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Status Report (25 September 2022)

Status Report (25 September 2022)

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Work on Architect of Worlds proceeds at a deliberate pace – I’ve made a bunch of incremental changes to the draft, and left myself notes for sections that need additional content. Every day I work on that feels like it gets me a few more meters toward a set of goal-posts that keep receding into the distance.

The biggest holdup there is that I’m trying to redesign Steps Nine through Eleven of the design sequence. That is, starting with the structure of the protoplanetary disk, then figuring out how the planets form, how they migrate across the disk, and how they end up being arranged in a stable final situation. That’s a part of the design sequence that has gotten tweaked and adjusted many times, responding to observed exoplanetary systems in the real world and changes in the best available theory. Honestly, the current state of that piece of the sequence is an enormous kludge and I can’t help thinking that there’s a better way to do it, more streamlined and yet at least as good at reflecting all the diversity we’re seeing in exoplanets.

The upshot of all this is that the integrated draft is not going to be ready to share with the audience in September. There will therefore be no paid release for my patrons this month, and we’ll see how October goes.

I did share a freebie with my patrons earlier this evening – an update to my alternate-history timeline for the Danassos setting, incorporating the results of a bunch of tabletop simulations I’ve been running over the last few months. That’s probably reached a stopping point for the foreseeable future, so hopefully more time and brain-cycles for me to work on Architect over the next few weeks.

An Interesting Alternate History

An Interesting Alternate History

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Alexander Putting his Seal Ring over Hephaistion’s Lips, by Johann Heinrich Tischbein (1781)

While I slog through the Architect of Worlds draft, I’m still thinking about Hellenic alternate histories for my Danassos setting.

One of the most popular premises for a Hellenistic AH is the one in which Alexander the Great lives longer, perhaps long enough to see a legitimate heir born and recognized. Lots of people have played with that one . . . but I think I’ve found another one that’s just as interesting.

Suppose Hephaistion had lived longer?

Hephaistion, son of Amyntor, was Alexander’s closest friend and companion from boyhood, possibly his lover, certainly one of his most talented officers. Alexander trusted Hephaistion absolutely and without reservation – and that trust was apparently well-earned.

Hephaistion wasn’t just lucky enough to strike up a close relationship with his king. He was a competent diplomat and battlefield officer in his own right, often entrusted with important missions. He was apparently quite intelligent, patronizing the arts, maintaining his own years-long correspondence with Aristotle. With one or two exceptions, he got along well with his colleagues on Alexander’s staff. Most importantly, he understood Alexander – his ambitions, his ideas about building and governing a world-empire, his desire to build bridges between the Hellenic and Persian worlds. He was well-respected both among Makedonians and among Persians.

When Hephaistion died in 324 BCE, possibly due to complications of a bout of typhoid fever, it just about unhinged Alexander. The king lived only another eight months afterward, and it seems that the loss of his life-long companion had robbed him of something vital. When Alexander died in turn, at Babylon, he had made no provision for a regency or succession. That omission led the Makedonians to revert to their historical pattern of behavior, fighting ruthlessly over the throne, only this time on a much grander scale than before. The result was the complete extinction of Alexander’s royal line, and the permanent division of his empire. In the end, while Hellenistic culture came into its own, it was the rival empires of Rome and Parthia that inherited Alexander’s political ambitions.

If Hephaistion had survived to a decent age, it might not have added too many years to Alexander’s tally. By the time of his arrival in Babylon, Alexander had pretty thoroughly burned himself out and wrecked his physical health. Yet if Hephaistion had survived his king, there would have been no question of who would serve as Regent. He would also have been a competent guardian and foster father for Alexander’s son by Roxane. Doubtless others among Alexander’s generals would still have reached for their own ambitions, hoping to unseat Hephaistion or carve out their own kingdoms, but the imperial structure would have started out on a much sounder footing. It’s possible that Alexander’s empire would have remained intact for at least another generation.

This has possibilities – not least because I’m not aware of anyone else who has run with this specific premise. I’m going to tinker with the idea as time allows.

Planning for September 2022

Planning for September 2022

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Once again, the planning for this month is likely to be pretty straightforward.

In August, I got some incremental work done on Architect of Worlds, and I also finished writing the first section of my Hellenic-alternate-history-fantasy novel Twice-Crowned. That last went out to my patrons and readers about mid-month.

