Kyle Belote's Blog, page 6

Writing Update: Vol. VII Draft 0.6

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

Volume VII is shaping up to be another lengthy tome. Thus far, I’m 60% done with draft 1, and it’s reached 174,900 words. This covers the main character and two groups of two side characters. I still have a lot more to write, two more main characters, and four or so side characters. That said, it won’t be finished any time soon, especially since I’ll be shifting focus now.

Upcoming releases are making me shift gears. Later this year, Red Creek should be hitting the shelves. And the following year, the sequel to it, Bloodbane, will follow it up. I’m currently in draft three of Bloodbane. The next release, the third installment of the Maro Prakk novella series, is expected in 2026, as is the long-awaited sequel to The Demon’s Fate: Decimation Protocol, which I need to start on the third draft, and it’s by far the easiest of all of them.

Twenty-twenty-seven’s shaping up to be a monster year with Volume IV set to release, and I’d like to get books 4–7 complete before the big debut, that way I can have a solid path of where I’m going, and fixing any rough issues between the books. In the meantime, the RoyalRoad releases are moving along as planned. I hope, with time, I can get more eyes on the project and create a buzz via word of mouth and on the Rising Stars list. Only time will tell.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Writing Update—Volume VII

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

Well, break’s over, and I’ve gotten back at it. My attention’s split now, juggling real-world needs for the job and writing. And let’s not forget, it’s football season, and I hate to say it, but it becomes part of my weekly intake. As a Texan, I’ve been a Cowboy fan since the early 90s, and I’ve never wavered. I know, let’s hear all the jokes. I can even agree with some of the jests. The biggest problem with my team is the owner. All else is trickle-down issues. And I’m a staunch supporter of the Texans, so I’ve got to root for them, too. But I’m also a fan of college football, so that means I’ll be watching the Longhorns, the Aggies, and the Red Raiders. I even hate-watch Alabama at times, mainly because I have a good friend who’s a diehard ‘Bama fan who “Roll Tides” every chance he gets, so I like to rib him when I can. 

In the writing world, I’ve decided to look to the future of the fantasy series, and I’ve gone on to do some heavy plotting for it—heavy being a relative term ‘cause I don’t really plot at all. That said, I’ve started writing it, too. I’ve also set some ground rules for myself. 

Limit the number of POVs for the novel. Have a set of main characters, and a subset of side characters. Majority of chapters from the main characters. Try to tie up as many loose ends as I can, answer as many questions that are left, truncate storylines were applicable.Figure out what to do with the villains/antagonists because there’s as many of them as there are main characters. Set everything up for the final book. 

As with books 4 – 6, I have a name for the seventh. There are two that are possible/fitting, but thus far, I’m sticking with the one I have. Also, like the 6th book, certain character arcs have already been written, so I’m not starting out with nothing. I’ve got about 100k words written, though I do imagine that storyline will be trimmed down once I get into rewrites and edits. 

In other writing news, Bloodbane, the sequel to Red Creek—which is due out at the end of the year—is getting its third draft very soon. May even work on it while writing volume VII. Red Creek hits the editor’s desk early October, and I hope to have it covered and on shelves in December. 

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

The Past Nine Months…

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

Quick update: I had a few characters to drag across the finish line for Vol VI, and I’m glad to say they made it. I haven’t started the official second draft to this novel. I need to let it stew for a little longer. That said, the final word count came out to 265.2k words. The word count will only go up from here, especially in the first three drafts. For reference, I cut Vol. 4 down from 402k to 285k at the end of the third draft—the only one that ever got shorter the more I wrote it—so they’re really close in size, about 964 pages (vol. 6) to 1,036 (vol. 4).

I really like how this latest fantasy book turned out, and I’ve gone on to set up a few plot points for book VII, so I’ll have a nice starting point once I get there. I’ve contemplated just going ahead and starting on the next volume, but there are other works that require my attention.

Red Creek’s going to the editor in October, so, it’ll be a mad dash to get that out by December. That said, the sequel has only two drafts, so I need to get to work on it to make it for 2025’s deadline. 2026 isn’t too far off, and The Demon’s Fate sequel needs more revisions to be ready on time. And then there’s the old behemoth, Vol IV that needs its fourth edit, and these last two drafts take me a lot longer than drafts two and three.

