439268416.edited

439268416.edited

Your other stories, where do I find them?

Dear readers and friends. I am writing my stories since 1993 and have the early versions online at various sites since 2003. Among the first was Fictionpress.com I posted all of the ones I had typed up so far at that site. In 2015 I participated in a "Writing Contest" with a company called Inkitt. They promised to publish, edit and promote the book with 2000 Dollars worth of Industry insider advertisement. I won. Inkitt told me to delete all my Online stories at Fictionpress.com and Finestories.net, at Wattpad.com and at Storiesonline.net It made sense to me, becoming a published author was and (Sadly still is) my dream. Inkitt sent me a publishing contract and I was totally excited. They did not exactly keep their word or worked out. They published three of my novels (On Amazon and other places) They told me I gained an impressive #30 sales rank. But when I asked for actual sales numbers in 2016...well I still wait. They gave me no input or choice in the Cover art. They did not edit a single word and published the raw manuscript. And they published three books of mine. (Midshipman, Space Pirate and Black Velvet) When I asked if they wanted to publish the previous books in sequence (A request of many readers) they ignored me for a month. They then contacted me, telling me that they are no longer interested in classic publishing but wanted to move to a chapter by chapter format for Mobile devices with sound effects and the reader choosing the direction of the story. They asked me to write the First Eric Olafson novel and sent it in. They never responded since. Yet I know they still selling my books. Now a lawyer that sues a company that is not even in the states (Germany) is very expensive. Recently I found out (from other "successful" authors of Inkitt) that the whole thing is sort of a scam.

An old friend told me about patreon.com

I decided to put all my stories there, chapter by chapter. Once a novel is complete I move it to Stories Online. The plan got interrupted by me having a Stroke (unable to talk or write) and a diagnosis of Thyroid Cancer a few weeks later. It took me pretty much all of 2017-18 to relearn talking and most of all typing. I am able to type again. After re-reading my stories I realized I have grown as a writer and also my Universe has grown. Meaning the old stories need to be rewritten, or at least seriously edited and updated. This is a mammoth task, mostly because I have no editor and must physically work in the real world to keep the lights on. This and the frequent SALT therapy sessions (Speech and Language) as well as the Chemo Therapy eat up my available time and in the case of the CT my energy. I am addicted to writing and will do so until the last minute of my existence, but reposting the old stories without having them re-written might hurt me (my writing rep) more than anything. The majority of readers at Patreon wanted me to finish the Eric Olafson saga before I move on to complete the Roy Masters saga. There 1 -1/2 novels in the Eric Olafson saga before I can take a break from the Neo Viking and tell the story of Roy Masters. (3 books) After that, I am aiming to post the three books of the "Terra Cycle": Children of Terra, Agents of Terra and Killers of Terra. That should happen around June (I am able to write a chapter in 2-3 days and a novel contains about 20-25 chapters) The First book in chronical order is Galactic Chronicles Book 1: EARTH (and three subsequent novels) I am writing and posting them in October. (the old stories are incomplete and full of errors, but can be found on my wiki under Stories and Old stories)

I know this might not be the answer you wanted to hear, but it is the only one I can give. I will do my best to put all the Galactic Chronicles online by the end of 2019 and write completely new stories by 2020.

Thank you for reading and being part of this universe.

Vanessa Ravencroft