Here's chapter 10! Seems like some of you are enjoying this story, and I'm having fun writing it, so all's good, I suppose. I'll keep working on Patreon chapters until we have fifty or so; then, we'll see if Royal Road likes it.
Have a great weekend. I'm gonna take a few hours off :D
-Plum
10 – Welcome to the Neighborhood
By the time Tony got back to the messenger s...
2024-10-12 19:06:45 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy the chapter, and have a great weekend!
-Plum
11 – Aboard the Bounty
Later that day, Ward sat in the cabin he shared with Haley and quietly polished his boots. Haley was napping, or at least, she had been, but when he looked up after buffing the dry polish, she was lying on her side, watching him. “Pleasant nap?”
She stifled a yawn, nodding. “I needed it. It’s been an emotional d...
2024-10-11 18:31:13 +0000 UTC View PostWell, folks, here's today's Victor chapter. I hope you enjoy :)
-Plum
Victor stood in the central room of his chambers, half of which was taken up by the dining table and half by a sitting area with a few built-in curio cabinets and bookshelves. He’d locked all the windows and doors, but considering the recent assassination attempt and the fact that he only had a couple of allies in the entire world, he decided a bit mor...
2024-10-10 19:15:07 +0000 UTC View PostHere's today's chapter! Enjoy :)
-Plum
10 – A Fated Encounter
The steam-powered cargo ship was a big vessel, though not nearly as large as a cruise ship Ward had once spent two summertime weeks on as it traversed the Caribbean. The captain himself met with them near the end of the busy gangplank as his men carried and wheeled crates and barrels aboard the vessel, taking them below decks to, presuma...
2024-10-09 19:51:31 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy the chapter!
-Plum
When Victor finally returned to his chambers atop the central tower in his palace, he was exhausted. Tyla Haveshi had kept him talking to her, her son, Draj, and half a dozen elder cousins—the decision-makers in the clan—for nearly four hours. In the end, Victor concluded that the people of the Haveshi family were more afraid of fading into obscurity than they were upset about the loss of Qi Po...
2024-10-08 20:09:06 +0000 UTC View Post
I know most of you have read this content, but it's a bit more polished on Kindle! Not to mention, the audiobook performed by Robb Moreira is a lot of fun. I'd love it if some of you would check 'em out. If you have KU, it wouldn't cost you anything.
Amazon's algorithm can be pretty harsh on indie-published books. It's really important on the first day or two of a book launch to receive lots of downloads and ratings, so if any of you wouldn't mind helping out with a rating (I'm talking ...
2024-10-08 11:21:55 +0000 UTC View PostHey! It's a Neon Dust chappy :)
Enjoy!
9 – Fade
“JJ, initiate dust link.” As her body tingled slightly and her sense of self expanded to include her little drone, Addie sent it up, out of her hands, and into the air behind her.
“JJ’s your PAI?” Tony asked, eyeing the softly humming egg-shaped device.
“Yep. He’s kind of out of date but does everything I need.”
“I ...
2024-10-07 21:39:12 +0000 UTC View PostHere's your delivery! Have a great day :)
-Plum
9 – Stories We Tell
Back at the tavern across from their inn, Ward sat in a dim corner, sipping a cold beer while he studied the spell he’d taken from Elliot. The words weren’t uncomfortable for him to look at, and he figured he had a good chance of casting the spell without any risks. He’d know for sure after he memorized it. The spell’s desc...
2024-10-07 16:55:29 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy the chapter :) Hope this stuff isn't too boring; I think it's fun to see how Victor can grow in different situations.
Cheers,
Plum
The vast teleportation network on Ruhn made traveling between cities and larger towns painless, but it took something away from the scale of the world, at least in Victor’s mind. When he and the queen’s entourage traveled from Gloria to Iron Mountain, n...
2024-10-06 17:47:20 +0000 UTC View PostHappy Saturday :)
Enjoy~
-Plum
8 - Dubious Backing
As they walked, Tony sipped from a can of Orange Nuke he’d picked up at Mr. Nguyen’s bodega. He’d paid using a couple of the extra bits he had on the bit locker Addie’s dad had given him. They were looking for Beef and his crew so Tony could pay the banger off before he got too busy, forgot, and wound up gettin...
