For everyone who has read “Artifact of the Dawn,” and is looking forward to the next book in “The Cycles of Revelation” series, “The Medellan Conspiracy,” here is an update on my progress. I completed the rewrite of the manuscript in early June and sent it off to my beta readers. I received their feedback a couple of weeks ago and am about to begin making the next round of edits and rewrites based on that feedback.

The good news is that the feedback after the rewrite wasn’t as extensive as I feared, so hopefully I can complete the changes in September and send the manuscript back to my beta readers for a final read through. Then I’ll apply any last changes before prepping the manuscript for publication. That’s when I will order two proof copies, and a proofreader and I will give it a final proofread before making the ebook edition available for pre-order, ahead of the launch of all editions of the book (ebook, paperback, and hardcover).

In the meantime, enjoy another excerpt from the current revision of the manuscript.

Excerpt from “The Medellan Conspiracy”

By the time Ardyn and Jevan arrived at their apartment door, their new security techs had already flung the door open. Out in the hallway, Ardyn saw a terrified Marta being pushed roughly against the wall by the other two techs.

“Wait! Let her go. She’s a friend of ours,” Ardyn told them. “I’m sorry, Marta, please come in.”

The techs released her. “We’re sorry. We can’t be too careful. Give us a moment to check your apartment, and then we’ll begin our patrols.”

Once the techs had left, Jevan locked the door, while Marta looked at them in bewilderment. “What is going on?”

“A lot has happened since we spoke yesterday afternoon,” Jevan apologized. “Please sit down and I’ll fill you in.”

“I’ll make us some tea,” Ardyn said, excusing himself into the kitchen. His heart was still hammering in his chest over that brief commotion, and he needed a moment to himself.

Ardyn found calmness in the routine, which these days included putting a kettle on the stove to make tea. He smiled to himself when he thought back on how different his life was a little over a year before. Until he’d found that key when he’d been in the woods hunting a beast that had been attacking his home settlement, he’d lived a mostly solitary life as a ranger.

Now, here he was, living in a thriving metropolis, surrounded by Medellans who either feared, hated, or found him an interesting curiosity. Thank goodness this arrangement is temporary. I hope when we move to Aria’naa, things will be better.

The Council of Vestos had appointed the two of them as ambassadors to the Athla’naa homeworld of Aria’naa. However, before they were to take up their posts, they agreed to live in Ateria for a year to learn about their culture and customs. That way, they could both better serve the needs of the entire planet, and not just the needs of the continent of Vestos, where he and Jevan were from.

The whistle of the tea kettle startled Ardyn, and he shook himself back into the present, quickly putting several cups onto a tray, along with an assortment of tea, and the piping hot kettle. Bringing it into the living room, he set it on the table before the couch. “Here we go. Help yourself, Marta.”

“Thank you,” Marta said, as she selected a bag of tea and poured herself some hot water. “I was just telling Jevan that I ran over here because someone ransacked the archives last night. Now I know why!”

Title Abbreviations

I would like to leave you with a question. Would you be opposed to my using abbreviations for the titles of my novels and/or series? So, instead of “Artifact of the Dawn,” “The Medellan Conspiracy,” and “The Cycles of Revelation,” could I use AotD, TMC, and TCoR? I suspect my work isn’t well-known enough for that to be possible, but I put this out to you to help me decide.