AHP25 Series Timeline

Hi everyone, how's it going? 

Your friendly neighborhood Author here.

A strange winter and stranger spring just flashed by back-to-back and we're once again at the doorstep of a hot summer. But in my dark bat cave, it's business as usual. Gradually recovering from the post-release fatigue following the serialization of my latest story, Iron Mountain, I'm back at destroying keyboards again.

In the comments of the recent story, users wondered if the next book was going to be the last one. I guess the story gives that kind of an impression, huh? 

But no, there's still more. 

I've talked about the plan a couple of times before, but now that we're actually past the midway mark, let's take this chance to have a closer look at THE plan. I actually put the plan that previously existed only in the dark abysses of my head into a proper picture this time.

It looks like this.

Feel free to refer back to this image whenever you forget what the heck's going and in what order you're supposed to read these stories.

In the beginning, there was no plan. 

Of course, there was not supposed to be a series either.

But somehow, we got a series, and as the story went on and more characters appeared and everything got big and complicated, I had to recognize the limits of my brain capacity and start to plan things for real. 

A huge story like this is better managed when split into more bite-sized chunks, and then dealing with those smaller pieces as their own thing. Yeah, I took lessons from Marvel there. It's like when you're 80 years old and run out of breath climbing the stairs to your fourth floor apartment, and there's no elevator. You take one step higher, then stop to huff, and then take another step and so on. A completely unnecessary comparison, but what the hell. Pardon me.

Iron Mountain concluded the so-called Phase 3. 

The stories of this phase were about our protagonist, Izumi, rediscovering her human heart that she'd spent a lifetime suppressing, and learning to be more honest with her feelings. It's also about her discovering what's going on in the otherworld and learning her own role in the big picture. I think that's fairly clear, yes?

Phase 4 is then supposed to be about our hero gradually accepting her heavy destiny and reconnecting with her friends. It won't be easy or painless, but let's see what happens.

The last Phase is then just the usual ending rituals. Frodo and Sam climb up the Mt Doom and toss the ring into lava, with some minor complications along the way, maybe. 

It's more about the journey than the destination, I think.

I have a rough layout for all the coming parts, including the side stories that only my patrons will get to enjoy. I even have most of the titles decided, but I left them blank in the plan, just to keep you in suspense. And in case I happen to feel like changing anything. Not that I really can. It's quite annoying but when I first get an idea for a title or a name, it usually sticks, no matter what. Even if I try to change it later for something more marketable, anything else just feels wrong and unfitting, and I have no choice but to return to the original. Then we get more weird things. Fire of Prometheus had readers scratching their heads.

But yeah, I think it's more fun if you only find out the title closer to the release date of that story. What do you think?

Following the plan, SIDE STORY B is up next on the schedule. 

Like I shared on twitter, the planned release date for this "short" tale is June 30. 

The first draft is already completed, so the date looks quite possible, but it would be ideal if the hiatus between the side story and book 6 didn't get too big. So I might have to hold it back a little. But let's see. More info on that one in the nearby future!

I also briefly mentioned in the comments of Verse 5 that I have a bit of a spin-off series on my mind. It's actually been on my mind for about two years, and I've been steadily writing it too. But it's a highly experimental, difficult project and unlike anything I've done before, so I can't yet say if it'll be worth showing to anyone until it's properly finished.

In my fantasy, the completed spin-off would be released between Phases 4 and 5. In the more likely reality, my readers will have died of old age and I'm hiding under the nearest bridge by then. But hey, gotta think positive!

So, lots of cool things yet to come.

Verse 5 worked out so well, I was already beginning to wonder if I had hit my creative limit and it would only be downhill from there. For real. But writing Side Story B has restored my faith again. We're definitely nowhere past the climax yet. Things will keep on getting more and more awesome from here! Hope you'll look forward to it!

But that's all for now.

See you next time and have a nice day!