Details on my current projects
This post should take about 4 minutes to read through.
I am currently writing the project code-named "Bright Fantasy" and working on all the pre-outline stuff (world, characters, magic, systems) on "Fantasy D1." I've told you very little about these projects, so I want to expand on them with the details I can share right now. I won't share everything as both are still works in progress, but I want to give you a better idea of what I'm currently working on.
Bright Fantasy
The project code-named "Bright Fantasy" is a LitRPG stand-alone story. The book will have a beginning, middle, and end, and as of right now, I don't plan to write more with the same characters in the same world. It will have a satisfying ending, and the book will be quite large, almost definitely larger than Pathways!
It's set in a fantasy post-apocalyptic world, but one filled with hope, hence the "bright" in "Bright Fantasy." I don't like writing grim stories, even in the grimmest of settings my characters will always find flickers of hope that grow into beacons of light. This story focuses on the main character, who is a man this time, and a companion he meets in the fantasy world, a woman who initially treats him with hostility.
There will be little magic in this book, the remnants of the previous civilization that brought the world to ruin. Their gods are dead, their people are dead, their world is a prison, but will the protagonist manage to mold it into something better?
This book has many system interactions, and while it will be in a somewhat traditional manner, it won't be traditional in other ways. I won't share more at this time! It's a system I've built from scratch, much like the Mages' Guild systems. I've been playing tabletop RPGs, massively multiplayer online RPGs, and single-player RPGs my whole life, I've been tinkering with RPG systems for more than twenty years, so this is one of the parts of writing a LitRPG that I really enjoy.
I've written the complete outline, character profiles, system, and worldbuilding for this book. That means the story is complete, and I only need to write it. To give you an idea, my supporting notes, including the outline, are about 24,000 words! Scrivener tells me you'd need about an hour and a half to read through them, and that's just the supporting material.
I don't want to uncover more details about this just yet. I haven't even settled on a title! I'm trying to figure out the best angle to approach the title from, but titles are hard for me if you don't already know this.
Fantasy D1
What I have settled on for D1:
It'll have a tremendous amount of magic, from the very beginning.
This is what I've mostly been working on. I've been developing the magic system to be an interesting read, as well as interesting for me to write. I love complex magic systems, and for this one, I plan to use it heavily. It will be very important for the direction of the story, and even the world itself.
The whole project will be a group of one-offs. They won't be a series.
They'll be very loosely connected for the dedicated reader, but the stories will be self-contained and the characters (main and secondary) unconnected, so that you'll be able to read any of them in any order at any time. At the same time, they'll share characteristics, so if you like one, you'll probably like the others.
I have considered several ways to connect them and have settled on connections loose enough that a first-time reader won't notice them but a dedicated one will. They won't hinder your experience, only improve it.
Additionally, while each protagonist will have a unique set of magical powers, they'll all share basic structural characteristics. Stay tuned to learn more!
The setting will change between them.
The first one will be a low fantasy one. I want the reader to see it transformed in front of their very eyes, so if you like stories where the main character actively changes the world, keep an eye out for this one.
I have ideas for the settings of the other books in the group but nothing I'm ready to share yet.
It's going to be LitRPG, with a game system I'll make specifically for this.
I haven't decided whether the stories will all have unique systems, but the characters will definitely interact with them in unique ways.
I grow bored of writing the same thing all the time—don't worry, I'll grow bored of story elements long before you will! Remember, you sit down to read a book of mine and you read it in a few hours, maybe a day of dedicated reading, but I've worked on that book, those characters, those systems, that world, the very words you read on the page, over several months, if not more than a year. I won't spend half a year's work or more on something that I don't enjoy myself! I've actually tried in the past to write in genres I didn't particularly enjoy, and it didn't work out.
It'll have more system interactions than the First Mage or Pathways, or even Bright Fantasy.
Pretty self-explanatory. I want to try out more RPG mechanics with this one. I have several ideas that I'm trying out.
The first book will have a rare (for Fantasy fiction) setting.
I won't spoil anything. Keep an eye out for the announcement when it's ready!
If any of the above sound interesting to you, keep an eye out! Again, this is for Fantasy D1, which I'll start writing after I've published Bright Fantasy.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! Reach out to me on my social media or through my public email for comments!