Great news! The revised edition of The Voyage of the Kaus Media is now available on Amazon! 

As I mentioned before, most of my edits were technical in nature, and I think the book reads a lot smoother now. I did include two substantial changes to the storyline, though: I altered Angela's actions right before the Battle of Viper's Pass to give her better character development, and I added something at the end of the Menket act of the plot to give that section more satisfying closure. Even though it's only been a few years since I wrote this book, I feel like I've learned so much more about writing since then!

If you haven't yet read VotKM, now's the perfect time to embark on a steampunk fantasy epic about a downtrodden girl who learns her destiny is to be a destroyer of nations... or is it? Can she finally find the courage and self-worth to say "no" and stick up for her own values before it's too late?

I wrote this book not only for people who love a good adventure, but for people like Angela who struggle to feel like they have a voice in a noisy world that doesn't seem to care much about who they are or what they need. You do have a voice, you are precious and important, and you can do incredible - even world-changing - things with your innate strengths and talents. The world needs you!

I'm very pleased to announce that my revision of The Voyage of the Kaus Media is done! I actually ended up whacking off about 10,000 words, so I wanted to talk a little bit about what's changed this time around.

Most of my edits are strictly prose-related. The book came out in 2019, and it turns out I've actually improved as an author since then (go figure). I'm not trying to be OCD about revising my work, but when I re-read something and just start cringing, I know I need to take action. I want my books to be the absolute best they can be, and I would feel ashamed of offering something for sale that wasn't the highest quality I can manage.

One of the big things I did with this revision is to take out a lot of Angela's inner monologue. When I was revising the manuscript the first time around, I tried to be extra conscientious of making sure the reader constantly knew what Angela was thinking and feeling about everything. Turns out, not only is that not actually strictly necessary, but in reading the novel again, I felt that all of this discussing her thoughts and feelings was really bogging down the pacing for me. Plus, there were numerous times when it just became repetitive to the point of redundancy--do we really need to be reminded in every chapter that Angela misses her family, is grateful for her friends, etc.?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I got rid of all the inner monologue. But there is definitely such a thing as too much of it. Angela is a complex character who undergoes a great deal of personal growth over the course of the plot, so there are definitely times when I needed to discuss what was going on in her head. But the rest of the time, I can let her dialogue and her actions do the talking for her, and trust that the reader can fill in the blanks. Plus, I think it helps that I made sure to really establish at the beginning of the book what kind of person she is and what her background is, so that her actions and reactions are not as enigmatic to the reader.

Another thing I did was carefully reexamine my use of dialogue tags, and remove them when necessary. It's my rule of thumb that if a paragraph starts talking about one character, and doesn't mention any other characters, I generally don't need a dialogue tag in that paragraph; it's understood that everything in the paragraph is pertaining to that character. So that probably got rid of about 7,000 words right there.

For the most part, the story is exactly the same; I did slightly alter some tidbits here and there, but it was mostly for increased plot clarity. The plot did get one major alteration (mild spoilers ahead): during the battle at Viper's Pass, in the previous version, Captain Saixaphas asked Angela to stay on the command bridge because her powers might be useful in the battle. In this new version, Saixaphas wants her to go back to her cabin, but Angela insists on staying in case she's needed. I really wanted to hammer home just how much she changed after her experiences in Elrath, how it became the turning point for her being more proactive and really believing she could make a difference.

I've handed the manuscript over to my editor, and hopefully very soon it'll be up on Amazon. I'm looking forward to bringing VotKM up to speed with my more recent work!

Also, now's about a good a time as any to mention that updates may be a little scarce for a while. I have a lot going on, and I'm just plain tuckered out from Blue Diver, so I think I need a vacation. I'm still hoping to get started on my next novel sometime this year, but for now I need some R&R. Catch you later!

NEXT-DAY EDIT: Okay, I added one more substantial change to the plot that I think a) really makes a lot of sense and b) gives the Ulo part of the plot some nice closure. I won't give away any spoilers, but if you're a fan of Ohmi, now she gets her due. :)

Now that Blue Diver is out, I can focus on some other projects for a while! First and foremost, I need to finish uploading my old tablet sketches, so here is some early concept art for The Voyage of the Kaus Media!

 Also, now is as good a time as any to mention that in the near future, I will be making minor revisions to VotKM! I think the story is fine, but I recently revisited it and realized the prose could use a tune-up. So that's going to be a fun project too!

You are cordially invited to celebrate the release of this long-labored book with the author in SoCal! :) If anyone is interested, please stop by! Not just for the signing, but because The Open Book is a wonderful little secondhand bookstore with super friendly staff, and I enjoy supporting them.

