Life, the Universe, and Writing...
Hi Hive! It's been a minute. Apparently it's December and solstice is coming with the sparks of another year. I'm not sure how that happened, but here we are.
Do you find yourself reflecting on the last year (or blur of years)?
I'm in a reflecting mood tonight so here I am posting for the second time in 24 hours after not posting on Hive since July. That seems to be how I roll. I disappear for months then pop back for a few posts, then vanish for a while longer. But I've been publishing on this blockchain since 2017 (which really shouldn't be as long ago as it is) and I keep coming back because this community is amazing. These communities, if you will.
Some of my favorites: #ladiesofhive, #thealliance, #ocd, #silvergoldstackers, #hivebookclub... What are your favorite communities?
I keep coming back to Hive for the people. For the friends I've met who are still here and posting. I pop in randomly and read your posts and smile.
I know you. I see you. I love how you shine.
Life...
I have reasons for disappearing. They're good ones. I get distracted easily and have less writing time than I'd like. I'm homeschooling and working on multiple writing projects and honestly I LOVE my LIFE 💞 and my family. Even when it's relentless and hard I am still so grateful.
My writing time largely has been devoted to interactive fiction and novels. I focus better when I stay off social media as a whole but that's a laugh. I find myself doomscrolling way too often.
But I digress...
Life is good. I'm in a good place. Evolution is ongoing.
The Universe...
The answer is 42. Probably.
And Writing.
Big things have been happening in my writing life.
I'm a contracted writer with Heart's Choice games. They published my interactive fiction novel Their Majesties' Pleasure earlier this year under my fantasy pen name Leia Talon, and I'm currently writing a second game.
My first game has over 1000 ratings with a 4.8/5 star average. I'm legit blown away by this. Just so humbled. The comments on the Choice of Games forum and from friends who have read the game have been amazing.
It's given me a measure of confidence that wasn't there before.
Writing Romantasy.
Though I started out writing multi-genre, I've really settled into writing Romantasy. Fantasy romance. The romance is integral to the story, which is generally an action-adventure fantasy with high stakes and passionate characters.
My last Hive post highlights a number of interactive fiction games that I've really enjoyed, and most of those titles could be classified as romantasy, as could many popular novels like the Sarah J Maas books I posted about last year about this time.
Celebrating the good stuff.
Indulge me in a moment of celebration.
Over the past year I've:
- Wrapped up a 225,000-word interactive fiction project.
- Had that project published (Their Majesties' Pleasure)
- Adapted the game into novel form with an outlined series.
- Wrote book 1 in the series. Got feedback. Edited. Queried.
- Started book 2 in the series.
- Pitched Heart's Choice more game ideas.
- Signed a contract to write my second game!
I'm super fortunate to have had another game greenlit. I'm getting paid to write and having a ton of fun doing it.
42,000 words into game two and feeling good.
Living the dream.
I'm really happy with Heart's Choice as a publisher and the Choice of Games approach to interactive fiction. Writing text-based RPGs is honestly as fun as it gets.
I enjoy creating chances for the player to respond in a personal way and have the characters react to their choices. It might've been a steep learning curve learning to write with so many variables and coding the story to account for different outcomes and stats, but it was totally worth it.
It's a fantastic method of storytelling.
Turning games into novels.
Adapting my interactive fiction story into conventional novel form has been monumental in my growth as an author. Something clicked as I took the player character and gave her a name. I chose a single line of choices for her and the supporting characters, and upped the stakes in a big way.
I made it darker. More personal.
I've been querying the first novel in the series that includes characters from my games to see if any literary agents are interested. I think the game proves the concept is strong and that my writing is better than average.
Shoot your shot, right?
All the Lovely People
There are so many amazing authors out there. It's humbling, really. I'm one of many, and grateful for the chance to craft stories that people enjoy.
I feel fortunate to contribute to the ever-growing universe of art presented in literary form.
Hibernation
Sometimes I have the energy to be social, but often I don't.
When I'm in game writing mode I usually don't have time. My last game was 225k words, and I'm aiming for around 200,000 for this game. We'll see.
That means I have roughly 160,000 words to write in the New Year, plus however many I can manage this month. Wish me luck. 🤣
Please forgive me if I disappear from the blockchain for chunks of time. I'm over here letting the characters who live in my head engage in whatever shenanigans they deem fit. But I always love coming back. Thank you for welcoming me back, time and time again. Thank you for your comments, your encouragement, for supporting me as a writer, and for simply being you.
Until next time...
Thank you for reading! 💖
Peace @Katrina-Ariel / @LeiaTalon
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"42, the only way to understand the answer is to comprehend the nature of the question." ~ The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy.
It's fascinating how Game franchises underestimate the importance of deep and immersive story lines that contribute to the success their product, sparking a life into their own,
My shtick has been inspired through the RPG Vampires, the Masquerade,🦇
I hear you. Deep and immersive story lines are important. I think they can be a challenge to include in games, but I'm trying my best to do just that. I did find that when I adapted my first game to novel form I was able to go into so much more depth. The game I'm writing now has a lot going on, so hopefully the story will be satisfying beyond the romance elements.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment! 💖
Sounds like you've had a stellar year! Congrats on all the writing and success! Thank you for sharing and have a lovely day!
Thank you! Yes, it's been good. So much time working toward dreams coming true, so it's important to celebrate when they do! 💖
Indeed!🤗💜
This is quite the achievement. We’ll keep supporting you here
Thanks so much! I appreciate that. I just popped over to read one of your posts and your artwork is really lovely! 💖
Thank youuuuuuu I’m happy you like it.
This is an achievement, thank you for sharing.
Thank you for reading! 😊
I tried a couple from your list, but still looking for the one for me! I understand the energy to be social, but with writing 225K words would nearly kill me. I'm not a talented writer by nature!
!DHEDGE
Thanks for checking some of the games out! Choice of Games has a broader selection, which you might try to find something of interest. I love how many stories there are, so we all can find fictional adventures that appeal.
It is a lot of words, no doubt. It's like writing two books. But the playthrough is only about 50,000 words so all that material makes multiple playthoughs fun and adds options for a wide variety of players. 😊
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Great to see you've found the sweet spot for your writing and on top of that are stretching out beyond that turning the game story into novels. It's a joy to create with words but earning from it too makes it even better! Best of luck to you.
Thank you! It's so nice to be doing what I love, and working on a story that's so much fun to write. I appreciate the thoughtful comment!