A new RPG

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Since my wife had to work that day, I spent the day working at home, and what did I do? Well, of course I started work on a brand new RPG. This one, I think, is going to be quite a bit different than the previous four I've created. I took inspiration for this one from a Tik-Tok dragon puppeteer. We had originally talked about doing a card game, and we still might, but for now, it looks like there will be a new RPG. I can't say much about it at the moment, other than to say that it will have dragons...obviously...

Don't worry, I will still be working on new titles for The Divided States of America, Ephemeris 2.0, Rocks on the Other Side, and Battle for Turtle Island RPGs. In fact, there should be a new supplement for the Battle for Turtle Island out very soon. This one will be called "Pueblo Wars." Keep an eye on this page for more information.

Writing Update for November 14, 2025

So, what's going on with my writing? For those of you that are not really familiar with my work, or are just starting to become familiar, I'm the type of writer that usually has multiple projects going at once. I cannot limit myself to just one thing. When I do this, I really struggle.

This is why I currently have three short stories that I'm working on. One of them seems to be spinning its wheels and going nowhere, or sometimes it seems to be going in reverse, so I'm not sure if this will ever actually turn into anything. The other two stories are for themed anthologies that I've been invited to participate in...although one actually falls into this category on accident. It was a story that I had been working on for a while, and as it just so happens, it fits in with one of the themes I've been asked to write about. Hopefully you'll be seeing these two stories next year, although I think the one is early 2027...so you might have a very long wait on that one.

I'm also working on the novelization of my short story "Who Listens to the Voices of the Past?" This is a very old story, and the novelization is going well...at times.

As far as RPG work, I'm working on the second setting for The Battle for Turtle Island RPG. This one is Pueblo Wars, and it will be set in the American Southwest. For those not familiar with the game, the basic premise is how would the conquest of America have gone if magic were real?

That's about it for now. I'll try to update more often.

A new story is coming

Look for a new short story from me late next week. This one is a bit of a departure for me as it's a science fiction horror story that is set in the Ephemeris 2.0 RPG universe. This one will be released by Nomadic Delirium Press, so make sure you set aside a dollar, since this one will be 99 cents.

When will I learn?

Towards the end of May, I wrote a blog post about people requesting a sequel to Slave to the Stars, and I said that I wanted to work on short stories for a bit, and didn't really want to work on a novel right now. So, of course, while working on the revisions for Do You Really Want to be a Science Fiction Writer? I came up with an idea for a new novel.

So, today I wrote the first thousand words in my sixth novel. I really didn't want to work on another novel at this point in time. Not sure I have the mental facilities to pull it off at the moment, but this novel keeps screaming at me, so I guess I will write it...

Things in the works

Right now is a horrible time to be an author or editor. Sales are tanking for almost everyone, and costs are going up, but still, I write...

Things you can look forward to in the near future:

Do You Really Want to be a Science Fiction Writer?

The Ephemeris Guide to Guilds

A couple of short stories

Complete collections of my novels and short stories in hardback

You can get any of these titles when they're released just by supporting my Patreon at http://patreon.com/jalanerwine

I'm delaying the release of my new novel

I've decided to delay the release of my new novel until May. One of my daughters will be having her first baby sometime in the next couple of weeks, and when that happens, we will be leaving town to be with her, so this isn't the best time to be trying to worry about a book release.

I guess I'm delaying the release of one baby for another. Keep an eye on this page next month for all of the details.

The new novel is done

I've put the finishing touches on my fifth novel. I'm now waiting for the cover art, and I still need to come up with a title for the damn thing. Usually titles are easy, but not this one.

I'm really liking the way this book turned out, and I'm hoping my readers will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The second draft is done

I've just completed the second draft of my new novel, which unfortunately still doesn't have a title...which is weird, since titles usually come so easily to me.

I'm a little happier with the way it's turning out, but it's still going to need a great deal of work. The main character is now much more of a real person to me.

I think this novel has been more difficult because it's basically told from just the main character's perspective. There are no chapters, or even scenes that don't feature her. Usually my novels bounce from character to character, but hopefully this will make her a likeable character...sure she can be a little petulant at times, and she might cry a bit too much, but she's also a teenager. But I think she's believable because I can see bits of all three of my daughters in her.

Now the book sits for a little while, and then I'll get back to another draft. I'm figuring AT LEAST two more drafts to get it where I want it to be.

We have a rough draft

I typed the last words of the very rough draft of my new novel today. This one is definitely going to take a lot of work to fix. It's shorter than I wanted, which isn't a surprise. I don't include much description in my rough drafts (yeah, I know there's not much in my final drafts either), but that will lengthen it, and I will have to add several scenes to make sense of some of the things I wrote as I was going.

With my main character being a teenager, I'm debating whether to market this one as mainstream SF or YA SF, but I guess I have time to figure that out, as it will be at least three more drafts before I'm done...at least.

And I still need a damn title!

Progress on the book...so far

My new novel has now reached 40,000 words, so I thought I'd give an update on the progress. This book has taken me on so many unexpected twists and turns that it's going to take a great deal of revision. There are entire scenes, and possibly even entire chapters that will have to be created during my first revisions...of course I have to finish the book first.

There are parts of this book that I love, and there are parts of this book that I hate. The biggest difference from my past novels is that this one is told entirely from one character's POV, a teenage girl. That alone has created numerous challenges, but it has been fun.

I'm looking forward to finishing the first draft soon, but there will be more revisions on this one than what is typical for my work, as it just needs more revisions, but hopefully in a few months, I will have a nice new novel. My fifth, or sixth if you count the one I co-wrote.

Still don't have a title though...

WIPS

As the new year starts, I thought I'd give an update on what I'm currently working on. Since my first writing book, Do You Really Want to be a Writer? was Nomadic Delirium Press' second best seller of the year, I'm hard at work on Do You Really Want to be a Science Fiction Writer? About 25% of the way through the 1st draft.

The new novel sits at just over 35,000 words, and I will hopefully be finishing the very rough draft soon. This one has been a battle, but I think I'm happy with the way it will ultimately turn out.

I'm working on two supplements for the new Ephemeris 2.0 RPG, and I've also started work on a brand new RPG that I think will be a departure from the first three I've created. There will be more on this in the near future...I hope.

There are a couple of other things that I'm working on in between these, but these are the titles that I'm sure I'll finish, and that I'm excited about.

Keep an eye on this blog and my homepage at http://www.jalanerwine.com for more.

 

Writing is hard work!

The first ten thousand words of my new novel flew by, and I have to admit that even I was impressed with some of my writing (usually I hate my stuff.) The next ten thousand words were a struggle, but I kept slogging through. The ten thousand I'm on now have been a tooth and nail struggle just trying to get each word out.

Anyone that tells you that writing is easy, or that they could write a novel if they just had the time is insane! Writing is hard work!

10,000 words

That's how much progress I've made on the new novel. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself, but I've never had a novel go as smoothly as this one is so far. I'm really enjoying the book and the characters. This is also the first time that I've written a novel in which all of the scenes are told from the perspective of one character. Hell, a lot of my short stories are told from multiple perspectives, so this has been an adventure, but so far it's a fun adventure.

Hopefully I'll have this in the hands of my readers by the end of the year, but you never know what life might throw at me...