Status Update #13: January 2026

31st January 2026 It's been a pretty good month for writing, and I've got some great stuff done. I got a rough draft of a USV short story done, as well as some great chapters in the wrap-up of USV#4: Odin's Hall. I've also got a chunk of USV#4 text that'll be overflowing into USV#5: Markland Aflame. This means that USV#4 is heading to the editor very soon, and USV#5 is already half done. There was even another chunk of text big enough that I considered pulling it out of USV#4 and making it a short story (30 pages), but it'll be staying as it provides an important driver for one of the main characters. I don't have exact figures to the word, but here is what I've managed over the past month: Approx 29,000 words (about 9,000 while on leave Jan 1-5 and another 20,000 between Jan 6-30).

Made up of: 2 blog entries - less than 1,000 words 3 Patreon entries - just under 7,000 words 21,000 words for USV#4 & 5

As I'm posting this late on the 30th of January in Sydney, there's a good chance I'll get another 1,000 USV#5 words done before work tomorrow morning, which would technically count for this month. But I can't wait and see. I'm posting now, as tomorrow from about 7:30 AM, my day is likely to become a fiery ball of chaos that will chew up not just a lot of hours but even more energy. I'll be looking forward to a sunset beer!