Stacia Joy

Hey everybody! I’ve finally done it - I’ve begun work on THE FIREKEEPER again! I am going back to the beginning and rewriting the chapters I’ve already written, first, though. This is to help bring me up to speed on the characters, setting, and plot, as well as make things more cohesive, integrate some details I’ve been wanting to add for a while, and transition me easily into picking the story up again with new chapters. I’ll notify you all once I begin reposting the chapters, and see if any of you can pick out the details I’ve changed!
          
          The main changes I’m making are in the heart of the story. I began writing it when I was not in a good place, and it shows. I’m not going to change the plot, but I am opening the story up to better articulate the growth many of the characters go through, and also just share aspects of them I felt I wasn’t qualified or ready to show. I wrote as I saw the world, a bitter place where you can’t just show who you are or let your guard down, and though it can be that, I have a better understanding now of how it is so much more than that. Don’t worry, Viridian is still our punch-ready sassypants, and she and the rest of the cast still have plenty coming for them. I’m just going to balance out the grit and dark with a bit more gentle and light. Sometimes bad things can flip on those who caused them, and end up bringing out the best in the people they were directed at. :)

Oh goodness - I logged on for probably the first time in OVER A YEAR today, and found a flood of votes and shelf-adds for both THE FIRE-KEEPER and THE PHOENIX THIEF. I'm floored. Thank you so much for support and interest, readers, particularly in my absence! 
          
          Since the last update I shared, my life to simultaneous drastic turns in health, living situation, and job, as well as meeting my fiancé, so suffice to say I had a lot going on. But things have begun to settle down again, and I've missed writing a lot! 
          
          So, this is a tentative announcement to say that I still have THE FIRE-KEEPER stewing in the back of my mind, and intend to finish it. Also, another draft of THE PHOENIX THIEF is on my wishlist, as I know there's even more that could be done to make that story as rich but concise as it can be. So, again, thank you for sticking around, and hopefully I'll have new chapters for you before another year goes by!
          
          ~ Stacia Joy

Yay! Another chapter up for THE FIRE-KEEPER! It's short but it is not insignificant. Read it and weep, my friends.
          
          The next chapter is going to be a biggie! I might not get it out before the end of the month due to the holidays and visiting family, but I really want to get it done. The plot is thickening...

Wow FINALLY finished Chapter 26 (In The Hold) of THE FIRE-KEEPER and man, is it a doozy! I had a bare outline of what would happen, but boy, did things *escalate quickly*  there! We're talking backstory. We're talking secrets. We're talking Wow I Did Not Think I Was Capable of Doing That To My Characters. And now that things are easing into somewhat of a schedule for me, I hope to add another chapter before the month is out. So to my newer readers, you've got some time to catch up, and to my Old Faithfuls who have been with me since the beginning, I'm sorry updates are now so slow. All the more to torture you with suspense with, I guess. :)

Hah wow so I really got derailed for writing more of THE FIRE-KEEPER. Family emergency. It's hard to write stress-filled scenes when your real life is that way, too. The worst is over now, though, and once I've travelled the 1,500 miles back to my new-home-of-only-a-week and settle into my brand-new-spanking-job I should be able to shuffle myself into some sort of schedule. Hope to get a good chunk of writing done tomorrow on the flight, though. Look for Chapter 24 within the next week! 
          
          Also: I see you, guys. I see your reads and votes and comments. I see what you're up too. And I flail and squee. Thanks, gems!

HEY FIRE-KEEPER FRIENDS!
          
          I am finally back on writing THE FIRE-KEEPER! All it took was quitting my job and moving 3,000 miles. If only I'd known sooner. 
          
          Anyway. Did some plotting and scheming and surrendering to the fickle whims of characters over the past few days, and have got some good groundwork laid for the next chapters/potential end of the book. The way I have it figured out now, there will probably be 30-36 chapters in total, so only 6-12 more! Gah! SO CLOSE SO FAST. 
          
          But that all depends on how affectively I can resolve all the plot threads. As some of you may remember, I posted over a month ago that I might split the story into two books. This option is still open, considering just how much I have to pack into the next 6-12 chapters. All it comes down to, really, is how the first draft ends up. The job of a first draft is to just exist, after all. Once that's accomplished, I'll think about what major changes need to happen in the subsequent drafts, and that includes any and all splits. But we'll see. We'll see. 
          
          Also, those of you who haven't read the latest update (Chapter 23) are definitely going to want to catch up on that soon, because a big reveal happened! PLOT TWIST. 
          
          And as always, thanks so much for reading and voting! You're the bee's knees!

Please remind me to take a look at your books. I'd like to read them when I'm not busy.

Readers of THE PHOENIX THIEF!
          
          I just made a new illustration for a scene from Chapter Twenty Seven! It's been a while since I did a full illustration, so I thought I'd share. The link below will take you to my DeviantART page for it:
          
          http://theynamedherrheulea.deviantart.com/art/STOP-677101728

THE FIRE-KEEPER CHAPTER UPDATE!
          
          Guys, I just realized Chapter Twenty Two was published as private (? I did not do that?) for some reason! So now I've re-published it and it's now up for you all to read! I'm really excited – some new characters I'd been dying to introduce into the story for a good while make their first appearance. It's nice to get into dialogue that isn't just Viridian and her angst-ridden inner thoughts. All her sarcasm is still there. Oh, it's there.  
          
          So enjoy chapter twenty two! Let me know what you think of the new characters. :)

WOW thank you so much for all the votes for THE FIRE-KEEPER, readers! It was so overwhelmingly encouraging to log on for the first time in a while and see them ALL AT ONCE! I did awkward flailing dances on my floor-cushion desk chair.
          
          Also: An update for the future of THE FIRE-KEEPER! I was discussing the book's themes and various plot lines with my writing professor recently, and she was astonished when she realized it was *just one book*. So after further discussion with her and some rethinking on my part, I've realized it might be smarter to divide the story into two, maybe three, books. As I'm only about a third of the way into the plot and it's already 70k words... c'mon let's be real that would be one GIANT book. Chopping it into a duo or trilogy would definitely give me more space to do the story and characters justice instead of trying to condense it into one. 
          
          I haven't made the full decision yet, since it would require some extensive reworking of the plot to come to three satisfying and plausible points at which to end each potential book while still having cliff-hangers... but... we'll see. 
          
          What are your preferences, though? Do you like to dig into one big thick book, or do you enjoy shorter ones that link together into a larger narrative?