Candor-Shade

If you haven't already, check out my new series from Extasy Books, Journey Into Chaos! The story concerns a young 13-year old boy named Abyss who is tasked to seal the God of Fire after making a contract with a mysterious, legendary Witch. Assisting him on his quest is the immortal huntress Diana, and the two half-siblings Inder and Latis as he encounters an ambitious Pharaoh, a war-mongering khan, and a crew of self-serving pirates. More books are to come in the series this year, for they are relatively short. Buy the first two at Amazon here!

https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Abyss-Journey-into-Chaos-ebook/dp/B0CSBY3P2Z/

https://www.amazon.com/Leaping-Through-Fire-Journey-Chaos-ebook/dp/B0CSC32N7L/

Check out my other work, Generations of Shade, and the Trials of Immortality series, featuring the dark mage Nila Straese and a deadly undying: https://www.amazon.com/Generations-Shade-Andy-Hsieh/dp/B0BN2FWLNV/ Make sure to buy the edition from Palmetto Publishing, as I never received royalties from White Bird Publications due to the death of the original publisher's owner (and subsequent lack of new ownership) in 2022.

The next book in Journey Into Chaos got confirmed with a contract, but editing has not begun yet. Royalties will come either next month or July with the quarterly payments. However, because they aren't projected to be much at all, I am aiming to continue a new story to find a bigger publisher.

I finished Rhythm of War (Book Four of Stormlight Archive) after a couple of months. The series does seem to kind of be dropping off at this point. Much of the middle section of the book with Navani, Raboniel, and Venli isn't as interesting, and Kaladin's development is mostly complete this time.

I finally upgraded my Goblins to Muxus Goblins on MTGO (Legacy) -- with the addition of Broadside Bombardiers, it finally matches combo decks in consistency and speed, although there is still very little card filter compared to true combo decks. That being said it's a lot more brainless than 6 years ago. I got 1 Trophy so far, and despite trying to optimize sideboard not drawing hate cards makes many combo MUs difficult as well.

My other deck, Cephalid Breakfast, didn't get any new cards to really buff it.

I watched Frieren and it was pretty solid, although still a bit slow paced. The art style isn't great but the effects and action are all good. It's like the opposite of most shonens where everyone is yelling, in Frieren everyone is calm and collected. Stark did almost nothing in the last arc where the mages took exams though and overall his character was weak for the first arc -- speaking of which another impractical double edged poleaxe instead of putting a spike at the other end.

I'm trying to go out to the kickboxing gym 3-4 times a month despite its price after quitting FGs! Even doing an MMA/sparring day even if nothing's really as convenient in a street fight. There's pretty much no room for profit and even amateurs risk CTE from show matches, but I guess an overall healthier habit.

(While Slash did place 2nd at Arc Revo, I've accepted my limitations. Will come back at least a bit for Slayer in May though.)

The second volume of my new series, Journey Into Chaos, was released by Extasy Books today! Leaping Through the Fire concludes the first story arc of the series, which concerns a young 13-year old boy named Abyss who is tasked to seal the God of Fire after making a contract with a mysterious, legendary Witch. Assisting him on his quest is the immortal huntress Diana, and the two half-siblings Inder and Latis as he encounters an ambitious Pharaoh, a war-mongering khan, and a crew of self-serving pirates. More books are to come in the series this year, for they are relatively short. Buy the first two at Amazon here!

https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Abyss-Journey-into-Chaos-ebook/dp/B0CSBY3P2Z/

https://www.amazon.com/Leaping-Through-Fire-Journey-Chaos-ebook/dp/B0CSC32N7L/

Check out my other work, Generations of Shade, and the Trials of Immortality series, featuring the dark mage Nila Straese and a deadly undying: https://www.amazon.com/Generations-Shade-Andy-Hsieh/dp/B0BN2FWLNV/Make sure to buy the edition from Palmetto Publishing, as I never received royalties from White Bird Publications due to the death of the original publisher's owner (and subsequent lack of new ownership) in 2022.

My main goal is still these two series even though profits were projected to be low (and will not get much at all for the Trials).

I went through Basic Writings of Nietzsche which are quite intriguing for anyone interested in philosophy. It contains The Birth of Tragedy, Beyond Good and Evil, Genealogy of Morals, The Case of Wagner, and Ecce Homo. I don't think I'll ever have Nietzsche's megalomaniac/narcissistic streaks but his aphorisms and ideas are always interesting. But since he challenged the Eternal Recurrence I decided to do some writing and drawing about life as I approach 30.

I've definitely progressed a lot as a writer regardless of profit, but I am not too sure about whether or not anything I do has staying power either. The university/college days were pretty disappointing with many students blindly by suckups to the postmodern liberal trends. I'm more willing and disciplined to write what's needed to be written in terms of character development, world-building, dialogue and pacing; I can still remember in middle school I wanted to do fight and action scenes one after another, throwing together a story.

