Hey folks, your author here. I wanted to share some stuff before you learn about the new predator in the neighborhood.
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I've gotten around to reading through and doing a rough edit and rewrite of chapters 21-25 and I've uploaded those. So you have content for quite a while to hold you over. I bring this up for two reasons.
1. Chapter 26 needs a lot of work. Upon reread, I notice that it feels really rushed. That leads to bullet 2.
2. This entire novel has felt a little... pressed for time. A number of you pointed out some rather blatant holes in Part 1 which, if you've read my other work, isn't something I like to leave open. So the logical question is, why did that happen in this book, and not the others?
Well the answer is: because I wrote this entire 150K word manuscript in 8 days, with one day of research (which was mostly geography and linguistics). Unlike Jade Phoenix and Invasion (which took months to write), and all my other IPs which aren't public, Soul Warrior was an unplanned passion project. It was an idea I had in my brain floating around and I couldn't function until I got it out. So I did. In a week I wrote 150K words. That means, this is the most raw of raw content. It is pretty much my brain on (digital) paper without any sort of editorial filter.
Why am I sharing this? Basically because I really try to be proud of my work and I always want to enjoy reading a work I publish. I have expectations for myself for my finished work and I wanted to explain how and why this story feels the way it does – sort of straight forward, kind of blunt, kind of rushed, pressed together a bit. Well, it was.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
3. Despite all that, I really REALLY like this story. I think it has a lot of potential. I intend to publish it after most of the logic holes get filled. In fact, it is already under contract with Portal Books, the ones who published Jade Pheonix with me. I very much appreciate your input and feedback in pointing out where those logic holes exist.
4. I am reading your comments, even if I don't reply. They are super helpful. I can't promise I will implement every idea, nor will I change everything to everyone's desires. But I absolutely promise that I am reading them and taking them into account during the rewrite.
5. Unlike in JP, I am going to post the interludes for this novel. There aren't that many, but you'll get them.
Now we're getting to the heart of why I'm telling you all this:
6. Having reread the entire manuscript from beginning to end, I can tell you that I really like the first quarter and the last quarter. Not perfect, they still need work, but they are good I think. The middle part though, is kinda weak. So I expect to have to put in a lot work to rewriting those. Once we get to part 6, I think I may have to slow release so I can really get some new fresh content in there. It's a few weeks out, but I did want to warn you in advance so it's not a surprise when it happens.
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I think that's it...
So yeah, I wanted you all to understand the history of this manuscript and my expectations for the future. Honestly, I was hesitant to even post Soul Warrior on RR because it really isn't the kind of story popular on this platform. The most well read and rated are almost exclusively fantasy (litRPG or not), comedies, or classic cultivation. Sci-fi just aren't that successful on RR. No idea why, but the metrics just show it's the case. That said, I don't post for popularity's sake. I post stories, as I've shared, because I believe in offering free content and I really value the feedback.
As always, thank you for your time and attention. Now, back to the snakes!