Happy New Year’s Eve, everybody! I don’t imagine many of you are actually reading this on NYE itself; it is currently 9:21PM EST on the day in question, and the window for keeping my greeting timely grows narrower by the minute. Regardless, I’ve finally returned with another update! I know it’s been a while since my last post, and I have a few bad excuses for that. I’ll get into most of them later, but I’ll start with the one that’s exciting: I have more music to share with you!
Just like in my last post, I have four new original music tracks to enrich the world of Restart Again. In accordance with my master plan, this new round of commissions is a set of variations and mash-ups of our original character themes from the first set. If you somehow missed my last post but have found your way to this one, I recommend you go back and give them all a listen before you proceed; I think you’ll find the new tracks far more enriching if you’re familiar with the original themes! All of these tracks (both the original themes and the new variations) live on the new “Music” tab of this website, in both standalone and 30 minute loop forms.
This fantastic music was once again composed by @plac_holder on Twitter. They’ve most certainly outdone themselves on this project so far, and I hope that you’ll go give them a follow and check out more of their work!
Now, without further ado, let’s hear those tracks!
Alderea [Variation on Lux and Amaya’s Themes] by @plac_holder:
What a lovely start! Aptly named “Alderea”, this combination of Lux and Amaya’s themes is a beautiful look at their time spent together in Lux’s first reincarnation. The back and forth conversation of their individual themes really shines here, especially in their swapped voicings. It’s a love song through and through!
A Signpost on the Trail [Variation on Lux and Lia’s Themes] by @plac_holder:
In contrast to the first piece, this track is a jaunty, up-tempo traveling tune combining Lux and Lia’s themes. Our two main lovebirds haven’t yet found the time to slow down in our story so far, and I think this is a great accompaniment to that adventure. It’s exciting to hear the way the character themes play off of each other with such a jovial energy! We even pull a bit of fun out of Lux’s usually dour, wistful theme, which I think is a perfect metaphor for their relationship on the page.
Omen [Variation on Lux’s Theme] by @plac_holder:
Quite an unsettling departure from the previous tracks, right? If you’ve been keeping up with the series so far, I think it should be pretty clear where this piece pulls its inspiration from (and if you’re reading the draft chapters on RoyalRoad, you might even know the moniker of the corrupted character in question!). I suppose you could consider this composition our series’ “villain theme”, and for good reason! It’s equal parts dramatic, discordant, and disconcerting, but it’s still such a pleasure to listen to all the same!
Amid the Roar [Variation on Lux, Val, and Lia’s Themes] by @plac_holder:
I’m sure you figured it out the moment the track started, but this is the battle theme of our main three heroes! I pulled shameless inspiration from classic RPG games in my commission request, and I think the DNA is there in this distinctly Restart Again track. The way each character’s theme blends together in this driving, energetic track really gets me excited, and the final crescendo where all three characters meet is just…*chefs kiss*. I can’t say I saved the best for last (I could never choose a favorite) but we’ve certainly ended this round of commissions with a bang!
I hope you enjoyed these tracks! All of them live on the new “Music” tab of my website and have longer, 30 minute loops if you’re keen on listening to them as background music. WordPress also gives you the option to easily download them if you are so inclined.
This is the end of my music commission project—for now! I will no doubt be back again someday in the future with even more fantastic original music for the Restart Again universe (I already have PLENTY of ideas for more), but for the time being, I’m focusing the full force of my efforts on the writing side of things. If you just stopped by to check out the music, thank you for listening (and reading!). If, however, you’re here for a full update on all things Restart Again, continue on with me into a long, rambling update post!
I suppose an update should start with an update, right? As of today, this final day of 2023, Volume 5’s draft is just under 214,000 words. That well and truly places it ahead of Volume 4 (~208K words), and we’re not done yet. I would just like to reiterate one thing: I did NOT intend for this to happen. That isn’t me saying that I don’t like where this book has gone (I think it’s my best one yet!) but it took some unexpected turns and a LOT more words than I thought it would to find the ending.
My pace over the past few months has been…uneven, to say the least. In my last blog post, I had just published draft chapter 21 to RoyalRoad. In keeping with my usual pattern, I had intended to make a blog post in November when draft chapter 22 was finished and uploaded, but that never came to pass. I found myself a bit bogged down as I was writing it; not because I think it’s boring (quite the opposite!) but as the end of the volume approaches, I find myself in the delicate situation of weaving together a LOT of narrative threads. I put an undue amount of pressure on myself to make sure it’s meeting the vision I had when I set out, and that slows my pace down significantly.
However, I’m happy to announce I’m finally over that hump! I was fortunate enough to save up a significant amount of Paid Time Off from work this year, and I’ve been on vacation for over two weeks now. Apart from spending some lovely time with family for the holidays, I’ve been spending as much time as I can on writing! I was FINALLY able to put the cap on Chapter 22 (and at nearly 14K words, it was a long one!), and I also finished the draft for Chapter 23 as well! To be fair, that one is only ~3,500 words, but progress is progress! I’m excited about my work on Chapter 24 so far (which should be similarly short like its predecessor), and then Chapter 25 wraps up the entire volume! I imagine that last chapter will be even shorter than the two before it, so the finish line is definitely in sight.
I am, by NO means, making a promise when I say this, but it is my hope that I will finish the entirety of Volume 5’s draft by the end of January. Again, NOT A PROMISE. I unfortunately return to work this coming week, and the wonderful free time I’ve had to dedicate solely to writing will diminish drastically. Once the draft is finished, I’m going to go insaneo-style on editing, formatting, and preparing the book for publication, but that process has a lot of moving parts to it, many of which are out of my direct control. My dream would be to have it published by the end of February: More specifically, I want to publish it EXACTLY at the end of February, on the 29th. We are in a leap year once again, and it just feels fitting for Volume 5 to come out on the TRUE anniversary of Volume 1’s release four years ago. It also allows me to extend how long I can harp on that leap year joke, and that is certainly a goal worth pursuing.
To reiterate: NOT PROMISES, but I’m both hopeful and excited about my progress! This has been a true monster of a book, and I can’t wait to share the finished product with all of you.
And now, with the clock fast approaching midnight (it is currently 10:52PM because organizing and uploading music took me a while and also I am very slow when writing anything, including these blog posts), I will end the blog post here. I hope you enjoyed the music and the news of my progress! The next blog post you see from me will be the announcement of the draft’s completion, whenever that may be. Until then, stay safe out there, and as always, thanks for reading!
~Adam
(P.S. After proof-reading, it is now 11:04PM, so if you are indeed reading this on NYE 2023, you are a rare breed indeed.)
