It's been a crazy few months since I first started writing Cataclysm Rising, with many ups and downs in terms of mental health.

  My main goal with this series was to create something new, original, and fresh without deviating from the number-go-up fun of LitRPG, while also leaning into a political and familial drama that was interesting enough to read, with a genuinely flawed, imperfect main character defined by his choices. I didn't always do Leonidas justice, and there are some agency errors to correct for sure, but I'm relatively happy with this skeleton so far. The addition of strong female characters (Kairi, Ceruviel, Synthra, Aylar) and the various relationships he has (Ceruviel will never be a love interest, damn it!) helped me understand Leonidas as well. This story is tagged as Harem, but that's only because "equally respectful mutual love between multiple individuals" doesn't really exist as a tag.

  I've spoken to Kanadaj about a possible tag, but we'll see.

  Cataclysm Rising started as a meme between a friend and me in another Discord, and evolved into a concept primarily by accident. The original pitch was "natural disaster MC menaces everyone", but as you can see, the story has grown substantially from that. My fascination with the idea of a Class being tied to four different elements of construction is what partially inspired how the story developed, though I came up with that after the initial prologue. I'm a pantser, and for those unfamiliar, it essentially means you "fly by the seat of your pants", AKA you make shit up as you go and pray it works out.

  I didn't always succeed in making it all consistent, and Cataclysm Rising, as well as the System Incursion series as a whole, will definitely be tweaked and fixed as we continue, but I wanted to thank all of you for your support. Comments and Reviews mean more to Authors on this website than many of you may ever realise, and I want to thank you all for your engagement. I love reading your theories and postulations, and I think my favourite so far was the "lightning pun" thread back in Chapter whatever. Writing can be a very unrewarding, frustrating, and even stressful process, but all of you have created a fanbase that genuinely makes me feel welcome back even after I step away at random times.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  I will try to be better about hiatuses, but to give a brief explanation, it isn't really as simple as "I'm on Hiatus". It starts with an avoidance of writing, which morphs into guilt and shame, which morphs into more avoidance, and then I just log out of my RR account, mute my Discord, and pretend everything is fine.

  This isn't fair to you guys, and I know that, but I wanted to thank you all for being so damn understanding and kind (mostly) despite it all. It means the world to me.

  I should also give a big shoutout to Shirtaloon, Haylock, Tevagah, RinoZ, ThinkTwice, and AndyKay; my real-life group of nutty writer friends who keep pestering and encouraging me to write, finish, and publish so we can do more silly conventions and panels together without me having to explain why I have no book in front of me. They keep me grounded and motivated, and I can't thank them enough. A special thanks also to The Order, the writing server I moderate and admin, and all the staff and authors there for their tireless work at perfecting the craft and supporting one another.

  The Holidays are coming up, and while I will be writing and posting, I can't guarantee complete consistency because I get very busy with work and family around the holidays. Chapter 71 is about 50% of the way there, at about 1,500 words, and should be a great release tomorrow.

  Until then, I want to thank you all again and wish you the very best!

  May your Holidays be filled with cheer, and may God bless you all!