Ryan and Essie have always been there. When I was a kid, I drafted a part of a story about them and their twins—very beta, of course, and not the story we read today. But still, they were Ryan and Essie. Even when I was very young, I knew that they represented ideas. I meant them to contrast in every way. I carefully made sure every detail about them was opposite. A little later, when I was more of a teenager, I added characters like Tarvelas and Viltan, and a rather expanded area with just Ryan and his adventures with these characters.

I trimmed this back because I wanted absolute balance between the two and I had written more Ryan than Essie material. I wanted sets of chapters to alternate, so a lot of extra Farlent and Vindillam stuff didn’t make it in. But we still see quite enough of these characters, especially Tarvelas, to understand what they bring to Ryan and Essie’s world. It’s a story I’ve always felt very far from personally, which sounds odd because stories formulated early are likely to be very personal. After all, I was too young to be professional. But this book is about ideas and ideas aren’t personal. They are beyond.

Ryan and Essie has always had a resilient strength from within, a sort of harsh, dry integrity. It is about what it is about and nothing can change that. That’s why it wrote itself rather than that I had much control over it. As an adult I made an ending for the story and linked Ryan and Essie’s duality into a kind of Christian philosophy, because that’s the belief system I’m used to and the story, I felt, should tie into the biggest thing there is.  I’m not trying to preach, just to say this story is about big ideas.

It is a quiet story too. It has never made a lot of noise. And that is what makes it unique.
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And there will be more updates.

Since I don't have time to figure out if people truly do like (or hate) a story of mine, I just go with the ones they say they like. This is intuitive and very sensible. Even if I suspect they really liked a story they claim to hate, I don't argue with it. They've only identified that work as weaker in some way, most likely. So here's the list of my books, from top to bottom, based on how people have spoken about them.

• 1 Jurant. Always #1. Always. There is only one Don and he is the best hero of all time.
• 2 Millhaven Castle. People wish there was more romance at the end, but they love it.
• 3 City of the Invaders. An exciting world and compelling heroine many readers can relate to.
• 4 The Birthday Present. I'm not sure what they think, but they seem to like it.
• 5 Ryan and Essie. A bit weird, but Ryan is such a real, normal boy and Essie is so cute.
• 6 Consuela. (I'll put this here because the old version was liked, if boring. There is a rewrite.)
• 7 The Amulet of Renari. The story was lovely and well-developed, but the characters were unlikable.
• 8 Victoria. It could have been a lot better, but there are some great moments that capture Spain.
• 9 Alyce. So much potential--setting, plot twists, etc. But the characters were BORING and the politics . .ugh.
• 10 Halogen Crossing. Convoluted and charmless, although the worldbuilding was fantastic.
• 11 The Test of Devotion. Boring, heavy, monotonous. Not an interesting story and not appealing.
• 12 Bellevere House. Well-written and Faye was updated pretty well. But it was a trashy disappointment otherwise.

Now that might not be what people really think. (Or it could be, it's hard to know exactly about a LOT of people all at once.) But it is most likely the truth, so I'll go with it.

And there will be more updates.

The overhaul remains in full swing. In addition to a lovely, more professional website (but I won't drone about that), I have 5 books now complete with new covers, content, and organization. I've also discarded a number of stories and unearthed others from my archives. With at least 3 books scheduled for this year, I should have 9 or more soon, which is not bad for the 10 years I've been publishing.

• Ryan and Essie has had the cover tweaked to a lovely burgundyish-purple (see above), and I've given it a grammar edit and attached a bonus short story to the back. The Old Man and His Grandsons was a really cute little story about a man in a nursing home who goes on an adventure when his grandsons get involved with a semi-ridiculous planet full of unicorns. It went great with Ryan and Essie. 
• Victoria got cut by about 40% and is now a shorter novella slipped into Facets of Fantasy. So much of the story was honestly bloated and overdramatic and the character arcs surrounding Mrs. Corkum and her nieces weren't necessary in large part. Bella was also minimized a little as the story is really about Victoria. The new story is hugely improved and  has much more of a focus.
• I also pruned Bellevere House by at least a third and updated it to a contemporary setting. It still has the same cover and the setting actually went well with the other VJA books because I had some of the characters be fans of vintage. Dressing them up in vintage clothes brought the play area back to something closer to the original Mansfield Park, and cutting long areas of Faye's musings and thoughts gave a lot of clarity about her motivations--which was great.
• Consuela is still under construction. So far it's a neat story that I'm surprised I'd forgotten about for so long, because it has a lot of great situations. If it's as fun to read as it is to work on, it'll be a winner.
• Halogen Crossing has been removed from Facets of Fantasy, as it's a boring, heavy story that offers nothing to readers and whatever appeal it had is past. The Test of Devotion would need to be reworked totally as I'm not interested in publishing a western again, but I'll look into it and see if it's worth anything. As mentioned before, earlier, short Alyce stories have also been discontinued in preparation for The Prince's Ball, which will have little of the material that appeared in the shorts.

I'll be putting a lot of polls on the website (there are about 5 up already) to gauge reader interest. I'm really excited and curious to see who's here with my stories now, so feel free to pitch in and vote. The polls never expire and you can vote again as you read more books or your opinions change. Entertainment is in a continual state of fluctuation and your favorite book now might not be your favorite in 6 months. Future poll topics will include: Favorite Quote; Which World Would You Like to Live In; Which Story Are You Most Likely to Write Fanfiction About; Least Favorite Story Because . . .; and many more. 

And there will be more updates.