I’m excited to say the manuscript for Chronicles of Eden – Act XI is complete and compiled into the proper format to upload, and I’m just awaiting the final art pieces to put into the book before publishing. It is almost time! Took long enough, right? I sort of missed my original estimate of having this out last fall, and this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Delayed releases, replacement covers, changed events, we’ve seen this same old song and dance before. Which is why I wanted to tell everyone about a bit of a change I’m going to enforce with how I do everything.

As I’ve said before in the past I have the main story of Chronicles of Eden all planned out. The beginning, middle, and end. I know where the major plot points are on the roadmap and where the story needs to go in order to reach these points. What isn’t set in stone however is the points between those major events. There’s room for exploring, developing, and changing the world, characters, and story to a degree between those major story events. As such some events and characters might show up earlier or later than expected, some events or locations might be added or removed, and there’s a level of flexibility to how the story rolls along with its characters and plot development. But this does have a downside that I’m starting to see more clearly. To add more content, no matter how exciting or necessary it may be, takes up more time in each book. For example, for those with very sharp memories you might remember the original Chronicles of Eden – Act VIII cover that was first shown, which had Squeak and Cindy in the midst of a burning forest. That book was originally planned to lead right into the battle of Green Haven, which is just now happening in Act XI. The reason for this event being pushed so far back was to have all of Daniel’s mates be introduced into the harem and given proper development before leading up to the reunion with the Gemini. This was a change that I felt needed to happen for reasons I can’t say because of spoilers, but it was one that required events to be switched around and some added entirely. Baby Snapper wasn’t originally planned to be introduced until way later in the story, but with Cindy’s introduction it was a good time for the little swarm’s as well. Star was first planned to show up way later as well, however she was moved into Act VIII and given development in Act IX so she could join the family sooner. It worked out for the better to have these characters show up earlier, but it still required more time for the story to progress to the point we’re at now.

Which brings us to now, with Act XI having a huge development time and a new cover to better reflect the book and its contents. I did manage to hit all the major events I wanted to in this book; proper character development with all of Daniel’s girls, Daniel himself growing as a protector of his new family, answering some lingering questions from the previous book while also raising new ones, and of course Daniel’s reunion with the Gemini. However a few things have been pushed back, all of which require more time to properly introduce, experience, and see the resulting aftermaths. Two characters have their artwork ready, yet they’re not showing up at all until the next book. Aeon was given more time to properly demonstrate that she is just as much a Dark Queen as the likes of the Gemini and Reaper, and she is now the one who will make the audience cringe and scream in horror for this entry. I hit the necessary milestones for this book but I can fit no more into it. The Act has reached 19 full chapters with 8 new character pieces, it’s a whopper of an entry for the series and moves the story right where it needs to go. Everything else will need to wait for the next book.

And now I finally get to my overall point with this ‘quick’ announcement. I’m going to try my best to stray away from ‘deadlines’ being formed for the books. No more “It’s almost time!” when the book isn’t far enough along with its development. No more posting covers as teasers until the Act is finalized and the cover is going to stay relevant. I don’t want to string along my readers or give them false promises, and I don’t want to lock myself into having deadlines to force these books out by otherwise the quality will surely suffer. So from now on just know this. The next book, whatever the next book is, it’s being worked on. And it will be ready when it’s ready. I’m not going to say “Look forward to it this fall” unless I can guarantee that its going to be ready by then, and that would mean I have the darned thing nearly completed at the time. I am going to continue this series, I am going to finish it. As for when the next books will be out or when the final entry will be coming our way, we’ll get there when we get there. That’s all I can honestly say with any certainty.

Thank you everyone for your continued support with this series and my writing. I do plan to keep doing this for a very long time still, and I hope you and many more will join me for the incredible ride.