2025 First Quarter Writing Update

I’ve never done this before, but seeing some readers and other writers say they enjoy this when an author (whether published or unpublished) does this, I decided to try it! Besides, this is my author site. Shouldn’t I post some things about my current writing progress?

So here we are–my very first writing update ever written on the blog (or, at least in several years; I may have written one or two mingled into other posts).

Last year, I did post about several of my writing projects I’d worked on in 2024, which you can read here. I will be talking about one of the projects mentioned there in today’s post.

Writing Update: January Through March

I’ve worked on four projects so far this year:

Nothing As It Seems (YA Romantasy, mentioned in my 2024 projects post)
Two Random Stories
Faith Steadfast (YA Christian Fantasy/Adventure)

I’ll be briefly discussing each of those, complete with quotes from the two named stories.

Nothing As It Seems

A prince with a reputation for killing his knights, and his bodyguard who may be working with the assassin out to kill him, have to join forces against a group targeting them both in a kingdom where nothing is as it seems.

Last year, I mentioned my romantasy, Nothing As It Seems as being my main work in progress. (You can find out more about this project in the post linked above as well). This is still true.

During the month of January, I worked on developing my female main character, Halynn, as well as brainstorming some world-building elements. However, I discovered a worldbuilding element I wanted to save for a potential sequel is directly tied to Halynn and her motivations, which required me to add this element more strongly into the story. I also had some major changes to the romance, as instead of having the two go from practical strangers and enemies to lovers, I wanted to develop the relationship more gradually, with the romance only blossoming towards the end.

These two major changes overwhelmed me, as it required me to change much of what I wrote (though I can still save a decent part of my rough draft). Thus, in the first or second week of February, I decided to take a break from the story for anywhere from six weeks to three months, in order to return to it with fresh eyes and new ideas. Thus far, it’s been successful, as I’ve already been getting some new ideas which I have scribbled down.

Two Random Stories

After I decided to take a break from Nothing As It Seems, I scrambled around a bit to find a story to work on for fun while I waited. Something to relax my mind and infuse some more joy into the writing project (since I was getting burned out).

The first project which occurred to me, was to write a fantasy story inspired by the War of the Roses. This time period is one I want to learn more about, and apparently I’m also somehow related to the Nevilles, who were hugely involved in the conflict. I started it, drafted some things, did a little brainstorming for the world and characters, and have some great ideas and plot twists.

But then I started going through the same thing. Maybe I was just burned out and needed a break from writing altogether. But if anyone has ever seen that writing meme which says a writer is stressed both when they are writing and when they aren’t–it’s true. Sometimes, if I don’t write, it stresses me. Writing is like a stress reliever for me, even when it sometimes causes stress. A weird feeling to explain, yes, but one I have nonetheless.

Of course, I do take breaks. I must do that at times. It’s important to focus on other matters of life as well, and oftentimes breaks do help. After a bit of continual struggling with writing, I decided to do this.

That was, until I read a section in Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, which inspired me to write a knightly quest, very closely modeled off of the Arthurian one, but with several distinct differences. This one was fun, and much easier to write since I had an outline of sorts to work with. And I love Arthurian literature, so writing something as quirky and similar to it was super fun.

Yet when the same thing started to happen as it did to the last story, something dawned on me.

Every single novel I’ve started and finished, save for a few I wrote in middle and high-school, required a large portion of time between when I conceived of the idea to when I actually could get past the first few chapters to write it. It’s like the idea needed time to marinate, the characters to solidify, and the worldbuilding to develop.

Which is frustrating when one doesn’t have any old ideas to work on–but lucky for me, I have quite a few lined up, including one I’ve loved ever since a book inspired me to write it.

And that project is the below one–Faith Steadfast!

Faith Steadfast

Thrust from luxury, family, and everything he’s known in one traumatic night, Brenton Rochefort, 6th Grand Duke of Kithage, finds himself hunted with only his father’s seal and the treacherous Herbert Langton’s wrath for identity. Forced to lower himself to the position of a common esquire and an assumed name, he struggles with adjusting to the inferior treatment while dealing with his personal grief and fighting to stay hidden–and alive.

Way back in 2022, I read a book which made me realize that one of my all-time favorite tropes is the hidden-nobility trope–or the trope where a nobleman has to hide his identity, whether willingly or unwillingly, to accomplish a goal. I loved most of the book, although I had a few minor issues with it–so I decided to write a story using the trope and several other elements I enjoy.

Most medieval fantasies which aren’t about kings and queens, princes or princesses, focus on knights. With this story, I wanted to focus more on an esquire. More specifically, the heir of a grand duchy forced to the position of a common esquire. I wanted to focus on the subjects of grief, the struggle with adapting to a 180 degree shift in lifestyle, the constant fear of death, and the unintentional endangerment of innocent people just because of who one is. I also wanted to explore how faith in God can help in dire times, as both my main characters, Brenton and his knight, Arden learn.

The title, thus far, is Faith Steadfast, as it mirrors both of their strengths and weaknesses. Sir Arden is strong in his faith and wants to please God, but sometimes when things get hard, he struggles to stay steadfast, or wonders if he missed God. Brenton’s struggle is the opposite. He is very steadfast and determined, but has little faith in God or others.

Both of them, in their own ways, must learn to have faith steadfast in God. And God uses each of them to teach the other something they lack, which, in turn, strengthens their faith.

So far, I’ve been really loving writing this story, the drama, the story world lore I’m getting, and especially the two main character’s relationships and struggles and how they overcome them with time, grow closer with each other and the Lord, and find it was all worth it in the end.

Well, that’s it for now! What have you accomplished in the first quarter of 2025? If you’re a writer, tell me what you’ve worked on! If you’re a reader, let me know what your favorite read of the first quarter was! God bless. ~ Kay Adelin