To be fair, I’ve been thinking about taking a break from writing. Since December 2023, I’ve done a lot…

Completed final revisions of Vol. III and publishedFound a cover artist and worked to recover Vol. I & IIFinished Maro’s Red Creek, final draftWritten more Maro novellas, books 2—5, some plot points for the 6th book.Completed 1st and 2nd drafts to TDF sequelThird draft to Vol. IVFirst draft to Vol. VFirst draft to Vol. VIAdded plot points for Vol. VIICritique a novel for my friend, RodneyStarted an Instagram, Patreon, and Royal Road account, and launched the campaigns.

Well, that’s a lot of writing and editing, a lot of moving parts, too. Maybe a break is in order, but not too long, cause then I won’t want to start again. So, if I’m gone for a hot minute … just wait longer.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

The Agenda—What’s Next?

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

I’ve concluded my read-through/ critique of Angel of the Waste for my long time friend, Rodney McWilliams. During that, I also managed to hammer out another novella for the Maro Prakk series, and it’s directly tied to Red Creek, the first novella in the Maro Prakk series—which is due out later this year. If you want to read the pre-editor version, you can find it on Patreon in its entirety, or you can read by chapter each week on Royal Road. I’ve already jotted down some notes for the next story for when I’m ready to pick it up again.

So, where does that leave me? Well, as stated before, I knocked out the second draft to the book formerly known as Warmaster. The new title hasn’t been finalized, but it is down to two. Maybe I’ll make a poll on Patreon once that takes off. We’ve still got some time, as the novel isn’t due out until 2026.

In the meantime, I feel my attention turning back to my fantasy series, the books that started it all, where my true passions lie. It’s been a long journey to get three of them published, and once the fourth debuts, it’ll be half over. It’s kind of sad when you think about it that way. I imagine there’ll be spin offs set in that world, either as prequels or sequels, but only for some characters, not all of them. The ones that really call to me are tertiary characters rather than the main ones. So, don’t expect a Judas, Xilor, or Xenomene story, not unless I can come up with something solid that in no way diminishes their arcs already laid to rest. But that doesn’t mean they can’t pop up in those off-shoot stories. That said, I have already written a prequel and a sequel around/ near the time frame of the main series. Obviously they won’t release until after the series has concluded.

When I looked at all the projects I have been working on in the last six to nine months, one really called to me, one I just finished not too long ago, Volume VI. When I say finish, I mean the main part of the story. There’s extra stuff I want to add—and I will—but their involvement doesn’t affect the main plot line of the book, only the characters themselves. You might be wondering, “Why add it, then?” If I don’t, it’ll seem like those characters fell off the face of the earth. It’ll be rather hollow, so I need to drag those few across the finish line. So, in a way, it looks like Volume VI will be getting a second draft sooner than expected. Volume IV is due in 2027, and Volume V is due in 2029—and this one certainly needs a second draft, too.

I have a few other projects I’m keeping my eye on, one is a novella that I wrote a few chapters and just dropped. I might’ve grown bored with it, but I doubt it. Probably life got in the way as it often does, and I just never went back to it. I met someone recently who read the Dark Portal, and she asked for a sequel. I told her a few ideas I was kicking around for it, and she was quite eager to have me finish it. We’ll see.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Warmaster 2.9, Title Change, & More

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

I’ve officially finished the second draft of my sci-fi fantasy book, the sequel to The Demon’s Fate. I added about 10k words to the manuscript, and I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but draft 2 focuses more on internal thoughts, dialogue, and character tone. The meat of the story was laid down in the first draft. I spent a lot of time working on the personalities of characters that are main staples to the story. Nailing down their banter helped solidify this ensemble as a crew who’s been together for a while, rather than strangers thrown together. The next draft will focus on the world building aspect, the sights, sounds, smells, etc, so again, there won’t be a massive bump in word count.

Which brings me to my next point: I’m changing the title of the book. While I love the name of the book, Warmaster, it doesn’t fit in the overall narrative of titles. The first book, The Demon’s Fate, is about a ship, the Demon. Warmaster is a military rank in this story, and it doesn’t necessarily fit with the theme. But because I love the name, the series will take that as the series’s title. With that, I plan to rebrand the first book with a new cover when the time comes, much like the fantasy series. That was the greatest decision I ever made.

