Looking for Alpha/Beta Readers

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I just hit 70% done with my current project. I’m sitting at 62,000 works with an expected final range of 85,000-90,000. I am starting to move at a much faster pace now that I can feel the end. I hope to be done by the end of October. With that in mind, I am starting to contemplate what happens after I complete the rough draft.

I will do a couple reviews immediately after I complete the rough draft. One will be a basic spelling and grammar review. Another will be a “continuity of voice” review to make sure I don’t drift to far within any one characters voice. I hope to have all this done before the end of 2026.

With that in mind, I am looking for Alpha Readers and Beta Readers for Early 2027!

Alpha Readers: You will be the first to see the text. I would like your feedback rather quickly (a month or two) so that I can incorporate your changes before I move on to my next project. With your feedback, I will make the final “big” changes to the book and prepare a copy for Beta Readers.

Beta Readers: You will receive a copy of the book that is ready to print. Your job is to find and report back on any final issues before it is ready. It can be a voice issue, a spelling issue missed–anything. This is my last chance to make a clean copy. I will need feedback within two months.

If you are interested in being an Alpha reader, Beta Reader, or both, please let me know. Text me if you know my number or send and email to RichardThomasReilly@gmail.com. I can send you the copy as a e-book or a paperback–just let me know what you prefer.

Three projects.  Past.  Present.  Future.

On the Record: An Oral History
100% – Now available

When I was 22, I wrote my fourth novel, The Stagner Chronicles. It was the strongest work I’d produced at that point in my life. On the Record is the result of a comprehensive overhaul and reimagining of that book — a chance to revisit the core ideas with better tools and a wider perspective. I’m proud of how it came together and of the new life it found in the process. It’s now available for purchase.

Continuity: An Oral History of a Generation Ship
70% Done with Rough Draft

I am chasing down the end of the book. I have a writing weekend scheduled for next weekend. At my current pace, I am working toward a rough draft completion by Halloween.

Untitled
Trying to narrow it down

I want to try my hand literary science fiction. But that only narrows it down so much. I will explore how previous ideas I’ve fleshed out will fit in this model in the coming months. I expect this to be my major project for 2027.

Summit Fever

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I’ve always liked the term summit fever. It captures the feeling of putting a significant amount of work into a project and finally seeing the end point. It’s a feeling that I chase in many aspects of my life. And I am excited to report that I am starting to feel that with my current novel.

I spent a weekend “Writing Retreat” in Portland with a writing friend. Although i spent a great deal of time just writing that weekend, something more important happened. I sat down intending to write an in-depth outline for the coming chapters…and ended up doing an in-depth outline for the rest of the book.

That was enough for me to feel it. I can see where the story is now and where it ends and now I have a solid link between those two. In the two weeks since, I have felt a shift in the atmosphere of the novel. I have been building up a character who I intend to be the main character of the rest of the book. Their presence alone has shifted the atmosphere–exactly the way I hoped it would.

I cannot wait to keep going.

Three projects.  Past.  Present.  Future.

On the Record: An Oral History
100% – Now available

When I was 22, I wrote my fourth novel, The Stagner Chronicles. It was the strongest work I’d produced at that point in my life. On the Record is the result of a comprehensive overhaul and reimagining of that book — a chance to revisit the core ideas with better tools and a wider perspective. I’m proud of how it came together and of the new life it found in the process. It’s now available for purchase.

Continuity: An Oral History of a Generation Ship
60% Done with Rough Draft – Rough Draft will be completed by end of 2026

I went to Portland with a writing friend for a “Writing Retreat” where I wrote five chapters and *more importantly* outlined the rest of the book in depth. The ability to give myself a solid throughline from where the story stand and where it will end has reinterrogated me. My goal is to have the rough draft done by Thanksgiving, but I am giving myself the grace to use the whole year.

Untitled
Trying to narrow it down

I want to try my hand literary science fiction. But that only narrows it down so much. I will explore how previous ideas I’ve fleshed out will fit in this model in the coming months. I expect this to be my major project for 2027.

How to present the story

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I need to start thinking more about how I want to write. I’ve spent so much time focused on what I want to write that I don’t know if I spend enough time figuring out how I want to write. In my early 20s, I became obsessed with World War Z and Rant, and that has sent me down this road on Oral Histories.

I’ve enjoyed oral histories.  I love the angle that they provide.  I love feeling like everything I am writing is unique.  I loved writing a political sci-fi dystopia in that vein.  And I love writing this hard sci-fi through the same oral history vein.  I’ve always made the argument that oral histories do a wonderful job of arranging the characters like an orchestra so the historical tale becomes the main story rather than the characters themselves.  

But I do believe this will be my last oral history.  I will finish it.  I’ve been thinking about this generation ship adventure for too long not to finish it.  I’ve enjoyed writing it.  But when it is done and polished, it is time for me to pivot back towards novels.  Dialogue.  Proper character building.  It’s time I start practicing the things that oral history doesn’t employ.

