Tag Archives: fantasy

June 20, 2026 · 9:30 am

Favorite Sequences in the Glitch Series

Since I was talking about updating the Whispers in the Code cover a couple weeks ago, today I thought I’d do a behind-the-scenes bit about the Glitch series. While I was in the process of writing Glitch, I’d often run the scenes in my head multiple times to get a feel for the surroundings, what was present in the environment, and what Tim might be feeling. There were a few scenes, though, that I particularly enjoyed writing.

First… the “Bedtime Story” sequence.

It’s starts out innocent enough (and a result of a glitch), and progressively gets more and more creepy as the Legion Spore begins to morph its surroundings to match the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf.

“End recording and transmit.”

Yes, Master Zaytsev. Is there anything else we can do for you?

I nuzzle the flat pillow under my neck. Uncomfortable, but I’m sure it’s made for simplistic support. “No. It’s bedtime, now.”

Would you like us to read you a bedtime story?

“What?”

You like this one, remember? You like the story of ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf.’

I sit up. The Legion Spore’s voice is different. It’s still clipped, not quite oriented, but its inflections are not the same as the artificial voice I heard all afternoon. “Bedtime story?” I don’t remember programming it to read bedtime stories—unless Benjamin has an unspoken interest in oral literature.

Once upon a time, there was a foolish little boy who stood guard over the shepherd’s sheep. The shepherd told him, ‘If you ever see a wolf, son, with large gold eyes and strong sharp teeth, you must immediately call for help.’ The little boy listened closely, for he was mischievous, and full of play.

The hairs rise on my arms. This doesn’t sound like the AI at all. “Legion Spore—acknowledge me.”

The shepherd knew of the little boy’s tricks, so he gave him a stern warning. ‘You must never cry wolf if there is none, for when the townspeople come running, they will be angry if you have disturbed them for nothing. Promise me, son, that you will be honest, and call for help only if there is danger.’ The little boy agreed with every bit of passion he could muster, and the shepherd went on his way. Do you know what happens next?

I shiver. Yes, I know the fable, but this isn’t right. “Legion Spore, I do not want to hear a story.”

The first night, the little boy did as he was told. But it was all very tedious, and staring at sheep was certainly the most boring task he had ever done.

“Legion Spore!” I push the covers aside and throw my legs over the edge of the bed. I pause. The floor is no longer made of ivory. It’s returned to the basic metal grate, while the walls have lost their leatheriness, now just a soft, fleshy musculature.

So the next night, the little boy did the most exciting thing he could imagine. He cried wolf.

I reach to the vessel with my mind, but the Legion Spore has erected some kind of firewall. I launch myself out of bed. This isn’t good. If the Legion Spore isn’t responding, I can’t command it.

All the townspeople came running. But when they got there, the little boy laughed. ‘You should see your faces!’ he cried. The only creatures in the field were the sheep and their lambs.

I scramble up the ladder, my sweaty fingers clutching the rungs. My fingers slip, but I quickly catch myself. Once on the next floor, I search out the controls on the central command point.

I’m locked out.

A lot of fun to write… though Tim was definitely relieved once he found and removed the source of the glitch.

That said, I think that sequence is one of the reasons I like the Legion Spore so much. For all that its creation is a monstrosity, it also has a certain innocence to it… and is utterly perplexed as to why Tim is so frazzled once the glitch is fixed.

Another sequence I enjoyed writing comes later in Spirits of a Glitch, when the Manticore (a malicious version of the Legion Spore) erases Tim’s memory, trying to gaslight him for its own purposes.

This was particularly interesting for me since I wrote it from Tim’s perspective over the period of time it’s happening… so while the reader can see everything as it happens and the side effects of what’s happening, Tim’s memory gets clipped multiple times before he finally figures out what’s going on.

I’d share that one, but then it’d be pretty spoilery… so you’ll have to happen on that section yourself. 😉

There were plenty of other sequences I very much enjoyed writing, but those two stood out in my mind.

* * *

Read the rest of the Legion Spore’s tale of the Boy Who Cried Wolf… (but what happens when the “wolf” knows how keep the “villagers” from hearing the boy’s cries?)

SBibb - Whispers in the Code Cover
SBibb - Ghost of a Memory Cover
SBibb - Spirits of a Glitch Cover

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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June 13, 2026 · 9:30 am

An early render of Lord Cafrash Menchtoteale

Since we’ve been looking at a lot of my early Daz renders, let’s now take a look at the renders I have of Lord Cafrash Menchtoteale, one of my characters from the Wishing Blade series. (He starts as an antagonist… then kind of ends up in as the questionable mentor… whether he wants to be a mentor or not).

So a long, long time ago when I was playing around with Daz, I rendered Cafrash, the creator of the Wishing Blade (the series’ namesake). I rendered this image a couple times, since I apparently designed it on my older laptop, whose graphics card that would have made rendering nice went caput before I found Daz. Then I rendered it again once I got my then-new laptop (which now mostly lays in rest because I used it a lot for rendering and that’s… very intensive on a laptop, unfortunately. Renders now happen on a desktop with much better fans and airflow.

That first render took 7 hours, and didn’t have nearly as good as the results of this 2-hour render.

Needless to say, I was quite happy with the capabilities of the then-new laptop. (And I suspect the new desktop would render this much faster… though we’re on a new version of Daz now so the lighting system would probably have to be readjusted).

Anyway, enough about laptop capabilities. Lord Menchtoteale was a blacksmith before getting involved with the trickster god. Long story short, he forges the Wishing Blade, the weapon used to steal magic from Cirena in Magic’s Stealing.

Here’s a render that Isaac put together from a later version of Cafrash’s character design, which I then polished:

A blacksmith hammers a sword with magical blue wisps above it.