In September, I think those two projects are going to be reversed in priority. I’m planning to spend the bulk of this month working on the draft of Architect of Worlds, and maybe making a little incremental progress on Twice-Crowned and the Danassos setting in general.

In particular, I think I’m going to be focusing on three tasks for Architect:

  • Rationalizing the mathematical formulae throughout, so I’m using consistent variable names and the format of the formulae is consistent.
  • Making sure each step in the design sequences has a “modeling notes” section, to point readers toward some of the scientific literature if they want to investigate further.
  • Polishing the steps in the design sequence that involve placing planets in their orbits – I’m still not entirely happy with how this works, and there may be ways to streamline the process.

If I can get the Architect of Worlds draft into some kind of polished form by the end of this month, and there’s enough genuinely new material in there, then that may be a charged release for my patrons. The other option, if the amount of new material isn’t extensive enough, is to make it a free update. We’ll see how things go.

The planning schedule for this month:

  • Top Priority:
    • Architect of Worlds: Continue work on preparing a complete draft of the book for eventual layout and publication.
  • Second Priority:
    • Danassos: Continue work on the new rough draft of the novel Twice-Crowned.
    • Human Destiny: Continue compiling material for the eventual Atlas of the Human Protectorate.
    • Human Destiny: Design additional new rules systems for the Player’s Guide and add these to the interim draft.
    • Human Destiny: Begin work on a new Aminata Ndoye story, set during her first year at the Interstellar Service academy.
  • Back Burner:
    • Human Destiny: Finish the novelette “Remnants” for eventual collection and publication.
    • Krava’s Legend: Review and possibly rewrite the existing partial draft of The Sunlit Lands, and write a few new chapters.
    • Krava’s Legend: Write the second short story for the “reader magnet” collection.
    • Scorpius Reach: Write a few new chapters of Second Dawn.
    • Scorpius Reach: Start work on a third edition of the Game of Empire rules for Traveller (or Cepheus Engine).
Status Report (14 August 2022)

Status Report (14 August 2022)

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Belleza Pompeiana, by John William Goddard (1909)

Just a quick note, since we’re about at the mid-point for the month of August.

I’ve been concentrating on the working draft for Twice-Crowned, and that’s making decent progress. I’m on Chapter Nine, which should be the last chapter of Act One of the novel. A couple thousand words and I’ll hit that milestone, probably later this week. Once I’ve done that, I think I’ll release the completed portion of the draft as this month’s charged release for my patrons.

I have a bunch of text already written for the beginning of Act Two, from the last time I attempted to write this story. With minimal work, that should drop right into the working draft. I may spend a little time in what’s left of August working on that.

Meanwhile, I think Architect of Worlds is going to move to the front burner once Twice-Crowned has hit that milestone. I’ve been working, off and on, to polish up the first complete draft of Architect, and I’m thinking that a few weeks of concentrated effort will get that into good enough shape that I’d be willing to share it with my patrons. At that point, the project will move to final development, editing, and layout for production. Probably won’t get there before the end of August, but it ought to be doable for sometime in September. I’ll decide whether that’s a charged release or a free update once I see just how much genuinely new material is in the draft.

The image for this post, by the way, is a painting out of the Neo-Classicist school, representing a young woman from the Roman town of Pompeii. On the other hand, she looks so much like my mind’s-eye image of Alexandra, the protagonist of Twice-Crowned, that I’ve grabbed a copy of the painting as a visual reference. For another approach to the character (especially for GURPS and other RPG fans), have a look at this post from 2018.

Planning for August 2022

Planning for August 2022

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This is going to be an unusually short monthly planning message!

July worked out pretty much as I expected:

  • I made quite a bit of incremental progress on the first complete Architect of Worlds draft, in that I assembled that first complete draft and began going through to polish and tighten up the text.
  • I also made good progress on the new rough draft for the novel Twice-Crowned. I’m up to about the middle of Chapter Six and have about 16000 words down as of this moment.

In neither case, though, did I reach a significant milestone that would have merited a big release for my patrons and readers. So aside from a couple of small items and an about-weekly status report, you folks didn’t hear much from me in July.

