Hey all, it's been a while! I've got a big news update for you. For the last six months I've been hard at work on the second draft of Origin of Evil, and I'm very proud to announce that sometime in the next three days I'll be posting it here to Royal Road! I'll go ahead and take this opportunity to detail the host of changes that I've made.
A whole lot has changed with the second draft, the most important change being the name! Origin of Evil will now be known as Bound By Bravery. I think this is a vastly better name that more accurately reflects the story's themes and, well, just sounds a whole lot nicer! I'll leave Origin of Evil's name unchanged here, however, mostly because I see no real reason to change it.
As a tiny treat, here is a look at the updated cover art I'll be using for Bound By Bravery!
[https://i.imgur.com/pr36ZsO.jpg]
Beyond the name change, I should also state directly that not much about the plot of book one has actually changed. Please, don't go into Bound By Bravery expecting a radically different story! However, what has changed is character motivations, dialogue, certain events and, last but certainly not least, overall quality. I'm quite pleased with the results, and I think you will be too if you take the time to read it.
And after reviewing all the helpful criticism I received from people, plus going over my own work, I've decided that instead of being separated into two parts BBB is going to be separated into two different books. Book one will end at chapter thirty-three where the original separation is, and book two will begin right afterward. Frankly, I think the second part of OOE is where most of the problems lay, and by separating them into two separate books it'll be easier for me to handle the various changes I want/need to make to it. So while book one doesn't have significant plot changes, this is me telling you directly that book two definitely will. Instead of the mere seventeen chapters it's currently at, my plan is to add ten or so additional chapters to it.
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Ten chapters probably sounds like a lot, but I think it's necessary. Not only to justify it being it's own book, but also to flesh out the events and characters more. I'm going to give the plot the breathing room it sorely needed while also taking the opportunity to flesh out certain characters a bit more. And here is where I should mention that Gideon is no longer going to be our sole POV character! With book two he'll be sharing protagonist duties with Surelin. Making Surelin a POV character should enhance the story in a vast multitude of ways. I'm very excited for you to see all the changes that are in store!
For right now, my plan is to release the first five chapters of BBB on the first day, and then release one chapter a day every day until completion. This is to give myself the necessary time to continue editing book one on top of working on book two. Once book one is complete, I should be able to start publishing book two right afterwards.
And that's pretty much it! With the upcoming release of the second draft, Origin of Evil is officially riding off into the sunset. I'll leave it here and unaltered since there's really no reason to delete it, but beyond responding to future comments I won't be making any future changes. My focus is going to switch entirely to Bound By Bravery from here on out. So please keep an eye out for Bound By Bravery, it should be out in the next two days or so, whenever Royal Road accepts it as a submission. I'm extremely excited for you to see all the changes, and I hope you have as much fun with it as I did while making it!