But did Cafrash actually want to forge the sword?

Is he really the warlord everyone thinks he is?

Or is there more going on behind the Trickster’s plans than meets the eye?

Cafrash’s backstory is one part of the story I’m having a lot of fun working with, and first started showing up in The Shadow War, and has a much larger role in Magebane.

* * *

Meet Lord Menchtoteale in all his grumpy “I’m going to give you advice whether either of us want to deal with this,” in The Wishing Blade series…

Book Cover for Magic's Stealing
Book Cover for The Shadow War
Book Cover for Magebane

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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June 8, 2026 · 9:59 am

Reaching for the Light – Daz Render

Decided to make a for-fun render in Daz Studio yesterday with some new assets I picked up during a sale. (Finally got that mermaid setup I’d been wanting!)

So there isn’t a particularly story behind this one, other than me picturing a mermaid seeing the sun (or moon) shining above the water and reaching out for it. Kind of feels like it might work well for flash fiction inspiration, though, or one of my 1000 word stories.

A mermaid swims up through kelp and pillars in a blue-gray sea toward a distant light.

Polished in Affinity.

* * *

Happy reading, writing, and rendering!

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June 3, 2026 · 8:13 am

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

📋 And here’s the May report! Going to try to keep these updated on a monthly basis, but we’ll see.

Got a lot done, but that said, this last month through me for a curveball with my cat, BG Neelix, passing away unexpectedly. (If you want to know the details about what happened, click here).

I’ve highlighted the projects that had changes in blue.

* * *

Changing Tides: (Book 4 of the Distant Horizon series). On hold while working on The Dark Forest of Aneth. Next step is to merge the two revised drafts and start writing the missing scenes.

Deceived #3: On hold. Needs revisions. Tentatively titled Exposed.

Future steps: Input Isaac’s notes from Deceived #5 (formerly #4) into the manuscript, revise Deceived #5, and revise #6 (formerly #5) before handing it to Isaac for his feedback.

Dossiers (Deceived Spin-off): On hold. Next step is a revision round which involves incorporating notes into the manuscript.

Multiverse Chronicles (Distant Horizon Universe Spin-off): The epilogue has been sent, along with an additional wrap-up scene. I even got a chance to do a read-aloud with Isaac on these chapters. Yay!

Next up is to add missing scenes, do a complete read-through to check for revision smudge, and then do a read-aloud with Isaac to make sure the story still fits his vision. Then it’s off to beta-readers! I’m hoping to start revision work on this project in July.

TWB 4: (Book Four of The Wishing Blade series). On hold. Next step is to write the outline and reread the first three books.

The Dark Forest of Aneth (A Legends of Cirena short novel): I’ve been slowly inputting my notes from my Kindle Paperwhite revision round into the manuscript, though this is on the backburner while I work on Fae. Next step will be to read through those revisions and see if it’s ready for beta-readers.

Other Goals: Revisit the book cover concept. Create a blurb. Polish the related poem/ballad so it can be included as back matter.

The Ruins of Amixthael (The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear Spin-Off): On hold. Next step is to revise the chapters of the secondary character, then merge the two drafts together.

Future goals: Polish cover. Create blurb.

Untitled LoC Short Story (Standalone – Merchant in Reveratch): On hold. Next step is revisions.

Goals: Figure out a title. Create book cover and blurb. Polish the related poem/ballad so it can be included as back matter.

Untitled LoC Novella (Standalone – Twins in Ferta): Last time I was at chapter twenty-three and around 51,500 words. Now I’m at Twenty-Six around 58,000 words, and I have a pretty good idea of the remaining scenes that still need written.

Next step is to continue writing the rough draft.

The Wind Mage and the Wolf Spin-Off (Joran’s Story – A Legends of Cirena short story) : On hold. Needs the rest of the fight scene cross-referenced.

Goals: Edit in ProWritingAid, read-aloud, proofread. Book cover and blurb.

Fae (Huntress 3): Placeholder page made! Got Fae back from beta-readers, made adjustments, and put it onto my ancient Kindle Paperwhite so I can give it one more pass before the read-aloud with Isaac. Then I had Claude Code create a timeline of the Huntress series (after several iterations to correct for incorrect entries) so I could make sure the passage of time was clear in Fae. I also used Claude to do a basic formatting pass on the manuscript based on my previous ebooks to make it easier to finalize later.

I did a couple more tests with the cover, and finally found the right stock images to make it work. Base of the cover is complete, and now I need to do the polishing “painterly” touches.

I’ve also drafted a blurb and will need to review it soon to see what I might want to change. I gave Claude a set of questions to ask me with a prompt to include feedback, and used that to go through the process though I did the actual writing to the blurb myself.

I updated the backmatter in Huntress and Changeling, which I’ll upload once I finalize the cover for Fae.

Horse Shifter Romantasy 🐎: On hold. Next step is to start drafting from the outline.

Dark Romantasy Idea: On hold. The idea is still pinging at me, but I need to finish writing the synopsis (currently 4,000 words).

Writers of Warrensburg Anthology – Story has been drafted (and is surprisingly short for me), edited, and read at one of the Writers of Warrensburg meetings! Next step is to review the feedback I got and make edits. I also still have a couple more meeting to watch the recordings of and submit feedback on.

Other Stories: The YA Alien Invastion/Dystopian short story is on hold.

Poetry (?!): I wrote another poem called “Glittering Moments” but I’m not quite happy with my revisions yet, so I haven’t posted it. You might see it in the future, though.

Game Design: Progress! Isaac and I made a trip to Marquette to pick up supplies for finalizing Phalanx and Anchor.

Phalanx: Mousepad edition of Phalanx complete, and debuted at Flower Moon Spring Market!

