#beta release

I don't have anything else but *waves hand* a beta will do fine: https://theleondude.itch.io/task-force-mad-redacted

Ladies, gentlemen, friends, foes, earthlings and other interested parties...

Desktop Buddy! Peter is officially out on Itch.io

I'm finally confident that the Beta version of of the Your Boyfriend Desktop Buddy is good enough to share. The link is here, and details are under the cut! It's a free game, but your comments and feedback mean everything to me, so please drop em, even if they're short. Thank you so much for your support everyone - I'm so proud of my first game, and so excited to share it <3

I'm working independently on reworking my first published book due to some scams that happened with it's publication. (If asked I will go into more detail).

I am writing, editing, formatting, illustrating, and publishing all on my own as I have the time and resources to learn the tools of the trade. However, I am still human and prone to error.

If you would like to be of help with this, please feel free to sign up to be a Beta Reader. This is not an ARC Reader that gets the full finished story prior to publication, but the beta phase where you have a say in pointing out to me any errors I may have missed before setting it up for publication.

If you enjoy mythology, fantasy, queer characters, characters of color, and meta commentary on religion and politics, please sign up!

Disclaimer: The web page is subject to spontaneous edits.

As a beta reader, I see this all the time. Not bad writers. Not lazy writers. Just writers stuck in the quiet parts of the process.

Every story begins with something alive. A voice in your head. A scene that won’t let you sleep. It feels clear. Strong. Certain.

Then you try to put it into words.

The idea feels bigger than the draft

In your mind, the story hits hard. On the page, it feels thin. You read it back and think, Why doesn’t this sound the way it did in my head? That gap can make you question everything.

The middle turns into a fog

The opening flows. You’re excited. Then somewhere in the middle, things slow down. The plot tangles. Motivation blurs. You start wondering if the whole thing makes sense anymore.

The quiet fear in the background

Is this too predictable? Is this even interesting? Will anyone care?

You keep writing, but those thoughts sit beside you the entire time.

Being too close to see clearly

When you’ve lived inside a manuscript for months, it’s hard to step back. You know every intention behind a scene. Readers don’t. What feels obvious to you might not land the same way for them.

Chasing perfect instead of finished

You rewrite the same paragraph again and again. You cut chapters. You restart. You wait for a sentence to feel right before moving on. Meanwhile, the draft never gets done.

The emotional weight

Writing pulls from memory, fear, hope, and experience. It’s not just craft. It’s personal. And that kind of work is draining in ways people outside the process don’t see.

From where I stand, the real struggle isn’t lack of talent. It’s self-doubt. Distance from fresh perspective. Trying to carry the whole story alone.