Douglas Miller posts
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MiP Bonus: The Power of Heart Chapter 1
Editing of book 1 and planning of book 3 are still in progress. For this week's intermission bonus, here's The Power of Heart's first chapter, which I wrote months ago.Incidentally, the plans I've made so far for this story include first person narration, but for the viewpoint of the merger of the therapist and the cultivator, which would start in chapter 3.Chapter 1: A Frustrated ...
MiP In Review
I really should have gotten this done on Tuesday. Sorry about that.I'll go over my thoughts on book 1 further down, but first:Reviewing last week's poll results:The highest vote result was from people who are just here for Magic is Programming, at 36%. Honestly, that's not at all surprising to me. I haven't written multiple series to demonstrate consistency and versatility yet."...
MiP Ideas for the Future (with poll)
I planned Magic is Programming as a trilogy, and at this point that is still the plan. With my writing progress having reached the threshold of the likely-final book, I have put some thought into looking ahead, beyond book 3, to what I should write after the series is done. I have multiple ideas I'm considering, and if you care about which one I choose, here's your chance to let me know!Fi...
MiP Upcoming Schedule
Now that book 2 is completed for Platinum tier, I am going to focus for a while on a) editing book 1 so that it can finally be published as an actual book, and b) making plans for book 3 so that I'll have a framework to use when I start the actual chapters.While I am doing that, in lieu of chapters I will post bonus content that will involve less creative effort. These will include my thoughts...
MiP B2 Chapter 62: Division
<< First| < Previous| Next >Carlos's mind raced, his perception of time running many times faster than normal, and several of his contingent spells were a hair away from triggering. King Elston deciding to eliminate them as intolerable threats to his power was among the possibilities he had speculated about, and he had prepared for it. He hadn't anticipated the final wrinkle in what had ju...
MiP B2 Chapter 61: Royal Appreciation
<< First| < Previous| Next >Carlos quickly grabbed all of Nyralis's disabled items with Mass Telekinesis and stripped them off of him, then pulled them out of the cage and held them well away from the man. He was pretty sure Nyralis had no way to undo what they had done or to get out of his cage, especially with all of his soul structures removed, but there was no point taking unnecessary risk...
MiP I'm sick
It's just a cold, and the symptoms are relatively mild so far, but it's still making it hard to write. Next chapter will be later this week.
MiP B2 Chapter 60: Combat Hacking
<< First| < Previous| Next >Amber stared at the impossible sight before her. The Crown couldn't be defeated! Right? Especially not so quickly and with such apparent ease. She knew that Princess Lornera had called for emergency reinforcements, but she hadn't truly believed that the Crown might actually lose. She and Carlos would answer the call, earn some favor for their earnest efforts, bu...
MiP B2 Chapter 59: High-Speed Chess
<< First| < Previous| Next >Princess Lornera Kalor watched, feeling anxious in a wholly unfamiliar way, as Carlos and Amber joined the fight. She should have been up there in the sky herself, taking direct action as the nigh-invincible warrior that she was. Even with them having a royal soul plan—a revelation perhaps even more stunning than the supreme enchanter's treachery—this battle was...
MiP Next chapter tomorrow
I'm very close to finishing it, just not quite close enough to finish tonight.
MiP B2 Chapter 58: Multithreading Combat
<< First| < Previous| Next >Carlos double-checked his precautions yet again. Ten layered Force Bubbles surrounded him, with a contingent trigger to add a new layer inside for each outer layer that got broken, plus a Contingent Teleport to get the hell out if the number of intact layers ever drops to 5 or below. An Omnidirectional Vision spell gave him almost literal eyes in the back of his head, a...
MiP B2 Chapter 57: Reinforcements
<< First| < Previous| Next >King Elston Kalor flew straight up, ignoring the remaining rebels, to draw level with Nyralis. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the supreme enchanter, head of the Enchanters Guild. The man's soul, far from the weakness it had held in past meetings, was strong and sturdy. He personally matched the resilient solidity of the air-thickening dungeon effect and the soul...
MiP B2 Chapter 56: Strings End
<< First| < Previous| Next >Princess Lornera Kalor, third scion of the Crown, stared in dumbfounded shock and disbelief at the impossible scene in front of her. Her younger brother, Hinren, was gone. Not just bodily slain and waiting to respawn back in Kalor Palace, but soul-killed; gone permanently, never to return. Hinren Kalor, a royal with his soul plan fully complete, had his soul pierced, sl...
MiP B2 Chapter 55: Marionettes
<< First| < Previous| Next >His Majesty King Elston Kalor, the Crown himself, floated above the ground as he surveyed the forces arrayed against him. The barren field was filled mainly with nobles, though some had also brought a small force of elite guards. He smirked at the rebels' leader. "I see you at least had the good sense to not bother bringing any commoner weaklings, Recindril."...