This year has been a year of reading for me. Almost halfway through the year, I am 21 books in, far surpassing previous years. And I have been letting myself explore more and more sci-fi in the vein of understanding exactly what it is that I wanted to write. The thing is, it came in the most unexpected of places. I’m almost caught up in the Old Man’s War Saga. I enjoy it, but that’s not what I want to write.

I remember saying my favorite sci-fi was sci-fi that is literary in nature with sci-fi features. I don’t want to hear about the first person on Mars so much as the 17th mission to Mars and the heartache that the main character has to go through as their daughter dies in a car accident back home. I don’t even want my characters to be the most important characters in the world. I want them to help us experience what is happening.

The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It is absolutely magical in its light touch of science fiction “first contact.” I can almost imagine the author laying out a thin line of events—barely enough to fill a page—first signal received—response—language—probe. On that foundation, she built a beautiful story of individuals within a family that struggled to hold itself together.

To be fair, I identify too heavily with these books due to my lived experiences.  My first born being premature.  Moving across the country a couple times and ending up in the Seattle region.  So much more.  The characters pulled me in and made me want to know more.  When there were developments in the “first contact” storyline, it felt like a treasure to gobble up in the same way the characters were excited.

This book has helped me reimagine how I would like to try science fiction. I want to try my hand at what I can only call Literary Sci-fi. You can do this on top of anything: living on the moon, a generation ship, or colonies on new worlds. You can even place it in near-future sci-fi like dystopian AI. You can tell the story of I, Robot without being the central character, and I would argue that that would be a much better way to tell that story.

So here I am.  Three projects.  Past.  Present.  Future.

On the Record: An Oral History
100% – Now available

When I was 22, I wrote my fourth novel, The Stagner Chronicles. It was the strongest work I’d produced at that point in my life. On the Record is the result of a comprehensive overhaul and reimagining of that book — a chance to revisit the core ideas with better tools and a wider perspective. I’m proud of how it came together and of the new life it found in the process. It’s now available for purchase.

Continuity: An Oral History of a Generation Ship
50% Done with Rough Draft – Rough Draft will be completed by end of 2026

I’ve slowed down. That being said, the halfway point has been very exciting to write. I am reaching the end of part three, which will be great to write. But it’s hard to hold back as I think about part four. Part Four will start to pivot toward preparation for colonization. The culture shift within the ship is going to be substantial, and I am excited to explore that.

Untitled
Trying to narrow it down

I know my next books will mirror this literary science fiction. But that only narrows it down so much. I will explore how previous ideas I’ve fleshed out will fit in this model in the coming months. I expect this to be my major project for 2027.

A VERY productive weekend

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Here’s where things stand:

On the Record: An Oral History

100% – Now available

When I was 22, I wrote my fourth novel, The Stagner Chronicles. It was the strongest work I’d produced at that point in my life. On the Record is the result of a comprehensive overhaul and reimagining of that book — a chance to revisit the core ideas with better tools and a wider perspective. I’m proud of how it came together and of the new life it found in the process. It’s now available for purchase.

Continuity: An Oral History of a Generation Ship

40% Done with Rough Draft

I had a weekend away and tore through a good part of Act III. Feeling good about it. Still on track to finish this book in 2026.

Slow and Steady

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I’ve been readying more and more sci-fi. It is helping me hone what I like and what I want to put on paper.

Here’s where things stand:

On the Record: An Oral History

100% – Now available

When I was 22, I wrote my fourth novel, The Stagner Chronicles. It was the strongest work I’d produced at that point in my life. On the Record is the result of a comprehensive overhaul and reimagining of that book — a chance to revisit the core ideas with better tools and a wider perspective. I’m proud of how it came together and of the new life it found in the process. It’s now available for purchase.

Continuity: An Oral History of a Generation Ship

32% Done with Rough Draft

Finished Act II and mapped out Act III in detail. I’ve only written the first chapter of Act III, so this will be my main focus in April and May. I am loving how the story is developing.

Plugging Away

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I am finding a good rhythm in life right now. I’m reading one book at a time, listening to one at a time, and writing two nights a week. It’s the most I can fit into my life right now with kids and full time work. But I’m excited to even make this work. It’s been years since I have written with such regularity and it is refreshing.

So, here’s where things stand:

On the Record: An Oral History

100% – Now available

When I was 22, I wrote my fourth novel, The Stagner Chronicles. It was the strongest work I’d produced at that point in my life. On the Record is the result of a comprehensive overhaul and reimagining of that book — a chance to revisit the core ideas with better tools and a wider perspective. I’m proud of how it came together and of the new life it found in the process. It’s now available for purchase.

Continuity: An Oral History of a Generation Ship

24% Done with Rough Draft

I am deep into Act II right now, hoping to finish it out here in March. I am well within the timeframe to release this book this year. This has been a great experiment it “write what you want to read.” I don’t know if I will always write in the oral history genre, but I do love it.

