Theo was certain the information provided by the book was not accurate to how things worked on Earth. The [Swamp Truffles] worked much like the [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] for propagation. There might have been some spores involved, but the way the book described it was like growing a plant from a tuber. Truffles weren’t the easiest mushrooms t...
2023-03-17 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostWoohoo. Alright. Friday updates. Here we go.
So, I need to write out a schedule for the fishing story, but I wanted to start posting it in April. So that should be going up soon.
First on the agenda, I took the first week in this month to finish chapters for the fishing story (The Last Cast). Then I rolled around in the mud for a whi...
2023-03-16 16:40:38 +0000 UTC View PostOops it's not Friday. Oh well.
So, I'm supposed to be on a break from writing. Two weeks in this month lined up so I could have a break and keep chapters of N&D coming. So, of course I started writing another book.
There were some ideas from class consultant that were too good, and I couldn't help myself. First, the fishing...
2023-03-12 13:15:51 +0000 UTC View PostTheo found Ziz and his men hauling blocks from their quarry, down to the river. He watched with amusement, waiting for the group to detect his presence. Only after the men cursed and kicked at the absurdly heavy blocks did they notice him.
“An inventory!” one shouted.
“Theo!” Ziz said, huffing to regain his breath. “Mind gi...
2023-03-10 12:02:59 +0000 UTC View PostTresk got clever with her assassination attempt in the Dreamwalk that night. Instead of ordering her minions to attack simultaneously, she staggered them in stages. It was hard to hide intent through the Tara’hek, and Theo already had a solution for that problem. His mana control in the real world was bad, but within the dream realm it was acc...
2023-03-10 12:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostWarning bells clattered, a frantic staccato rhythm that sent every adventurer in Broken Tusk into a frenzy. Theo set the alarm with a warning, using his town-wide messaging system. Every able-bodied citizen stood ready behind those sturdy walls, ready for whatever Fenian brought with him.
Theo stood with his command structure, looking out ...
2023-03-10 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to Friday, every person!
Alrighty, let's see...February was a great month for writing (despite getting sick earlier this week), and everything has a nice schedule. I've timed writing and releases well, for once.
Newt and Demon has a back log again. Yay. The fishing book, which will likely be titled "Last Cast" or "The Last Ca...
2023-03-03 12:24:48 +0000 UTC View PostTheo spent what was left of the afternoon on reactions. His alchemical garden was at the point where it could produce hundreds of [Healing Potions] per day, but that left a gap for his other potions. Fenian enjoyed walking away from the town with a variety of potions. Attribute-enhancement potions were popular, but the alchemist was interested i...
2023-03-03 12:02:59 +0000 UTC View PostTheo found no surprises with the [Refined Dissolve Essence]. Zarali’s improvements on his stills meant he didn’t have to worry about a second process to get the most from his essences, gaining him much needed time. He inspected the essence one last time before deciding on what form of potion to create.
[Refined Dissolve Essence...
2023-03-03 12:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostWhere are you? Tresk asked. I suddenly feel a sense of overwhelming smugness.
Theo couldn’t suppress his smile, trailing Throk back to town. He met with Tresk outside of the Marshwolf Tavern. Xam had taken to holding the festivities outside. After the pair took a seat, the alchemist explained the source of that smug...
2023-03-03 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe coin mint was a long-term solution to a long-term problem. Gridgen assured the group that minting coins didn’t happen overnight. The only positive side to this new project was that it wasn’t illegal, anyone could mint coins if they had the resources. This was because the system often generated coins, giving them out as rewards to quests ...
2023-02-24 12:03:00 +0000 UTC View PostYour timing is suspiciously aligned with when I create a new potion, Theo said.
He took a seat in his lab, gazing out the window as the voice of Fenian echoed through his mind. The telepathic link was like the Tara’hek’s version, but different enough to render it cumbersome. The entire experience reminded him that the official...
2023-02-24 12:01:59 +0000 UTC View PostTheo wouldn’t have trusted even Zarali to instruct him on how to produce mana reliably. The system covered that for him with his water enchanting, but without a skill related to the act, it was up to him to bridge the gap. Xol’sa explained it to him. The alchemist could grab a chisel and a hammer, practicing to create the stone tablets Ziz m...
2023-02-24 12:00:59 +0000 UTC View PostBook 3 be chugging along. I'll mostly talk about the fishing story in this post. It still doesn't have a name.
Once I realized what the fishing class was, everything for that story fell into place. The fishing class isn't meant to just bring fish up and sell the meat, it's a treasure-hunting class. Once the MC starts fishing up strong enou...
2023-02-23 20:44:26 +0000 UTC View PostTheo woke the next morning with one thing on his mind. During his time in the Dreamwalk, with Tresk’s constant interruptions, he realized this was a chance to understand which potions would be most useful for adventurers. He could simply take a poll to figure out which worked best for them, but people rarely knew what they wanted. In the dream...
2023-02-17 12:02:59 +0000 UTC View PostTheo spent the rest of his day fiddling with the alchemy construct idea. Zarali stuck around for a while, but once Tresk returned home she departed. The Marshling spent her day patrolling the walls of Broken Tusk and seemed to have little interest in the constructs. She was always interested in things that would affect her life the most over the...