2024-10-05 14:36:53 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy the chapter!
-Plum
Grace disappeared again as the sound of Elliot’s footsteps drew near. The strange, hungry-looking man held a thick, leather-bound book in his ink-stained hands. “I’m quite sure that this tome will have some mention of those runes. I was reading it last month, and if I recall correctly, it had something to do with the Novigrad Coven on Aetheris.” He began thumbing through the pages, and Ward...
2024-10-04 19:18:40 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy today's chapter! I know not all the "rules" have been laid out yet, and some of you are wondering how coups, for instance, can happen while the veil walkers watch over nations of Ruhn. I'll explain it soon, maybe next chapter. The short story is that rulers and their protectors are fair game - there are assassination rules like there are champion dueling rules.
Okay, enjoy the chapter :)
-Plum
<... 2024-10-03 19:06:35 +0000 UTC View PostHere's today's delivery!
Hope you're enjoying things :)
-Plum
“I’m Riley,” the woman with the fancy spectacles said, tapping the countertop, “and I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have about our alchemical arms.”
Ward stepped up to the counter, his eyes still drawn to the polished and oiled guns hanging on the wall behind her. Some of the rifles had absurdly lo...
2024-10-02 16:21:31 +0000 UTC View PostA little more depth on Addie and a bit more lore. Enjoy :)
-Plum
7 – Gaining Followers
Addie lay in her bed, watching the colorful lights from the neon signs flickering on her ceiling and listening to the sounds of the city outside her window. Her body was tired, but her mind was busy, far too busy for sleep. She was thinking about her story about the Royal Breeze, but she was also thinking about T...
2024-10-01 21:27:05 +0000 UTC View PostI hope you're having fun :)
-Plum
The fact that Victor didn’t gain a level from his slaughter of the would-be assassins told him a great deal about them; they weren’t steel seekers, and they likely weren’t even tier-eight or nine iron rankers. Still, the surge of Energy was enough to distract him for a moment, refill his Core, and speed up his body’s natural regeneration. When it was over, he stooped to pick up the...
2024-10-01 16:54:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi folks! I hope you enjoy today's chapter. :)
On another note, I was hoping I could ask you for some help. I seem to have attracted a hater over on Royal Road, and he's decided to leave the world a lengthy post about how awful my writing is on this story. If it were Cyber Dreams or Victor of Tucson, I'd just ignore it as there are hundreds of other reviews to balance it out, but I only have two advanced reviews on Vainglory, and this guy is really making the story look bad...
2024-09-30 12:59:09 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy the chapter! I hope you're having a nice weekend :)
Love reading your feedback about the story - lots of interesting ideas and predictions.
-Plum
Victor sat, sipping a cup of spiced coffee, heavy with cream, looking out over his balcony as he contemplated the changes Qi Pot’s heart had wrought in him. The heart had been potent, though nothing more than Obert’s. It had been differen...
2024-09-29 16:05:16 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy the chapter, and enjoy your weekend :)
-Plum
6 – A Side Job
Tony pulled the door to Bert’s shop open with a jangle of the bells and held it for Addie. She gave him a funny look, stepped through, and was immediately greeted with Bert’s concern, “Everything go all right?”
“Fine.” She looked at Tony with an arched eyebrow. “Right?”
He shrugged, letting the door close ...
2024-09-28 15:27:09 +0000 UTC View PostHere's today's chapter :)
I hope you enjoy a little more of a window into Haley's past and her current situation.
Cheers!
5 – Fire for the Spirit
The following day, despite the many beers he drank, Ward woke feeling very rested, with a clear head and a calf that was stiff and tender to the touch but fine to walk on. Haley was a different story; the good cheer fr...
2024-09-27 12:05:49 +0000 UTC View PostHello, dear readers :) Please enjoy today's chapter!
Thanks for all the fun comments and speculation; I love it!
-Plum
Victor stood in the wings of the stage, waiting for his name to be called. He shifted, strangely nervous about being the center of attention in such a stolid, formal ceremony. Victor liked attention, but he was far more at ease giving an impromptu speech or, if...
