Since my last progress report around February this year, the draft for my second novel barely managed to crawl up to the 50% mark. Which, of course, is the dreaded midpoint, where revelations are supposed to happen that push the story in an unexpected direction.

However, I know exactly what has to happen, so that’s not the problem. Instead, I’m struggling to make that midpoint really count in terms of where (location) and how (mood/emotion) too. Which takes time and effort and many revisions! (By the way, one of the best horror midpoints I’ve ever seen was the mid-season finale of the television show The Haunting of Hill House (Mike Flanagan, 2018), whose what, where, and how put you on a most terrifying roller-coaster ride. The entire show—ten episodes—is highly recommended!

Anyways. While I’m still hovering around the midpoint and the novel’s 50% mark, I did a lot of developmental editing for what I’ve already written. And I also updated my scene template with a few new tricks I learned at PWA’s recent Science Fiction Writers Week. So yeah, there’s progress, even if I certainly won’t be able to finish the draft before the end of the year. (Thus, looking for an agent for both novels won’t happen before 2024.)

In other news, my non-fiction book The Ludotronics Game Design Methodology has begun to ship this August! At its companion website ludotronics.net, you’ll find all kinds of information and downloadable stuff, and also a journal. There, besides recommendations and reflections, I post about events I’m attending, online and offline, in case you want to get hold of me.