Plum Parrot

AA Cover Art Discussion and Poll

Hey everyone! I'm going to launch AA on Royal Road pretty soon - 2 or 3 weeks. I've been using Midjourney to make a temporary book cover, but I commissioned a human-made one because I like supporting humans. The problem is, I'm not sure I like the new art better. In fact, the people I've asked say the Midjourney one is better. Let's see what you all think. Additionally, if you don't like either option, please share your ideas for a cover you would prefer. I might be commissioning a new one. 2025-05-21 14:58:43 +0000 UTC View Post

AA 1.32 - Pyroglyph Invoker

Here's another chapter for you! Thanks for reading and for all the feedback :)

-Plum

32 – Pyroglyph Invoker

As Andy said, “Yes,” the glyphs under the smooth surface of the slate began to shift and stir. The faint, silvery light that occasionally traced them became steady and grew in brightness. He stared, transfixed by the display of what he assumed was magic. As the weird words and characters ...

Victor 11.6 - Stonereach County

Here's your intro to Dark Ember :) Hope you enjoy it!

-Plum

6 – Stonereach County

When Chantico led him across the last world bridge and they stood on the spirit plane local to Dark Ember, Victor could feel the miasma of death in the air. Even there, though a veil separated the material and spirit planes, the thick, dark Energy bled through, tainting the twilight luster. Fog was ever-present, obscu...

Vainglory 3.37 - Trust

Enjoy the chapter! If it feels like I'm reviewing names and things in these conversations a lot, that's on purpose; I feel like this plot is getting a little convoluted, and I don't want readers to be like, "Wait... who's that guy again?"

Thanks!

-Plum

37 – Trust

When Ward felt the tug of consciousness and slowly opened his bleary eyes, he saw a white plaster ceiling and cream-colore...

Victor 11.5 - Soon Enough

Enjoy the chapter! Have a nice rest of your weekend :)

-Plum

5 – Soon Enough

When Victor returned to his palace at Iron Mountain, he teleported directly into the workroom outside of his cultivation chamber. He’d already spent time saying his farewells to Kynna, Bryn, and the others; Arona knew he’d return when he was able to open broader teleportation to Dark Ember. There wasn’t any need to b...

Neon Dust 2.30 - Spoils of War

Enjoy the chapter :)

-Plum

30 – Spoils of War

“Why here?” Addie asked as Tony pulled the van into the alley where the basement entrance to Doc Fox’s chop shop was tucked away.

“Because this guy’s not affiliated with any corps. In fact, he doesn’t get along with them, especially Boxer.”

“Doc Peters isn’t affiliated—”

Tony sighed, chuckling. He’d known she’...

Neon Dust 2.29 - The Star of the Show

Here's your delivery :)

Happy Friday, everyone!

-Plum

29 – The Star of the Show

“Holy shit,” Tony said, glancing over at her from the driver’s seat. Addie raised her eyebrows in question. “Check the account.”

Addie knew what account he meant, of course. She focused on her AUI, selecting the elements that would pull up her bit-vault app, then selected ...

Victor 11.4 - The Value of Being Good

Okay, this should be the last of our "catching up" chapters for a while. Hope you enjoy!

-Plum

4 – The Value of Being Good

“You’re very close, aren’t you?” Yon asked, chasing his words with several strange clicks in the depths of his avian throat. “When you came to me, your pool of Energy was already at heights that would rival many veil walkers, but something’s changed. There’s a sharpness to your au...

Vainglory 3.36 - Anything

Here's today's chapter! I'm seeing very accurate predictions in my comments, and I have to wonder if I'm being too predictable, lol. Perhaps you're all just exceptionally intelligent, though. Yeah, I'll go with that. Anyway, it's all right; we all love to get a prediction right, don't we? :)

-Plum

36 – Anything

“Sacrifice?” Grace asked before Ward could.

“That’s right,” Rose replie...

AA 1.31 - A Moment to Rest

Enjoy the chapter!

-Plum

31 – A Moment to Rest

Andy and his ragtag group of rescued prisoners stumbled through the darkness, following Wentworth northward until Andy glimpsed the lurching shapes of several large, hunched figures—humanoid but monstrous—rooting around in the back of an overturned semi-truck. He pointed to the right, past a small strip mall. “We gotta get into the desert where w...

Victor 11.3 - The Meaning of Home

Here we go - Chapter Three and the descriptions of Victor's further gift-giving that I promised you. Thanks for reading and for all the feedback :) It helps!

-Plum

3 – The Meaning of Home

As Lesh sat down, cradling the massive sword across his knees, Victor regarded the rest of their little gathering. He had a gift in mind for each of them, but he wasn’t sure which to hand out first. He decided t...

Vainglory 3.35 - Sacrifice

I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Thanks for reading and for the feedback; I appreciate it all.

-Plum

35 – Sacrifice

Ward skulked in an alley across the street from the gates leading to Fitz’s estate. It was already after sundown, but he had a feeling he might be waiting a while if he hoped to catch Haley doing…something. He wasn’t sure what, but he had ...

AA 1.30 - Recruitment

Hey folks - I know my AA posts have slowed down a bit. My free time's been slammed by other obligations lately. I'll, hopefully, pick up the pace soon. :)

-Plum

30 – Recruitment

As soon as his feet touched the asphalt, Andy pulled his spear the rest of the way through the fence and then darted toward a pallet of potting soil. Crouching there, he peered around the garden center, wondering if the doo...

Victor 11.2 - Weighing the Scales

Happy Mother's Day!

