Quiet rooms and caffeine boons to you, Reader!
Take a breath with me: this is going to be a packed one. You’re owed an explanation as to what I’ve been spending all year on, so let’s take some time and look over all the rather outstanding silliness I’ve been up to.
But first~
Chopin for the cold days as we take our stroll. Now please read carefully. There’s much to discuss…
Achievements:
In Reflection, there’s a particularly high amount of short stories I’ve finished over the course of this year. While I’ve floundered with many of the larger projects, it’s encouraging to know that, when it’s a piece that relies on my own facets, I still “have it” and am still putting down some good words.
For shorter things this year I’ve finished:
-Impartation: The Substation 7 Prequel (Subscribers only link… for now)
-The Heist or “Within the Gaps” (Unpublished)
-The Night Raid (Unpublished)
-The “Big Surprise” (Unpublished)
-DREAM ON! (link)
-Stranger Than Fiction (Unpublished)
-That Golden Emptiness (Unpublished)
-A short essay on A.I. (I’ve delayed publishing this for… months now because every time I turn around I find something else that pisses me off about the whole thing, though in practice I should have seen the whole thing coming because originally I was pretty optimistic about the whole thing when it came to art and artists… I just keep adding to the length and I really need to just say “enough!” and cut it off)
I think it goes without saying that, even if you took out all the stuff I’ve written on the actual projects, this is easily (and I mean easily) the most productive year I’ve ever had as an author. It’s like if I wrote my original novel, Kingdom Slayer, in just one year, and that was all with the wild abandon of a new writer getting into their chops. The prose, characterization, dialogue, and all else is much better, but I’m also just much faster… I can see it now: glimmerings of something waiting beneath that I simply hadn’t believed in before. The world is more than bright again. It feels like every atom is as a star right now: drowned with unlimited possibilities.
Looking back on myself all those years ago, despite owning a consistent habit, I’d force himself to rewrite obsessively until I got every element of my story “just right” and even then deliver a final product that I’d never consider acceptable: You can make your novel as grammatically correct as you like, and your “structure” as formulaic as possible, but if you miss the characters, their souls, their struggles, and fail to see through into the world of subtext, then you simply cannot do the story the justice it’s due, nor can you do the lowly but widely venerated genre god justice upon its shifting altar.
…It’s not a rule for life, but very important when you’re writing stories that aim to shock and delight.
That said, there were also a lot of things I did that didn’t pan out, and a lot of things that are still on the grill that just need some more time, or may be dropping altogether.
Notice Me!! is a wonderful long form story (might even up to be one of the longest things I’ve ever done) but I’ve been taking such great care to organize every little facet of the adventure that I’m slowing myself down on this one a good deal. Rest assured, it will be Scout Minion’s coolest story ever (it is her book, after all,) and you can expect great things to come from it, if I could just get out of my perfectionism with the piece.
You’re going to have to wait before your next dose of overbearing subspacer mercenary action: Xtreme Force book 2 is floating in the ether of the publisher’s domain at this time, and until we come to complete terms with what we want for the series (it will be at least 6 books, if they happen) then no progress will be made. This has also put on hold Xtreme book 3, so you’ll only have to hurry up and wait on this one. Sorry.
With You Forever is/was a visual novel (VN) project that took a lot of fire to cut out and begin producing in earnest, but ultimately when the team decides it’s not time for whatever reason, then it simply isn’t going to happen. It took a huge amount of effort essentially designing it up to the level it’s at now, but until conditions change with “stakeholders” then no more progress can be made – an unfortunate but common occurrence in the wild world of gamedev. It’s difficult to express how disappointing this turned out to be by the end of it, because I had put a good of time, effort, and money getting this thing ready, only for the team’s lynchpin member to step away, either temporarily or for good.
Letter Out of Order, a VN that takes place inside the world of the Holy Verses (you know, Chaos, Order, The Captain… everyone, you,) is consistently in limbo as I try to construct the right team with the right stuff to pull it off. I feel like I’m maintaining a realistic-but-optimistic view with this one. If I can find a committed coder, character artists, scene artist, and UI artist, I should be able to go all the way with this project and write it out in earnest. Do not expect to hear from me about this often, because if it’s happening, it will be happening in secret.
Nocturna League Season 3… is actually coming along swimmingly, and you can expect to see it late next year if my estimation is correct: approximately 160,000 words of more nautical nonsense and horrific, horrible, terrible things happening to fish people and Regular People TM.
Featured Art of the Month: Scout Minion and High Overlord Chaos – by Akiro on X
This dude’s got a talent for drawing psychotic death machines in a way that makes them look really pretty and kind of friendly. What do you think about these designs: too free-spirited, or just right?
Ambitions:
The Website is STILL being worked on, and I’m STILL hesitant to share it because of all the tweaking. I’m not quite at a place where I’m comfortable showing it off, simply because the final product is going to be that much better than where it’s at now. Rest assured, the new site will be a true eye-popper, and hopefully one of the most aesthetically pleasing websites you’ve ever lain eyes upon:
It’s a struggle keeping it both functional for modern audiences (and mobile devices) while also retaining the charm I’m trying to convey, which is quite a lot of charm: eager to see how it goes.