(To some extent that shoddy writing still works in generic shonens, but I've evolved beyond that. It's silly how simple-minded kids can be, but at the same time it meant that I had an unfettered creativity when it came to fight scenes at least.)

Even then, as I read Brandon Sanderson's work there are always going to be oddities and loose ends in fantasy and fiction, and some pacing and characters that doesn't always stick to the reader.

I quit FGs for the near future and played some Palworld, which isn't that great if you don't like crafting/survival, but has a good system otherwise. I also did return to MTGO for a while but no undefeated and can't afford new decks for the time being.

The first volume of my new series, Journey Into Chaos, was released by Extasy Books today! Hero of the Abyss concerns a young 13-year old boy named Abyss who is tasked to seal the God of Fire after making a contract with a mysterious, legendary Witch. Assisting him on his quest is the immortal huntress Diana, and the two half-siblings Inder and Latis as he encounters an ambitious Pharaoh, a war-mongering khan, and a crew of self-serving pirates. The second volume, Leaping Through the Fire, will release February 16th. More books are to come in the series this year, for they are relatively short. Buy it at Amazon here! https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Abyss-Journey-into-Chaos-ebook/dp/B0CSBY3P2Z/

No guarantee of a paper copy, unfortunately, but it's a good way to get my foot back in the industry after the tragedy in 2022.

Check out my other work, Generations of Shade, and the Trials of Immortality series, featuring the dark mage Nila Straese and a deadly undying: https://www.amazon.com/Generations-Shade-Andy-Hsieh/dp/B0BN2FWLNV/ Make sure to buy the edition from Palmetto Publishing, as I never received royalties from White Bird Publications due to the death of the original publisher's owner (and subsequent lack of new ownership) in 2022.

I'll likely crank up writing this year, and plan to release Books 3 and 4 of Journey Into Chaos, along with the final volume in The Trials. The profit margin is not expected to be much due to the small size of the publisher, so it's even possible I branch out to a new story by the end of the year (which I somewhat started last year as well). It'll likely take a while before I can completely quit day jobs, but still want to be in an area where I'm actually building up savings. (My peak was still back in 2020 when I was working night shifts, and lost most of it through rent payment)

I truly wished that things worked out better since 2022, but at the same time writing was never about profit for me. I'm likely doing decent compared to many other Philosophy majors, with three books published by three different publishers at 28, and have yet to truly hit my prime. That being said the post-college years have felt rough on me with the sheer grindiness of it all.

Life has been otherwise uneventful with the grind. Did get Rhythm of War so I'll likely be caught up with Stormlight Archive when the new book comes out, but it's not that interesting so far. Honestly can't blame Sanderson too much. The general public likely won't put too much effort into reading a truly strange and original character, or bizarre worldbuilding that is difficult to understand. At the same time I feel I would get too bored if I didn't ever try to experiment or branch out, but I wouldn't likely write something as convoluted as Serial Experiments Lain for example.

I decided to order Basic Writings of Nietzsche collection and will likely have some thoughts on it in the future. Philosophy sections at both library and bookstores are shrinking.

I did get S++ in GBVSR, but am not that talented overall, still relying on throne and gimmicks to approach. The game requires a lot more patience than GG due to strike/throw being less prevalent with the auto-tech. But overall will not have as much time for FGs this year.

The second novel in the epic fantasy series The Trials of Immortality, Polluted Metamorphoses, released April 25th! The original work has been republished and is now available on Amazon! Make sure to buy the edition from Palmetto Publishing, as I never received royalties from White Bird Publications due to the death of the original publisher's owner (and subsequent lack of new ownership) in 2022. Over 300 pages of fantasy, action and adventure awaits!: https://www.amazon.com/Generations-Shade-Andy-Hsieh/dp/B0BN2FWLNV/

The first volume in Journey Into Chaos, Hero of the Abyss, releases on January 19th next year! I'll definitely post about it when it's out. All things considered despite editor delays the process was decently swift. As a result I am focusing on getting out a viable book three before completing the Trials right now. Each volume will be pretty cheap so please consider buying!

I got my yearly dose of the common cold last week but only really had to take one day off this time. Congestion and runny nose is still there but not as wiped out as I was a few days ago. I don't like getting sick but working in a restaurant likely means losing a week or so every year due to all the contact with people.

Ended up winning my 6th Guilty Gear TOL tourney, partially due to a lot of players trying out Elphelt. Hee Ho's Millia is no joke still despite the damage disparity though! Check out the clinching sets here:

I picked up Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising, and went 2-3 in my first Swiss bracket which is pretty mediocre. Cagliostro is a new playstyle for me and there's enough differences between it and Strive that it's decently challenging and fun. I don't expect to grind games overall next year like I did the last though. If you're new to fighting games it's definitely a lot more intuitive with the autocombo system and less brutal damage than Strive. Not looking forward to any other DLC, but I liked Sara as well.

