest met with universal approval (even if that's inconceivable).
Well, as I say, there's another chapter of A Woman Warrior for everyone to enjoy or hate on, take your pick. I finished some additional writing a bit faster than expected and figured I'd offer up another present. Its not perfect, but I hope that its a good tease and good fun to read.
That said, please, please do not expect this publication rate to continue. The truth is that I'm writing to eat up time for now, but I do need to look at writing for money. And while I'd like to think that readers here enjoy my tales. Nothing I publish here can make me any money in the long run. They are not and will never be eligible for publication via Amazon.
So, that is the reason I don't want people to expect quick turn-arounds. Right now, until I figure out my employment situation, my plan is to work on 3-4 different projects. One is already starting to go up on both Royal Road and on my Patreon. The version on Royal Road will be published at a rate of 1 chapter a week for now, hopefully improving over time. The one on my Patreon will be several chapters ahead, but those will not be free chapters, sorry for those who can't afford to support the work. The next book I'm working on is the third and probably final book in the Living Dungeon Series (but perhaps not the last book in the universe). I've actually dabbled in completing it for years and will now be diving into finally getting it ready for publication. A few early chapters will be on Patreon, but not the whole book.
Finally, I'm deciding on 1 book to publish on Patreon in its entirety. I just haven't decided which of the too many half-started and nebulous ideas to work on.
And for those worrying. Once I finish A Woman Warrior, I'm going to work on a parallel story that includes characters riding on the same colony transport as Tanya Walker. However, in order to ensure that I can pay attention to my works, I won't add it to the rotation of stories that I'm actively working on. Its already going to be hard to stay focused and keep writing.
And as always, I do enjoy feedback and will try to respond if you send any, here, on Patreon, on Royal Road, etc. I may be a bit slow on Facecrook, but I don't visit my page there often right now. That could change if I end up in an extended period where I live off my writing.
Allan Joyal
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