MiP No chapter this week
I have identified a major issue that contributed to the recent delays, and I am addressing it. Unfortunately, that's not soon enough to finish a chapter today.I'm sorry for the delays, and I expect to be more reliable going forward.
MiP B2 Chapter 54: Settling In
<< First| < Previous| Next >Carlos woke up slowly at first. Then he noticed the unfamiliar softness of the bed he was lying on and jolted awake in an instant. He jerked up and looked around frantically, then stopped as realization and relief flooded through him. All the tension in his body released, and he collapsed back onto the bed with a rueful chuckle. Right, we're actually at the wellspri...
MiP B2 Chapter 53: Homestead
<< First| < Previous| Next >"Finally!" Trinlen shouted as he almost literally leaped to his feet at the announcement that the dragon was defeated and it was time to pack up and move on. Carlos looked at him and raised an eyebrow, and he stammered and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I mean… Don't get me wrong, boss: this whole trip in general has been great, for so man...
MiP No chapter this week
This past week was extraordinarily hectic for me, unfortunately. I'll be back with chapter 53 next week!
MiP B2 Chapter 52: Mysteries
<< First| < Previous| Next >For one heartstopping moment, Carlos feared that the dragon would die, crushed under the system-fueled power of the negative parameter bug applied to Amber's Force Bubble spell, and take all the answers he wanted with it. Then the transparent sphere of force abruptly stopped its rapid collapse, stabilizing with the dragon merely uncomfortably cramped inside it.He pa...
MiP B2 Chapter 51: Strength of a Guardian
<< First| < Previous| Next >Carlos froze in utter shock. Did– did that dragon just talk? A-and say Sandaras!? I suppose some stories do have dragons be sapient, and Amber did mention that Sandaras has a reputation of being feared by dragons, but still.Amber, meanwhile, ignored the dragon's speech and just continued her assault. With her first Force Bubble broken, she cast the same spell agai...
MiP No chapter on account of Silksong
I should have seen this coming, really.
MiP B2 Chapter 50: Wellspring Battle
<< First| < Previous| Next >Carlos stared open-mouthed at the vision his scrying spell was showing him. High enough in the sky above to look like a gaming miniature figure from the ground, the majestic winged creature flew with deceptively little motion. Its leathery wings, extending dozens of feet to either side of its body, mostly held steady, adjusting course with minor changes in angle and onl...
MiP one day delay
I'm pretty confident I'm over the hump of difficulty on this now, so I anticipate no further delays.
MiP B2 Chapter 49: Guardian
<< First| < Previous| Next >Carlos responded to Purple's discovery of a viable method of aether transportation by immediately coming up with ideas for improving or extending it, or investigating various details of its limits, of course. [So you can pack aether 1 level above you into a denser concentration. Does that mean you can directly prevent aether of that level from decompressing, or was ...
MiP No chapter this week
Chapter 49 is not yet ready, and at this point I think either I skip one week, or I'd probably have a series of unpredictable cascading delays for the next several weeks. Of those two options, I think skipping one week is better.See you next week!
MiP B2 Chapter 48: Concealed Preparations
<< First| < Previous| Next >Purple watched the familiar morning camp routine once again. The location was new, though its distance from their previous camp was miniscule compared to what used to be usual, but the people and activities were not. Lorvan wakes up and relieves Ordens of her night watch shift about an hour before dawn. One of the adventurers follows suit, though which one of them stand...
MiP Delayed
Today's new chapter will be delayed a day or two. I expect to be back on schedule next week.
MiP B2 Chapter 47: Ultimatum
<< First| < Previous| Next >Aaand a `spell enchant` to finish the job! There we go, all done. Carlos raised the gauntlet he'd just finished tinkering with high in front of him and inspected it with a critical eye. He turned it over a few times, probing it with his mana sense thoroughly, and found nothing out of place. In particular, no part of it tried to divert his attention from anything, ev...
MiP B2 Chapter 46: Foreboding
<< First| < Previous| Next >Princess Lornera Kalor grimly held on to her temporarily-dead older sister's torso as she flew high through the sky. She looked to her right, where her brother Patrimmon supported Brenelle's legs as they flew. His grim expression mirrored her own, and his eyes wandered to Brenelle's right hand where it rested on her chest, adorned by an orichalcum ring.Lorne...
MiP B2 Chapter 45: Unraveling
<< First| < Previous| Next >Recindril Tostral restrained his urge to pace while he waited for the signal to come. It wouldn't do to show signs of nervousness in front of the dozens of other nobles assembled for this ambush, after all. Still, he couldn't stop his thoughts from going over all the ways disaster could happen. It's been 4 days since I forced Prince Hinren to respawn. The Cr...