In a world of “sleek and clean,” it will dare to be ornate, unique, and a digital simulacrum of the kind of beauty that we truly want to live life for. I hate to leave it at a “look forward to it” for this one, but I have a new policy to only show off things if they’re at least at a point where it makes a person go “whoa, neat,” and nothing less!
So that said… look forward to it.
Audiobooks have been a dimension I’ve been lacking in as an author since… well, my entire career really. I tried to get into it a few times, but with only middling success. It’s been a long time since then, and I’m enthusiastic about not just trying it again, but trying it with my own skills!
I’m planning on recording, producing, and mastering all of my major releases from now on, starting with those I’ve published prior, and charging on into the future. It’s so easy for us to discount ourselves and our abilities as people, but I’m not for it anymore. I’m going to learn new skills as I need them and create new and beautiful things.
This year I’ll have to back up that new decision with full force. It’s not easy to dig up a new skill that’s been dormant inside of yourself at any time, let alone when you’re trying to do it well enough to sell the product to others.
Bear with me while I fight through this storm. If I come out the other end next year with a lot of audiobooks you’ll know I’ve succeeded in this upcoming dark night of the soul. It will be fun to interact with the books in a new way, but more than anything I expect an arduous journey with lots of long and lonesome nights ahead. I foresee this as my greatest challenge as an author yet.
Answers:
It’s a bit of an understatement to say that my writing process has withstood a bit of an upheaval over this year. I’ve learned so much, and have become so much faster, while only increasing my quality… sometimes I guess it really isn’t too good to be true.
The biggest increase to my productivity in my entire career thus far has been a little more than half a year ago when I finally bit the bullet and actually invested maximum time, money, and energy into learning how to do transcription audio. It’s been a huge struggle between getting the right device to do the job, getting the right program to do the raw transcription, and then deciding on what to do with it after that, but I’ve come to a point now where I can kick out an admirable amount of words in a pretty small time so long as I’m focused on the task at hand (which is not constant, I must admit. Even super-dimensional analysts need to read their silly books, drink their silly beverages, and play on their silly phone from time to time…)
That’s encouraging, but just as important is all the lessons I’ve had to learn the hard way with a ton of different personality types and unique challenges. You think you might know how to work with someone until it’s a situation you’ve never seen them in, and then you have to play your cards in brand new ways just to stay in the game: that is to say that when a person is new to something, you need to do all you can to make sure they understand tasks at their level and can see the bigger, farther reaching intent of things. The follow up task in this is being able to figure out when you aren’t seeing that and catching yourself.
To keep short a section that could potentially go on for the length of this whole post and more: know yourself, allows you to know your ally, allows you to know (more) of the outcome, and that’s valuable. Time and again this year I find that the principle limiters in my life have been placed there by myself: either because I cared too much about something, or too little – it’s a fascinating and frustrating process to master, but I must find a way if I’m going to complete The Great Work.
But enough about me…
The Gift of the Year:
It’s been the kind of year that changes things. Next year these books won’t be the same. They’ll be the best they’ve ever been with new and completed editions that you’re sure to love.
With that said, I’d like to offer you a few of these adventures as humble gifts before they undergo their “final” versions.
Anytime between DEC 20th and DEC 24th you can get the first books in Nocturna League and Substation 7 for totally free, as well as get your hands on The Scar for totally free as well. Check them out as you lead up to the holidays and let your friends know about it as a sneaky extra gift for the year! After all: knowledge is power.
And don’t worry, I’ll tell you when they go on sale in a separate transmission!
EXPERIMENT TIME!!… Want a postcard?
Continental US, Canada, and Mexico only (this time, at least), but yes: mail, from me.
Would you like me to send you a nice little holiday postcard this year? Rest assured it will be late, because I have so much stuff on the plate, but I’d love to send you (yes, like you, you) a little something to let you know I care. It won’t be much – maybe some stickers, a bookmark, a little postcard, but if you think you’d be a fan of that please email me at kell@kellinkston.com and I’ll add you to the mailer.
This will be my first foray into the world of physical mailing at this scope, and I’d like to do this to review my practices and processes for sending out mail to lots of awesome readers like yourself – so don’t be shy. I promise it won’t be a big problem. I just need a name and an address, and you’ll get your letter.
Parting of the Month:
The time has come to give your all to those around you, and you should be doing what you can to ensure they’re as happy and comfortable as possible. We can always define the future, because we are the ones that choose the present, what it means, and what it’s headed to.
Thanks for making this year so great. You can “brave on” in the assurance that I’ll be working hard in 2025 all the same to bring you some truly phenomenal stories.
~Good tidings we bring to you and your kin – Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year~
Happy holidays to one and all,
Kell
