Hey everyone,

First of all, thanks to the new readers who continue to trickle in and read SPOA. I still hop on RR occasionally, and all the reviews and comments have meant so much to me. I know SPOA has never been standard fare for this website, so to see it reach even a moderate success has been incredible to witness. It gives me faith in myself as a writer, and also to this book I’ve spent so long trying to cultivate.

So yeah, it’s been a while. It’s been almost a year since I wrote the last chapter (maybe 9 months since I’ve last uploaded something), and since then I allowed myself to explore other projects. So far I’ve written two scripts and a number of short stories that will mostly stay in their respective fields (feel free to ask tho I love talking about them!). This is impressive for me, considering I also finished up the hard part of medical school this year. Now that interview season is mostly concluded and I have some free time for the rest of 2024, I’ve felt inspired to return to this project, as it’s by far my best work and something I’m no longer tired of looking at.

So a little from my end: briefly last year I actually pursued publishing queries but quickly realized the story was far from finished. The main obstacle is obvious: the manuscript is way too long (193k per RR, though that includes the occasional personal update or glossary). While I’m not entirely opposed to self publishing, I want to make this story as good as it can and give a genuine shot of actually ending up on a bookshelf.

The reality of it though is I gotta do a LOT of extra work. Among the many goals I’ve been trying to achieve is getting the next draft under 125k without sacrificing the twists and turns that make SPOA fun. So far I've gotten Part I to 40k which is awesome! But it’s not just streamlining - I want to improve on the work where I can, at least enough to where I can proudly send it in. The result isn’t quite a story from scratch, but changed enough to where there’s a noticeable difference. Here are some of the most significant changes I’ve made so far:

* New title. I found the name “Ash” to be overplayed in the fantasy genre, so I decided to rename the city to Aoasis. The new working title (and one I’m quite a fan of) is And the Gods Screamed.

* Cohesion of names, places, and etymology. I spent very little time building the framework of many of the names in this story, either taking blatantly from Finnish or Mesopotamian sources. I still have those as its roots, but I wanted it to be significantly less obvious. I’m now making a considerable effort to at least have a rationale for all the proper nouns in the story. I’m no linguist (and I’m NOT about pull a Tolkien), but I think the extra effort will be appreciated.

* Shortening the story. Self-explanatory. I’m still of the belief that I can get this monstrosity of a manuscript below 125k words (I’m currently at about 150k, but I’ve mostly worked with Part I so far). Most of the original story remains intact - I’m mostly just cleaning up the writing and cutting some of the sections that focus exclusively on world-building, but a couple of chapters are cut out entirely. Fortunately, my bad habit has always been to write more than necessary, so just cleaning up the prose has gone a long way thus far.

* For example of streamlining: Heikk and Penzer (now called ‘Penza’) have been combined into essentially the same character. This change has led to probably the most new writing in the story thus far.

* Also, many chapters will remain, but cut out. If I'm ever optimistic enough to do an extended edition, those chapters could still fit into the story at large.

* Appo is more dynamic. I personally struggled with writing him as more than an extension of myself in the early chapters (I actually had no idea how to make him interesting until I cut off his hand). I’ve made him a little more grounded, a little more cynical from the onset, and he now has an obvious reason for coming to the city other than pure altruism. Writing for him now is much more interesting and he’s a much stronger character with more agency in the beginning, though much of his later struggle remains as presented.

* Less blatant worldbuilding. I’m proud of the world of Ostior, and there’s a deep pit of worldbuilding I’ve constructed that remains in the periphery. I'd like to keep a large part of it either as chapter heads or something, but this has been the easiest thing to cut without sacrificing the story and characters, though it all still exists and will be shown when necessary.

* Magic is more realized. Magic plays a part in this story as a whole, and I wanted it not to come from nowhere like it does in the current draft. It appears earlier in the new story and is more seamless with the world, though there aren't any rules to it (this ain't a Sanderson work).

There will be more I fix as I go on, but these are the biggest changes thus far.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

As for the future: the goal is to be finished with the rewrite before 2025. Other than interviews for residency, I will make this my number one priority for the year. As for what comes next, I have two projects I’m considering writing, one of which I hope to take off on here depending on reader interest, as RR holds my biggest audience by far. These are the options:

1. A direct sequel to Screaming Plague that will occur ten years after the original story - Appo Illonnorot has gone on to become the Hippocrates of his time, and is now an monumentally influential healer back in the island nation of Jyvask (his hometown). However, the Screaming Plague has now taken over much of the mainland Ostior, creating an understandable crisis. Jere, who has rediscovered his freedom but has dealt with the plague on the mainland a decade, decides to travel to Jyvask to seek help from his former friend. However, both have changed considerably since they last met... There would be a host of other new characters who would round out the cast, but we’ll still see quite a lot of our old friends.

2. A completely new and original story I almost started to write for writathon, but thought better of it because I need to finish my other stories first. This idea is kinda like an ikesai, but to be honest it’s a stretch to call it that. Whereas SPOA was my take on zombies, this would be my take on vampires. The pitch is this: a young emergency resident overwhelmed by life (and the stress of working in one of the most dangerous cities in the world) finds his fortune changed when he is bitten by a vampire while working the night shift. He soon possesses many fantastic abilities, but now finds himself with several obvious weaknesses (he's harmed by sunlight, needs to acquire blood, is hunted by hunters and competing vampires alike, etc). The idea would eventually be a frantic fight for survival that gradually strips away his remaining humanity. In other words: turn Dr Doug Ross (from ER) into something closer to Dracula.

For both stories I have the characters and the basic synopsis figured out, but not a single word has been written for them yet. So TBA for both of them depending on how my muse feels.

Also feel free to make fun of my for writing doctor characters. I write what I know.

As for this rewritten story, I’m not sure how to involve others yet. I’d love y’all to see this new and improved work, but publishers are finicky about that sort of thing. For now, gimme some time to work on this and make it clean. If I go through this and nothing comes out of it, I’m happy to figure out how to do a self-published hard copy just so I can put it on a shelf. Maybe I’ll set up a patron, but I feel like the right time to do that has come and gone (wouldn’t feel right to set one up for a finished story anyway).

In any case, just wanted to let people know that the story is moving. I may start coming back on here again, but we’ll see how it goes. I always enjoy talking with readers and prospective writers so getting involved with the community again would be fun.

Peace y’all,

-B