A Fresh Start

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I wrote four novels between the ages of 18 and 23. That time helped me hone a few important skills: editing, sustained focus, and how to see a long project through to completion. Writing itself, though, is a strange skill. Practice matters, experimentation matters — but there’s another ingredient that’s harder to rush.

That ingredient is life experience.

As I finished the last book of my youth, I ran into a difficult realization: the biggest limiting factor in my writing wasn’t effort or ambition, but experience. At that point, I had barely left home. Since then, writing drifted in and out of my life, but I never truly let it go. More importantly, I went out and lived. Peace Corps. A career. Marriage. Kids. Management. Moves across the country. Taking risks, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, until we found a place that felt like home.

Now, as my kids become more self-sufficient, I’ve found the breathing room to write again. I’ve built two to three evenings a week where I go to a nearby brewery, find a quiet corner, and write. That rhythm really solidified in December, when I took three weeks off during my spouse’s recovery from surgery. I’m grateful to have found a way to fold writing back into my normal life — not as an escape, but as a practice.

I’m going to start providing regular writing updates here, inspired by one of my favorite authors, Brandon Sanderson. That means outlines, goals, and progress percentages — less mystery, more honesty.

So, here’s where things stand:

On the Record: An Oral History

100% – Now available

When I was 22, I wrote my fourth novel, The Stagner Chronicles. It was the strongest work I’d produced at that point in my life. On the Record is the result of a comprehensive overhaul and reimagining of that book — a chance to revisit the core ideas with better tools and a wider perspective. I’m proud of how it came together and of the new life it found in the process. It’s now available for purchase.

Continuity: An Oral History of a Generation Ship

10% Done with Rough Draft

I began Continuity in early January, and the start has been strong. This project brings together my favorite narrative form — oral history — with my favorite genre: science fiction. Continuity follows humanity’s first generation ship on a hundred-year journey to Alpha Centauri. It’s been an absolute joy to write, and my goal is to complete and publish it before the end of the year.

The Final Dose of Wegovy

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1.0 mg (ish)
Last Weight: 195.8 pounds
Down 73.2 pounds (27.2%)

32 injections.  8 Months to the day 73.2 Pounds.  As of today, there is about 2.0 MG in my system.  With a half-life of one week, I will continue to see effects through most of March.  But, as insurance decrees, no more injections for me.  With less than 7 pound left until my final goal of 189 (the top of the normal weight range for my height) I am still holding the line in the hopes that I can make it,

I do love that I am making this pivot as Spring starts to emerge.  As the two-week cough I have had starts to fade, I am looking forward to this transition.  I have downloaded a couple running apps and am hoping to find one that works for me.  I’m excited to have overcome such a huge life-long goal and want to pivot to the next big goal.  Even running a 5K would be amazing.

This journey has been eye-opening.  Re-tooling my brain has helped me realize that obesity is just like any other chronic condition and should be treated as such.  I take pills for other chronic conditions.  Why not for obesity?  It helped make it easy to see how my brain tended towards eating when it was bored or stressed.  The injections simply lowered that food “noise” in my brain which helped me make more active decisions.  I still ate a cookie.  But I wouldn’t continue eating cookie after cookie after cookie.

In the end, I kept focus on the numbers.  Obesity leads to short life expectancy.  My kids are 4 and 6.  I want to see them become successful adults.  I want to enjoy my own retirement.  These realities feel a lot more realistic now that I feel so much healthier.  That alone was worth the journey.

Now on to the next journey.

Dose Thirty-One

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1.0 mg (ish)
Last Weight: 197.4 pounds
Down 71.6 pounds (26.6%)

More than 70 pounds down. With only one shot to go, that feels like a huge step. I’ve had a lot of people ask me over the last week how much I’ve lost. The reaction when I say 70 is actually pretty hilarious. It’s a lot more than I thought I would be able to do, but the medication worked so well with my calorie counting mindset.

It feels weird coming to the end of this. I’ve been trying to pivot towards trying to run now that I don’t have all the extra weight. But the biggest issue with running is getting sick. I can still calorie count when I’m sick, so no false starts. But you have to take breaks and restart when you are sick and running. It takes a lot more discipline. I still want to try it, but I do think it’ll exercise a different part of my brain.

Dose Thirty

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1.0 mg (ish)
Last Weight: 199.8 pounds
Down 69.2 pounds (25.7%)

Seeing 199 on the scale is…cathartic. It simultaneously is a massive goal I have been working towards and a huge mental barrier that I have burst through. It was an amazing feeling to wake up a few days ago, step on the scale, and see that.

With these massive goals now behind me, I have to pivot my mindset. After taking my injection today, I have two left in the fridge. My mini goal for the week ahead is to get below 199 by next week so I can officially hit the 70 pounds list milestone.

But more than anything, I just want my morning weigh ins to regularly be below 200 now. I’m adjusting well to the lower doses and feel like I am able to maintain more and more. I am hoping the endless winter of sicknesses comes to an end soon—that makes it hard to stay on track. But winter is almost over!