Happy 2025! Wow, can’t believe I haven’t written on the blog since last year… (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Anyways, terrible joke aside, I have some exciting progress to report. Since my last writing update, despite starting a Ph.D. program in the Fall, I managed to write a rough draft for not one, but TWO novels! And, even more exciting, writing them was actually fun. As I’ve written on a couple of times previously, I hadn’t had fun in my writing—at least not consistently—for a while, because sometimes the professional side of writing and wanting to be published drowned out my delight in writing. This was a major struggle for me at the beginning of 2024, and in finding joy in my writing during the second half of the year, I saw the Lord answer prayers for my writing (which I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post as well).

I stated in my last writing update that The Myth-Keepers series is my present writing focus and that I intended to have a full rough draft of Book 1 by the end of 2024. I did accomplish that, finishing Book 1 in early October—then immediately jumped into writing Book 2, which I finished a rough draft of by the end of 2024. While I’ve heard a lot of experienced writers and editors recommend against writing books in a series back-to-back like that, I had my reasons for doing so. First, I had a ton of writing momentum, which has been rare in recent years, and wanted to keep riding that wave while I felt inspired to actually do the writing part (planning or editing sometimes feels way more comfortable for me than drafting). Second, in the process of writing Book 1, I encountered a few plot holes and a few questions about world and characters, which the drafting process often helps me figure out and work through. Jumping into Book 2 immediately felt like a chance to continue exploring some of those plot issues and unanswered questions by experimenting a little more. And it was helpful!

When I made the decision to keep writing Book 2 immediately, I initially planned on proceeding to write the whole Myth-Keepers series (six total books) in one sweep, without stopping to revise each book. (A goal I projected would take me through the end of 2025 or beginning of 2026.) Christmas holiday festivities, though, forced me to slow down, which made me reconsider this plan. Instead, now I intend to majorly reshape and revise Book 1, and some aspects of Book 2. Now that I’ve done some exploring through drafting, it’s time to nail down a few things with a little more clarity and consistency before moving onto the rest. I will also add that Books 3-6 have a much stronger direction and vision compared to Books 1-2. I often know how I want stories to progress and end, but beginnings typically take me the longest to work out.

So, looking forward into 2025, I’m excited to first dive into major revisions for Book 1, which will focus on emphasizing the “spy-thriller” element of the hybrid genre, add in a character arc with new scenes or revising scenes to be told from this character’s perspective, and tighten the magic system’s explanation. Book 1’s current draft focuses a lot on team-building and world-building, but it’s lacking in a compelling plot that drives the story forward. I was inspired (by watching the Netflix Carry-On movie of all things) to think instead of making the book focus on a clear, specific mission the characters are engaging with in order to add in more of that spy-thriller element to the fantasy genre. As it stands in the rough draft, the characters incidentally get swept up into a larger scheme in an almost passive way, but I think the story will be much stronger (and more interesting) if they are actively engaging with a larger mission throughout the novel, not just at the very end. I also realized over the course of writing the two drafts that a character who plays a major role in the series’ climax sort of…floats through the story, without much intrigue about her. A lack of emotional attachment will make her planned big character moment later on matter less, I think, so I’m wanting to improve her characterization now so that readers are more drawn to her and like her. And the magic system is all over the place and sort of tacked onto the story and characters. It needs more consistency and I need to commit to how it functions within the world. While this might seem like a lot to sort through and work through, I’m far from intimidated. In fact, I’m thrilled and cannot wait to jump into making this book I’m loving even more enjoyable.

Beyond Book 1 revisions, in 2025, I also want to revise Book 2. I’m not sure how substantial Book 2’s revisions will be compared to Book 1; there will definitely be some moments that need to be rewritten, but I don’t foresee any major plot overhauls. We’ll see, though. I’d also love to write Book 3 this year, perhaps while Book 1 is out for a beta read.

It feels great to be passionate about a writing project again. I cannot wait to share this story with you.