Swordmaster Dasan Updates

 I’ve been writing.  Yesterday I put down 12,000 words.  Not in edits either, that’s all new content on Swordmaster Dasan 3.  But listen, I need to talk to you all before you get too excited - 

The new Swordmaster Dasan book is split into two parts.  Together, they complete this section of Kyo and Loki’s story, but there’s enough time between the two parts that I want to format it like I did Duncan.  Part One, then Part Two included in the same file.  The problem is that a whole ton of people were super pissed off by that.  I’m still not entirely sure whhhyyyy???  I charged for one book, gave two and was initially roasted in reviews for it, which perplexes me.  

The thought of packaging them separately did occur to me, but that presents a small quality issue and I can’t have that.  Part one could be it’s own story, as could part two, but there are character elements that make both better if read as one.  

So that’s how that story is going to be delivered, just a heads up :)

In the Playing with Tigers series, Loki is a secondary but very important character to the plot, and in that series there were a few comments made about him that I felt were worth exploring.  

The first was that Kura would always allow Loki, and only Loki, any time off that he requested because there had been an incident in the past where he challenged her for her job, won, became the first Headmaster in Sahrketh history, gave himself the week off, came back, then promptly resigned and took his previous job back before he shared any of the responsibility that came with the promotion.  That week that he fought so hard for is now part one of this story.  

The other comment was made by Loki himself in the second Playing with Tigers book, when he claimed that he alone was the reason why the Sahrketh were no longer welcome in Settra, which had previously been a sister nation.  That’s now part two.  Again, both parts will be packaged together as one overall story.

That’s about it for that book, although I have one more thing to say about the series before I call it quits for today.  

The timeline for all stories that include Loki goes like this - 

(Anything with ‘*’ at the end is available for free at Smashwords.com in multiple formats.  I’ll include links but make sure your adult settings on the site are allowing you to view mature content. Also fair warning - I think those are the original documents and they may be a unedited, but the story is the same. More typos and amateur errors, but at least free lol.)

Swordmaster Dasan*

Swordmaster Dasan 2 - Backbreaking*

Swordmaster Dasan 3 - Part One: A Prince Among Men & Part Two: The Lion’s Crown (Publication date TBD)

Playing with Tigers 

Playing with Tigers 2

Swordmaster Dasan - Yunan Holiday*

Manuscript - Title Pending (Publication date TBD)

Playing with Tigers 3 (Publication date TBD)

Swordmaster Dasan 4 (Publication date TBD) 

Yeah I know I have him in a lot.  What can I say?  I like him.  He’s a fun one because he’s so dynamic, but it meant starting off with this kinky dom named Localem in Playing with Tigers, then writing the prequel series explaining how he got to be so interested in BDSM.  Now I’m working on three books with him at completely different stages of his life and honestly it’s a lot of fun.  I get to work on him still finding himself in the early Swordmaster Dasan books, then work on him in his competent but very overconfident prime in the Playing with Tigers series, and I get to wrap it up with a book where you see him from two varying perspectives.  

Then we work our way into Playing with Tigers 3.  Now, I know a lot of people that read the Swordmaster Dasan series have little or no interest in Playing with Tigers, and I get it.  Those books are menage books and they’re fairly long, they’re not everyone’s cup of tea.  But, the third Playing with Tigers book features more than a few situations with Loki and Kyo that cannot go unmentioned.  I can’t simply write the last planned Swordmaster Dasan book without readers knowing what happened between them both in PWT3.  I can recap in the fourth book, and intend to do so, but it wouldn’t be fair to not offer the option to experience it with the characters.

What I’ve been thinking is that I’ll release a free story to let readers enjoy the portions of Playing with Tigers 3 that only have to do with Loki and Kyo.  If I do it right, then it should have only very few spoilers for the end of the book these scenes are pulled from, and hopefully it will pack a similar punch to the full story.  

It would make the Swordmaster Dasan book series look like this -

Swordmaster Dasan*

Swordmaster Dasan 2*

Swordmaster Dasan 3 (Release TBD)

Swordmaster Dasan -Yunan Holiday* 

Swordmaster Dasan 3.5 <-this would be the new free accompanying story 

Swordmaster Dasan 4  (Release TBD)

I know it’s all over the place. I appreciate the people that have followed me on Facebook and commented on my blog more than they could possibly know, for every review and comment of praise or even condemnation, Thank You.  You took the time to look for me, and I hope I don’t let you down!

S K Hart

Updates

With each passing day I feel more and more like Duncan, except he had money and wasn’t constantly interrupted by equally isolated children. Thankfully we were able to get our vaccines started, but we aren’t going to be considered fully vaccinated until 2 weeks after our second shot, which puts us at mid-June for immunity. Obviously, I’ll take it. I already have several hundred autofill water balloons ready to go for anyone with a genuine vaccination card to come and have it out with me and my tribe of feral Covid kids. A knee high plastic pool and more super soakers than any adult should have collected will be waiting beside a barbecue of ludicrous proportions for any friend who can provide a genuine vaccination card signed in actual ink.