I’m still working on Angel of the Waste, a story by my fellow writer and friend, Rodney McWilliams. You can find his work here. I’ve gotten about halfway through it and I’m eager to read how the story concludes. There were a few narrative twists that I didn’t see coming. It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Angel of the Waste

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

As some of you may know, not too long ago, I was helping a fellow writer out with a critique/line edit for his upcoming release of the third book in his series, Cataclysm, from the Triskellion Saga. You might remember him: Rodney McWilliams. Rodney and I go way back to the infancy days of my writing. I remember there were times when I was off work, and I’d drive in just to ride around with him and talk about writing. Damn, that was a long time ago…

Anyway, he’s reached back out for another round, and I’ve answered the call. Enter Angel of the Waste. I’ve only got through the intro and into chapter one, but it seems to be a sci-fi splashed with a western feel, much like the show Firefly. I’m pretty sure that’s where the comparison will end, but that’s what I initially correlated it to. And hey, you can’t go wrong with Firefly. So, I’ll now be dipping into the double duty realms and working on Warmaster’s second draft and doing a line edit for Rodney. I’ve gotten through the hardest chapters on the second draft, and now into the meat of the story. Should be smoother sailing from here on the revisions and adding layers to characters.

As for working on Angel of the Waste, I’m glad to be helping out a friend, being trusted with the assignment, and delving into another one of his stories. For those of you who’d like to expand your reading circle and pick up something with creatures who don’t get a lot of screen time—gargoyles—I recommend you check out his work here! Or if you want to peruse who he is and what he has to offer, visit his website here.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Vol. 6 Update & Warmaster 2.1

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

So, let’s start with the fantasy series. Volume six has been read by an alpha reader, and overall, it’s received a glowing positive review. In fact, I believe the words—or sentiments—of in the top three books I’ve written were used. So, that’s always encouraging. There was lots of character moments and growth, and some newer characters that haven’t been in the limelight are thrust to the foreground. That said, not everything went without a hitch. There’s a match up of two characters for 2/3 of the book that wasn’t well received. I’m not overly concerned since it’s the first draft. There’s still a lot of work to do, fleshing out, rounding out characters, world building, etc. But it’s a great start in the right direction.

For my next project, as stated before, it’ll be the military sci-fi fantasy Warmaster, the sequel to The Demon’s Fate. I’ve already started, and it’s been a little slow going on the second draft. It’s hard to put down the grimdark fantasy after so long and go into the deep unknown of space, but it must be done. There’s deadlines to adhere to, after all. The first draft ended around 105K words, and I’m not looking to add too much to the total, maybe another 15k when it’s all said and done. Tone and character motivation, along with cleaning up dialogue, is the focus of draft two. I’ve tackled eight of the forty chapters, so I’m maybe twenty percent in. Don’t have an accurate word count in front of me, so it’s based off the number of chapters.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

The Episodic Path Ahead—part 2

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

I said I’d be back with an update, and I’m here. Patreon is now live. Regular, weekly posts there will begin July 12th, but there’s stuff available on the site, depending on the tier selected. Episodic posts to Royal Road and Patreon will begin on the 19th, and they will release every Tuesday and Friday at 7 p.m. Central time. Hope to see you there.

In other news, the sequel to Red Creek has finally received a full 2nd draft, so now, it gets shuffled to the bottom of the stack, and I’ve got to pull out the next project to work on, which is Warmaster, and give it a second draft as well. Second drafts are easier for me, overall, because it focuses specifically on internal thoughts, dialogue, and individual tone of character. Here, I flesh out the motivations of each character—if it wasn’t apparent already—and make it more pronounced. As stated in earlier posts, there’s a lot of world building in this novel compared to the first, and I think you’ll like to learn the ins-and-outs of the fleet and the admiralty.

If you enjoyed this content and want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All works are available on Kindle Unlimited, eBook, and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon.

The Episodic Path Ahead

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

There’s going to be a monumental shift in the coming few days or weeks regarding my future work. I’ve sat here thinking about all the other authors, published professionally and otherwise, and the time it takes them to produce content. The gaps in between novels is sometimes staggering—here’s looking at you Martin and Rothfuss. In the meantime, the fervor of the audience wanes, and unless you’ve got fanatics behind you, you might fade into the mist of obscurity. The problem with indie publishing is that each writer’s an obscured member of a vast swath, and gaining recognition or traction is near-impossible without a lot of reserves to throw at marketing. I want to avoid being invisible, so I’ve reached a decision. Going forward, I will be posting serialized chapters on Royal Road and Patreon. This is an effort to expand my audience and introduce folks to my earlier works on Royal Road, or to my upcoming works on Patreon. I will, of course, still be making blog posts, and hopefully pulling cross-traffic to all my platforms. Once I’ve finalized everything, I’ll make another post with the links.

If you enjoyed this content and want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All works are available on Kindle Unlimited, eBook, and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon.

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