Additionally, I worked with Claude to create the web-based browser edition that works both on mobile and desktop. Beta-version is now complete, and the current version of the game includes a link to a form for testing. Deployed via Netlify, and I’m giving the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter subscribers the first go at it, and then I’m planning to release the beta on the main Infinitas Publishing website. (I’ll probably also include a post about it here as well as on our Facebook page.)

Battle Decks: I did the first review of what Claude was able to code based on the trial version of the card game, then did further testing to refine the user interface and fix rules that didn’t quite translate into the programming. Currently it needs me to do some testing to make sure everything is playing correctly, then see if we can’t get a mobile version functioning properly.

New game — Anchor!

Anchor: Isaac completed his physical prototype and created the art for this game (I tried inking his original sketch and it came out too cartoony, so he turned to Daz Studio instead). We used Claude to double-check dice probabilities to make sure his scoring made sense, I proofread Isaac’s rules booklet and did the formatting polish, and we put together five first edition box sets. We got this done in time to debut at the Flower Moon Spring Market!

Fantasy RPG Productivity App: On hold until Isaac has a chance to review it.

Cozy Fantasy Pet Sim– I cleaned up the art for the juvenile creature in the game and worked with Claude to trouble-shoot some issues with how the graphics were presenting. I still need to clean up the adult creature art and make a few more adjustments to the juvenile creature that I missed in my previous pass.

I also had Claude create a table for me that lists all the different items and shops so that I can make sure to update everything with my own flavor text, and had it review the code for areas to streamline.

I also finally set up Claude Code on my computer because the game got too hefty to edit in a regular chat.

AI Usage and Policy: I decided to keep the Pro Plan of Claude, at least for now. It’s been really helpful for keeping me on track with business stuff, so I’m going to hold onto it a bit longer. I did update the Infinitas Publishing AI usage policy to include our usage of Claude AI for coding.

I still want to do a presentation on AI Literacy, but haven’t made any further progress with setup. (I have, however, been reading several more books and articles on the topic).

Marketing/Admin:

  • Created a project file in Claude for Infinitas Publishing. Using that for analyzing past reports and keeping up to date with admin processes. I’m continuing to do a check-in every week or two to make sure I’m staying on track with my goals.
  • Continued sending out Distant Horizon Universe and Wishing Blade Universe newsletters.
  • Did a couple more BookFunnel group promos, and created a promo for June (but no one signed up for it so I cancelled that one). I signed up for the next round of promos and pre-scheduled the blog-post/newsletter email.
  • Updated retailer links for my books on BookBub (just need to double-check now that I got them all updated)
  • Finally updated my author bio on the blog and most retailers.
  • Updated the series pages on the main Infinitas Publishing website.
  • Worked with Claude to create the bones of the Huntress KROWN Assessment quiz based on the interactive personality test Isaac and I did at last year’s Geek UP. Needs some interface work and further beta-testing.
  • I’ve continued using Claude to help keep my priorities organized, review accounting and event results, and review stats I’ve been tracking.
  • Attempted to have Claude Design work on A+ content for Distant Horizon using my own images. It’s got some interesting ideas… but it isn’t there yet.
  • Printed and cut out new Infinitas Publishing Business Cards for events.
  • I’ve been trying to make Facebook posts on the Infinitas Publishing page to help promo some of our upcoming products and events.
  • I finally paused all Amazon ads, and have had Claude help make suggestions for how to maybe make adjustments for new ads. So far not much luck with getting those going.
  • So far I’ve been managing to keep up with accounting. Yay!
  • I had Claude make me a personalized event checklist that I’ll be able to repurpose for future events. Hopefully, once I finish organizing it, it’ll make it easier for me to keep track of what I need to get done ahead of time.
  • I still need to update Infinitas Publishing book pages with buttons for retailers. I also need to continue adding metadata information.

Next up: Review and update book prices; watch Book Blurb Magic course on books with multiple POVs. Continue updating the design of individual Infinitas Publishing book pages. Continue adding books to the Stripe store for direct sales (alternately, review new BookFunnel feature offering Square sales?). Overhaul book categories, keywords, and blurbs.

Crafting Your Fictional World: On Hold.

Repurposing Old Newsletter Content:

Still going strong with the blog posts here. Scheduled May ahead of time, which helped. I need to do the same for June, especially considering the various events going on. But it has been helpful with rekindling some of that exciting “new publishing” energy I remember from when we first started Infinitas Publishing.

Events: We went to the Flower Moon Spring Market in Hancock at the end of May.

Meanwhile, we’re planning to be at UP Rainbow Pride in Marquette, and we’ve applied for the Hancock Pride Market that happens at the end of June. I also still have a Crafting Your Fictional World presentation planned for later in the year.

Flower Moon Spring Market (May 24th)

We had a booth inside at the Flower Moon Spring Market, and we debuted not only the mousepad edition of Phalanx (the first time we’ve had Phalanx available to purchase in several years), and we also debuted an all new game–Anchor!

Admittedly, neither of us were at full energy due to having recently learned that BG Neelix had cancer, but the event was still fun and Isaac was able to demo the games to a lot of passersby.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Still working on formatting an ebook for an indie press.

Future Goals: Update the SBibbPhoto website to incorporate Daz work and fix the SEO information. Finish designing cute mascot for a local store. Finish editing photos for a local Aikido group.

SIFlint Art: On hold. I’m watching for a sale at my sticker printer so I can order more stickers (and get bag hoarding dragon stickers!)

Daz PA: The new Daz store promotions seem to be working! I’ve seen a strong uptick in sales, so I’ve continued submitting products for the Quick Grab option and plan to try for the Outlet Store again as well. I’m hoping these sales continue to have luck. If so, it’ll make for a nice revival of the backlist.