August is going to be much the same, although I’m a little more confident that one or both of those projects will generate something that I can release for my patrons. So here’s the planning schedule for this month:

  • Top Priority:
    • Architect of Worlds: Continue work on preparing a complete draft of the book for eventual layout and publication.
    • Danassos: Continue work on the new rough draft of the novel Twice-Crowned.
  • Second Priority:
    • Human Destiny: Continue compiling material for the eventual Atlas of the Human Protectorate.
    • Human Destiny: Design additional new rules systems for the Player’s Guide and add these to the interim draft.
    • Human Destiny: Begin work on a new Aminata Ndoye story, set during her first year at the Interstellar Service academy.
  • Back Burner:
    • Human Destiny: Finish the novelette “Remnants” for eventual collection and publication.
    • Krava’s Legend: Review and possibly rewrite the existing partial draft of The Sunlit Lands, and write a few new chapters.
    • Krava’s Legend: Write the second short story for the “reader magnet” collection.
    • Scorpius Reach: Write a few new chapters of Second Dawn.
    • Scorpius Reach: Start work on a third edition of the Game of Empire rules for Traveller (or Cepheus Engine).

So, in other words, a set of priorities pretty much identical to those of last month. Right now, I’m reasonably sure I’ll be able to release Act I of Twice-Crowned as a charged release for my patrons (at least 25000 words of fiction), and I may have a complete draft of Architect of Worlds that’s coherent enough to share, but we’ll see how the month goes.

Status Report (24 July 2022)

Status Report (24 July 2022)

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The month of July is moving along more or less as I expected at the beginning. I’m making slow, incremental progress on both the first complete draft of Architect of Worlds, and on a first working draft of the novel Twice-Crowned. It’s actually been a productive month – I’ve managed to carry out at least a little forward motion almost every day.

By the nature of both projects, though, I have not really gotten to a point where there’s a big chunk of new material for me to release to my patrons and readers. Next month, more likely, but July is looking like a month without any big milestones.

This is to inform everyone, then, that there will be no charged release for my patrons in the month of July. I’m going to concentrate on putting the first coat of polish on Architect of Worlds and getting within striking distance of finishing Act I of Twice-Crowned. I should also have the month’s book review ready within the next week or so. Then we’ll see how the month of August shapes up.

Status Report (17 July 2022)

Status Report (17 July 2022)

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Aside from working on Architect of Worlds as time permits, I’ve also been working on a first draft of the novel Twice-Crowned. That’s making enough good forward progress that I’m increasingly comfortable calling it my primary literary project at the moment. If you check out the sidebar on this site, you’ll notice that I’ve updated my “In Progress” widget to indicate where I am on word count for that. I’ll keep that up to date as I work, so you can get a sense for how well that project is going over the next few months.

Status Report (10 July 2022)

Status Report (10 July 2022)

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Just a quick note today. If you follow my Facebook feed, you’ll know this has been a rough week – I haven’t gotten much creative work done since before the holiday. Only this weekend have I managed to get moving again, mostly working on the first few chapters of Twice-Crowned.

I did take a few hours today to paste together the first integrated draft of Architect of Worlds. It’s all in one big document now, for the first time since I started work on the project back in 2016. In Microsoft Word, it comes to about 175 pages and a little under 74000 words.

There’s still a ton of editorial work that needs to be done before I can share the complete draft with anyone (see my planning message for July for a summary). I doubt that’s going to happen this month. Still, this is a big milestone.

Planning for July 2022

Planning for July 2022

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June went fairly well, it seems. I was able to get a new section of Architect of Worlds written and pushed out to my patrons, I also shared a timeline for my Danassos setting as a free release, and I got another book review written.

The usual list of projects is getting a big overhaul this month. The thing is, that section of Architect that I wrote last month is the last section that wasn’t complete in draft. I’m now in a position to meld all of the pieces of Architect together into a combined draft for the complete book. The result won’t be finished by a long shot, of course. I have a lot of work to do before I can start thinking about layout and getting ready for final publication:

  • Build the first complete draft for the book out of the separate parts that exist now.
  • Polish up the world-design sequence.
  • Polish up the “working with real-world astronomical data” section.
  • Complete a few minor sections, especially in the “special cases” chapter.
  • Add “modeling notes” sections, with references to scientific papers and textbooks, to any portion of the design chapters that doesn’t have them yet.
  • Clean up the extended examples.
  • Clean up the math throughout the book (rationalize variable names, be consistent about how computations are described, and so on).
  • Develop images (diagrams, flowcharts, public-domain astrophotography, alien-worlds images) to fill out the content.

