…the draft for book 2 is nearly done! It is… very VERY messy and so rough and sloppy. But that’s okay! That’s the point of a draft. It’s like those inital sketches only you can decipher and understand because you know what the final product will be. There have been a lot of things going on (prior to Monty’s passing) that has made it quite challenging to do any edits on Book 1. I’ve thought of things I could add to it but huge portions need significant work that I haven’t yet figured out myself.
So because of that, I went into writing Book 2 with the hopes of giving myself a headstart. Well. I think I definitely have! It’s immensely different from what I originally imagined. I had to take out plot threads (RIP) simply because I felt they wouldn’t work and perhaps could be saved for RO spin off titles, if I did such a thing (which is a MAJOR if. I won’t promise anything on that. If it happens, it happens.). Book 3 is going to be a challenge and also the last book, making this a trilogy.
On the side, I’ve been working on an unrelated projected that I asked my mother to read and she enjoyed it, to my delight! I dunno if it’d be an IF or anything but I was glad she liked it. I’ve also gone into Nyx’s story off and on because his would take place after Agents of Lucifer and just before Amberwood. Which I STILL don’t have a plot for. Or solid idea for MC. So annoying…
Yes, yes, an update! As in, I’ve finished the draft for Book 2 today! I have to fix Book 1 for my mother so it’s easier to read and edit. I’ll be typing up Book 2 in due time, too. I’m overall happy with how it went! It has roughly 19 or 20 chapters, and I say “or” because I may be adding in another that I thought of later to help, I guess, foreshadow later events within the book.
I don’t quite know what you mean by the first question… Unless you’re referring to the update page within the demo. In which case, no, because when I can start uploading again, it’s going to be an entirely separated new demo, rather than one that’s overwritten. Of course, I can specify that it’s old/outdated and no longer getting updates.
For the second question, if you’re asking what I think you are, it’d be the standard bugs and mistakes/errors. Like, say, you set Maples as a female but a pronoun in one sentence says “he” instead of “she”. That and probably any pacing concerns, ways to improve flavor text… All of this will be stated specifically when uploading again!
I will be working far slower due to looking for employment. I don’t know what I’ll find… if anything. I know stable jobs are hard to get.
Interviews are super hard for me. I get terrible anxiety during them or even just applying. I also think interviews are a waste of time but I digress. Maybe with some luck, I could somehow find something where i don’t have to talk on the phone and whatnot.
Just finished reading it, it felt very similar to Wayhaven minus the side characters and needless subplots.
The pacing was very slow, nothing eventful happened. The actual writing was good, maybe a bit purple prosy at time but it lacks a proper story or plot, you just start of investigating a case, and for 3 chapters you investigated a case.
Well, it’s a good thing it’s been rewritten, although I don’t know when I get to upload that. Hopefully, even if you still don’t like it, the rewrite is at least an improvement. The available demo really suffers because I didn’t really have a clear sense of direction, certainly not like I do now.
I also expected Wayhaven comparisons which, in all honesty, somewhat annoyed me to think about simply because it isn’t the first story to be centered around supernaturals and shady agencies (or shady supernatural agencies). It just happened to get popular here . I only hope that people see this as its own separate entity in the end. Stories are going to remind people of other stories they’ve seen/heard/read. But I don’t want this to feel like a… Wayhaven clone, so to speak (like what happened with Divergent and Hunger Games).
Haha yes thats so true, whenever 1 genre gets popular others do copy intentionally or accidentally. In manga the Isekai genre was one because of SAO, in Manhwa it was the “litrpg” because of SLW.
I hope to see the rewrite soon. If I can add some suggestions it would be to start with a plot with emotional ties to the MC and other characters, a revenge story is an example since investigating a murder of some random dude feels impersonal even if you solve it.
A back story for the MC with something personal and emotional would also help such as “family, lover, best friend, partner got killed, I have to find who did it and take revenge”
Another point I’d like to add is that instead of devoting time to boring investigating try to add some action, drama or thrill in events. Going to a location and finding out clues is boring when nothing happened.
For example the start of the first chapter was the best part, you start out in the middle of action, heavily injured and just barely making it unlike chapter 2 or 3. However the action also has to have a purpose, “just doing another case because its my job” does nothing for the story, make it personal to the MC.
I think I did a wee bit of a better job at the emotional aspect to MC, particularly in the backstory. I can’t say the same for the case they work on itself but I can see about finding a way beyond what I’ve done. MC is tied a little more into it but, say, an almost-victim.
Funny enough, all that you suggested were things I was looking up and reading on because, obviously, an MC needs something that connects themselves to the reader, otherwise you just aren’t going to care so much. Let’s hope I get a new demo up soon… (I’ll probably make an entire new thread just for clarity.)
Edit to add: thank you for your honesty!
No problem, one thing I’ve noticed is that on HG all the stories are very similar, they all copy each other to a degree.
Meanwhile on Twine/itch io the WIPS have more originality in ideas, stories and execution although most of them got discontinued sadly. Perhaps play their stories and take a look for inspiration.
I can recommend Swallow the Dark, Sinners and Saint and Whisper in the Dark as they are of a similar genre.
Would you like if it posted random snippets of the previous Agents of Lucifer draft? I could post them here, or even on AO3 (y’know, that place I haven’t touched in forever), so you can see in a single place the discarded draft.
If you remember, I had rewritten Agents of Lucifer once already and even finished the draft, before scrapping it because I wasn’t happy with it (so glad I did). By posting on AO3, each snippet/segment would be a chapter, each titled for easy navigation. Purely for fun and so you guys have something from me after so long. My other thought was making it available through kofi or something? But because I’ve been so quiet and all but poofed, it feels wrong to go “okay, now gimmie your money!”
OR I can offer small writings based on your ideas, if there’s anything you want to see, again, posted on AO3 for ease, and could involve Agents of Lucifer characters, Amberwood, both, or characters you haven’t even seen yet . Let me know what you think! And yes, this could potentially include suggestive scenes (done at my discretion).
The draft has been passed onto my mother! Granted, there is a fair bit left undone because I simply had zero ideas and I’d like to have it all finished for the demo. I told her she’s free to input any ideas she had. My brain was not braining. Sooo, this means I’ll get to work on making things for AO3 content for ya’ll to read.
I’ve begun posting the shorts you guys voted for on AO3!
(As posted on tumblr)
I’ve posted all I’ve typed up thus far and was ready to share. Hopefully you find some enjoyment in them! I apologize how short a couple of them are. Click here to check it out!
Oh gosh, I was so stupid not to read your amazing story earlier. I love it. The characters, the intrigue, the friendship between the characters. I hope to read more soon or even buy the book the best for you and your mom
not sure about it but could it be that the statues aren’t statues but frozen people? And that we are the next target? And the woman who was talking to us was the artist? Has the Gorgon something to do with it? Because Gorgons can turn people into stones while looking at their victims…
(please read this-)
. I only hope that people see this as its own separate entity in the end. Stories are going to remind people of other stories they’ve seen/heard/read. But I don’t want this to feel like a… Wayhaven clone, so to speak (like what happened with Divergent and Hunger Games).
the best for you and your mom 
