Book one is officially done, so I wanted to post a quick update letting you know where book 2 is. I'm hoping to start posting it in May, but there's a few things I need to work out first. I just got my developmental edit back for book 1 and the biggest suggestion was to work on the game aspects of the book to really make the LitRPG side shine. They said I've got the cozy part down, but the book could be even better with a slightly different game system.

  So I'm deep diving into LitRPG game systems!

  One big change I'll be making is removing food levels and using food quality modifiers instead. For example, ingredients could have rarity ratings like common, uncommon, rare, legendary, etc and dishes she cooks could have taste/quality ratings like poor, plain, tasty, delicious, etc based on how well she cooked it. For example, if she burns a cookie, it would be poor or inedible (possibly even causing debuffs). If she uses a super rare ingredient she gets from a boss drop, maybe even a legendary ingredient, the food she makes with it could be legendary and tempt stronger monsters. I haven't fully worked that out yet, but it should allow Hazel to make food of different qualities and have it feel purposeful instead of just based on what level she currently is.

  With food, I'd also like to incorporate people's favorite foods and preferences like in Slime Rancher or Spiritfarer. That way we could have some fun moments of trying to figure out a slime's favorite food and things like that.

  Another big change I want to make is having the cafe upgrades feel more like a game and including some base building aspects. I'm thinking of having her see more menu options and letting her choose which upgrade quests to take and which things to do more often. This would probably have menus for cafe size (shack starter and then bigger after that until a second floor), rooms/areas (kitchen, dining room, gardens, etc), and then maybe something like a furniture/decorations menu (tables, chairs, better stove, firepit, etc).

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I don't want to add an overwhelming amount of things though or make this feel crunchy. I'm looking to add natural feeling game elements that tie in to the cozy aspects, maybe even unlocking based on emotional events or cozy moments. For example, the cafe upgrade menu could be opened when there are too many slimes to fit in the shack. Maybe there's some kind of unexpected synergy between the slime friend title and the cafe owner one that surprises Cole and opens up some of these options.

  I'm not really settled on anything yet, which is why I'd love your help. I'm going to be streaming on Twitch this weekend to discuss game systems specifically for my book. There won't be any spoilers for book 2, just talk about how to improve book 1 so I can make this an even better story for you. I really want to give this book my all, but it's my first LitRPG and I fell a bit short with the game side of things.

  I'll be streaming on Sunday at 3pm CST on my writing channel (). Feel free to join me and chat all about the awesome game system options I could use for this book! I'm really looking forward to your thoughts.

  As a thank you for reading my book and cheering me on the whole time, I also had new artwork created by IlonkaDraws to commemorate two of my favorite scenes in the book. The campfire party and the snow slime making snowmen! The designs are on a few new merch items in my shop as well () like adorable desk mats!

  Thank you for reading my story. Sharing it with you and seeing how excited you were really made this a magical experience for me. I can't wait to share even more cozy slime moments with you!