Well, here we sit at the dawn of a new decade. Holy shit I can’t believe it’s 2020. Like…that’s insane. I’m kind of starting to feel old now. Not that that’s really stopping me from writing fan fiction and sci-fi/horror.
So what’s up? What’s happening? Some people might still be wondering, what the fuck happened with my original work? Unfortunately, I’m here to tell that…I don’t have much of an answer. Not for past, present, or even future. In short, a lot of unhappy shit went down over the past few years. Nothing I’d call life-shattering, but either big enough or consistent enough to cause major disruptions to my writing. Some were health problems, mental and physical, some were just personal issues, there was a death in the family that hit pretty hard, there were some financial issues, nothing serious, more annoying, and then your garden variety, everyday, regular life issues that crop up here, there, and everywhere. Combined with my natural laziness that I have to fight every single day. As for where I’m at, writing-wise, overall? Well, let’s take this time to take a good, in-depth look at, well, all of it.
Naturally, we’ll start with the fan fiction.
FAN FICTION
Let’s take a look at not just what I’ve got going on or coming up, but almost everything. There’s a few things I’m keeping secret, though, so bear that in mind.
—CLASSIC HALO UNIVERSE—
NERVES OF STEELE. Frankly, I’m embarrassed about this one. I started it midway through 2019, and what do I have to show for it? Like six fucking chapters. I had figured I’d be able to do more, but a lot of things aligned against this happening. And it sucks worse because this is like the central pillar of this shared universe. I’m hoping to finish Episode 01 in 2020. But first The Will To Live needs to get wrapped up, and Episode Three of The DOOM Chronicles will be my primary focus until it’s complete, and it’s a LONG one. So…yeah. Sorry.
THE WILL TO LIVE. I’m oddly torn on this one. If it weren’t as popular as it was, I might end up canceling it. But between all the effort I’ve put into it, its popularity, and what I intend for its future in this shared universe, that’s not really an option. So I’m going to try hard to wrap this up in 2020.
TRUE TERROR 2 — CONTAINMENT BREACH. The followup to Gathering Darkness. Definitely doing this, though it may not see the light of day until 2021. Kane’s story is far from over.
OTHER. Though these are the three pillars of this shared universe, I do have a few other ideas that could be really cool. But they’re a lot further down the line.
—NOVELIZATIONS—
THE DOOM CHRONICLES. My primary focus in 2020. I intend to finish Episode Three, which, as I mentioned above, will definitely be the longest. It’s looking at six parts, split between two different protagonists. I’m going to write a LOT for this episode. Once Episode Three gets wrapped up, it’s going back to sleep for a bit, because I’m sure I’ll need a break.
THE THING. Although it’s quite distant, at some point I want another shot at novelizing The Thing video game and expanding heavily on it. Although I like my novelization, I was always disappointed with the follow-up, and thought that so much more could’ve been done. But this one is way down the line.
STATE OF DECAY. Basically the same story as above. I could see doing a lot more, but it’s very uncertain. Because of the time commitment and my own waning interest in the universe, it’s even farther off than The Thing, if it’s even going to happen at all.
ROCK RAIDERS. A few years back I wrote a short story for Lego Rock Raiders. You can actually still read it, if you want. Definitely going to do this one.
OTHER. I’ve stated that I want to novelize a ton of things over the years, but a lot of them have kind of fallen out of my line of sight. I still kind of want to novelize Unreal II, though not as much. Same with The Suffering and Red Faction games, though ultimately I may just write a simple Red Faction story instead of a full-blown novelization. And I still kind of want to novelize the F.E.A.R. games from time to time. At the moment, nothing else super appeals or is on my radar. That could change, but the problem is I’m already dedicated to so much, I don’t know where I’ll find the time.
—HλLF-LIFE—
BISHOP’S LAMENT. So, still solid on this one. I’m looking forward to it. It’s just a matter of time. From where I’m standing right now, I think I’ll make it a priority in 2021. I know, really far away, and still only the second in the series. Sorry. As for the future, well, right now, I’ve got seven total ideas for stories, (that includes Bishop’s War and Bishop’s Lament). And I know for a fact that the seventh story isn’t going to be the end. If I had to guess, I’d say there’s going to be ten total novels in this series. So it’ll be awhile.
—KOTOR—
AND THERE WAS ANOTHER 2. And There Was Another kind of took me by surprise. In the process of writing it, I actually came up with ideas for two more novels. So it will likely end up a trilogy. There is the possibility of a fourth, but we shall see. I don’t think they’ll be as long as the first one, but you never know.
KOTOR III. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to create my own KOTOR III. I began the process in 2005 when I wrote Heroes of the Old Republic. It was terrible and long-winded, but popular. I intend to do a full (and much better) rewrite that goes far beyond where the original ended, as it was intended to be the first in an epic trilogy back then. I’ve been thinking about this story almost since I first started writing and I’ve got a shitload of ideas. Given how much sense it makes, I’ve decided to just put And There Was Another and that cast into the same universe, so expect Seth and friends to at least make a cameo in this story. Once I finish the And There Was Another trilogy and KOTOR III, I’ll almost certainly be done with Star Wars fan fiction forever.
