It’s that time again! I know it’s technically a little past the middle of the year at this point, but that’s okay. We’ll make it work.

Back in June, I took some time to myself to reflect, recharge, and reevaluate. It was a much-needed break, and I think from now on I’d like to keep this schedule of focusing primarily on planning in January and adjusting in June, and using those months to build buffers, plan ahead, and regain some stamina. Obviously if there are deadlines to be met, I’ll still meet them, but what I can put aside during those months, I will.

That being said, it’s July now, and that means “go” time! So here’s where I’m at currently.

The Dragon’s Last Flight: Revisions Continue

As you may or may not have already seen if you follow the devlog over on itch.io, The Dragon’s Last Flight is currently in the “revising” stage of script drafting. Odd Lazdo and I are looking over the second draft and will be collaborating to polish it up while discussing art direction.

Will it still be coming out later this year? Call me optimistic, but I’m still hopeful that could happen. Even if it doesn’t, though, never fear. Progress is being made, even if it’s slow at times, and this project will get finished and released in due course. And hopefully I’ll be a bit more realistic with release projections in the future. ^_^;

The Harbinger’s Head is About to Turn Two!

I can’t believe that in just a few days (on the 19th, to be exact), my first published game will be two whole years old! It doesn’t sound like a long time, but especially after the way 2020 has been going, it honestly feels like a lifetime ago that I worked on The Harbinger’s Head.

And to my surprise, new people are still finding it and buying it and (I hope) falling in love with it. So to all you new folks, welcome, and thank you! And an especially big thank you to those who have been supportive from the beginning.

Website Updates

One of the things I really put my energy to in June (and let’s be honest, the beginning of July, too) was this website. I put some work into not just tweaking the design (it should look much better now on desktop and especially mobile) but also publishing some new pages and fiddling with the navigation a bit. If you haven’t yet, you may want to check out the new Curio Cabinet section and see what goodies you might find there. I hope to keep adding good stuff as time goes on. I’d also like to add some new free reads this year; haven’t posted one of those in quite a while now.

More invisibly, I did some work on the back end with finally getting SSL set up and updating or replacing widgets and such as needed. Again, the idea is to make this site as easy and enjoyable to spend time on as possible. Let me know how I did! I’m still wranging all of the website stuff on my own for the most part, so it’s definitely a continual work in progress. Someday I might hire some help, but for now I actually do enjoy doing it myself, even if it can be a bit time-consuming.

Looking Ahead: Future Projects & Surviving 2020

At the beginning of the year, I mentioned wanting to work on another, much shorter visual novel (VN) after TDLF. That is still very much the plan, and I actually already began digging into the planning just a little bit in June. I’m very much looking forward to it—almost as much as I am looking forward to finishing and releasing TDLF, haha.

I’ve also briefly mentioned a book before, and yes, that novel is still in the works. It’s staying in the background for now, but I think after that short game I may finally devote some real time to it for once and maybe even finishing the darn thing. I’d really love to see it published traditionally someday; wish me luck!

Beyond that, my plan for the rest of the year can be summed up in a single word: survive. I am putting extra effort, starting now, into taking care of myself, body and soul, because as Lin-Manuel Miranda would rap, “There’s a million things I haven’t done, but just you wait, just you wait…” I have so many ideas just dying to be brought to life, and I don’t plan on letting them—or you—down.

I hope this year hasn’t treated you too awfully, or if it has, that you’ve found the strength and support and hope you needed to get through it. And I hope that the rest of the year is kinder to you, and to us all.

Cheers!

The Harbinger’s Head is (still!) available to play in your browser, on Steam, or via your choice of app store, and you can try the first chapter for free on the Choice of Games website. As for The Dragon’s Last Flight, the full game may not be out yet, but you can always play the free demo over on itch.io. Enjoy!