Man, this month is just flying past. There’s a lot going on, and I’ve just about committed myself to a plan for this month’s Patreon release, so it’s time for a general update.

Architect of Worlds: I’ve been stress-testing the current draft of the complete design sequence (version 0.3, which was released to my patrons on 5 January). I’ve found a few minor bugs and tweaks, and possibly some ideas for further development, but nothing that requires major surgery at this point. Along the way, I’ve started developing a new map and gazetteer of the solar neighborhood for the Human Destiny universe. That’s probably going to take quite a while to complete.

Human Destiny: Back in December I completed a partial rough draft of the proposed Cortex Prime sourcebook, as a submission for the Cortex Creator’s workshop. I’ve gotten some useful feedback from that, and I’ve started to write some more new material for this project.

Short Fiction: I don’t think I’m going to release any free new short fiction in January. This is because I appear to be on the verge of actually selling two pieces of short fiction! I need to concentrate on writing material that will actually earn me some income. More about that if and when the deal is completed.

Krava’s Legend: I didn’t get much work done to promote The Curse of Steel in November or December, nor did I get much written on The Sunlit Lands. I’m trying to carve out some time to keep pushing forward with those tasks.

Book Reviews: Since this blog has been listed on a couple of sites for independent book reviewers, I’ve been getting lots of requests for reviews. More than I’ll be able to cover, although that’s not a bad problem to have. At the moment it looks like I’ll be covered for January and February – look for two or three new reviews here over the next few weeks.

Okay, now for patron’s business.

I’m going to institute a new procedure for certain big projects, the kind that are likely to be in development for several months with incremental drafts. It’s in my interest to let my patrons see early drafts, because I might get useful feedback. On the other hand, I’m not comfortable charging my patrons every month for access to the latest versions.

So in such a case, I’ll be charging my patrons in the first month that I release a draft, but subsequent incremental updates will be free to patrons until the draft is more or less complete and ready for publication. (Also, of course, patrons at the appropriate level of support will get a free copy of the finished product, if and when that’s ready.)

The first project to fall under this heading is the current version of the complete design sequence for Architect of Worlds. I released version 0.2 of that in December as a charged release. I updated the document to version 0.3 in early January and will continue to release the occasional incremental update to my patrons as needed. Those incremental updates will be free of charge.

The second project that will come under this heading is the rough draft of the Cortex Prime sourcebook (and setting bible) for the Human Destiny universe. I’ll be releasing a partial draft (version 0.2) to my patrons late in January, which will be this month’s charged release. Subsequent incremental updates to that document will be free of charge.

Haven’t decided what I’ll be releasing in February, but honestly, there’s a lot going on that’s not entirely under my control at the moment. I’m playing things by ear for now. More news as I figure things out.