Aetheria - Chapter 7 posted

Just a quick post. I'm sick again, and busy with work, so mostly likely no VRMMO this week.

Here's Chapter 7 of Aetheria.

In this chapter, Raithe learns about Lostwood village and makes some new friends. Enjoy.

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita - Chapter 42 posted

Here's chapter 42 of VRMMO.

Decided to take a few days to look over this again and fix some problems with a few difficult and confusing sentences. Huge thanks go to Nanaseru for translation checking and editing even though he is really busy with work right now.

I'd like to thank this chapter's sponsors, TNarg and RooiSlangWTF. I wanted to get this chapter out to you guys faster. Sorry.

By the way, you all can find the artwork from volume 2 of the light novel at bookwalker.jp. It's a bit spoilery, so you may want to check this link after reading the chapter. Clicking on the image of the book cover will let you read the first few pages and view the artwork of Ren, Ria, Fia, and Elle as well. You can support the author by buying the book.

Also, there was a comment on the previous post complaining about my translation speed. While I would like to be able to translate faster, I am not fluent in Japanese and rely heavily on dictionaries. So, it takes a lot of time to translate the text line by line, word by word. With other things going on in life, oftentimes other things take priority. (And procrastination certainly doesn't help, either.)

If someone else wants to pick up this series, and can do a decent job of it, they are certainly welcome. I, too, would like to read it more quickly. Just do me the curtesy of contacting me to let me know, so I don't waste my effort.

I'm sure some of you aren't thrilled that I've been spending time working on my original writing, but that has the possibility of paying the bills someday, something that translating VRMMO never will (and shouldn't). It takes one day per week out of the translation schedule to edit the Aetheria chapters and do the layout for posting, this is time that I need to spend on my book to prepare it for publication anyway. I would certainly appreciate readers pointing out remaining typos and providing feedback to assist with the process.

Aetheria - Chapter 6 posted

Here's chapter 6 for Aetheria.

Ah... how to describe this chapter... well, the title is a bit of a joke on my part, and there are some plot revelations, including some insight into Alisha's behavior abnormalities. And our main character is rather more awkward than expected... or something like that.

VRMMO should be ready some time tonight if I don't run out of steam before getting it posted.

Aetheria - Chapter 5 posted

Apologies for the unannounced hiatus. Let's just pretend that the plans from the previous post never happened... *laughs nervously and looks to the side*

On the VRMMO front, the 'other good news' project that I mentioned two posts back was completed, so there should be an announcement on that probably in the next post or so.

Now that we're back to our regularly scheduled programing, the next VRMMO chapter has been translated and is just awaiting translation checking, editing, and layout. So that should be out soon. I won't say anything about the chapter after that since prior posts have shown that to definitely be bad luck...

And so with all of that housekeeping out of the way... here's chapter 5 of Aetheria.

In this chapter Alisha finally gets to show off, and... well you'll have to see for yourselves. And, let's just say that this is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the WTF-level crazy that she shows in books 2 and 4... so, enjoy.

Aetheria - Chapter 4 posted

Other than being busy of late, things have been going pretty great, so I was just thinking the other day how great it's been that I didn't get sick when the kids started their new school year... haha ha ha haha ha ha, by the way, food poisoning really sucks... really. And I definitely don't recommend it.

Anyways... I've cleared this entire weekend and most of next week for translating VRMMO, so I'm hoping to knock out as many chapters as I can in a row.

In the meantime, for your entertainment, here's another chapter from my series Aetheria. Chapter 4 can be found here.

In this chapter, Alisha amuses herself by giving Raithe a tour of the basement... there may be dungeons and magic involved... but I'm not saying.

Aetheria Chapter 3 posted

No VRMMO chapter this week since I was busier than expected.

It's a little later than planned, but I've posted this week's Aetheria chapter here.

This week's Aetheria chapter introduces Alisha, who is quite the messed up character. The true extent of just how messed up she is isn't revealed until just over mid-way through book 2, but our main character will get a taste of it in the upcoming chapters. So, look forward to next week.

Aetheria - Chapter 2 posted

I'm planning to put in some more work on VRMMO this weekend, so we'll see how that goes. There's some other (good) news on that battlefront but it's not ready for announcement yet.

Here's the second chapter of Aetheria.

Little late on this one. The blog editor fought me all the way, so I ended up having to write most of the HTML formatting by hand in notepad... hopefully the tables will display nicely for you guys. In the final e-book they will be replaced with images.

