First_Contact

Book 11 Cover

My artist handed me this a few days ago.

The cover for Book 11, "Ashes, Ashes", which details the Terran Xenocide Event and the use of the Black Cauldron. The back will have a zombie completely in sillouette, just the jaws, red eyes, and the hand reaching into the foreground visible.

Oh, and the pink nail polish on the hand of the zo...

We Did It...

As of today, First Contact is finished.

I keep reading that line and it doesn't feel real.

My wife and kids want me to take 30-60 days off before starting to write again.

I can already feel the urge to write, the urge to create, the urge to close my eyes and let the words flow out again.

Still, I'll keep catching up the P...

Patreon Payment Error

Apparently some of you might have had your payment declined or are wondering why you lost access to the Patron Only section on my Patreon or other creator's Patreon pages.

Well, Patreon screwed up and some of your credit cards didn't go through.

If you're wondering what happened, I attached a screenshot of what was sent to me.

...

Another Update

Well, that's Chapters 500-550.

Paperback and hardbacks are up.

New covers have been put on the early books, mainly just font changes.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Today's Progress

Today I finished the layout and uploading of the paperback and hardback for Book 10: Victory or Death.

Additionally, all covers now have the same font style. That means 1, 2, 4 have all been updated on their covers.

I also reached Chapter 500 on transferring stuff onto Patreon. Like I said, the only reason it is behind the paywall is...

ONWARD TO VICTORY

As you see, I got up to chapter 500. Sorry for blasting your email.

I'm having a lot of family stuff going on this week and probably next week, which is why I have been a little off on my writing. For which I apologize.

I got the main one handled, so you don't have to worry about that.

Pretty soon, the first arc will be over. I...

Catching Up & Lightning Strikes

You might have noticed I posted a LOT of First Contact chapters.

Well, this last week was Hell on wheels, and I'm trying to catch up on what I told you I'd do. Additionally, I'm going through and adding tags to make things a little easier to navigate and find.

Hopefully, everyone has been doing good.

I'm healing up really well....

Oops

So, I'm back in the immobilizer with periodic numbness and tingling in my hand. Which sucks. At least my ribs are healed up.

I mentioned it on Reddit, but that's why my typing is so slow and I'm taking so long to put out chapters.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm alive, just a little busted up.

--Ralts

The Summer Peeper

It's getting into summer.

Anyway, I figured I'd reiterate why I'm copying chapters to my Patreon BUT putting them behind the paywall despite my promise to always have it on Reddit.

Well, it's because many of you got tired of Reddit's stuff, the API change being the final straw, and asked for me to put it here.

However, if I put...

Copying Chapters

OK, as I talked about, with so many people no longer going to Reddit because of the API and other things, I'm copying chapters from the master document to here.

They have to be behind the Paywall or Amazon gets upset. I'll still be posting daily to Reddit and Royal Road.

It'll take a while to catch up to where Reddit and Royal Road a...

The Bit On Typing

Someone mentioned talking about my decisions behind the various plots, subplots, characterizations, and stuff like that.

Well, let's be honest.

It's all stream of consciousness writing. I might have a vague idea of where things are going, like "Dee's going to tempt the crew of the It Tastes Sweet" but beyond that, I don't know what's...

Two Tiny Friends Meet

Well, this has been rough. Another ER trip. Emergency surgery. Recovering.

My wife's just glad that for once I admitted I *might* need a doctor.

She didn't even scream at me, just did that narrowing eyes, slight flush, and 'pfffff' noise annoyed wives make when their husband's been particularly foolish but in a way they should be use...

Easter Eggs

Well, it's another season. Multiple birthdays and a holiday.

All in all, things are going OK, except for the government won't get its hand out of my pocket, which pisses me off.

The last week of so we've had a lot of thunderstorms, including several lightning strikes on the property. My wife and daughters have all joked that "Hey, lo...

My Brain Won't Cooperate

So, writing recently, I've come out of the fugue state with some of the weirdest stuff.

It's Behold: Humanity! stuff, but more "Tales of the Terran Confederacy" stuff. Stuff like a participant's account of being in the Mar-gite War. A chapter of a tanker in the Mithril Nebula Conflict. A chapter or two of a xeno-species getting close to th...

Spring is Coming

Well, we made it through winter. Only a few dings and bruises. Only 3 ER visits and 2 overnight stays.

But I'm on the mend, which is good.

Hopefully, everyone else is doing good too.

--Ralts

The Builders Were Once Here

Admiral Jeff Pikark's story in the over-arching story has finished, as has Attila's story.

That's one down, like a dozen and a half to go, LOL.

We're going to move to another story arc again. We've still got a lot to cover.

With things having straightened out across multiple areas in my life over the last month and a half, espe...

The Angel of Death

Wow, has it been a month since I last wrote here.

Well, in that time my daughter's wedding grows closer, my other daughter's house repairs finished, and I recovered (for the most part) from what partially ails me.

And we're in the End Zone.

The Omniqueen is dead. Now we deal with the fallout.

Anyway, I'll catch more tomor...

Here We Are

Just a few thoughts and things I want to share.

First, is about Dee. I was talking with a few people while playing a multiplayer game, who know about First Contact, and I keep getting asked two things: What's Dee's real name, and if I'm going to redeem her and make her more sympathetic.

The number one thing seems to be that I should ...

Slowdown

Well, he's about to find out that his tail is attached to him, isn't he.

Just letting everyone know that things are starting to look better. My daughter's responding well to the medication and stuff. She still has to wear a heart monitor, but it's better than it was. The other problems are healing up on everyone. Houses are repaired, stuff...

It's the Middle of the Month!

Well, you all have probably noticed that this month is rough.

Still dealing with the after effects of being hospitalized. Had to deal with some government stuff, so that's always fun.

They've got me on another round of antibiotics, which make me feel like shit. Then, I get migraines from the interaction between the antibiotics and my...

Just A Little Talking

I figured I'd talk about something real quick.

When I started all this, it was to keep us going through COVID and the lockdowns.

Back then I said I wouldn't do a Paypal or a Patreon. Well, after fake accounts started popping up, I did the Patreon and the Paypal.

One thing I promised is that the story of First Contact would ALWA...

The New Year

Well, I'm on the mend.

VA figured out what it was (hospital misdiagnosed me, surprise surprise) and put me on heavy antibiotics for two weeks.

Other than that, my New Year went pretty good. My daughters had an interesting New Year. Just the normal stuff of a furnace locking up, hitting debris on the highway and blowing two tires, a f...