State of the Scribe: March 2025 · 1:53am March 2nd
Hey pones! Another month has come, and another calendar is here. Let's get into it.
I'll be brief with the pony things, because there aren't a lot of updates to be had. Stories are continuing on, though New Way Home is nearing complete enough to make its transition to Fimfiction. Another month or few, and we'll get it up here. Second String is scheduled to wrap up in the middle of next month, maybe New Way Home will fill the slot.
I know it doesn't look like I'm doing as much pony. This may be true, though it doesn't mean I've stopped writing. I'll get into that in a bit.
Most exciting thing right now is the ongoing Vote-based story, Quarantine. It's been a blast to read the comments and see the ongoing debates over what to vote for and why. If you haven't seen it yet, give Quarantine a try! It's way more fun to read the story live and make your voice heard!
Then we've got a few more regular stories updating. Legio IX and Accidental Sunshine are still a ways from publication on Fimfiction, so they'll probably be keeping up with us for a while yet.
For those who only care about ponies, this is probably safe to dip, though I'll have my usual links and descriptions for ongoing stories after this. Anyone who cares about where my writing is going, read on.
I'm still writing quite a lot. This month I finished the 4th and final novel in the Children of the Sky series (Forerunner's Child being the first book).
More importantly, I also spent my last few weeks preparing Forerunner's Child for a real, honest to goodness actually exists in the physical universe and bookstores, release. My writing has come a long way in a year, and reviewing that story found me feeling frustrated with some of the narrative.
Especially beginning near the end of the second act, when Kit gets in a rover. From that point on, I made quite significant rewrites. But I've been making some to the early book too, cutting down the prose, using the extra space for richer sensory details, things like that. I want the version I list for sale to feel like a richer and better story than the one I uploaded by chapter, and I really think I'll pay off that promise.
Some of you may remember the cover:
I love how the tech looks, Mara's rovers and domes rising from the ice. There's just one problem: that astronaut doesn't look anything like the characters in this book. This book is about a mysterious colony run by an AI that keeps everyone as children. This cover doesn't promise that.
I'm sorry I said I would have the book ready this month, but I've decided to redo that part of the art. Once Kit is on this cover, it will much more accurately reflect the nature of the book it contains.
I've also created a full audiobook for the entire story, which I hope will make it more accessible to readers that might not otherwise get a chance. I'll go into how I did that a little more when I have the publication date ready. But if you'd like to get a sneak peak of how that might turn out, check out the first chapter:
Not a final version, but it does give some idea. The TLDR is that I found a way that's way more financially possible for me to achieve than a $5k professional recording. Though if the series does well, I'll absolutely get that too.
I'm also finally working with a graphic designer on Steel Valkyries Hopefully that book can find its way to publication soon too. I've seen the artist's work, I know she'll do incredibly.
Who knows, all this effort to make my own books might fall on its face. Maybe I don't have what it takes to be a novelist. But I've written so many ponies, I've done this for so long. I'd like to see how it goes.
And for those of you who don't care about cyberpunk magical girls and fairy contracts and forerunner colonies full of children, thanks for your indulgence through all this. If I do fall on my face, I'm sure I'll come crawling back to writing tons more fanfic sooner or later.
But thanks so much in the meantime! I'll keep things going with quarantine, and have a new story for fimfic next month.
-Starscribe
Ongoing Stories:
Celebi Like Them
As the title implies, this is a pokemon TF story, meant to be the third in the series began with Mew Like Me. This story does not require the previous books to be read if you want to hop in now. For those who don't know, I post these on my Patreon primarily because Fimfiction is pony only, so I need somewhere they can live.
They're free for anyone to read, so if you'd like to check out a Celebi TF story, read it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-story-celebi-121255137
Another Day at Unity
This one is about the same world as Spirits of Change, a crossover with His Dark Materials where humans have pokemon for their daemons instead of earth animals. Only this story is an anthology, so we can explore all kinds of interesting perspectives. We do see Hayden return, along with many of the characters from the novel.
Check the first chapter here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-story-day-at-115556555
Quarantine
Vote-Driven story. This one follows Elliot, a lowly waiter who happens to be on the forefront of a deadly magical disease, remaking those who are infected with it into equestrian creatures. All major decisions our protagonist makes will be decided by polls, which I am to be in all chapters (though I can't always pull this off. I'd rather have a chapter without a poll than one with a stupid forced choice about what to eat for breakfast). https://www.fimfiction.net/story/568477/quarantine
Second String
A story about what happens when a star quarterback and a smattering of his fellow players get dumped in Equestria conquered by the storm king. If he ever wants to see his home again, Phil must help the Equestrians fight their way to freedom. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/568432/calling-in-the-second-string
Ravana's Shadow
This story is the sequel to Forerunner's Child, a story about a remote human colony in the distant future (the same future as in Message in a Bottle, though this is non-pony). The colony, as it turns out, is run by children, without a single adult in their population. How and why did this happen? What's really going on? Follow Kit, an astronaut from ancient Earth, as she tracks down those mysteries, and ultimately becomes a part of the Mara colony.
This story is the sequel to that one, and I can't say much about it that wouldn't spoil the first one. Check the first chapter of Forerunner's Child here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/92942140
Legio IX Hispania
Our historical journey into the question of what if the lost Roman legion ended up in Equestria, unravels here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-story-legio-78027950
New Way Home
The story of when accidental human arrivals to Equestria are discovered by some very unfriendly creatures, and they're forced to fight for survival: https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-story-rescue-94115163
Want a copy of one of my books? You can see what I've printed and buy a copy here: https://starscribe.net/
Obligatory Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/RealStarscribe
My Discord, a hub of fun writing activities and lots of other pony-related shenanigans: https://discord.gg/fZ2Y5KgbN2?event=1275614019373498368
