The world of Zaria is full of different militaries and tactics.

In the nation of Andivar, these tactics have resulted in a refined structure to the army and different roles to fill.

Infantry divisions can be easily divided into three primary combat roles: Skirmishers, Grenadiers, Regulars.

As in our own world in the 18th and 19th centuries, Skirmishers are primarily scouting parties and sharpshooters. Trained to work in pairs, typically separate from the main body of the army, Skirmishers move out on the flanks and forward of the main body to find the enemy and harass them with accurate fire and guerilla tactics.

Skirmishers are not trained to stand and fight in line formation and do poorly when pressed into service in such a role.

Typically armed with the most accurate and advanced firearms available, Andivari Skirmishers go to battle with long rifles and, occasionally, new looking glass equipped rifles for farther, more accurate shots.

Nearly exactly the opposite of Skirmishers are the Grenadiers. Drawn from those of the biggest stock, Grenadiers are best equipped for urban and trench warfare. They are the bruisers of the army.

Andivari Grenadiers are typically armed with carbines, their shorter length being more manageable in tight quarters. Though they can also be provided standard issue rifles.

The real power of the Grenadiers comes in the form of the grenades they are trained to hurl great distances and to devastating effect.

Finally, the regulars. These line infantry are what you imagine when you think of the average American Civil War soldier. Trained to use their rifles in concert with the rest of their company, they are the prototypical cannon fodder of the Andivari army. Less trained than the specialists Grenadiers and Skirmishers, they are the direct descendants of the levies of more primative times.

Mobility and Knowledge is the creed of the Andivari Cavalry. Once relegated to those wealthy enough to furnish their own steeds, the modern Andivari cavalry is more diverse both in their makeup and tactics.

The Gendarme are the most obvious holdouts of the efforts to make the cavalry a more equal group. Mostly consisting of nobility, the Gendarme are the shock troopers of the Andivari cavalry.

Armed with sabres and revolvers, they are not equipped or trained to fight at distance. Rather they close the distance with the enemy quickly and crash into unprepared infantry or cavalry and wreak as much havoc as they are able.

Lancers are the counter to enemy cavalry. They are trained to charge enemy cavalry units in formation and use their lances to break up the enemy clusters. Also provided with revolvers, in case of a melee, they are not suited to charging fortified positions or prepared enemy lines.

Hussars are the skirmishes of the cavalry divisions. Armed with carbines and trained for hit and run attacks, the Hussars do not get bogged down in the melee, instead relying on their speed and flexibility to harass enemy flanks.

Finally, the dragons of the Andivari Cavalry are better labeled as mounted infantry. Trained in both mounted and foot combat, they are armed with long guns for fighting in foot and carbines for acting more like hussars.

Dragoons are largely used to ride out ahead of the main body, dismount and occupy a position long enough for regular infantry to arrive, then mount back up and move to the next advanced position. When it does come to a fight, they behave similarly to skirmishers in small group engagements and delaying actions against the enemy.

The Andivari Army has spent hundreds of years perfecting their tactics and every Marshal knows exactly how to use each element of their force to subdue the enemy and claim victory for their nation.

If you’re just finding this blog recently, you might notice a major gap on between my last couple of blog posts. Almost 3 years in fact.

Well, there’s a reason for that. Without going into too much detail, my life for the last few years has been a bit Topsy Turvy. But the creative spurt has finally returned and I should be posting more frequently as well as working on my world more.

I hope you stick around, check out my books and look for my future endeavors!

With the first couple passes of edits completed for Loyalty Betrayed, I’ve begun the arduous process of querying agents.

I’m currently building a list of agents and agencies who are interested in Fantasy and should get the ball rolling soon.

If any of my readers are agented authors who have agents open to queries, please drop me a line if you’d be willing to refer me, the help would be appreciated!

Otherwise it’s into the query trenches I go!

Over the last couple of years I’ve been jotting down random ideas for stories and just letting them sit while I work on other stuff. Occasionally I’ll go back and add some stuff to them, but for the most part they just sit and wait.

Recently, I’ve decided to take several of those ideas and blend them together. While I’m working on edits for Loyalty Betrayed, I’m taking the time to plot out what I describe as a Web of Novels.

These stories are set on Zaria, a few years after Loyalty Betrayed. The basic idea is that there are 6 different threads of independent stories, but they’ll weave into each other and impact the events of the other threads.

Sometimes this will be direct interaction and sometimes it will be a “knock-on” effect of an action in one thread causing a reaction on another thread. It will be interesting plotting this as I want to make sure that everything is lined up. Which means I’ll be writing about 250,000 words of outline total. Should be fun!

As I mentioned in my last post, I threw out almost all of Loyalty Betrayed.

The story was stilted and felt like I had forced it into a box. I kept the Prologue and Chapter 1, but the rest of it got the ax.

Over the course of the last week I wrote an entirely new chapter-by-chapter outline, which clocked in at about 7,500 words, and I’ve been working on my second draft.

And let me tell you, having written the story once and then refocused it with a new outline, I’ve been tearing through the words. I’m currently sitting at approximate 45,000 words and I’ve run through about 1/3 of the outline.

The focus I’ve had is incredible. This is the first time I’ve ever trashed a “complete” draft, rebuilt and restarted and I’m really enjoying the pace. I’ve veered off a little from the outline here and there, but then I do that regularly. It’s the 10% or so of my brain that’s a “pantser”.

I’m on vacation starting today so I have about 8 days of no work with which I hope to really lay into this draft. I’m looking forward to finishing it and getting back into edits. I’ll update more as I go along!

If anyone is interested in Beta-Reading when I get this draft complete, let me know!

Hey all,

I’m considering writing/producing a “Worldbuilding for Gunpowder Fantasy” series for YouTube.

What do you think? What aspects would you like included in it?

Leave a comment and let me know!

Hello World!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and I apologize. I’ve been dealing with life and drama. But have no fear, content is coming and I’ll be back to writing soon.

I’m going to do something odd soon: stream my writing on Twitch! Keep your eyes peeled for more info in the coming days!

So it’s been a little while since my last post, but between finishing out the 2nd to last semester of my BA and the holiday season (which makes both of my jobs madhouses) I’ve not had a lot of time on my hands.

However, I have managed to get a bit of writing done. I’m at 50K words for my new Work-In-Progress which is a new series set on the other side of the world from The Cerberus Rebellion and The Hydra Offensive.

Right now my plan is to get this novel finished, polished, edited and then start querying it for traditional publication. At which point I’ll return to working on The Centaur Incursion.

The ideas for new series and storylines continue to flow and I realized the other day that I’m going to be writing Gunpowder Fantasy for a very long time. Which is something I’m entirely ok with.

I’m also in the process of setting up a Patreon. I think I want to get to the Query step on this new WIP before I launch it, but it’s nearly finished.

Right now, my goal is to have the first draft of this new novel finished by summer, an ambitious task but I think I can handle it!