Let's get into it. When I first started writing, I actually wrote another story called Cottage Gore. Wrote about 70K words, got some feedback from some friends, and knew my skills weren't up to snuff just yet. That was way too large of a story. I put that idea on the backburner and began working through a scene I had stuck in my head for years about a barback getting his ass kicked during a robbery. If you couldn't tell, I was a barback at a crazy club where I'm from. That's how we got the idea for Abyssal Curse!

  I've had so much fun writing it, I've learned a ton, and know where I can improve in the future. Seeing your comments, your views, all of it, has meant the world to me. Knowing that my peanut brain can smash together enough sentences that people enjoy and look forward to reading? What a dream. But, I still need to take a break from writing it.

  Without getting too much into it, I'm Canadian and work primarily as an IT Contractor. Meaning I get paid by the project, by the hour, or by the deliverable. That's fine and dandy when things are going great, but I am craving some stability, it's impossible to get approved for a good mortgage (even if you make MORE as a contractor) and I am pretty tired of being paid net 60. Yep, that means if you bill on January 31st (after working all of January), you don't get your money until March 31st. The waves can be fun, but boy are they stressful. I've been interviewing for full time roles, and am expecting a good offer soon. Fear not! I am fine! But IT is in a weird place and I need to prioritize on a soft landing after circling back about the KPIs.

  Once I land a fulltime role, I will likely be working many hours to ramp up, and I don't want to just throw slop onto the page in the meantime as I scramble to land smaller, lower paying projects and more interviews. I want to tell a badass story of a dude trying to overthrow hell with a dwarf friend, a demonic brood mother, a Patchling, and a snarky sword.

  Wait, there's more! For those of you who don't know, I actually run a Newsletter interviewing Authors in the space. It's a passion project of mine, and I never intend to make revenue from it. Someone has to interview these amazing authors on this site, right? Chatting with tons of Authors in Immersive Ink, which is a great discord for the space, lots of writers express how posting all the time is tough. What I'm getting at is that the schedule of Royal Road posting can be pretty dang stressful.

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  One thing I really struggled with in releasing this story was the constant posting. I'm just not that fast of a writer. It might take me 2-8 hours to write a single chapter. That's fine, but I only had about 70K words upon release, and have since written the additional 50K. I'm just not that good at writing yet. It's a skill like anything else that needs to can be developed, and since we love LitRPG, if Writer is a Class, Speed is a Stat that can be improved. I need to improve that. In the future, I would definitely write the entirety of book 1, and half of book 2 before releasing. Then probably take a pause before releasing Book 2 or something.

  Pacing? Definitely needs some work. Character? Yeah, could probably do a better job. Romance? I was actually surprised at the amount of pushback that Sable and Mitch got. I've seen tons of relationships build too quickly that it borders almost on toxicity. Sometimes you just like someone. Especially with their traumas, feels like Sable would cling to someone, and feels like Mitch would to. Also toxic relationships sell. Hello, Colleen Hoover. But I'll still take the feedback and work to improve.

  So what's next? Well, I'm going to finish Abyssal Curse. I like the grittiness and where it's going into the whole Faction Building arc. The Transfer Room? Let's go see where they go. The Gluttonous Ones, maybe? Mathilda? What's her deal? Where is she? Warrick, Crae, Urgar, Sable? How bad is Shadowreach? How the heck is Sable going to get her soul back? Mitch has to defeat the Abyss and figure this out? Collectors? But he's so strong now. All planned. Just not written. In the future? I'm looking to publish and hopefully make writing a career, but that's a long way off. Maybe I'll sign a deal for Abyssal Curse? Maybe I'll self publish? Not sure yet.

  I just need some time to get situated on my end.

  For those of you that are curious, I'm working on a few other projects when I have the time. Including Abyssal Curse.

  One is a buddy comedy set in Canadian Cottage country, and is a System Integration LitRPG Apocalypse that's pretty dang whacky.

  One is a Progression Fantasy series set around politics and magical Gardens...and waifus.

  One's about a Pizza Delivery boy and a Pizza Lich Shop!

  This is starting to feel like a rant. I'm not giving up on Abyssal Curse. I will finish this story. I'm working on other things. I don't love constantly posting. Refreshing stats can sting sometimes. You are all the best for reading. Truly, you have no idea how awesome it feels to read comments. I'm going to make a much bigger effort to post comments on the stories I read, because dang does it really brighten a writer's day.

  Peace and Love and Down with the Abyss,

  ?????♂?Saga Scribe