ShoH Update and Sneak Peek (November #1) (Patreon)

Hi everyone, welcome to November! Lots of things to talk about for this update!

First things first: progress on ShoH continues to go along nicely and steadily. I've written 5,000 words for Riel's route in Chapter 2 (we are finally at the gala, and--if she's alive in your game--Prihine the Queen is back)! I also went back and added 2,000 words to Chapter 1 (Trouble's route) to round out the first encounter with Blaphemel, the first Faceless Lord; we are fast approaching the encounter with the second Faceless Lord, connected to Black Sun, so I felt like I needed to go back and write that introduction to be able to write a more cohesive sequence of events.

I'm very happy with the content I've been writing, so I'm updating the alpha build with what's there. Writing this week has made me realize that I go pretty crazy with branching, possibly more than in most IF I see. In Chapter 2 alone there's huge branches in:

- Uncovering Black Sun (there are ways to fail in each branch)

- Following Chase or Riel first (necessitating totally different sequences of events)

- Going on a mission with Thieves Guild or Merchants Guild (completely different content)

- If with Merchants Guild, having totally separate branches of missions depending on if Prihine is alive or not

- More!

It doesn't SEEM like a lot when I lay it out like that, but added with all the other tiny branches, it is a lot lol! However, I'm still excited for all of it, so it's staying--it means much more content and replayability for you to explore, but it also means longer waiting time as I flesh out each disparate branch. So thank you for your patience: it takes more time to write a game like this, but I promise it will be worth the wait!

Realizing this has made me go back and examine other branches with a critical eye, though; branches that I've left unwritten because they didn't feel as exciting to write are probably going to be removed, like Trouble leading the children out of the Equalists' hideout or MC leading them out. Because there's already the branch of going with Trouble or Tallys in the first place, then letting Trouble storm the hideout first or sneaking in first, I just don't think it's worth writing the branch of MC leading the kids out because it's so important or them to encounter Blaphemel if they do go with Trouble. I just don't think I could make leading the children out as impactful as the other branch, so for that reason, I think it's better to just cut it. I'll be looking at the game with a more critical eye from now on in this sense, so it was a good learning experience!

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In other news, my book is being published! I'm sure if you've seen me talking about it on Tumblr, the forums, or Discord, you're probably sick of hearing about it, but I'm just so excited: it's literally a dream come true! Both my agent and this publisher have handled so many of my literary heroes that I can't really believe that my novel is going to be published among those ranks! When it's printed I'd love to host a giveaway of a copy here on Patreon, so I'll update when that's more of a reality!

Some people have expressed interest in knowing what the book is actually about, so here are some (secret and exclusive) ways other people have described it, because I am notoriously bad at talking about my own stuff:

Enter Lena's haunting debut novel WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE, a psychological sci-fi thriller that takes after such classics as John Campbell’s Who Goes There, Ridley Scott’s Alien, and Duncan Jones’ Moon. Like those, WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE is isolated, claustrophobic, and will keep you on the edge of your seat to the very end.

The crew of the Deucalion includes thirteen humans and thirteen androids. Misanthropic psychologist Park is one of the humans; while the rest of the crew is tasked with assessing the colonization potential of the icy planet Eos, she is tasked with assessing the mental state of the crew. Shortly after landing they find themselves trapped on the ship by a radiation storm, with no means of communication or escape until it passes—and that’s when things start going terribly wrong. Park’s patients are falling prey to waking nightmares of helpless, tongueless insanity. The androids are behaving strangely. Paranoia is closing in, and soon Park is forced to confront the fact that nothing—neither the crew, nor the mission, nor the mysterious Eos itself—is as it seems.

uwu

In other news, I'm also moving to NYC in less than three weeks now! It will only be for a few months, but I'm very excited to try life in the big city without making any big commitments like a permanent move! We'll see how it increases my productivity~

And of course, more ShoH stuff on the way! On 11/11 I'll be unveiling Briony, the new RO, to the general public, but before that happens I'd like to share the art I commissioned for her from the lovely feather-x-crown!

Isn't she cute?!

And of course, keep an eye out on 11/19 for my announcement of the Shepherds of Haven holiday contest! Super excited about the prizes!!!

That's all for this time: see you guys for another update next week!