Stay connected with the event page on Facebook!

The print version of Voyage of the Kaus Media is available!

I'm very pleased with how Amazon handles their print-on-demand--it ships extremely quickly (from a printer close to the customer), and I got to give the book a really nice matte cover. Enjoy!

IT'S OUT!!!!!

The Voyage of the Kaus Media is now available for digital download on Amazon (with a print version coming soon)!

I hope folks enjoy this novel! I've been working really hard on it and it's such a relief to finally get it out there!

I realize that I have been very boring lately and I apologize. I've been super, super busy, not just with novel stuff but with life in general. Blog posts may be a little sparse.

But to make up for it, here's the cover for Voyage of the Kaus Media! (Click for larger view.)

I had a lot of fun with it and I hope it makes a good impact. Vehicle design is tough and I have the utmost awe and appreciation for people who do it well. I was trying to evoke the aesthetic of WWI military ships, but I think I completely failed. So I tossed in some manatech engines and called it a day. :)

I just have a couple more steps to do for publishing, so the book is coming very soon! Painting the cover was the last big task--it's all downhill from here! (Like, effort-wise, not quality-wise. Hopefully.)

Book trailer! Because I could. And I enjoy a good storyboarding lark.

I had a lot of fun with this! And I will get the book out ASAP!

(Also now I have a better mental image of what the Kaus Media looks like, so portraying it on the front cover should not be as difficult.)

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately! I've been very busy with my family, and my role as a family member and homemaker takes precedence over my art projects.

There's not much to report due to said busy-ness, but I am pleased to say that my proofreader has finished going over the manuscript for Voyage of the Kaus Media! I will be moving forward with that project ASAP. Before I publish it, I really want to finish this other project I've been working on--I don't want to give away too much, but it's something that won't make much sense to release after the book, is all I'm saying.

(I also have to paint the cover illustration, which is something I'm... kinda dreading because I do not feel at all confident in my vehicle-illustrating skills. I am not one of those people who can whip out like ten amazing vehicle designs in five minutes. And yet I have elected to depict an airship on the front cover whyyyy.)

Oh, but, I have managed to write a three-part series for the Neopian Times! It's the story of how Terra and her family discover who forged everybody's magic weapons. Good old faeries and their eidetic memories. Also Terra helps Jhudora sort out her issues a little.

I hope this story won't make it sound like I dislike faeries. I have nothing against faeries, but I really enjoy portraying them as properly complex beings with weaknesses as well as strengths--weaknesses that other Neopian creatures such as Neopets and owners compensate for, as mentioned by Blynn in the story, and that's what makes Neopia a functioning whole.

I like to imagine faeries as vastly powerful and immortal magical entities, but they suffer from a bit of emotional immaturity and are prone to being petty, prideful, and grudge-holding. (Not to say all faeries are like this, but even rather benevolent-seeming faeries such as Illusen have their issues.) It's these weaknesses that led to the faerie wars millennia ago, and that's part of why it's so vital for Neopets and owners to help faeries understand the importance of forgiveness.

I'm really excited to submit "Shadow Play"! I think I will do that once I publish Voyage of the Kaus Media. After that, I have an idea for an illustrated children's book that I'd like to attempt. And then I've been tossing around ideas for a steampunk Western with sentient robots, reanimated dinosaur fossils, a descendant of Prometheus and his wife (Prometheus, if you'll remember, was the actual name of Dr. Frankenstein's creation), and a German werewolf.

I don't come up with normal stories. :)

Sketch painting of Radnama I did at church. I like the idea of male Noblirim having "facial hair" made of fleshy tendrils. It tends to grow thicker and longer as they age, although the specific appearance differs among individuals. Radnama is in the Noblirim equivalent of his late 20's, so he only has a small beard, but the ancient Menketi elders have full beards and moustaches.

Today's writing notes:

Working on: The Voyage of the Kaus Media 2nd draft

Or, to be more accurate, I finished the second draft! :) It took quite a while because I've been busy with other stuff and there was a lot I needed to change and add, but I think it's looking a lot better than the first draft.

It's now at nearly 112,000 words, which means I added about 20,000 words... wow.

As for major edits near the end, I added in a scene where Angela and Captain Saixaphas have a good heart-to-heart, because Saixaphas is a great guy and I wanted to make sure he got his due recognition and some character arc closure. He becomes Angela's surrogate father, and I wanted to make sure that relationship got the attention it deserves.