I’ve also started playing with some character shaping as a possible upcoming product. Haven’t gotten far yet, so we’ll see if I continue working on this.

* * *

Happy writing and reading (Or 3D rendering if you’re into Daz)! 🙂

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June 1, 2026 · 1:30 pm

Monthly Book Promotion Highlight

Trying to find your next science fiction, dystopian, or fantasy read?

Look no further!

This month I’m featuring the Free Sci-Fi & Fantasy Reads ebook promo, the Free Myths, Legends, & Fairy Tales ebook promo, the Dystopia Ever After ebook promo, and the Not-So-Sunny June Reads ebook promo!

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Free Sci-Fi & Fantasy Reads ebook promo

Myths Legends & Fairy Tales Ebook Promo

Dystopia Ever After Ebook Promo

Not-So-Sunny June Reads Ebook Promo

(Note: The giveaways above are hosted through BookFunnel. Authors will usually ask for your email address, and in many cases, the author will collect these addresses for their newsletters.)

* * *

I hope you find a good book! 😀

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May 30, 2026 · 8:20 am

An early render of Siklana

At some point in 2019, I took to learning how to use Daz Studio in my spare time. Daz is a 3D modeling program that lets you purchase assets (poses, characters, clothing, backgrounds, etc) for your own use and then position those assets to create scenes.

There is also the ability to “morph” the basic models so they match how you envision your own characters.

The first character I customized was Siklana Covonilayno, Toranih’s sister from The Wishing Blade series:

A young noblewoman with long brown hair in a navy blue dress and overcoat.

Her hair’s a bit too long here, but this was a quick render to test the outfit and general background.

Here’s a closer look at her facial structure (customized from the Victoria 4 base model — which I’m still impressed I succeeded with since shortly after, I started working primarily with Genesis 8 models).

(At some point I needed a Daz PA (Published Artist) profile image, and this was one of my early renders I was happy with, so I used that. Later on I realized that she looks a little like me when the image is in tiny thumbnail size. Not intentional.)

At some point I might make some adjustments to Siklana’s design, mostly in redoing the character on a later model to take into account some issues and limitations I didn’t know about when first starting.

I continued to work with learning the program, and eventually put together a full scene with her.

In this case, she’s with her horse, Esara.

A young woman standing on a vine-tangled staircase offers her hand to a curious horse at the foot of the stair.

(The horse’s coat and mane ended up a bit darker than I was initially picturing for Esara, so I may need to do some tweaking if I do further images with her).

The idea behind this image, though only mentioned in The Wishing Blade series rather than actually seen, is that Siklana used to go outside of Cirena City to practice her knife-throwing skills in peace.

She would ride out to the forested region behind the city walls to a small, abandoned ruin. (This region was once Aneth, home to those who would eventually spread throughout Cirena. At the time, they faced attacks by the immortals, and many of their buildings ended up in ruin once they fled). This particular building would likely have been fairly recent in their history, though still abandoned. But now this side of the forest is relatively safe. The perfect place to go when someone wants time to themselves to study and throw knives.

Are there any characters from the Wishing Blade universe (any of the stories) that you would be interested in seeing?

* * *

Though Siklana starts as a side character, by Magebane she has a major character arc…

Book Cover for Magic's Stealing
Book Cover for The Shadow War
Book Cover for Magebane

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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May 23, 2026 · 9:30 am

Choosing a title for Galina’s story

Figuring out titles is hard.

Most of the time.

Sometimes it’s really obvious and you just point at that one and say “That one!”

For all the other times… We’re scratching our heads, trying to think if anything stood out while making revisions.

So when it came to figuring out the title for Galina’s story, we turned to the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter!

We proposed six ideas:

1. The Deception
2. Deceived
3. Quarantined
4. The Warning
5. The Outbreak
6. The Secret

But we weren’t 100% sold on any of them at that point.

So we asked readers:

Knowing that Galina’s story will be a young adult dystopian thriller in the same vein as Distant Horizon and Glitch, and having read the three sneak peeks from these newsletters, do any of those titles stand out to you?

Do you have an idea for a better title?

And we did get a few responses! (Which we very much appreciated).

Ultimately, we ended up settling on “Deceived,” which became part one of Galina’s Saga (which we later just called the “Deceived” series). Because, of course, we ended up having plenty more plot fodder itching to be written.

Which is why we now also have its newsletter-exclusive prequel, Initiated, and its sequel, Betrayed!

And yes. Figuring out those titles was also a pain. But at least we had the convention of the title to work with.

* * *

Now I just have to hope I can remember what I planned to title the next book in the series…

SBibb - Initiated Cover WIP
Book Cover for Deceived
SBibb - Betrayed Cover

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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May 16, 2026 · 7:17 am

An early render of Meshon

Today I thought I’d do a behind-the-scenes snippet for one of the Cirenan-Cantingen goddesses: Meshon.

Meshon is one of the older goddesses, and she has a strong presence in both Cirenan and Cantingen pantheons.

Though not considered a primary goddess in the Cantingen pantheon (who only recognize a small handful of deities in addition to Madia), Meshon is revered as Madia’s trusted messenger.

Meshon is often referred to as the Oracle, capable of seeing visions of the future and walking between realms–though her ability to cross realms means it’s not always clear which world her visions refer to, and that issue has landed many of her followers into trouble for trying to interpret her dreams.

Shevanlagiy/Ralendacin has held a grudge with the goddess for this very reason, and that grudge is clear in Magebane.

Meshon currently has a role in both The Wishing Blade series and Stone and String, and even plays small roles in some of the Legends of Cirena short stories, such as The Scars of Her Past… though she plays a much larger role in the upcoming Legends of Cirena novel, The Dark Forest of Aneth. (Yes, novel. It was supposed to be a novella but it has well surpassed that word count at this point).