Depression can be a real bitch, and although I definitely do not struggle as much as many of my close friends, this last year was hard. I’ve employed every self-preservation tactic I know of and still ran out of drive constantly.

I was writing a scene two weeks ago and was struggling even though it’s a scene that I knew I shouldn’t have any trouble with. In it, one character is sad about something that happened to another character. If there was a way he could argue about it, that’s like… 90% of what I write. But, I couldn’t do it. I kept trying to make him angry, but the situation definitely didn’t call for it. It would ruin the scene. The fact that it would have such a drastic effect on him was the selling point of making the story go in that direction, so I stepped away after failing for hours. I eventually realized that I’d become so apathetic towards everything that I couldn’t even hit sadness anymore. All I had left was rage.

A ton of cardio and Covid- responsible socializing gave me a slight boost and I was able to make it through that scene after another two attempts, but that’s been the way my last year has gone. Having to take three times as much work to accomplish the same task. I’m not unique: everyone is struggling right now. I’m just grateful I was able to get a temporary burst of motivation to power me through, and even then it was on my third attempt. I’m looking forward to getting back to work over the summer when the kids are out of school and don’t need me to stumble through the steps of long division or factoring equations for them.

Math and I are old adversaries. Not because the math is necessarily difficult for me, but because the way I learn is sideways and hard for people to teach, which makes regurgitating math instructions for others very difficult. Let’s just say that I never wanted to grow up to be a teacher. My top three choices were Writer, Comic Artist, and Millionaire (as a child this was considered a job, walking around and being encumbered by how wealthy one is.). For anyone who has seen the cover of Swordmaster Dasan Part 2 – That was my art. After worrying for years it wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny, I no longer care if it does! I get very stressed doing my own covers though, so we’ll stick with the writing. That stresses me out too but I seem to be able to enjoy it more.

It’s just a matter of getting both time to write and energy to do it simultaneously.

Updates for all of my current projects:

Playing with Tiger Series – I’m surprised by how much I’ve been working on the third one. The only thing that surprises me more than the amount I’m working on it, is the amount I’m enjoying it. Taking a hiatus from writing as long as I did allowed me to look back on the book with fresh eyes. I really do love those stories, it’s just hard to see that sometimes through the many errors that made it to publication. I was a young self-pub author with no money to invest in an editor, and the first two books definitely show that. So, as I work on the third, I occasionally go through a few chapters of the first and second books and clean them up. There will eventually be a re-release of the first two books, closely followed by the release of the third and final book for this story.

Swordmaster Dasan – Much like the Playing with Tigers Series, this one is riddled with errors. Unlike the Playing with Tigers Series, each installment is much smaller and easier to fix. As for new books, there are some changes coming in the near future. The first two SMD books take place before the PWT series begins and after some deliberation I am planning to add another before the PWT series. That would be followed chronologically by a small free story that takes place during the events of PWT3 between Loki and Kyo, and then the conclusion of their series would take place after the PWT series reaches its end. Expect two and a half more books for Loki and Kyo before they’re done. Once I have the final draft of the last Playing with Tigers book, these can be released.

Warren & Iyren – This one takes place in the same setting as the PWT and SMD series. It was written as the story of how two of the new characters in the final PWT book meet, and turned into one of my most loving couples. Also there’s some attempted murder, treason, dubious consent, a handicapped tiger, one or more bombs, suspected boar assassins and one very unimpressed Grandmaster Localem Arada. This one’s done but can’t be released until PWT3 is ready, and it needs a final edit and a cover, which is a whole different issue.

Luda – I am destined to just never be satisfied with this book. It’s not like the others, maybe that’s why. Duncan had a lot going on, Playing with Tigers has about fifty different story lines inside of it, one of them was even good enough to become its own series, and Tarro? Well he’s the sexiest clever mess I could conjure. Luda, on the other hand is mentally healthy and tries to avoid terrible mistakes. He has good habits and out of all my characters, he’s probably the most wholesome. Apparently, I’m so cynical that I can’t tell if I’m writing a kind and caring individual correctly. I keep writing way more of the book than it needs, then cleaving half off and trying again. I’ve probably thrown away more pages than there are in Duncan, which is saying something. Hopefully I’ll have a serious talk with myself in the future regarding my expectations, because I want Luda to succeed as a book, but it can’t until I finish changing it and finally publish it lol

Duncan 2 – It’s hard to follow an act like Calvin, especially when Calvin is still present in the story line and available to loudly critique whatever catastrophe follows him. I believe I’ve FINALLY succeeded, but the draft is unorganized and needs work. I need to write the planned conclusion to the Cartwright story line within Duncan’s books as well, since Duncan is going to ALWAYS be released as two books packaged together if I can do it. I’ll throw an excerpt up somewhere when I get a chance

Cat & Crow 2 – There’s a decent amount of this book written, especially now. I tend to write Tarro when I’m at the very limit of my sanity, and doing virtual schooling for two children throughout Covid seems to have worked out well for this manuscript. We’ll see how this one goes.
That’s it for now. There are more, but they aren’t worth mentioning until I have more of them finished.

Feel free to leave me a message here or message me directly through goodreads!

Happy Hunting

S. K. <3