Here's your chapter :)

Enjoy~

-Plum

2 – Weighing the Scales

“Opening your spirit or soul space is one of the—”

Victor cleared his throat, interrupting the Spirit Master, “Excuse me, Dar. When you say ‘spirit or soul,’ do you consider those terms interchangeable? The System called it a ‘spirit spa...

Neon Dust 2.28 - Subject Twelve

Enjoy the chapter! Let me know if this "subject 12" stuff makes sense. You'll see what I mean toward the end of the chapter.

Thanks for reading :)

-Plum

28 – Subject Twelve

Addie sprinted for the stairs, her heart pounding, her mind racing with conflicting emotions, mostly worry for Tony, and desperate sympathy for the woman he’d just killed. At the same time, she couldn’t stop p...

Neon Dust 2.27 - Cold Mary

Enjoy the chaos! Have a great weekend :)

-Plum

27 – Cold Mary

Tony pounded on the door. He wasn’t one to go charging into a home because of some yelling, but the scream had been blood-curdling, if faint. It had sounded like someone facing the cold, hard realization of impending doom.

“I didn’t hear it,” Addie whispered.

“I barely did. Nora picked it up, though, so it wasn’t my imagination.” Tony thumped the door again with his mechanical ha...

Victor 11.1 - A Quick Reunion

Yay! We're starting book 11. :)

I hope you enjoy it. Keep in mind that, when this is a book, it'll be the first chapter that book readers will have seen in 4 or 5 months, so I wanted to kind of provide a kind of review of what's going on. This chapter and probably the next 1 or 2 will accomplish that.

Thanks! Enjoy~

-Plum

1 – A Quick Reunion

Whe...

Neon Dust Publishing News

Hey, everyone! I just wanted to share the news: Neon Dust has a publisher - Podium Entertainment. More than that, I've confirmed with them that, for the audio version, I'll have duet narration with both Suzy Jackson (from Cyber Dreams) and Robb Moreira (from Victor of Tucson). I'm so stoked to hear these two incredible talents bring this story to life.

Book One's manuscript has been delivered, but we've yet to do some developmental editing, copy editing, etc., so it'll be a few...

Vainglory 3.34 - Asking for Help

Enjoy the chapter!

Yes, I read your feedback and appreciate it! I hear your concern, Omar :)

-Plum

34 – Asking for Help

“Well, Ward? You’re sure you can’t join us?” Fitz asked, gesturing toward the clockwork coach, burbling and clicking as it idled near the street. Haley was sitting on one of the cushioned leather bench seats in the open-air passenger compartment, and across ...

Vainglory 3.33 - Shadows of Doubt

Sorry, I'm a day late! Please enjoy the chapter :)

Thank you for reading and supporting my work!

-Plum

33 – Shadows of Doubt

Haley looked back at Ward, watching him go into his apartment. She felt guilty about not being open with him, but it was a small feeling, easily overshadowed by her general malaise—the gloom that had fallen over her like a blanket when they’d left the Garde...

AA 1.29 - Reconnaissance

Here's a little something for you to read this fine Sunday.

-Plum

29 – Reconnaissance

Andy clutched his new spear haft, smiling at how James had smoothed and tapered the end to fit perfectly into the steel spearhead the System had given him. It had a proper heft to it now and was easily a foot and a half longer than his old shovel handle. With the spearhead attached, it was a good foot taller than ...

Neon Dust 2.26 - Takumi Stack

Here's today's chapter. Sorry for the cliff . . .

Enjoy!

-Plum

26 – Takumi Stack

“You’re sure this is okay?” Addie asked, looking down at her new holster, attached to her belt, right out in the open.

“You know the rules. We got permission from Takumi corpo-sec. We’re good.” Tony drummed his fingers on the heavy-looking shotgun hanging by his side. H...

Neon Dust 2.25 - To Hunt a Ghost

Here's today's chapter. I hope you like it! Have a nice Friday :)

-Plum

25 – To Hunt a Ghost

When Tony returned to the lobby of the SOA office, he couldn’t help smiling at the way Addie beamed at him. She immediately jumped up and walked over to him, heedless of the other people waiting for service, as she grabbed his arm and leaned in close. “Did you pass?”

He chuckled and nodded. “Yeah. I take it yo...

AA 1.28 - Just Doing My Best

Hey, all! I might be taking a few days off to let my mind ruminate about VoT, Book 11, but that doesn't mean I can't deliver another AA chapter for you all! :)

Enjoy!

-Plum

28 – Just Doing My Best

At Andy’s words, any control over the crowd he might have had fell apart. He didn’t try to field the twenty blurted questions; most of them were variations of “What happened?” or �...

Vainglory 3.32 - The Medicant

Here's your chapter! Enjoy :)

-Plum

32 – The Medicant

It was close to the middle of the night when they emerged from the gate, into the moonlit market square from which they’d entered the challenge. The only person present to see them exit was a sleepy guard standing watch over that corner of the market. He almost dropped his spear in surprise when the gate swung open and the three of them walked out, with Trent ...

Victor 10.50 - The Enemy You Ignore

Well, folks, this wraps up book 10! I know many of you have an idea of how things should go, but I hope you'll find my version of the next couple of books satisfactory. :) In my head, it's going to be awesome, but the hard part is getting it from my head and into text without losing a lot of that awesomeness. We'll see how it goes! :P

Now, my brain needs a break from VoT so I can start off book 11 strong. I'm going to take three "VoT" days off. That...