Below is one of the test images I created for Meshon using Daz 3D Studio. Her design is still in progress, but this is fairly close to how I see her. 🙂

The goddess Meshon spreads her arms to do magic. She has dark skin, wears a sheer head scarf, and has beads in her braided hair.

Meshon’s prophecies will eventually have a strong role in the next Stone and String story, and it’s her prophecy that references the coming of Ralendacin, the “Destroyer of Worlds” (Shevanlagiy in The Wishing Blade series).

* * *

Meshon plays a role in many stories…

The Scars of Her Past Book Cover
Book cover for Stone and String
Book Cover for Magebane

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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May 9, 2026 · 9:30 am

That time I completely redid the outline of Starless Night

I’d been sitting on the outline for Starless Night for a while… partially because I was cycling through projects, but also, because the prospect of the third Distant Horizon book was daunting.

I had a partial rough draft and an outline already written. (See the post from two weeks ago). But that outline was written before Isaac and I made major edits to Fractured Skies, thus changing the shape of where the story was headed.

Characters I thought were going to be dead were now still alive, and characters who lived in the role-play campaign ended up dead. (Still can’t quite believe Isaac convinced me to kill off that character… though it really did make sense for the story). And important plot points were revealed way earlier than we expected, rendering certain scenes in the third book no longer necessary.

Between all the character relationships and faction issues, I wasn’t sure where to start. Originally, I hoped to salvage bits and pieces of the previous draft to work into the revised version. But that seemed likely to cause more problems than help.

I stalled, hoping that writing Deceived would get me back in the swing of writing for the Distant Horizon universe. It did (and accidentally spawned a new series). I now wanted to return to Jenna’s story.

But it didn’t solve the wall I had been running into.

Then Isaac brought up the idea of cutting two very major plots that we had planned for the third book, and condensing the last two books back into one.

At first, I was resistant to the whole thing. I loved some of the scenes he was suggesting cutting, scenes we had discussed and honed a while back.

But…

There’s a saying that writers have to “kill their darlings.” (I kind of despise that saying, by the way). It doesn’t always hold true. But sometimes, eliminating a plot or a scene, or merging two characters, end up making for a better story. Or solves your problems.

I started thinking about Isaac’s suggestions. About eliminating those two major plot points and how it would affect the story.

And… um…

It worked a lot better.

Instead of taking a longer route to get to the climax by looking at various outside forces and their impact on Jenna’s brainseed, the focus is much more strongly related to the issues of Legion’s rise and the downfall of the Community.

Suddenly a lot of foreshadowing in Fractured Skies regarding artifacts, alchemist-enchanters, and the Elizabeth pendants had a direct tie back into the story. And the trimmed version made some of the future plans for this universe tie in more clearly, too.

I really liked the beginnings of the new outline and where it was going.

So I presented some of my new notes to Isaac and we began bouncing ideas off each other again, rather than coming to a stalemate about where the story should go.

So I decided to scrap the entirety of the previous rough draft. It exists as writing practice and helped to flesh out the world, but it was going to be simpler to start book three from scratch.

And that’s okay.

My hope was that my writing skills would have improved since I wrote the original draft, and starting from scratch helped reduce the amount of “revision smudge” likely to sneak in if we weren’t careful.

Best of all, we were having fun with the story again, and I looked forward to seeing how the pieces that we decided should stay would weave themselves together.

There were a couple directions we could take the end of Jenna’s arc, so we still had to figure out which one was the most satisfying and would make the most sense, especially since there was still going to be one more book after Starless Night, but it was now planned to be a four-book series instead of a five-book one.

((*Insert defeated laughter/crying here.* A note from present-day me who is in the process of revising this ancient newsletter email into a blog post… “Just four books? Sure… If I can figure out how to condense Changing Tides. Because last I checked, there’s still a whole missing middle section, and it’s already well over full-length. Either something major needs cut, or the book needs to be split into two.”))

So… what was one of those major changes?

Warning! Spoilers for Fractured Skies ahead!

It involved a return to the Community after Legion strikes.

The thing is, Legion isn’t entirely destructive. Though a lot of people end up with their life force drained to feed Legion’s ghostly legionnaires (hence sending teams to evacuate the area when it gets attacked), others choose to join Legion’s call to “control the chaos,” forming a cult that sees Legion as more efficient than the Community under Camaraderie rule.

Originally, we planned a sequence in St. Petersburg involving the destruction of the city, and after that, we didn’t see much of the cult (though Jenna did try to help with evacuations in other parts of the Community).

This time, we decided to explore what happens when Legion gets into the Community. The destruction-versus-life going on sort-of normally… while a certain prior (second-in-commands for Legion) becomes a primary antagonist, rather than being defeated early on. Which means this prior will return in Changing Tides.

And the HUGE thing we considered that we hadn’t before is how Jenna’s brain seed handles dealing with Legion.

After all, the brain seed’s creator also had a hand in creating Legion (well, the Legion Spore… since the creator didn’t expect it to be “killed”), and thus has a particular interest in Legion’s powers…

And acquiring said powers.

Normally, Jenna wants nothing to do with Legion. But while Jenna is under the brain seed’s influence, she has far more interest in Legion’s power than she should…

AND IT DOES NOT END WELL FOR THE RESCUE MISSION.

(Remember how I said there was a character who survived in the campaign but not in Starless Night?)

Anyway, that scene allowed us to really explore Legion’s influence, the Community, and the brain seed, in ways we had never expected…

And even ended up influencing the book cover design for Starless Night, as well.

I’m much happier with that book now. (And ugh… having a tooth pulled was literally easier than writing that particular book). But I really like how Starless Night wraps up. Redoing the outline was the right call.

So yeah. Ever completely scrapped an outline and tried again?

