Outpost Report | December Monthly Roundup

Jingle bells, blood's been spilled, grimdark all the way...

LUMICRON CAPTURE | EN ROUTE TO CAPE GYTHMEL
XENOMENE TO VOID WALKER SQUAD
“The Heir’s willing to risk all-out war and retaliation from Ralloc, so it must be important.”

Well, December has come and gone, closing out the year with jingling bells and reindeer droppings—er, sightings. If you played Christmas music or decorated before Thanksgiving, I’m reporting you to the Lord of the Underworld. The Krey demand blood for your impertinence, so comment if you agree!

Well, let’s dig into the last feast of the year. The hard part’s just getting started. We’re past the point of mercy, so let’s see the blood of it.

But before we get going, let me share my holiday spirit.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started.

Town Herald:

Free Download:
If you missed it, The Dark Portal was available as a free download. That email dropped on Christmas Eve and stayed open for just over 24 hours. This won’t be the last time. Free releases tend to surface on meaningful dates—Christmas, around my birthday, and similar thresholds. These windows are brief. Read emails promptly if you want access to limited-time rewards.

Back in the saddle:
I’ve returned from my…vacation, so writing projects should resume at their usual pace. Question for everyone, asking for a friend: is it really vacation if you continue writing and editing? For those who missed it on my last monthly roundup, I returned to my old stomping grounds in Okinawa. A lot changed, and yet, it remained the same. Slow drivers, no horns, but the food is still excellent.

Decimation Protocol:
Moving forward, I’m using a new editor team. If you missed the signals, dig back through old posts and find where I was speaking obliquely. I’ll be able to bring Decimation Protocol—book 2 of the Warmaster Series—to you much sooner than expected. The cuts start early February rather than May or July as initially planned. Stay tuned for more updates.

Battle Formations:

Vol. I Update:
I’ve finished Volume I. Thank God! It was a grueling process. Eight years after first releasing the book, and seeing how much I’ve grown as a writer while looking back at my earliest attempt, I realized there was a lot to clean up.

I think this qualifies as a rewrite/revision, so my total is up to 18 or 19 rewrites. I don’t regret going back in. If any of you have picked up the revised additions of The Dark Portal, The Demon’s Fate, or Flawed to the Core, you know how much a revision can strengthen the original material. I think you’ll be pleased.

Let me give you the details.

Combat Log:
Chapters: 87/87
Prologue: Done
Epilogue: 3/3
Starting Word Count: 205K
Ending Word Count: 200K
Morale: … fractured but healing.

As I said before, this was about bringing the book up to par with Volume III. When people pick up the series from the beginning, they need cohesion rather than feeling it switched midstream. We started with high fantasy with dark tones, and descended to grimdark with high fantasy lilts. Now, everything will read grimdark.

For those who have read Volume I many times, you’ll see the difference, not only in the prose, but in the details. Some are tiny, things that most people wouldn’t catch, and others are noticeable changes that alter how a reader interprets a scene.

I love writing ambiguity into the story, for the characters and for the reader. One of the most ambiguous scenes I’ve ever written is in Volume I, and I’ve changed it, making actions more definitive while keeping the nuance debatable. This strengthens the scene, gives agency to all, and the response will divide readers on whether it’s appropriate or overkill. I’ll give you a hint: it’s the Krey.

As for the smaller details, the things missed on the first read, these little snippets echo much later in the series, to include Volume VIII. Because I’ve written through Volume VII, and I’ve started on the series finale to an extent, during the clean up, I planted those seeds.

I once told a reader that all the answers to the series are in Volume I, but you wouldn’t know what questions to ask. Once Volume VIII hits, you’ll have the full picture. What I’ve done is massaged the telegraph a little bit more, but most people will still miss the clues. Surprising the reader, even with hints laid out like a treasure hunt, is a sign of good writing.

Another strange thing about the revision is the story elements I’d forgotten. Try as I might, I can’t remember everything I write, let alone what I had for breakfast, so returning to the starting line was a damn good call. I noticed several plot lines that I quietly let go later in the series, but they’re still there, as it helps with the worldbuilding aspect. If I were to revisit Ermaeyth after the main series, I could pick those threads back up.

On Deck:
Well, I’ve burned the candle at both ends on this one, so I’m switching it up. Maro 3 has a 2026 release, so it’s up next. I won’t be spending too much time in the world of Atar, as it’s a novella, but I need a reprieve before plunging into the next task.

After that, Volume II. This walk-through won’t be as invasive as its predecessor. Mark of the Profane is a strong step in the right direction of Volume III’s tone. I’ll be taking the book’s criticisms to heart when going through: density and sometimes wordy. So, Volume II will be about compressing and clarity. I’m hoping for maybe a 10% reduction in word count overall, sharpening the prose, and making sure the changes in Volume I echo in the next story.

What are you looking forward to the most in Volume I’s rewrite? Drop your comments down below!

Well, we’re done carving for now, and I think enough blood’s been spilt. That’s all I got for this round—short, sharp, and sweet. I shall return…