Hello everyone! It’s been about a month and a half since my last update, which is a bit longer than I usually wait. I’m sure you’ve all been sitting at your computers with my website open, desperately refreshing as you wait for the page to update with a new blogpost. Wait no longer, for I have arrived with updates!
Firstly, to finish off the set from my last post, the reference sheets for Restart Again’s main cast have been completed! I know I’m very late in having these done, but I’m extremely pleased with the results. Take a look!
Beautiful, right? I made sure to get two separate references for Lia, depicting both her first armor set from Atsal (which seems to have been decades ago at this point!) and her updated set after certain events happen in Volume 3. This is also the first time we’ve had a good look at the King’s Sword, which has taken a variety of shapes throughout the series! Lia mainly keeps it in the paired longsword form throughout our adventures, but as it was first found as a greatsword, it seemed fitting to display it in that form as well.
Val’s design has varied quite a bit through different artworks, changing in style from concept to cover to interior artwork in turn. I’m happy to be finally settling on a style here which falls much closer in line with her description on the page! The King’s Shield has also seen itself updated, and is now complete with a reference to the geared tracks hidden beneath the stained-glass surface.
Both of these pieces were done by ReZynsire on Twitter. Please go check them out and give them a follow! They’re criminally underfollowed on Twitter, and you’ll certainly find some amazing artwork on their page! I’ve been very blessed to see what will become the cover and the insert artwork for Volume 5, also done by them, and you’re all in for a TREAT, I tell you!
Speaking of Volume 5, let’s hit a quick update on the progress! I’ve passed the 61,000 word mark today. This puts me at a relatively reduced pace compared to previous months, but I promise I have good excuses! The first of which is that I’ve decided to have the work edited “in vivo”, as it were; every 5 chapters, I’ll be sharing the work with my editor and making all the necessary changes. I think this will help to ensure to story progresses exactly as its supposed to, and will definitely save some time on the back end when it comes to publishing, even if it slows down the forward progress slightly! I don’t think I’ll ever make 100% assured promises on book lengths after Volume 4’s explosion, but judging by the progress of the novel so far, I am confident (in this moment) that it will NOT be crossing the 200,000 word mark.
Now, over the course of my writing career (if you can call it that), I’ve remained a pretty anonymous figure, all things considered. I tend to keep these updates focused mainly on the Restart Again universe, and any references to my personal life have been vague and fleeting. If you’d like to keep our Author/Reader relationship at this stage, proceed no further, for the final paragraphs of this blog post will be a LIFE UPDATE.
My other excuse for a diminished word count these past few weeks is…I got married! Longtime and dedicated readers have most likely seen my significant other’s name show up in the special thanks of each of my novels, but when Volume 5 eventually releases, I’ll be able to thank her as my wife for the very first time in print (which is quite an exciting prospect for me!). To peek behind the veil for a moment (the title finally makes sense!), here are a couple of the very fantastic images from our wedding!
Despite both rain and hail during our ceremony, we had a wonderful day surrounded by our friends and family. As I mentioned before, I typically keep this sort of stuff separate from my “professional persona”, as it were (and will continue to do so in the future), but this seemed like the perfect opportunity to change that!
With that all said, I will now retreat and hide behind the anonymity of words posted on the internet. The Restart Again universe continues to expand ever-outward (I don’t have any updates on the webcomic project, apart from the fact that production has continued!), and I hope to have a highly-increased word count the next time we sit down for our little monthly check-in. Until then, though, stay safe out there, and as always, thanks for reading!
~Adam