* * *

This series has undergone so many changes since we first started Jenna’s journey with a role-play game…

Book Cover for Distant Horizon, with a gold title. A young woman faces a sterile white hallway with faces in the doors. She has vines around her arms.
Fractured Skies - Book Cover
Starless Night Cover

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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May 5, 2026 · 12:02 pm

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

📋 Now that I’ve posted the ‘end of 2025’ status report, let’s take a look at January through April 2026!

Still quite a bit of life stuff happening during these months, but much of that has now been wrapped up. I somehow still got a lot of stuff done, so let’s see what’s been going on…

I’ve highlighted the projects that had changes in blue.

* * *

Changing Tides: (Book 4 of the Distant Horizon series). On hold while working on The Dark Forest of Aneth. Next step is to merge the two revised drafts and start writing the missing scenes.

Deceived #3: On hold. Needs revisions. Tentatively titled Exposed.

Future steps: Input Isaac’s notes from Deceived #5 (formerly #4) into the manuscript, revise Deceived #5, and revise #6 (formerly #5) before handing it to Isaac for his feedback.

Dossiers (Deceived Spin-off): On hold. Next step is a revision round which involves incorporating notes into the manuscript.

Multiverse Chronicles (Distant Horizon Universe Spin-off): Last time we were at chapter seventeen in the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter. We’re now up to chapter twenty-six, and my next email will send the epilogue! 😃

So far the manuscript is at 77,000 words, though I expect it to go longer before publication due to several missing scenes.

Isaac and I already knew the detective plotline needed additional scenes written. But I did take the entire manuscript into Claude and asked it to create an interactive timeline that showed where each character group appears on a per-chapter basis, to include a short sentence or two on what’s happening with that group, and to mark incomplete arcs. I now have a better idea of which characters need to be looped in together and where to focus my next set of revisions.

Overall, this should make the revision process go much smoother. Once those scenes are added in, my next step is do a complete read-through to check for revision smudge, and then do a read-aloud with Isaac to make sure the story still fits his vision. (He wrote the original draft, which I then edited). Then it’ll be off to beta-readers!

The question is where to slot working on this story in the grand scheme of things. I don’t want it to get sidelined for as long as last time.

TWB 4: (Book Four of The Wishing Blade series). On hold. Next step is to write the outline and reread the first three books.

The Dark Forest of Aneth (“Ro’nor (“The Restless Sands of Neel”) & Zynia (“The Dragons of the Mist”) cross-over / A Legends of Cirena short novel): I input the notes from the manuscript I printed for editing into my Scrivener file. I ran the updated manuscript through Claude and AutoCrit for developmental feedback, then set the project aside so I could review it later with fresh eyes and decide if I agreed with the suggestions. Ultimately, I disagreed with several of the suggestions, but I did decide I probably need to merge/cut the first couple chapters. I think I ran this through ProWritingAid for copy edits, but this isn’t entirely clear in my planner notes, so I’ll want to double-check edits before finalizing the project.

I also put the manuscript onto my ancient Kindle Paperwhite (from 2013… it’s slow but it does still function, at least for the moment) and read through it like a book. (This was the pass where I decided to merge chapters).

Next step is to input my notes from that round, then see if it’s ready for beta-readers.

Other Goals: Revisit the book cover concept. Create a blurb. Polish the related poem/ballad so it can be included as back matter.

The Ruins of Amixthael (The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear Spin-Off): On hold. Next step is to revise the chapters of the secondary character, then merge the two drafts together.

Future goals: Polish cover. Create blurb.

Untitled LoC Short Story (Standalone – Merchant in Reveratch): On hold. Next step is revisions.

Goals: Figure out a title. Create book cover and blurb. Polish the related poem/ballad so it can be included as back matter.

Untitled LoC Novella (Standalone – Twins in Ferta): Last time I was at chapter fifteen and 34,000 words. At the end of the month I’d reached chapter twenty-three and around 51,500 words. I’ve continued running each chapter through ProWritingAid for copy edit suggestions before sending it out to the Wishing Blade Universe newsletter.

I once again took the most up-to-date version of the manuscript into Claude to look for missing plot threads and to use Claude as a “talking” rubber duck to bounce brainstorming ideas off of. I ended up getting a better idea of what still needs to be added to the story before wrapping it up. (And I’ve also started getting an idea of where the next story might go… and some character motives I hadn’t decided on for one of the antagonists in The Wishing Blade series. Bonus!)

Next step is to continue writing the rough draft.

The Wind Mage and the Wolf Spin-Off (Joran’s Story – A Legends of Cirena short story) : On hold. Needs the rest of the fight scene cross-referenced.

Goals: Edit in ProWritingAid, read-aloud, proofread. Book cover and blurb.

Fae (Huntress 3): Revisions complete!

I also did a second round of revisions for the notes I’d left myself, and ran the AutoCrit “beta-reader” analysis on the manuscript to see if there was anything I wanted to adjust before sending it to actual beta-readers. After that, I took it into ProWritingAid for edits, compiled the chapters and asked Claude to format it based on the ebook formatting of one of my previous books. (Score for a very fast formatting round that only needed a few corrections!)

I then read through that version to check for revision smudge, then took that into Atticus so I could prepare the beta-reader edition. Now it’s off to beta-readers!

Next step is to finalize the cover and write the blurb while waiting for feedback.

Horse Shifter Romantasy 🐎: On hold. Next step is to start drafting from the outline.

Dark Romantasy Idea: Toward the beginning of April, I got an idea for a dark romantasy story that wouldn’t leave me alone, so I took the idea into Claude and started brainstorming/plotting. I now have a rough outline in the form of a bunch of scene ideas that I had Claude organize, though its interpretation of my scenes is a little off from my intentions, so I started writing out a synopsis to better match my vision. I have a small chunk of that written but it’s more like the told version of the story and currently sits at 4,000 words.

