Hello friends! Another month down, another recap of the Restart Again project due. Seeing as the title is so enticing, I’ll jump right into the recap so we can get to the good stuff faster. Volume 5 has just crossed the 180,000 word mark; this is another 9,000 words since my last update, and coincides with another chapter being completed. Those with sharp memories among you may ask “Wait, a 9,000 word chapter? I thought you said this one was going to be short!” My response to that is as follows: YEAH I KNOW BUT IT WASN’T. It took longer than I expected, but I’ve finally reached the point of no return with Volume 5: We’re in the endgame now, and the climax is fast upon us. To anybody who has been keeping up with the drafts of Volume 5, make sure you head over to my RoyalRoad account where the chapter has already been live for a few days now (Click HERE for a direct link!).
Now, with our update out of the way, it’s time for you to open your presents! Though progress on the novel has been much slower than I would like, I’ve certainly not been idle. Apart from writing every day, there has also been some artistic work churning behind the scenes for quite some time now. The cover art and 3 insert pieces for Volume 5 have actually been completed for quite a while, so I’ve used this time to commission some additional art to further expand the Restart Again Media Universe (the RAMU for short, which I will definitely never call it again). I don’t want to dump them on you all at once, so I’ll be sharing some fantastic works in these blogs over the coming few months.
Without any further ado, let’s get into today’s art! Some of you may recognize the artistic stylings of @Seiorai (that’s a link by the way, go check her out!), who served as the main artist for the series from Volumes 2 through 4. Although she won’t be doing the art for the series moving forward, I was very happy to get a chance to work with her again and commission a character portrait from her this summer! Through all of our partnerships, I never found the right time to get her take on Amaya, and this was something I knew had to be remedied.
Such a beautiful piece, right? I had it commissioned earlier this year, but I’ve held it in my back pocket for a while to eventually offer out as recompense for my slow writing. I hope you all enjoy it!
Now, as the title said “giftS” and not “gift”, allow me to lay out what you can expect to see in the coming months. I had two additional art pieces done by the current artist of the series (@Rezynsire, I demand you follow them should you still choose to use the X website) to supplement the art from Volume 1. The longer time goes on, the more powerful the compulsion to go back and edit my first project and bring it up to my current standards (to my mind, it reads a bit…rougher than it used to); this is not something I will actually do until I’ve finished the entire series, as I can’t leave people waiting THAT long between volume releases, but when I go back someday, I want to add some additional artwork. It would be a shame to let that art gather dust unseen and unloved until then, so I’ll be sharing those two pieces with you soon!
Additionally, I currently have a project in the works that will expand the RAMU (DANGIT) in an unexpected direction: Music! I infected myself with the idea of commissioning musical themes for our main characters in Restart Again a while back, and lucky for me, I found a fantastic composer to make those ideas a reality! I don’t have the completed pieces yet, but I’ve heard the rough samples for each of the four tracks (Lux, Lia, Val, and Amaya) and I’m totally in love. I hope to have the finished pieces to share with you next month, but time tends to make fools of us all, so I’ll make no specific promises of delivery until I have the content in hand…or in ear, I suppose? I can’t wait for everybody to hear them! In the meantime, if you want a taste of what they may someday sound like, go check out @plac_holder (Also a link, GO GO GO) on Twitter and give them a follow.
Certainly some enticing gifts, right? I hope you’ll accept them in lieu of a finished Volume 5 for the time being, though by the time I’ve shared everything I listed above, I’ll hopefully have a better timeline of release for you. Based on my outline for the rest of the book, I have four “chapters” left. Based on how the story has progressed, one of those “chapters” might actually be broken into a series of very short (I SWEAR THIS TIME) mini-chapters, each of which get their own heading, the formatting for which will hopefully make sense upon your reading. I also have the swap of perspective chapter to write, which I guess has become a staple of the series since Volume 3; I really like the ability to step outside of Lux every once in a while, and it’s a rare chance to delve into the thoughts of our other main characters in a way I otherwise can’t through Lux’s PoV. I only take advantage of it when things get tense, and trust me: we’re there.
With all of that said, I shall now fade back into obscurity for another month. Enjoy your new artwork, catch up on the latest draft chapters of Volume 5, and dream of exciting new music in the meantime. Until then, stay safe out there, and as always, thanks for reading!
~Adam