This chapter covers the half-demon boy's backstory, introduces a few of the world's mysteries, and reveals a little more about our protagonist's current situation.

Enjoy.

Aetheria - World of New Beginnings

Aaaand here it is.

I'm finally making chapters of the original story that I've been working on available for you all to read and critique before it goes to publishing.

Chapter releases are planned to be one per week on Thursdays. (Yes, I realize it's Wednesday. Don't sweat the details.)

There's an information page available here.

I've said this before, but while this series does have a similarities to common Japanese light novel tropes (reincarnated to another world, game elements, etc.), there are plot reasons, and it isn't an attempt at imitation. The currently story actually developed out of some writing that I was doing to generate background content for a game project I had on the back-burner, and once going, it gained a life of it's own. The characters are fun for me to write and hopefully interesting for you the reader as well.

There are about 21 books planned in the over-arcing main plot, and some rough ideas for a second arc after that. The initial writing for the first three books has been completed, and I'm currently about a third of the way through book four. That's 80 chapters stockpiled. The books weigh in at ~170k, ~190k, and ~130k words respectively. Book four is already looking to be on the longer side, but we'll see.

I'm recommending this series to people who like stories about crafting and learning magic. There is combat and action in places (and it gets a bit epic on occasion when I overdo it), but you'll be bored if you're only reading for action and adventure.

Keep in mind, this is a work in progress, so if you see any corrections, or suggestions for improvement, feel free to comment.

Today's release includes 2 chapters! Enjoy!

Prologue
Chapter 1

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita Chapter 41

I come bearing a new chapter. The quality of this release is thanks to Nanaseru for catching several of my boneheaded translation errors. Thanks go to this month's sponsor, TNarg.

Go here to read the new chapter.

As far as my health goes, other than the occasional ectoplasmic cough... I'm feeling rather great, actually. So, releases should be back on track. I'm going to try to resume a pace of one per week, but it might slip some.

In other news, I've added a page for my original story, Aetheria. The first two chapters have been posted. Feed back is welcome.

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita Chapter 40 released

Ugh. Looks like I'm not going to be getting over this illness anytime soon, so I gave up on just resting and taking it easy and finished getting the chapter ready. On the positive side, looking over the translation with fresh eyes helped (hopefully) improve the quality of the translation. So there is that.

Anyways, you guys can find chapter 40 here.

Thanks go to Nanaseru (for translation checking and editing) and to this month's sponsor, TNarg.

Also don't forget to check out the translation that Nanaseru did for Side Story #1 here. I've also linked it from the blog's VRMMO main page.

I'm going to plan for finishing up the remaining section of the next chapter tomorrow, so after translation check, editing, and layout, that will probably be ready towards the end of the week.

The first two chapters of Aetheria will probably be ready for posting soon after that.

Chapter delayed

I'm sick again, so the final edits on the chapter will be delayed probably until tomorrow evening.

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita Chapter 39

You might be wondering how the author will reconcile Yuu's upcoming class-change with the series title. Then again, the title only says that he *started* as a Summoner, so... maybe that's not a problem. Heh.

Any case, here's Yuu's long awaited class-change chapter: Chapter 39. Enjoy.

Thanks go to this month's sponsors, RooiSlangWTF and TNarg, and to Nanaseru for TLC and editing.

I should have two more chapters ready sometime next week, if all goes well.

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita Chapter 38 Released

Aaannnddd, here it is: Chapter 38. Enjoy!

This chapter was shorter than usual, so I knocked it out a faster than expected. Thanks go to RooiSlangWTF and TNarg for sponsoring! And to Nanaseru for TLC and editing.

I'm already almost halfway through the next chapter, so next release should be sometime next week.

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita Chapter 37 Released

Mwhahahaha! I think I might be on a bit of a roll here. ← Famous last words.

The chapter release can be found here.

Lots of thanks go to Nanaseru who had a lot of extra work with editing and TLC this time around since I rushed this chapter. And to RooiSlangWTF for sponsoring.

Some notes:

I changed Ell to Elle. The 'e' is silent but I think it looks better for a girl's name. And about Elle's speech in this chapter, she ends her sentences with an extra デス, which can be read as 'death' and I had fun trying to add in death references to all of her lines, but considering that this is a fluffy story, I decided that the author probably just intends for her to be affecting a speech pattern that makes her sound like a foreigner. So, I re-did her lines with the extra '-desu' in romaji.

Also, the dialogue in this chapter is difficult to follow without the various sentence endings, so I added notes showing who is speaking. Excepting the summons, who should be obvious enough.

