Happy New Year!
I posted the first installment of Defenceman: Parallel Ice (Non-Canonical Saga) last September, and let me tell you—it's been a learning experience. The kind where you learn things about yourself you didn't necessarily want to know. Sometimes the feedback stings like a slap shot to the ankle, even when it's completely deserved. But honestly, the overwhelming support has made the growing pains worth it. Sort of. Mostly.
The best decision I made—and I'm recognizing this from my position flat on the ice, metaphorically speaking—was admitting "I need help" and accepting Nuclearstranger's and Dookie's offer to edit the story. My heartfelt thanks go out to both for volunteering their time, patience, and probably questioning their life choices more than once.
I've been forthright from the start that I use AI to augment and polish the story. I know—for some of you, this is an abomination and not "real literature." I get it! Fortunately, there are so many great authors out there that you don't have to waste your time reading my drivel. See? I can't even spell "drivel" correctly without help.
As New Year's approached, I made a resolution to improve my technique and embrace better writing tools. There are some incredible options available, and after much research (read: falling down multiple internet rabbit holes), I selected one.
Novelcrafter provides multiple AI assistants that actually understand my writing style instead of fighting it. Prior to this research, I had no idea just how different one model's capabilities were from another's. Continuity continues to be my nemesis—Cold Creek wrote three prior books' worth of lore to wrangle—so the "Codex" function acts like a smart encyclopedia, keeping track of every character, timeline, and location in the story. The planning tools help me map out arcs and chapters, so ideally you'll be reading tighter, more coherent stories going forward. Ideally.
The downside? Over twenty hours so far of importing files and generating unique character, location, and lore records. Anyone who's ever implemented a SAP solution will understand—you have to conform to Novelcrafter's methodology, not the other way around. Will it be worth it? Too soon to tell. I can say that Chapter 23 is more organized and, I hope, better written than previous chapters. Low bar? Maybe. But I'm clearing it!
So that's it—just wanted to share my well wishes and keep you informed about what's changing for 2026.
All the best…
CCTW