I also ended up greatly expanding the Peren section of the story to give Nir a better character arc and make that part of the story make more sense. It also helps the latter portions of the story to not feel so rushed. I admit that by that point I had run out of ideas and just wanted to get the plot finished ASAP, so it did start to feel more like a bare-bones checklist of plot points to tick off. That's why I appreciate both the opportunity to let the manuscript sit for a bit so I could think about what I wanted to do differently in the next pass, and my editor's feedback.

I think this additional material is also great for giving a more comprehensive look at some of the characters' personalities and dynamics, such as Angela's and Radnama's strong, solid friendship and Nir's ridiculousness. Nir is fun to write because she is a very flighty 16-year-old, but she means well and she doesn't back down from fighting for the things she believes in.

This new material also gives Saixaphas more character development, and I think he's turned into a really likeable character. We can see from his actions now that although he appears stern at first, he is really warm, patient, and gentle, especially with more sensitive types like Angela, Berenice, and Nir. It's said in the story that he has a daughter around Angela's age who is very similar in terms of personality, so he understands Angela like few others can, and knows how to comfort and encourage her. It's these traits, coupled with his steely determination and sincere caring for everyone under his jurisdiction, that make him the great captain he is.

Also this new material includes a new character, the admiral of the secret Pereni skyfleet, and her automatus, because you can't go wrong by adding more giant robots, right? :) My excuse is that her appearance helps the big battle at the end of the book make more sense too.

Today's writing notes:

Working on: Voyage of the Kaus Media second draft

Updates may be a little sporadic, since I'm still busy with family stuff. I feel like I've ironed out most of the biggest wrinkles in this manuscript, though, so I'm feeling quite pleased about that.

I did quite a bit of retooling on an important conversation between Janus and Angela that I can't say much about because of major plot spoilers. Hopefully I've developed Janus's personality more, and also given sufficient hints to what seems to have happened early in his life to have made him such a sociopath. I don't find that a pleasant subject, so I purposely did not go into too much detail, but I wanted to paint a picture of someone who had a rough youth, and instead of choosing a higher road like Angela and retaining his sense of compassion and empathy, he just gave up on humanity and decided his research was the only thing he cared about.

In lieu of getting very detailed, instead I added a bit of conversation between Radnama and Angela where they discuss how Janus's background - and his reaction to it - must have produced the sociopath they are now dealing with. Hopefully that will help underline the point of his overall character development without having to fully spell out his backstory.

Also, the manuscript is at about 104,000 words now, and I still have quite a bit to add. I love when my editor's feedback gives me ideas about how to expand stuff. :)

More playing around with my digital Copics that never run out of ink and can be whatever color I want! :) Here's a portrait of King Radnama from Voyage of the Kaus Media.

Whoooooops.

I really didn't mean to go AWOL for a month. So at the beginning of October, I went on a social media fast. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Church's president, God's prophet on the Earth today, invited the women of the Church to participate in a 10-day social media fast. I'm an overachiever who refuses to miss out on any blessings that come as a result of following the prophet's inspired counsel, so I decided that included blogging, too. And then I had family in town, and lots and lots of work, which are both awesome, but those things combined do not exactly leave me very much free time. :)

So I apologize for not posting sooner, but here's a doodle to make up for it!

I was fiddling around with the brushes in my art app on my tablet, and I think I made a brush that emulates Copic markers quite nicely! Which is awesome, because those things are expensive. I also made a brush that looks a good deal like a brush-tip pen, that seems like it'll give me some really nice line work. I decided to test them out on a doodle of Angela Marten from Voyage of the Kaus Media, doing her glowy psion thing. Actually I think she gets glowier than this, but seeing as the whole point of this picture was to experiment with the line art and coloring, I didn't want to drown that out with fancy effects.

Speaking of Voyage of the Kaus Media, I have been making good progress on revising the manuscript! I am a little over halfway through it now, and I ended up pretty heavily reworking most of the beginning of the book, trying to make Angela's character arc make more sense. Hopefully this doesn't make the first part of the book seem too morose, but it just wasn't realistic to have her kind of forget about everything going on and have happy fun times with her friends, especially when she was still struggling with low self-worth, lack of self-confidence, and severe trust issues.

I also greatly expanded her conversations with Radnama in the middle of the book because they're just really fun to write together. I guess I can justify it by the fact that Radnama was Angela's first really close friend after she decided to start taking better care of herself and truly letting the right people into her life, and after a lifetime of dysfunctional relationships she needed to spend a lot of time enjoying a healthy one. Especially because after that, Janus enters the picture and Angela needs a lot of mental and emotional stability to deal with him properly.

Also, the manuscript is now over 100,000 words and I regret nothing. It's going to get even longer, in fact, because there's a section near the end that I need to expand substantially.