Writers of Warrensburg Anthology – I decided to participate in the upcoming Writers of Warrensburg (Missouri writers’ group) anthology! My short story outline has been approved, and now needs drafting. I’ve been watching the online recordings of the meetings and sending my feedback of each story via email since I can’t usually attend live.

Other Stories: Got an idea for a fantasy short story where the gods/demons are inspired by various AIs (working title: “The Gods of Aether Ignis”). About 500 words written into it, but I only have notes for it rather than a solid outline, so we’ll see how far I get with this. Mostly I have three scenes in mind, with one of those scenes drafted, but I’m missing a connector piece.

The YA Alien Invastion/Dystopian short story is on hold.

Trinar Seven – Rediscovered this story (first NaNoWriMo project I did) while at my parents’ house. Ran it through Claude to review its strengths and weaknesses in case I’d like to return to revising it.

Little One – Set up in Scrivener because I’m considering editing this one for my next Distant Horizon Universe newsletter story.

Poetry (?!): Well, I wasn’t planning on writing poetry, but I guess that’s what happens when I read Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing. Published both on this blog and on Substack.

The Singing Coil Book Cover

The Singing Coil (Cozy Sci-Fi): Published!

Got it back from beta-readers, formatted it, input the final edits, read through it on my ancient Kindle Paperwhite, and then did a read-aloud with Isaac to catch any remaining typos.

I tried two versions of the blurb. The first I wrote entirely myself. The second version, I handed the story to Claude and gave it a series of prompts to consider, then asked it to create a blurb based on those. I then refined that version and asked readers on a feedback group to review which one they liked better. The Claude-based blurb won out, so that’s the one I’m trying first.

While working on the blurb, I illustrated the cover to get it as close to cozy sci-fi cover conventions as I could. Original drawn in pencil, then inked, scanned into the computer, then cleaned and colored in Photoshop CS6. I did this for both the foreground and background. In dealing with the title treatment, I asked Claude to write me a program I could use to locally batch my typeface files into images so I could choose the font I wanted without having to individually wade through thousands of options.

I had ChatGPT review my backmatter to see if I had any obvious issues with tone when it came to pointing to other stories in my catalogue. (As a note, I’ve been leaning away from using ChatGPT).

Separately, I got the Infinitas Publishing book page created for The Singing Coil, and I created a series of blog posts for the launch, though I still have one that dives into the details of the cover design process that I haven’t yet finalized but want to share.

For mini side projects I attempted to add guitar chords to the lullaby and record a version of me singing it. Eh… let’s just say that’s a work in progress.

Game Design: Quite a few things happening here!

Phalanx: We have most of the pieces we need to finalize the mousepad edition of Phalanx, so the next step is to acquire the last couple of components and package it all together. Goal is to have this edition at the Flower Moon Spring Market.

Separately I tested inputting the rules, card art, and game details into Claude, and asked it to create a web-based browser game. It came out surprisingly well on the first try. I made a few iterations to the browser edition, and at this point I just need to test it and make sure there aren’t any bugs before sharing it. (And also trying to adapt it to a mobile-friendly version).

If there’s enough interest in the browser edition, I’d like to hire a developer to create a nicer version of the game, but that depends on if there’s enough interest to fund it.

Anchor: Isaac has been eyeing this fun little dice game again that he made and we’re looking to trying to develop a version we can take to local events.

He already has a list of components needed for the prototype test, so we’ll see if we can acquire those when we do our run to pick up the final components for Phalanx. We have a couple beta prototypes already that we’ve used for our own purposes in testing, but they aren’t polished.

Next step is for me to polish the art sketch he designed for the logo of the game.

Fantasy RPG Productivity App: Sometime in early March, Isaac mentioned wanting a productivity app that used role-play game dynamics to incentivize completing various daily tasks and work projects.

So… I’ve been developing that using Claude, and after several iterations, it’s now over to Isaac for testing. I gave Claude instructions on what aspects we wanted in the app. (Quest boards with daily tasks, a marketplace to get equipment for your character, companions, an overly enthusiastic, encouraging fairy to cheer you on…) And I worked with it to adjust the human factors aspect of actually using the app both in a desktop browser and on a phone.

Right now the app uses a placeholder story generated by Claude (with my worldbuilding suggestions) to see if the mechanics work during testing, but if Isaac likes the app and we decide to develop it further, I’ll want to write my own “chapters” into the game.

I also suspect that, of all the apps I’ve been working with Claude on, this one (or the cozy fantasy pet sim, below) would benefit the most from hiring a human developer.

Cozy Fantasy Pet Sim– Toward the end of April I decided to test an idea that had been rolling around in my head for a while. Once again I took to Claude to see what could be created in terms of a browser-based game. My goal? Create a cozy fantasy pet simulator that was entirely self-contained and could run in a browser.

The sim has now been through several iterations. The genetics seems to be working, buying/selling items is functioning properly, going on expeditions and training skills is cohesive, etc.

I’ve also done the first round of inputting my own artwork into the game. Right now there are still several placeholder vector designs for items and backgrounds (I didn’t realize Claude could design vector art and I got quite the surprise when the game first loaded with a fully functional cozy critter design).

Next step is to finish polishing the juvenile creature art I created, then move on to cleaning the adult creature art and adding it into the game. (Right now it’s just “big” juvenile and “little” juvenile).

I’ll also need to write flavor text and create an intentional list of in-game items rather than using the generic generated list. (Anything on the expeditions are already mostly created by me because somewhere along the line I decided this was going to be a Upper Peninsula flavored cozy fantasy and I had way too much fun brainstorming item lists).