I picked up Urusei Yatsura and have no strong feelings either way about it. The 2022 remake does adapt different plots and shorts than the original. Still feels like slapstick humor gets stale decently quickly for me even if art and animation is good, and Ataru is still overall a bit too stupid. I also picked up the Hikikomari Vampire anime which might be more interesting to comment on later.

Overall accomplished most of what I wanted to this year and didn't think that I could find a part time job that would pay as well as what I have now. Downsides would be meager royalties from self-publishing, and not as many opportunities with other jobs. (although I was able to work some additional shifts at my main one now) I did grind Guilty Gear more than I had expected, and while there's a good amount of improvement I'm either just not talented or no-life enough compared to a lot of other players. Of course, the May nerfs are a factor with most of our playerbase getting set back from balance patches.

I still don't expect next year to be a breakthrough year in terms of sales or royalties, but maybe finally recovering after the cursed luck with my first publisher and novel after their death in 2022. I have a decent foot in the door before thirty, but there's always such a long road ahead for writers as a career path.

The second novel in the epic fantasy series The Trials of Immortality, Polluted Metamorphoses, released April 25th! The original work has been republished and is now available on Amazon! Make sure to buy the edition from Palmetto Publishing, as I never received royalties from White Bird Publications due to the death of the original publisher's owner (and subsequent lack of new ownership) in 2022. Over 300 pages of fantasy, action and adventure awaits!: https://www.amazon.com/Generations-Shade-Andy-Hsieh/dp/B0BN2FWLNV/

My new work, Journey Into Chaos, will be out by early next year, with the edits and proofing completed. I still don't have the release date announced but it can't get any worse than it had been with Generations in 2022, where I had to buy 50 copies and then my publisher's death before I got royalties. I assisted with cover concept with a rough sketch, but am trusting the publishers' artists mostly this time.

Other than that, I finished volume three of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, Oathbringer. Has been a behemoth at 1200+ pages and likely the longest single work I will ever read. (I still failed to finish War and Peace) Review has SPOILERS BELOW***

At this point I feel like Tad Williams definitely outshines Sanderson as an author in both writing style and plot. Williams can tend to derail stories with a lot of side characters, but at the same time Sanderson did not take many risks with his main trio of Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar. Shallan and Dalinar's developments were pretty much expected, even if not poorly written, with the conflict between her and Veil brushed aside for a happy ending at the end of the novel.

Szeth's redemption arc doesn't really click with me, even if the talking sword adds more nuance or entertainment. Moash was more intriguing as an antihero, but even Venli had some limited screentime. Both Odium and the Midnight Mother seemed like generic evil creatures, and Amaram and Taravangian weren't that intriguing either.

The decisions of spren to bond to certain people (Renarin and Teft) but not others (like Adolin) seem unexplained and arbitrary still. And I had somewhat expected Elhokar to at least go through a bigger redemption arc instead of being offed as a plot device. The spren world didn't seem too impressive either.

Out of the more minor characters I also thought Lift's ability to wavedash into frictionless form was interesting, and she provided comic relief. Wit's side stories are always somewhat amusing as well. But the way the last battle was set up had too many headhops.

I'll still have to wait a bit for more of Williams' Osten Ard series, so I'll likely read book 4 of Stormlight sometime before then. But they really don't have that much business being 1200+ pgs now, and could probably be reasonably vast and nuanced at 900ish heh.

SPOILERS END ***

Otherwise I have also finished Attack on Titan anime. I had finished manga back in 2021 so I knew what was going to happen. From a utilitarian standpoint having 80% of humanity die so Eldians didn't get genocided seemed like a net loss, and Eren even admitted wars would still happen anyways. But as always big budget for this show and action, animation, and effects are all solid. I overall thought that the power system made less and less sense, and the Paths explanation was just lacking as to why Ymir needed Mikasa to come in so she could get rid of her Stockholm Syndrome.

It doesn't look like Isayama is looking to do either prequels or sequels of AoT either which would be somewhat interesting -- he was always decently creative in action scenes even if he finished as a mid-artist.

Overall not watching too much anime this year, though Dr. Stone is always solid. 100 Kanojo has pretty good art at least.

I got three more undefeated decks on MTGO with a Stoneforge ver. of Breakfast, but the deck is tiring me now. Will build Dragon Stompy sometime next year I guess -- reminiscent of Pox, my first Legacy deck but more effective and with a faster clock. I think Boros Initiative is both better and stronger, but I like the monored build.

Had some extra shifts at work so still able to build savings but it's nothing impressive. I still peaked savings-wise in 2020 when I was grinding night shifts, but life is still overall better now.

I also have officially joined ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network) and aim to release a video by next April.