So, fun stuff! Not really sure when I'll be done with these edits - and after that, I need to pass it to my proofreader - but I am making progress when I can, and I am definitely still planning on publishing it when it's ready!

Today's writing notes

Working on: Voyage of the Kaus Media 2nd draft

I'm up to chapter 4, and this manuscript is already at 92,000 words instead of 88,000. I anticipate even more lengthening to come. I'll be honest, I think it'd be fun if it broke 100,000 words, but I certainly won't try to force it.

I'm trying hard in these early chapters to play up the Menketi Noblirim being manipulative jerks. I want to make it clear that they're the kind of people that Angela is used to dealing with back on Earth, so when she ends up with the Falcarians - who actually care about her as a person - the stark contrast wakes her up to how she used to allow herself to be treated, and helps her start on the path to taking better care of herself.

I also hope it comes through well enough that the Noblirim are not a hopelessly antagonistic species; there's just some stuff that they struggle with culturally, just like humans. As Radnama points out later in the book, the Noblirim are naturally great artists with an eye for aesthetics, but they too often ignore that aspect of themselves to focus on a hunger for power and dominion. Radnama is one of the few Noblirim who has not lost himself in endless power plays and scheming. Even if they are mostly antagonistic in this story, I wanted there to still be the idea that they could be great forces for good if they tried, and Radnama is an example of that and an example to his fellow creatures.

Also, I never meant for the Noblirim to come across as ugly. They look like anthropomorphic dinosaur-dragons, which is an awesome combination. :) So when you're reading, please imagine them as epic-looking as possible!

I'm also trying to clarify a lot of Angela's actions and thought processes, especially throughout the first half of the book. Hopefully now it's easier to understand that she struggles with trust issues, which are not helped by how the Menketi Noblirim treat her, which is why it takes her so long to open up to the Falcarians. She doesn't ask too many questions in the beginning of the story, not because she doesn't have questions, but because she's worried they won't be answered (the Menketi certainly were not interested in answering her questions). It's only when she starts to feel more comfortable with the crew of the Kaus Media that she ventures to get a geography lesson from the captain.

This also explains why Angela spends so much time on the Kaus Media reading fiction and playing dolu--she's filling herself up and taking care of herself, which is something she stood in sore need of, so that she can have the strength and better mindset to do things like stand up to the Menketi elders and Janus. Her voyages are healing experiences for her as she learns that she matters as a person, too, and it's okay to have good friends who care about her, and to have things she enjoys doing.

Today's writing notes

Working on: Voyage of the Kaus Media 2nd draft

Yep, that's right! :) My editor got back to me with her notes, and we had a good long talk, and she made some great suggestions that I'm going to act on to help improve the manuscript! I'm moving forward, hooray! I was admittedly worried that she would hate the whole thing, but she didn't have any suggestions for some of my favorite parts like the epic dragon swordfights (that would be dragons fighting each other with swords, not other creatures fighting dragons with swords), so I'm pleased about that. :)

Today I'm tackling the task of rewriting the entire first chapter! My editor pointed out that it moves too quickly, and we also noticed that in my excitement to introduce the plot and the world, I neglected to introduce the main character. :) But that's kind of important, especially in this story where a large part of the plot centers around her character arc and personal growth. It's difficult to understand why she reacts the way she does, and appreciate how far she's come, unless you understand where she is coming from and what her situation was before she arrived in Zabetha.

So this new first chapter aims to fix that; rather than throw the reader into the plot right away, we're given a glimpse of who Angela is and what her struggles are. Hopefully this brief character-development detour before the crazy fantasy stuff won't make the beginning of the book less appealing. I'll have to confer with my editor about that.

But I also don't believe the beginnings of books necessarily have to be aggressively attention-grabbing to be compelling. I mean, The Hobbit starts off with a long essay on what exactly a hobbit is before we get to the wizards and dwarfs and dragons, and while that introduction is not exactly edge-of-your-seat suspense, it's fascinating and beautiful and does a wonderful job of whetting one's appetite for Middle-earth.

But like I said, I'll have to see what my editor thinks of this new direction for the first chapter. Hopefully it fixes more problems than it introduces, at the very least, and I'm on some sort of a right track.

Anyway, see, this is what happens when you write the first three chapters of a novel and then leave it alone for years. You get all sorts of disjointedness. :) Lesson learned!

Time for updates!

