For those who subscribe to my Patreon, thank you. I've spent most of my writing career up to this point working with private commissions and giving away everything for free. I'm still doing both of those (PM2 is going to start being public in a few months) but it is nice to get money for it every month.
The other great thing about Patreon is that it shoves a dildo up my ass to produce more content. If you haven't noticed in 2015, I struggled a few months mainly because of a second commission that was eating away at my bandwidth.
Of course, if I stopped turning 15k word commissions into 45k word epics, it would help.
Last year was also dominated by Puppy Mill 2. This is actually a commissioned piece also but it is a much larger one. We just finished the first arc of the piece with Tabitha trying to strangle Merrie, Sable's PTSD, and Merrie's collar and magic evolving to her needs.
There is a lot more in Puppy Mill: From the Shadows. The story is about framed around Merrie regaining her ability to withstand sunlight and holy magic. I think it will be a fun journey and there are quite a few characters from the first series who are going to return for this one. Not to mention more characters once we get out of the close-knit community around the mill.
That said, I want to branch it out more. Or actually earn those folks who are gracefully giving $5/month for Patreon. So, in 2017 I'm going to change things up. I'm going to have a poll at the beginning of the month and that is what I'm going to work on for that month. I'll keep Puppy Mill 2 on the list until it's done, but I have a lot of other stories partially done or in my head.
This will hopefully break some of the monotony of seeing Merrie's struggles every month and maybe also get a bit more interest. I'm assuming not everyone wants to read about my favorite puppy girl, but voting will say.
The other big news is that on December 31st, I sent Derik's Luck to the editor. This is the first milestone for Patreon and I've been working on getting a self-edit finished for the last six months. The editing is available for the $5/month range because it still isn't “polished” as it is going to be and first impressions are always the hardest. As soon as the editor comes back and I integrate them, I'll be releasing it for all my Patreons. I'll let it sit for a few months to see if anyone finds a typo and then I'll work to get it published on ebook and print.