Hey readers! Just a quick heads-up: Episode 5 of Fireteam Freelance drops tomorrow!

That’s right, it’s finally here! Catch Your Breath sees the team once again hired by Commander Castillo’s “old friend” for a job that takes them to the Corporate Dragon Bloc with a very specific goal in mind. What is it? Well, to find out you’ll have to read it. Suffice to say, shots will be fired, and a lot of them.

That said, how are you readers finding Freelance so far? Personally, I still find it a bit different than my usual fare: It’s much more focused on delivering a hit of action with every episode and having less time spent on the character of the team, since there’s only so much space per episode and that action does need to happen. That, and it’s episodic. At this point someone could jump in with the latest episode, I feel, and still enjoy the explosions, gunfire, and action without knowing too much about the overarching narrative or setting (though that’s all still there).

Anyway, while I hope you’re all enjoying it, I do acknowledge that this is somewhat experimental and may be a little different than say, Colony or Jungle. Rest assured, Starforge won’t be following the pattern of episodic style this story is working with. Fireteam Freelance is very much a one-off experiment. Just one I hope you’re enjoying and finally does give a little more glimpse at what life back on Earth can be like … or as close as we get through the lens of a merc company living in the Dragon Bloc.

So tune in tomorrow as episode 5 drops at last! 10 AM EST!

Now, on to the second part of this post: the Topic Call!

Being a Better Writer continues to be a strong weekly draw on the site, and one of the largest sources of incoming traffic, but every so often … My list of topics to write about runs dry.

I don’t mean that I get writer’s block or something. I mean the actual physical list I have on my desk runs out of topics. See, every so often I start a new list, populating it with writing topics of all kinds, and over the next few months whittle that down post by post.

And Topic List #14? There’s one topic left on it. Which means it’s time for me to spend a brainstorming session picking out new topics once more. But, as always, I don’t leave it to me alone.

After all, there are a lot of readers coming here for Being a Better Writer, and they want to see topics they care about! So as I get ready to start Topic List #15, I ask you readers: what do you want to see BaBW talk about?

What writing topics would you like to see discussed and tackled? What concepts would you like revisited, or perhaps brought up for the first time? What’s missing from the mighty pool of existing BaBW posts?

Tell me! Comment and let it be known, so that I can add it to the list! Just hit that “reply” button below and let me know what you’d like to hear about!

That’s it for today! With that, I’m signing off to get that next episode a bit closer to completion …

Wait, I lied. One last bit of good news, folks. A bunch of new reviews have dropped for Colony, Jungle, and Shadow of an Empire in the last week, all of them favorable! Welcome new readers, and thank you for sharing your praise with the world!