In other news, the translation for the next chapter is already done, so there will likely be another release in a few days.

Secret project news (Not translation related)

I am finally ready to announce the secret project that I've been working on over the last year. It's not a translation, but a fantasy/sci-fi series that I'm writing.

The tentative title for book one is:

Aetheria: World of New Beginnings

Book 1 – Lostwood Village

The first three books are written and have been going out to beta readers. Book one is in the editing process and being prepared for publishing as an e-book. I'm also hoping to start posting chapters here at a pace of two per week starting in September.

For those interested, here's the rough draft for the book's blurb:

"Having awakened as a spirit in the World of the Fae without any memory of his past, Raithe is convinced by the Queen of the Fae to possess the body of a dying half-demon boy. Rescued and adopted by an elite adventurer, he begins living in the unfamiliar fantasy world of Aetheria with nagging suspicions about whether the world he is experiencing is an illusion or reality."

The series will probably be enjoyable for fans of Japanese light-novels and other fantasy literature who tend to like crafting-type stories. The chapters average about 6000 to 9000 words, and unfortunately, the writing might be too difficult for ESL readers. The series does share many of the themes and tropes with light-novels, but it is coincidental and not an attempt at imitation. The story actually grew out of efforts to flesh-out the world for a game idea that I had a few years back, and in the process, it gained a life of its own.

I'll be posting more information as I get closer to making the first book available for purchasing.

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita Chapter 36 Released

Today's VRMMO chapter is a bulletin-board-style side-chapter and can be found here.

This release is sponsored by RooiSlangWTF. I'd like to extend a huge thanks for the site's first donation! But I also need to apologize for not noticing it sooner (apparently e-mail notification was turned off), so I intend to apply the donation to the next chapter as well. Which means, I'm going to set a goal for getting chapter 37 out by Wednesday next week.

Thanks goes to Nanaseru for TLC and editing.

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita Chapter 35 Released

Took a short break from my writing, so I knocked out a quick chapter for you guys. I noticed that a picture from the manga(?) appeared on Novelupdates, so I've added that to VRMMO's info page.

You can find the chapter here.

Apparently Taku is the 'critter' that our intrepid Yuu has to face in this chapter. Enjoy.

Thanks as always go to Nanaseru for the great job doing TLC and editing.

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita Chapter 34 Released

Wanted to get a chapter out to you guys before the end of the month, so here you go.

Chapter can be found here.

In this chapter, we learn about Yuu's cute(?) sister's dark side... so enjoy(?). And about that cliff-hanger from the previous chapter... well you'll see. Heh.

As usual big thanks to Nanaseru for doing TLC and editing.

VRMMO Summoner Hajimemashita Chapter 33 Released

In this chapter, we get to spend some time with Sylph and it ends in a cliff hanger, so fair warning. Thanks again to Nanaseru for his great (and fast!) work editing and checking my crappy translation.

VRMMO Chapter 33 can be found here.

As for my current status, I'm still sick here. It's been 3 months now. Fortunately, seems that I'm finally fighting off this thing. Apparently, it's a miracle of a turmeric/ginger drink my brother-in-law bought me as a gag gift (literally? The stuff tastes harsh). Well, whatever. I'm just happy that something finally is working. Though, I hear that there's more flu and such coming...

In any case, I guess I'm probably back on a normal release schedule of once every two weeks or so now. (Though since there wasn't a single donation all year my motivation has gone down quite a lot from when I picked up the series.)

Currently most of my free time is being spent on writing my own project. The story is based on a game I was working on, but probably will never happen. While it pains me to say it is an 'isekai' (transported to another world) story, that's probably how it's going to read like for the foreseeable future (likely years), so I'll just go with that for the genre description, for now. Saying anything more about that would be a further spoiler, so I won't. I've got the rough plot planned out for the next 20 volumes or so and 41 chapters of approximately 6000 words per chapter are already completed. On the world-building side, I've worked up character backgrounds for 200+ characters and numerous locations. So, the world is quite detailed. I'm debating whether or not to release chapters here before self-publishing. If anyone is interested in reading it here, let me know and I'll make a separate announcement post with more details.

Also, I'm debating about removing the ads from this site. The revenue is non-existent (~$5/yr). I guess it's possible the revenue situation might change if anything I'm translating or writing gets popular. VRMMO chapters are getting about 2000 views and Maria-sama chapters get like um...100, so yeah... Feel free to post your opinions and definitely let me know if the ads are causing anyone problems.