This is another project that, if I get the game functional for sharing, I would hope to eventually be able to hire a web developer to make a nicer edition. (Or dream goal… hire a web developer and hire artists to add in new creatures beyond the ones I draw).

AI Usage and Policy: As you can probably tell from this report, I’ve been exploring quite a bit of AI usage. As of the moment, our December 12th AI Use Policy update still holds true, though it doesn’t explicitly reference the use of code generation. I intend to periodically review this policy and update it if needed.

I did go ahead and pick up the $20 Pro plan on Claude to see what it was capable of. Will re-evaluate at the end of the month to determine whether to keep the subscription or cancel it.

Also… I started working on notes for a potential presentation on AI Literacy. Specifically, what AI is, what it can/can’t do, and how to use it safely, or avoid using altogether if preferred. I’ve got a lot of ideas for this, and could really branch off into more detailed presentation ideas, but haven’t yet formed the actual presentation. I’ve been using Claude to dump my ideas into and keep them organized.

Marketing/Admin:

  • No adjustments to Amazon Ads. Thinking about starting a couple new ones to test, but these aren’t high priority.
  • Continued participating in BookFunnel group promos and rotating which book I focus on promoting. Also tried to do a store-specific promo (Kobo) but haven’t seen much change in retailer traffic.
  • I’ve continued sending out story chapters with each newsletter email (The Multiverse Chronicles in the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter and the Ferta story in The Wishing Blade Universe newsletter.) With Multiverse Chronicles about wrapped up, I’m debating which story to tackle next. I’m considering pulling out Little One. But we’ll see.
  • I had Claude help me design a book progress tracker in Google Sheets. I’ve been using this to quickly overview what steps are still left on any given project.
  • I’ve been using Claude to check my progress every couple weeks or so to make sure I stay on track and don’t get (too) derailed by shiny side projects. I also created an Infinitas Publishing-focused project within Claude to help keep myself organized and analyze more business data for patterns I might be missing. It seems to be helpful in prompting me to clean up my business sheets, get accounting done faster, and finish these status reports. (Mostly because if I want feedback on them, they actually need to be done. And even artificial feedback is apparently useful in giving me that poke to get a move on it).
  • I tested ChatGPT for making a rough Google Sheets business model canvas for Infinitas Publishing. I’m not sure that was actually useful. I’ll need to look at this again later.
  • I used Claude to review the Infinitas Publishing website design and get suggestions for improving readability and placement on a new button feature I’m considering adding. Currently Huntress is the only page that has these.
  • Tinkered with Claude Design in beta for a slide-show style book trailer. (Note: I had it use my own images). Same with creating A+ content for Amazon pages. I liked the ideas but it’s not quite polished enough to use yet. Might revisit its suggestions later.
  • Updated Huntress and Changeling metadata! Woot! Finally updated Amazon keywords and categories for these two. (Apparently I hadn’t updated these in several years). I had Claude suggest keywords based on my series briefs, which I then checked in Publisher Rocket. I returned with the keywords I was considering, then had Claude pick from those with an explanation for why. Got these updated. Haven’t yet seen a boost in sales, but hoping it will help long term.
  • I used Claude to review my manuscripts for suggested content warnings, tropes, and comp titles and started adding the ones I agreed with to the book pages on the Infinitas Publishing website. Currently have them on the Deceived and Distant Horizon series, and part of the Glitch series.
  • Finally started updating book pages with additional details like ISBN, genre, publication date, word count, etc. Also tested website accessibility for both Alt text and generative engine optimization and started restructuring series pages based on that. This is in progress.
  • Been listening to more podcasts (especially The Creative Penn podcast and related Patreon) and did a lot more reading, mostly of non-fiction.
  • Infinitas Publishing accounting is up-to-date through the middle of April. Now I’ve just got to try to keep it up to date. I’ve made a note on my calendar that repeats once a month for getting these details entered.
  • Finally updated my Amazon Central author bio.

Next up: Review and update book prices; watch Book Blurb Magic course on books with multiple POVs, continue updating metadata of other books. Continue updating the design of individual Infinitas Publishing book pages. Check for what other retailers need my updated author bio. Continue adding books to the Stripe store for direct sales. Revise Amazon ads, and overhaul book categories, keywords, and blurbs.

Crafting Your Fictional World: On Hold.

Repurposing Old Newsletter Content:

Still doing this! And still enjoying seeing what I wrote previously and updating it as needed. I’ve been trying to schedule a month’s worth of posts at a time, with varying degrees of success.

Events: We’re currently planning on going to the Flower Moon Spring Market in Hancock at the end of May, and plan to apply to the UP Rainbow Pride event in Marquette. Books have been ordered!

I’ve made plans to do a Crafting Your Fictional World presentation later in the year. More on that closer to the event.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finally started formatting an ebook for an indie press. Basic formatting complete, and next step is to incorporate the publisher’s feedback.

I’m debating getting back into photography with a specific focus on casual, fun shots, especially those with costumed or fantasy vibes. Still working out the logistics, but I’m starting to talk to friends about how to go about setting up a test session.

Future Goals: Update the SBibbPhoto website to incorporate Daz work and fix the SEO information. Finish designing cute mascot for a local store. Finish editing photos for a local Aikido group.

SIFlint Art: I created a dragon illustration for a local zine. Still in progress, but the inked version now exists.

I’m watching for a sale at my sticker printer so I can order more stickers (and get bag hoarding dragon stickers!)

Daz PA: I submitted a few products for Daz site promotions. The Egyptian Ankh Makeup set and Frog Prince poses have been accepted for the month-long Outlet store, so we’ll see how that goes. 🙂

* * *

Happy writing and reading (Or 3D rendering if you’re into Daz)! 🙂

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