Okay, technically Tax Day is 4/18 this year because of the weekend but I got all the bills, tax and otherwise, paid off today anyway because I’ve got the money ready and I’d rather get it out of my bank account before I’m tempted to spend it on frivolities such as food and toilet paper.

The drive to get Crystal Blade uploaded to Vella is progressing. I spent the bulk of the day trying to find an appealing image to use for the story’s avatar (can’t use the book cover because Vella images can’t have text and require a strong central image that will fit into a circle) and found something that I think will work. Next up is editing the first three chapters and splitting each one into two easily digestible 1.5-6K Vella chapters. The useful thing about this is that I have to recap the events of Crystal Shard in the first few chapters in order for Blade to make sense, but this has to be done in a smooth way that doesn’t yank the reader out of the story. That can only make the final novel better.

I figure I’ll upload about six chapters to begin with, then edit and upload two additional chapters a week while I work on finishing the book. That’s very doable for me and it gives me impetus to write without stressing me out too badly. Once that’s done, I’ll send out a newsletter letting people know where to find the chapters. And Lord, I hope someone pays to read them.