First off, yes, I finished "Shadow Play!" It came in at 50,000 words, give or take a few. So I met my July NaNo goal! NaNo-ing is fun when you're working on a project you enjoy. :) My Neopets-stuff editor is looking at it right now, and then... everybody will have to wait another six months to actually read it. :)

Buuuut to make up for that, I have more awesome news! I spoke with my novel editor yesterday and she told me that she's going to get her notes on The Voyage of the Kaus Media back to me soon! Ahhhh I'm so excited! I've been re-reading the first draft, and I still think it's good, and filled with feels, and Jadia and Menlo are great. I'm going to finish and publish it ASAP--not sure exactly when that'll be, but it feels good to know that I can make more progress on it soon.

Stay tuned for more! I have some fanfic ideas I've been bouncing around, so I'll see when I can get to those. Right now I'm a little burnt out on writing. :)

Just wanted to give an update on Voyage of the Kaus Media--my editor says she is working on it, so I'm hoping to hear back from her very soon! I'm really excited to keep working on it, and I honestly hope to have it published by the end of this year at the very latest. Finding good editors for a reasonable price is tough, but I'm just glad this editor agreed to do it, so I'll wait as long as she needs me to.

Also, I'm feeling under the weather, so I wrote a cute little story about Terra being sick at the Werelupe Burrows because when I'm feeling down, I like to write cheerful cute things to help me feel better. As a bonus, hopefully it'll help other people too! I know when I'm having a rough day and/or can't get out of bed, immersing myself in feel-good stories helps.

This one was fun to write because I haven't written about the Werelupe Burrows since "Worth Searching For", and it's just been way too long. It was enjoyable to return to it and see how everybody's doing after the events of "Return to Lynwood", and give a bit of a glimpse of what Connor's been up to.

Connor's an interesting character because he means well, but he is a scholar at heart, and has a bad habit of disregarding things like rules and thinking of others when he's trying to satiate his curiosity or obtain results. Also he's an 11-year-old boy, and that isn't really the best combination. Good thing he has a subterranean grotto for a laboratory now, because there are going to be a lot of explosions involved whenever he's around. Also possibly a fair amount of slothic acid.

This story also serves to illustrate that even during times when you don't think you're helping your loved ones, sometimes they're just really grateful for your company. Good family can really make a huge difference when you're going through something tough, and even if they can't magically fix things for you, it's still a huge boon to be able to laugh and have fun with them.

Anyway, considering my tremendous backlog of other things I still need to submit to the Times, I probably will not submit this one until later this year--that's why I wanted to talk about it now as kind of a sneak peek. :)

Speaking of sneak peeks, here's one of my favorite parts:

Terra coughed a little. “Hey, it could be worse,” she said. “At least this time, I’m not cursed by a deranged sorcerer and you guys have to defeat him in order to save me.” Pharazon wrinkled his snout and Terra gave him an impish grin. “Too soon?”

“A little, yeah,” Pharazon said, rolling his eyes. 

Clearly, near-death experiences are things to joke about.

... Yeah, Terra and Isengrim both have humor that can get a little offbeat. I like to think that's why they're such good friends.

More church doodles!

Fun with costume design for The Voyage of the Kaus Media. I like the idea of Pereni military outfits having a bit of elegant flair to them.

Quick sketches of Wai Ren, Ganzorig, and Min from "The Shadow of Takeryuu". I'm so excited to submit that story to the Neopian Times; I had a ton of fun writing it and hopefully it's a fun read as well. You can't go wrong with a band of Shenkuuvian misfits adventuring across the land, righting wrongs and having character arcs and such.

Concept work for King Radnama from The Voyage of the Kaus Media, including some work on Legvellian armor. I've been doing some research on historical Chinese armor, which was absolutely gorgeous and way hardcore, and obviously has been inspiring Legvellian designs as seen here. Legvellian Noblirim carry crossbows and swords into battle, because they're just ridiculous like that. Don't let Radnama fool you, he's really a sweetheart. Just don't mess with anybody he cares about.

I often tire of paleoart that depicts dinosaurs and mammals constantly at odds with each other, playing on the old theme that dinosaurs tyrannized the Earth until the post-Cretaceous mammal uprising. Not only is it not very happy, but I feel it doesn't really accurately represent the probable real relationship between these two groups. It's not like either of them knew what was going to happen to dinosaurs; they were just living their lives, sharing the planet and trying to make their way in the world. There must have been times when a Ceratosaurus and a mammaliaform simply bumped noses and continued on with their day.

Second-in-Command Iramick from a band of orc mercenaries that I wrote a short story about, and I enjoyed writing about them so much that I'm considering incorporating them into a future novel. I just love the idea of orc good guys, because I think they're so awesome that it's a waste for them to be nasty villains all the time. Iramick serves under Captain Morh, who she's known for many years, and she's become something of an older sister figure to him, someone who nags and teases him but always has his back. I started a portrait of Morh too, but I'll probably finish it next week. Hooray for nice orcs!