I'm sorry it took me a bit to finalize this post. I wanted to talk a bit about VOE and the future of this series.
First, I want to thank anyone who has taken the time to read my story.
I started writing VOE more than 6 years ago and had planned to add it to my already existing book 1. That book was eventually split into 3 parts with Erador’s story taking the lead.
The time I spent working on VOE was the time I had greatly improved my series. I fixed the overall plot of the series, cut unnecessary characters, added ones that fixed the history, and so much more. For that, I am grateful I got to work on this book but I struggled to write it.
It took me at least 5 years to finish the book. I was stuck on the last 10 chapters because I wasn’t happy with the original direction I had chosen. I did take breaks, jumping back to rewrite book 2, doing some world building, and working on future books. Also, while I was writing this series, I was trying to improve so many things: world building, characters, dialogue, prose, etc. This series contains the first book I finished. I used to just hobby write before this and didn't really grow as a writer. I basically had to learn to become a better writer while working on this series, and I still feel I have areas to improve.
When I finally finished VOE, I was relieved. I love how the newer ending ties together, but this meant I had to add in missing information, foreshadowing, and a character who wasn’t there in my previous drafts.
I don’t feel overjoyed to have finished uploading this book on Royal Road. If anything, I feel frustration for how long it took me to get this book here. I think part of that is because VOE needs more work. There are improvements to be made, which I won’t go into. Just know, if you see something that was missing, I likely already know about it. There is also a chance I didn’t notice certain things yet, and I would appreciate anyone pointing them out.
While yes, I’m frustrated with this book, at the same time, I'm happy to have uploaded it on RR because it helped motivate me to finish areas that needed it. This meant spending almost 2 weeks trying to figure out how to rewrite a newer chapter where Erador was passive, which was completely out of character for him. I barley finished this chapter in time.
After all I went through writing this story, there are pieces of it I enjoy so much. I love the little bits of banter between the characters and how deeply developed they are. I love the world building elements for Lucrethia’s cult and new ones I came up with that will be explored later and that is not all.
I will be taking a break from editing for a little while before I get back to the 2nd book. I’m not exactly sure how long it will be. Honestly, it’s hard for me to keep away from my books. In the mean time, I will work on outlining, note organizing, drawing, and possibly more world building. VOE will be set aside for a time before I reedit it. Any chapters I revise will not be updated on Royal Road, unless there is something crucial that needs to be fixed.
For the latest updates and artwork, check out my site in the book's description. Anything I want to share about my series will be uploaded there.
I don’t want to leave this with just me complaining about how much I hate my book. ?? So, I am going to give an update on the other books and share the blurb for the overall series and for book 2 (MOU), which only includes 2 out of 3 of the points of view in MOU. Erador's perspective will be returning in part 2; if you haven't seen why, I explained it in an announcement chapter.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
I’m very proud of how much book 2 (MOU) improved from what it originally was, and unlike VOE, I’m very excited to get back to editing it. Like I have done with Erador, I have worked very hard to bring these characters to life and give them much depth and meaning to the plot, so I hope readers will enjoy them just as much. Unlike VOE, MOU has some light romance, no NSFW.
The blurbs will be at the end if you want to skip the updates. Goodbye for now and thank you for reading!
Update:
BOOK 2: I wanted to make it clear that it will not take me 6 more years to finish book 2 (MOU). It is mostly done. 2 of the povs, the princess and knight, are mostly rewritten. What is taking a bit longer is the prince's POV. I'm making some changes to his story. It's been going well so far, as I've come up with some ideas that I really like. This will require some rewrites in the chapters he is interacting with the princess. I am not starting edits yet, until I get a better direction on where I want the prince's story to go.
I have no set date on when I want to release book 2, so I'm not going to make any promises.
BOOK 3: I have finally come up with how I want to rewrite it. It took a long while to figure out, partially because VOE took up so much time. I have a few chapters written and I have an idea of how I want to retructure the story but haven't finalized some other things. These new ideas should bring these characters to life more and give them more purpose to the story. This book should touch the most on the overall plot out of the 3.
I'm hoping to work on this in conjunction with MOU after I finish reoutlining the prince's plot.
BOOK 4: and beyond will be developed overtime. I already have some chapters written for COA which may or may not stay book 4 depending on how I write the other parts. I try to order the books based on which have the least spoilers, so I'll see how that goes as I move forward. This means that Erador's perspective may not be in part 1 of book 2. I am aiming for 3-4 parts (which will be 3-4 books) for book 2.
MOU Book 2: The Blurb (WIP)
Valinia Noor, an isolated princess, has one wish; to get away from her kingdom that believes she is a reincarnation of an impure and vengeful prince destined to destroy the pure.
When Baust, a servant, offers to grant her 5 wishes, she can’t refuse, even if it means he could discover her blood healing element that she has been warned to keep secret. Each wish uncovers secrets, lies, and the truth about her purpose, and leads her to meet an endearing prince from the enemy kingdom. With time, Valinia learns that Baust is more then who he seems and his promises to free her are more complicated then just taking her away.
Will trusting Baust lead her down a path of ruin or will it save her from being a prisoner for the rest of her life?
Archknight Oziah Oliendur has been assigned one task: find the traitor who let members of a religious cult inside the castle. But it's far from simple, with too many suspects, and threats towards the princess, whose blood healing element had been exposed. The only evidence he has is a mirror and note. With the help of his assistant and the high commander, Oziah must scour through history, mythology, and his own past to uncover the truth. When a person from his past connects to the investigation, he begins to lose sight of who he is supposed to be after.
Will Oziah be able to arrest the right culprits and save the princess, or will he let the past blind him from the truth and lead him to lose everything?
Series Blurb:
This is a very early blurb so some things might change. I just wanted to give an idea of what the overall plot is about and why my series is titled Wardens of the Crystals.
In 5 years the timeline will no longer cycle like it has dozens of times. The loop will finally end, but not without a cost.
Most don’t know about the loop, but there are some who remember and some who see signs of it in the Shifting Forest. It decays more with each loop, threatening its existence and those who seek shelter inside. But that is not all who are at risk.
The destruction of the forest means that all realms will collide into one, causing the world to fracture. Land will change, reality will shift, and creatures will become unbound from their realms and roam.
In order to stop the fracture, the 14 crystals of power must be returned to the forest. But there is a cost to bare them. 14 suitable Harians must carry the burden for a century, slowly going mad, only to pass it on to the next host to avoid the crystals from looping the world again.
There are some who seek to end the loop with less sacrifice and keep the world intact, but others who wish to let it fall and be free of the burden of the crystals.
Will they choose a fractured world where they are free of the crystals or a world where people will always be enslaved to them?