—OBSIDIAN CLASSICS—
ALIENS VS. PREDATOR TRILOGY. Back in the day, I wrote a pair of terrible AVP fan fictions, based off the 2000 PC game Aliens Vs. Predator. They were seriously awful. But I still love the idea of them, as well as several more pieces of media I’ve experienced in those universes since then. So I think I can get one solid trilogy out of it, especially considering I have what might be a really cool idea for the story.
DREARY. My first real fan fiction was written in January 2004. It was called Dreary, and it was a crossover of Unreal Tournament and The Thing. It was godforsaken. But, in 2013, I rewrote it. It was much better, but still not great. I intend to, at some point, re-release that rewrite, because I think some people might enjoy it. So keep an eye out.
RED FACTION — HUNTER’S WAR. This is that RF fan fiction I was mentioning above. Technically it’ll be a rewrite of a story I wrote with this title back in 2004. One of my earliest stories. Again, it was awful, but I still love Red Faction, and I want to recapture that magic of the original game at least one more time.
TECH-COMM OUTPOST #17: So this is a Terminator fan fiction. Weird, right? I’ve never written one of those before. But a few games, like Dawn of Fate and Rise of the Machines, (the first half, not the second half), left a big impression on me back from the PS2/Xbox days. So I still want to write at least one story that takes place in that awesome, bleak, blue-laser future depicted in T1 & T2. This is that story. If I like it enough and get a good enough idea, I might continue it.
THE SION CAMPAIGN. Another oddball. A Quake 4 story. Basically, it’s meant to translate the feeling I got playing Quake 4 into words, ultimately what still drives me to write most of my fan fictions nowadays. It follows an original character on a moon orbiting the planet Quake 4 takes place on. Looking forward to this one. Quake 4 left a big impression on me, even if none of the other Quakes did.
OTHER. Those are the ones I’m certain about. I’ve still got some ideas kicking around. I may yet revisit Perfect Dark someday, rewriting my second ever fan fiction, An Experiment Gone Wrong. That still appeals to me. There was a Buzz Lightyear of Star Command fan fiction I started writing that I actually still think is cool. I may do that someday. There’s probably a few others I’m just not thinking of, but honestly, anything else that I write that’s a rewrite or reimagining from back then will likely be so different that it’ll just be its own thing, and not a classic.
—OTHER—
A SHADOW OVER LYLAT. So this is what’s getting my attention after I finish all my current responsibilities. Once The Will To Live, Nerves of Steele — Book 01, and The DOOM Chronicles: Episode Three are finished up, I am doing THIS. It’s a dark action-horror story set immediately following the events of StarFox 64, introducing a new protagonist. I’m really looking forward to this one. But I’ll be lucky to get to it before the year’s out.
DEAD SPACE. So, I’ve got some ideas for an expansive Dead Space series. Basically, it would introduce a new character who is on Titan Station during Dead Space 2, and then it would essentially become its own thing, incorporating Issac, Ellie, and other characters and forming my own vision for Dead Space 3. I’m on the fence about whether or not I want to do this. I do love Dead Space, it’s one of my favorites, but it would be another massive commitment, so…I dunno.
GEARS OF WAR. Yet another series of games I love that I have an absolutely MASSIVE idea for. The one thing I know about it now is that it would pretty much be me translating how I feel about Gears into words. So, you know, cast of OCs doing their own thing alongside Gears 1, 2, & 3. Think Bishop’s War but for Gears of War. Again, huge commitment, but I love Gears, so I’ll probably get to this someday. Maybe when I’m 40, lol, and we have Gears of War 9 out on Xbox 4.
HALO TRILOGY. Back in 2015, in a fit of frustration over the embarrassing state of the Halo franchise with the release of Halo 4 and 5, I conceived of my own followup trilogy to Halo 3. I still feel strongly that this is a good idea, and someday wish to do this, but, obviously, it’s a matter of time. And Nerves of Steele is going to go on for probably the next decade. So…someday.
SUPER SECRET RE-IMAGINING. So…I’m keeping this one mostly on the DL for awhile, because yet again, time. Let’s just say that I managed to track down the author of a very, very old fan fiction I read at a very impressionable time in my youth, so it left massive scars on me (good and bad), and asked them for permission to rewrite that story. And they said yes. More about this when I actually get time to do it.
OTHER. Of course, I’ve had dozens of ideas that have passed out of my memory, or out of favor, over the years. I’ve been writing fan fiction for so very long now. Honestly, something I’m hoping to eventually achieve is to find myself with enough free time that I can actually work on a project when I get struck with a brand new idea, instead of having to store it away and maybe find time to work on it three years later. Or, maybe, I’ll run out of fan fiction ideas after this and shift entirely back to original. Who knows? But for now, I’m probably set into my early forties. Oh, and someday, I want to write novels about Jason Voorhees. Other than that, who can say.