2024-09-26 20:05:40 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy the chapter :)
5 – A Walk in the Park
Addie flicked her focus from her eyes to the drone’s feed, watching as it zoomed through the Royal Breeze courtyard. She was scanning for a friendly face—someone she’d met with before whom she felt confident enough to approach uninvited. She would have liked to have JJ help, but he didn’t have access to the dust-tech drone; the dust made a link right to her mind. S...
2024-09-25 15:47:52 +0000 UTC View PostGood morning! Halfway through the week, folks! Hope it's going well for you :)
Enjoy the chapter~
4 – Good Beer
“Oh, mate! That’s the thing about Vainglory; it’s all in the name—you’ll find glory, sure, but seeking glory for its own sake is a fool’s errand. It’s something you do in ‘vain,’ see? Your buddy made that mistake! He bit off more than he could chew, went a bit mad with h...
2024-09-25 11:52:07 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy the chapter, folks. Thanks for your kind support :)
-Plum
Victor walked through the remnants of his impromptu, celebratory get-together, idly counting the empty liquor bottles on his way to the balcony doors. He stopped at thirteen, shaking his head and chuckling. Foster, Bryn, and her two friends from the palace guard were all above tier eight, and they hadn’t struggled in the least to clean out Victor’s liquor ...
2024-09-24 19:30:30 +0000 UTC View PostThanks for the comments and feedback. Hope you're enjoying the story :)
-Plum
4 – Noodles
Tony watched the shop door close behind Adelaide, the bells strung on the handle jingling gently against the sounds of traffic in the distance. Bert was quick to comment, “She’s driven, my Addie. I can’t hold it against her ‘cause I raised her that way.”
“I sure hope something comes of all th...
2024-09-23 17:17:23 +0000 UTC View PostWhoops! I didn't write a note on here. . . Maybe I don't have anything worth saying? Hah! Well, at least I should thank you all for your support :) Enjoy!
3 – Ambush
The enchanted knife whipped through the air and took the second trog right in the eye. It didn’t even yelp as it fell to the ground, sliding down the slope for several feet in the loose rocks and dirt. The first trog reacted violently to the death of his comrade. H...
2024-09-23 10:46:29 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy the chapter! Thanks for all the support and for reading :)
-Plum
Victor could feel the rage building. He could feel it streaming into the special pathways that ran parallel to the more robust ones he’d built up along with his Core. Each time Qi Pot struck a painful blow with that deadly, slippery, shadow-clad rapier, another surge of the potent heat rushed out of Victor’s Core and into his body. Despite his aware...
2024-09-22 15:31:10 +0000 UTC View PostHappy Saturday, dear readers! Here's the third installment of my new cyberpunk series. I hope some of you are enjoying it. I hope these characters will begin to grow on you. If you read this chapter, you should have an idea of what I plan to do with multiple POVs by now. I intend to keep the "camera" on the action, but I just want you to see inside the heads of more than one person. My intention is to only do that with Tony and Adelaide, but we'll see how it goes as the series pro...
2024-09-21 18:11:08 +0000 UTC View PostHi, cyberpunk fans! I'm going to keep working on this story when I've got the spare time because I'm having fun with it. I like cyberpunk, and I like the idea I have in my head for this story, and, yeah, I'm gonna do it whether it's smart or not (as far as the market goes.)
I have publishing agreements for Victor of Tucson (up to book 10, but I'll probably extend that to at least 12) and Vainglory (a five-book deal with Aethon I just signed), so my regular schedule for writ...
2024-09-20 14:21:34 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy today's chapter :)
If you missed my note on another post, I'm happy to announce that Vainglory got picked up by Aethon for an initial 5-book series. If it does well, there might be more, but I have a definite plan for the 5 books, and I think it'll be a fun ride. :)
Thanks again for all the support!
-Plum
2 – Trogs
Ward looked do...
2024-09-20 12:42:28 +0000 UTC View PostHere's your delivery - Enjoy :)
-Plum
“…seems these terms are amenable.” King Groff folded his fingers together, peering at the document his chamberlain pushed before him. Behind the king, Qi Pot, the champion of Xan, stood. He wasn’t as feared for his martial prowess as Obert, but he looked competent enough to Victor. He was a wiry, lean fellow who wore a rapier that seemed to exude shadows. They drifted out of th...
2024-09-19 15:00:44 +0000 UTC View Post