Hello again,
First and foremost, thank you to everyone who's read this far in the story. I can't believe there are folks who come in and read my story every week for... wow. It's been over 6 months now.
On the one hand, I've been writing this story for a bit longer than I expected. But on the other hand, this is awesome.
image [https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/118472737/ef017c26fbcc4005b3c7157f50268cde/eyJ3Ijo4MjB9/1.jpg?token-time=1736726400&token-hash=BwnRYxNuS6gRz9sSgdNbO9IRmjyOROYh4w-XXv8EG_k%3D]
I had a much shorter set of arcs written up leading me to this point in the story. But as I actually started to type everything out, I realized that there was a lot more to explore with the characters and there were plot points I wanted to seed earlier than I had initially planned.
For example, Willow originally played a much smaller part in early drafts. Her identity and who she is wouldn't be explored until a much later part of the story which (after reading through once) I realized was a mistake. She has a lot more to offer the story, especially due to her family and relationship with them.
image [https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/118472737/cd8df14bb76642cb9b9754c026cd34e1/eyJ3Ijo4MjB9/1.jpg?token-time=1736726400&token-hash=oB5WRJEmD0H6A2GzABX1-2kI2imtZOD1nxh5ugWUR5g%3D]
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
The Hana and Jinyoung storyline is progressing much like I had originally planned out. There was always going to be conflict between the two of them and bringing that to the forefront was always the focus of the early story. Now, however, we've gotten to a point where Jinyoung has hopefully realized how much of Hana's life he has missed out on and the reality of the situation he is in.
image [https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/118472737/b4b4f556a3bc40469a78f1ebe087b58c/eyJ3Ijo4MjB9/1.jpg?token-time=1736726400&token-hash=eaoiKLOJZgxU6Ut5cKTsWPjkbzMf_YdV7Fro4UVDuK0%3D]
Youngho was always going to be a character who I wanted to show from the early part of the story, but I've held off because his presence is a polarizing force. Hana obviously cares a great deal for her father while Jinyoung's relationship with him is much more complicated. Having him introduced too early introduces even more conflict between the siblings while having him introduced too late would ruin the pacing.
image [https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/118472737/1bbf909b0dd54deebee6d413ae5ecc2e/eyJ3Ijo4MjB9/1.jpg?token-time=1736726400&token-hash=ckQJQGOyiQZL9jm2MzrNpgW7V_3-UrGIB9_iaM-ocKs%3D]
More than anything, I'm happy to be at this part of the story because... action. I love the action scenes in this story more than anything else and now we're at the point when everything is coalescing. Henry's plan is in full motion even if it hasn't been introduced to the reader in its entirety and everyone's going to have to deal with the aftermath.
image [https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/118472737/588188f462d74b6b87b61d98bcd62e59/eyJ3Ijo4MjB9/1.jpg?token-time=1736726400&token-hash=6KubKygfsIfsDbsE4InyeaypGu8qQ4zbAgG_mQhVCr0%3D]
The story picks back up on Wednesday with Cradle of Ice (1). I'll see you all then.
Best,
songdraws