I suspect this is going to take at least a couple of months, and it’s going to be one of those cases where the draft looks terrible for a while before I get it under control. I don’t think this is going to generate any releases for my patrons until I’ve waded through most of the above steps. I’m therefore announcing now that there will almost certainly be no new Architect of Worlds releases to my patrons for at least the month of July, possibly the month of August as well.

Once I get close to having a really clean and complete draft for the entire book, ready to start on layout, I may share that with my patrons as a final charged release before publication. There will almost certainly be enough new material to justify that. We’ll see how things go. I’ve still got my fingers crossed that I might be able to release the first edition of Architect of Worlds by the end of this calendar year!

Meanwhile, regarding my literary projects, I’m switching over to the Danassos project as my top priority for the time being. I’m going to start working, as time permits, on a draft of the novel Twice-Crowned. If I can put down, say, at least 25 kilowords of polished narrative at the beginning of the novel, I may share that with my patrons as a charged release.

My intention is to divide my time between Architect and Twice-Crowned more or less evenly this month, and we’ll see what results I get. Watch this space for updates, as always.

Here’s the planning list, with two items in the “top priority” category:

  • Top Priority:
    • Architect of Worlds: Work on preparing a complete draft of the book for eventual layout and publication.
    • Danassos: Begin work on a new draft of the novel Twice-Crowned.
  • Second Priority:
    • Human Destiny: Continue compiling material for the eventual Atlas of the Human Protectorate.
    • Human Destiny: Design additional new rules systems for the Player’s Guide and add these to the interim draft.
    • Human Destiny: Begin work on a new Aminata Ndoye story, set during her first year at the Interstellar Service academy.
  • Back Burner:
    • Human Destiny: Finish the novelette “Remnants” for eventual collection and publication.
    • Krava’s Legend: Review and possibly rewrite the existing partial draft of The Sunlit Lands, and write a few new chapters.
    • Krava’s Legend: Write the second short story for the “reader magnet” collection.
    • Scorpius Reach: Write a few new chapters of Second Dawn.
    • Scorpius Reach: Start work on a third edition of the Game of Empire rules for Traveller (or Cepheus Engine).

Aside from these items, I suspect I may end up doing a little cartography, certainly for Danassos, possibly for Human Destiny as well. I may have a couple of free sketch maps to share with readers and patrons this month.

Reviving Danassos

Reviving Danassos

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I’ve been blocked on my major literary project in the fantasy genre for over a year now. I did manage to write one piece of short fiction in the Krava’s Legend series, but the second novel hasn’t budged in a long time. Not sure what’s up with that – I have some notion of where the story needs to go – but I’m just not feeling the story the way I did with The Curse of Steel.

Meanwhile, a few days ago I went back and re-read what I had written of my novel Twice-Crowned, which I last worked on in about 2019. It’s about 22,000 words so far, and I find it’s actually pretty good for a rough draft.

Twice-Crowned is a bit of alternate-historical fantasy. It’s set in a world that looks a lot like Classical Greece, but with a few supernatural elements folded in, and a big point-of-divergence that is bending the course of history away from what we’re familiar with.

The notion is that there was a survival of the civilization we call “Minoan,” which got away from the sack of Crete by proto-Greeks and set up an enclave in the west. Where our history put the city-state of Syracuse, this alternate timeline has a city called Danassos. It’s a lot like other Hellenic poleis, with the very prominent exception that women are full citizens, holding property and exercising their own political rights and privileges. In one sense it’s a world-building exercise – how can I come up with a culture that’s plausibly Classical Greek and yet has the very non-Hellenic feature of (relative) gender equality? What consequences would that be likely to have as the history of the period unfolds?

I’ve been moved to spend a few days working on back story and research, with the result that I’ve got a fairly substantial timeline document and the start of some notes on how this imaginary society works. I think by this evening I’m going to package some of that up as a free release for my patrons, just to drum up a little interest in the project. Once that’s done, I need to get back to work on Architect of Worlds over the rest of June.

In the long run, I think Twice-Crowned may become my main literary project for the next few months, taking the place of The Sunlit Lands. Maybe if I can get that novel finished, I can come back to Krava’s Legend with fresh eyes.