There are forewords, and afterwords, I don't know if any books have Onwards, but if not, I'm making it a thing. What is an “Onward” you ask? Well, for my purposes it will be where I communicate what I will be doing as I move onward. So in the prior afterword that I suppose is the foreword to the onward, I explained a lot of what I have in mind, but this is to be a little more informative and deliberate.

First, I'm looking for an artist. To start, this person would want to get involved on a volunteer basis, and that could develop more if all the other variables come to line up. I'd like to work with an artist for future illustrations, I have children’s stories I've written, (some are already viewable on my site 777arkV.com) and I also would like to create visual presentations in video format, following the lines of many videos that use simple artistic scene or character artwork that is almost nearly stop-animation concept art in form. Lastly, but not least in the least, I'd like to have a large “coffee table” book of illustrations of characters and maps and locations of this book to start with, and then others as they come about.

Second, I'm sorry, but a book regarding Rydar’s whereabouts is not in the immediate future. One possibility for the next thing I publish will be a list of quotes I’ve come up with. You see, over 20 years ago I got it in my mind to beat Soloman (You know. Go big or go home), who is credited with writing three-thousand proverbs (As 1 Kings 4:32 says, and, currently I stand at over two-thousand, but with the way the world is going I'm not sure I’m going to be able to write another thousand in time - cheater is hiding behind the apocalypse for defense). I intended to publish them in each decade of my life. I was done with the first set a while back but got too involved with Rydar to ever get them published. They are done, and, it would give curious people something to mull over while I decide on, and begin formal work on, whatever story it is I will decide to work on next. However, this is certainty by no measure.

I do also have ideas on publishing Rydar under a “story” annotation, without any devotional focus (which, when with a devotional focus, as you can see from the title of this publication are annotated as “study”) - because I want my writings, like many works by C.S. Lewis, whenever a possible option, to be comfortable for curious persons to take in and be enjoyed, simply on the stories' own merits. Also, in tandem with that, I then have an interest in writing much expanded “workbooks”, that could be available separately from the books, that perhaps could be used in Christian educational settings, and / or church youth groups, etc…

So as you can see I have all kinds of plans and intentions, that will take all kinds of time and finances. This is why the success of this, my first effort, is so important. I do not intend to do any formal “marketing”. Yes, to be sure, I will personally promote my efforts, but do not doubt that you are my marketing plan. People should just want to tell people that what I write is worth picking up. If people don't, then I don't need better marketing, I need to write better stories.

Either way, tomorrow does not tell its story today. So the only way from here…

…is onward.

~ 777ark V †