Over the last little while, I've been going through my prior chapters for Astray to make revisions and perform further polishing. I believe the current versions are pretty solid right now. I don't expect any further changes to them, unless I spy a somehow still lingering stray typo.

This followed more significant changes in October. Originally, Astray featured other alien species, FTL, extra-solar travel, and other high-concept sci-fi elements. But as noted in an earlier journal, I paired that back quite a bit in April. However, I was never totally satisfied with those changes. They didn't go far enough for me. I wanted my setting to focus on a single world and it's surrounding solar system, and on one alien species. I want both to be very rich, detailed, and as organic feeling as possible. I want to focus on depth as opposed to breadth. Honestly, though, with how little any of that really featured into the story, it ultimately changed very little.

Also over the last while, I've been collecting my worldbuilding notes—living, and not-highly-polished, documents that'll keep expanding. They're over at Thirrik.com along with some of my writing. The current Astray draft is also in PDF and EPUB formats over there.

As we pass into October here, I wanted to drop a note regarding my on-going story, Astray. It is, in fact, still ongoing despite how quiet I've been lately. I even have two additional chapters outlined to conclude this specific part of the story and ample ideas for more to come.

Unfortunately, while this year has seen a lot of really good things for me, it has also been incredibly rough. I took a break at the very end of June to give myself some space to unwind and relax. That... did not entirely work, but I currently am in the midst of a real, proper break in my life right now. One I'm lucky to be able to have, too.

I've also thought plenty about the setting and story in the meantime. I've done more world building, my dumb con-language has been expanded quite a bit, and I've gotten some story-inspired art. I look forward to writing more, and soon.

Ultimately, I'm writing the story for myself. But I am publishing it, so I feel like it's a needed courtesy to any of you reading it to let you know that it isn't an abandoned project.

Honestly, I wouldn't normally post a journal just for a raffle. However, I'd recommend people check out  sadnicole anyway, so I might as well, no?

Here's a raffle: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/57.....#cid:180835262

I just finished uploading new PDFs for each chapter of Astray, including the prologue. I've also updated the text version in the description of each submission. However, if you're (for some reason) a regular reader, don't worry. There have been no changes to the plot and you don't need to reread anything.

I formatted the PDFs to look a little more book-like. I'm happy with the results. However, I do think it's more notable in the compiled version of the story, which I have not uploaded, instead of the documents for individual chapters.

I corrected some text errors throughout each of the chapters and made some of my word choices more consistent. While I'm still mixing some EN-US and EN-GB conventions, I think I'm at least being more internally consistent. I'm sure I'll find more of these over time, though.

I added a "Part 1" page just before the start of Chapter 1, Stay. Yes, this does imply there'll be other "Parts." Not that this is a novel or anything. Yes.

Writing a story like this has been interesting. I have need to go back and update things from time to time - I'm really surprised I haven't had to do that more - but I'm also forced to spend time getting each chapter at least minimally polished before I move on. I can't just say "Oh, I'll go back and make some significant changes here later." I like it, though it is very different from drafting manuscripts from start to finish before editing.

I updated each of the Astray chapters I've uploaded so far. For the most part, these are not big changes, but they do have a more notable effect on "Lost." That said, if you've been reading, you can probably skip a re-read without it affecting much.

When I originally started Astray, I was imagining a more "space opera" universe. At that time, Lost's setting made a lot more sense. However, I've become disinterested in that more high-concept universe. As I continued worldbuilding, I found myself trying to ground things more—and more than that, center the focus ever more strongly on the kethirr's internal cultures and homeworld, Thirrik.

I've committed to this direction, which is much more "planetary romance" and much less "space opera." This doesn't affect the story much. Astray was never really a space opera, even in its most original form.

Lost is the only chapter with all that many changes. It's still set on Nakril, and the overall story is still basically the same. However, a lot of background details have changed. I also added notes about the limitations of FTL and the affects living off-world can have on a person. Oh, and the pistol mentioned is a knife now.

If you've been reading Astray, thank you. I hope it isn't terrible. It's been fun to write and rewrite so far.