2023-02-17 12:01:59 +0000 UTC View PostIf not for the powerful jaws of the [Alchemical Grinder], the [Pozwa Horns] would have been impossible to grin into a fine powder. Theo fed the hard horns into the device, wincing as it groaned. But after a few moments, the job was done, and 100 units of powdered horn sat at the bottom of his [Drogramath Still]. The alchemist poured in enough wa...
2023-02-17 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostHooray. Newt and Demon 2 is wrapping up on Royal Road on Monday, so that's fun.
The fishing story is going well. There's a plot in there somewhere, but I don't care to find it. It's balanced on three pillars. Slice of life, fishing, and magic. The magic crafting system is shaping up to be interesting.
A lot of books in the genr...
2023-02-16 23:56:18 +0000 UTC View Post“Should you be practicing that Drogramagic?” Tresk asked.
Theo and Tresk sat in Xam’s tavern, which remained mostly empty during the morning. It was the 51st day of the Season of Blooms, 8 days before the end of the season and the closing of the Festival of the Dying of the Blooms. The alchemist had many things to do before the seaso...
2023-02-10 12:03:00 +0000 UTC View PostTheo left Zarali at the river. She wanted to spend time there, but for what reason, he didn’t know. The entire time he lingered near the western border of his town, he felt eyes upon him. They weren’t eyes that pried, digging into his soul to determine his merit, they were kind eyes. Attention that brought comfort and protection. The alchemi...
2023-02-10 12:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostTheo approached the greenhouse, resting on the old gravel yard behind the Newt and Demon. Several small orbs of light floated around the interior, a benefit of the [Sun Orbs] upgrade that provided the perfect light for those plants. His [Spiny Swamp Thistle] cultivation operation was in full swing, a fact made possible by the farmers in town. Wi...
2023-02-10 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostHello! Welcome to the Friday update!
So, I wrapped writing for the this sprint of Newt and Demon 3. Jan 1st to Feb 6th and we have 38 chapters to show for it. It was an okay sprint, as far as my expectations of myself go. I want to be hard on myself and say that I should have 60 chapters to show for it, but 160,000 words part time...
2023-02-10 00:06:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe Dreamwalk skill allowed Theo and Tresk to traverse into a strange place. It was a reflection of a memory, recalled through the minds of both members of the Tara’hek. This often painted it with more emotions than logic, twisting reality to suit whatever either of them was feeling at the moment.
“It’s a mirror to our realm...
2023-02-03 12:03:01 +0000 UTC View PostTheo Spencer smoothed back his black hair, letting his fingers linger over the pair of horns that traced the shape of his head. He stood, stowing away the quill, ink, and leather-bound journal into his inventory. It vanished with a faint popping sound. The body he inhabited came from a brood of Drogramath Dronon, tall Demon-like creatures that w...
2023-02-03 12:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostHooray. 7am EST tomorrow book 3 starts going out.
Please remember, these are structured as novels, so we'll have some reintroduction and setup for the plot of the book.
So, the end of book 2 had two really short chapters, so we're going ahead by a chapter to make up for that. Chapter 58 is the first chapter that switches perspective,...
2023-02-03 01:50:14 +0000 UTC View PostGooooood Friday! Happy Friday? Whatever! I'm writing this on Thursday.
I don't know what I'm going to do for next week. I normally like to post the last chapter (a diary entry from Theo) and not count it as a chapter. But the way the chapters are lining up, we're likely going to see the last chapter of N&D 2, the epilogue, and chapter ...
2023-01-27 00:07:17 +0000 UTC View PostI'd absolutely LOVE to think that I could just work on The Newt and Demon forever, but that's not how my brain works. I'm trying to write a chapter of N&D every day in January. So far, that's failed completely. I'm already behind.
I put a short brief before each story, but each is a SoL story about the same character in different situa...
2023-01-19 01:36:30 +0000 UTC View PostOh, look at that. My chapters are running out. We have 2 more weeks of chapters for 3rd tier, then we're on to book 3! Hooray!
There will be no break between book 2 and book 3 because there's something wrong with me. Before the end of January I'll post what chapters I have for "healer" and "fishing" for everyone to vote on, but I've been p...
2023-01-13 01:37:30 +0000 UTC View PostHappy Friday!
Well, I'm writing this on Thursday... Oh well.
We are rounding the corner on book 2 for tier 3 patrons this week with chapter 48. There are 59 chapters in book 2 and I'm writing book 3 right now. I had a lot of fun noodling around during December, trying to get a good idea for another series. I learned a lot about what ...
2023-01-05 23:53:44 +0000 UTC View PostI usually like to do something extra every month for Patrons. This month, along with all the chapters you get normally, I wrote a short story about Fenian Feintleaf. It's about 10k words and carries a much different tone than the main series. Fenian is the narrator for this one, so no tricks. This answers the question about "What is the bridge" ...
2022-12-29 14:43:51 +0000 UTC View Post