…This update diary really snuck up on me.  I didn’t even get to post the Quick Reviews i have in the wings, or the Life Update I promised in the last diary. I DID START THIS POST BEFORE THE 15TH, I just didn’t finish it.

Please accept my dearest apologies for continually betraying expectations.

I don’t even have a good excuse this time… I’ve been struggling to write the past month, and even posting anything besides the Update Diaries is getting hard for me to do.  Yes, I’ve been spending set time on Tomodachi Life LtD, but at best, I can blame about an hour a day on that beautiful upgrade from the DS title.  By the way, if you like ridiculous fun, play Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream on Switch 1/2.

Anyhoozles, I’m here today for an update on Hell/Dolls, so that’s what I’ll provide.

This is the stats as of last night:

Current Chapter (Unity’s Edge): 19 (Cat and Mouse)

Pages: 365

Total Word Count: 127,733 (via AutoCrit)

Current Chapter (New World): 4

Pages: 40

Total Word Count: 15,894

NOT SO FUN FACT!  I may have been disconnected from internet when I wrote the most recent four paragraphs of Unity’s Edge, so when I opened it on my PC the next day, the additions weren’t added.  I didn’t realize it until I had started typing the next paragraph, then tried to open it on my companion, and found out it didn’t save!

That was an incredibly discouraging moment, especially since I have trouble recalling exacts from memory.  I think I got the point across in the rewrite, but I’m still really upset that my original words didn’t make it into the story.

Despite this minor setback, I’m still trying to maintain a work schedule for my novels (having a class once a week helps greatly in remembering to take some extra time to write), so I’m confident that this slump is temporary.

Regarding splitting up the UE and NW posts, I think that when I release New World, it will have dedicated follow-up posts, but that will be after I have released all of Unity’s Edge Book 1, so I think keeping them in the same Update Diary should be fine.  New World will have its own set of new works and concepts to understand, but by the time UE is out, I think it will be a little easier to explain.  Maybe.

So… I haven’t touched on the last-released chapter yet; Chapter 7: Talks and Whispers.

I knew by about Chapter 3 that I wanted to split the viewpoint of the major characters, and this chapter is my first attempt at this.  Instead of Vincent, we’re shown the world via the viewpoints of Miel (and later, Knite-Siege), both of which have drastically different motives and expectations than our intrepid hero.

In the original plan, Miel meets the Crush Squad much later – like, three years later.  But she becomes such an integral part of the plot that I felt that she needed to be introduced here. I can’t say that I’ve completely thought through her full arc yet, but I’ll let the words take me where they take me for her story. Her motivation is immediately revealed in a conversation with the enchantment shop owner (who’s ability to talk information out of people may become integral in later parts), but otherwise, Miel is extremely closed off.

Knite-Siege’s POV takes a similarly “angry at the world” approach to Miel, but I think Knite-Siege’s story will be more clear to readers when we get to it – not in this book, mind you, maybe Book 3 or 4 (if I stick with this that long). I will admit, he kinda comes off as a dick early on in the story, but he truly cares for his city and his people, which is why he’s so strict on the Crush Squad.

Because Warbelle was only created in this version of the story, I had to decide what her relationships with the various major characters looked like, and I like that I made her a little coy with everyone, especially the no-nonsense Knite-Siege (he will desperately need it later on). I think, especially having just done another Knite-Siege scene, that his relationship with the King can be fleshed out a little better in-story, but I’m struggling to get that done. There’s a lot of little things that I want to include in certain parts that just don’t mesh well when I’m reading it back, so I’m trying to incorporate them into later parts or leave subtle and not-so-subtle hints where I can.

There’s no really big reveals in this chapter, just an introduction or two and a deeper dive into a major player of the city’s government. This chapter kinda serves as a break before we get into a “heavy” chapter – one that I actually planned to release before I made this post. It will come out alone, and then hopefully, I will be able to release the next two chapters before the next update diary.

A little update on the side story; I still plan to release it when Unity’s Edge Book 1 is fully out, and I’ll probably release it all at once when it’s done. A slight problem I’ve encountered is making me consider that I may have to do a couple different side stories before I start working on UE book 2, but I may be able to make it work as-is. It’s just the format of how I’ve been doing New World. We’ll see.

In any case, please look forward to the next few chapters (I’m really proud of the next one)! Also, keep an eye out for some other posts that I’ll hopefully get finished between this post and the next Update Diary.

Thanks, everyone!

-Marcosias