ORIGINAL FICTION
Man…
It seems impossible to me now that I wrote 15 novels, 3 novellas, and 9 short stories in three years. Like, just impossible. The Shadow Wars was crazy. I don’t even know how I did it, looking back on it. And I wonder if I’ll ever be back up to that level again. So where am I at, in terms of original fiction? I spent a long time amassing ideas, and then, as I started heading into my late twenties, I began chopping away at that list of ideas as some of them became redundant, some I forgot what the hell I was going for, and some I just don’t care about anymore.
Let’s take a look at what’s up.
KANE’S WAR. This is what I’ll almost certainly end up writing. It’ll technically be the third series in The Shadow Wars universe. The first series, which is the prequel trilogy and books 1 - 10, is Dark Ops Rising. The second series, which is books 11 - 15, is Anomalous Operations. This will be the third series. Originally, it was to be 5 books, then 7, now I’m not sure. For some reason I’m really favoring adopting an idea of writing a novella in between each of the main entries, and they’ll be important to the story, like, even though they're novellas, they will be counted as primary entries in the series. I’ll make that clear. I’ve got a strong idea for the first novel, and I did some preliminary planning before it got derailed. Ideally, I’d love to find some time to get to work on this in 2020, but we’ll see.
THE FOURTH SERIES in this universe will almost certainly be the last. I’ve got a vague idea of what I want to do for it, and it’ll have a much tighter narrative than the first two, while still being broad and epic in scope.
OTHER titles in the Shadow Wars universe are fickle things. I still have a handful of ideas for novellas or novels that take place outside of the primary narrative, though not as many as I used to. They’re the kind of books that I’ll see if I can make them work when I actually get around to them.
SINGLE NOVELS are so rare for me now. I still have a handful of ideas. An action-oriented near-future thriller about mercenaries and memory loss. A man, through unusual circumstances, living in an extremely haunted location and dealing with it in a way that you would not expect. A Fast & Furious sort of story about hover-bike racing. Yeah, I know, weird for me. An absolutely bug-fuck crazy near-future sci-fi story about one man’s insane search for God. Like, it’s nuts. Totally nuts. And a few others I don’t even want to mention because of how weird they are, and I’d rather they be surprises.
HORROR SHORTS. I’ve got some of these floating around still, ideas for cool horror shorts that I thought were too neat to abandon. Someday, I want to do a collection of them.
There’s a handful of other random, weird ideas that may or may not get written. Again, I don’t want to talk about them because they’re so weird or (hopefully) cool that I want them to be surprises.
Of course, there’s my idea of starting a new pen name and writing a lot of more commercially viable stuff for that. It’s still kicking around. I mean, I did write Dead Winter with that in mind, and I still feel good about that story, and future ideas. My best non-Shadow Wars ideas are now pinned to this name, so obviously I’m keeping them under wraps for now and probably a few years more. I’m still…figuring that out. It’s stalled a number of times, which is embarrassing. Really, it’s a matter of commitment. Take Dead Winter for example. Let’s say I publish it, it gets some attention, and then I’m not going to write a sequel for another year or longer even. It loses all that traction it might’ve built just because I wasn’t ready. You can see my problem.
So yeah, ultimately, the best I can do is: Maybe Kane’s War will kick off this year. Sorry.
MACHINIMA
Boy I really dropped the ball on this one again. I get all fired up and release End Credits and Not Alone 1 & 2, and then…nothing. I’m really sorry about that. The answer for this one is that when there’s not enough time, something needs to get cut, and the first thing on the chopping block is always going to be machinima because it’s a hobby, a time-consuming hobby that I’m still figuring out and am not good at.
I’m going to finish and release Not Alone 3 next, that much I know. I think one of the problems is that creating machinima is such a daunting task sometimes. Like, sometimes I’m excited and happy and having fun, but sometimes I’m just like: This is so awful, this sucks, doesn’t it? Why am I even doing this? I know everyone gets that, but it’s a LOT more powerful when you’re doing something you have very little experience doing.
I’ve got a lot more ideas of what to do after, but at this point the field is so massively open that I don’t want to commit to anything right now. I’ll have to see what appeals the most once I finally finish the Not Alone Trilogy.
IN CONCLUSION
So yeah, that’s about the size of it.
In 2020, I hope to…
Finish The DOOM Chronicles - Episode Three.
Finish The Will To Live.
Finish Nerves of Steele - Book One.
Finish Not Alone 3.
Start writing A Shadow Over Lylat.
Start writing Kane’s War.
Do more machinima.
Yes, clearly, clearly I am aiming for the stars.
I’m mainly hoping to get better with time management, and with perseverance, and inspiration. I know it’s a terrible idea to rely on inspiration in any creative field, but you do need some. Hopefully my mental health will even out a bit more this year, and decade, and I’ll go back to being more consistent.
Hopefully.
Wish me luck.
-Sean