Hi everyone! Happy July! Can you believe that we are now officially past the halfway mark of the year? I sure can’t! But at the same time, I’m not complaining! The summer sun is out in full force, my backyard writing sessions are in full swing, and there is so much going on this month that I hardly know where to even start this ramble! This month we’ve got a brand-new web serial kicking off, to a shiny new website, to a convention right around the corner. Hands down this is shaping up to be one of my busiest and most exciting months of the year so far! So grab a cold drink, find some shade, and let’s dive into everything that’s happening!
July 2026 Writing Update
Primary Projects
Starbreaker: Volume 6 – Preorder Available! Release: August 4th!
Requiem For A Fallen World – Book 1 – 100% Complete – In Editing!
Legends of Mythranor: The Last Sovereign – Book 1 – 55% Complete
Requiem – Book 2 – 20% – In Progress!
Co-Written Projects
Eternal Realms 1 – Harmon Cooper – Rescheduled! Release: February 2027
Aetherforged – Harmon Cooper – 100% Complete – In Editing!
The Summer Heat
Much like the summer around me things have been heating up at my desk (lawn chair) too this past month! The biggest chunk of June here was spent wrapping up some lingering rewrites over on Requiem For A Fallen World (Book 1). After having a few days to sit on finishing the book, there were a few things I wanted to give one last proper polish before it went off into editing. I’m really happy with where it landed, and I can’t wait for you all to get your hands on it very soon!
In any case, soon as that polish was done I wasted no time pressing ahead into starting Requiem For A Forsaken Child (which is book 2 of the series), which I’m thrilled to say has gotten off to a fantastic start! It’s still a little early to say exactly when this book will be finished, but I am ‘hoping’ that despite all my travelling this month, I’ll be able to polish it off before the end of August before I’m off to Worldcon and Dragoncon. Pay no attention to the fact that WoW’s Season 2 starts around that time too. It’s a complete coincidence. I promise.
Do you believe me? No? Well, distraction time! I managed to work so far ahead that I even found some time to work on The Last Sovereign! Most of that work was largely spent on some rewrites and edits largely because I was still in that ‘editing’ mindset from Requiem, but I figured to ride that wave while I had it and to do all that annoying clean up work that all authors tend to hate.
The Requiem Begins Soon!
Okay, I know that so many of you have been looking forward to this after Starbreaker ended, and after so many months of work, I’m happy to say that the wait is finally over! On Thursday, July 2nd at 12pm (tomorrow depending when you’re reading this!), Requiem For A Fallen World will officially be available and start serializing!
You’ll be able to follow along with the serial over on my Patreon, Royal Road, and my Website. I cannot wait for you to finally meet Lysander and step into my darkest work yet! If you are a fan of Dark Fantasy, Elden Ring, and/or Dragon Age, then this series will be for you!
Luke Chmilenko 2.0 Is Now Live!
Speaking of my website, I’ve got some huge news on that front too! I’m beyond excited to announce that a brand-new version of my website is now ready for everyone to check out over at lukechmilenko.com!
Over the last few months, we’ve been collecting and listening to a whole bunch of reader feedback from both the Starbreaker and Eternal Realms series, and we’ve taken all of that to heart to bring the website to the next level. The result is a wholly revamped navigation, series pages, storefront, reader, and subscriber experience designed from the ground up for everyone who chooses to read my works on the website. I like to think that everything is cleaner, smoother, and easier to use, whether you’re catching up on a serial, reading my blog updates, or just poking around to see what’s new.
The only caveat here that I have, is that serial reading on my website will now be via subscription only via the new Archives section.
The reason for this is that going forward, my goal is to make my website the ‘primary’ place for all my readers to congregate, over Patreon and Royal Road. Now, I want to be clear and upfront: those places aren’t going anywhere anytime soon! If you love reading over on Patreon or Royal Road, you can absolutely keep doing exactly that, and I’ll continue to support them.
But if you’re looking for the very best experience, I’d strongly encourage you to check out the new site and consider subscribing to the Archives, because the subscribers there are going to get perks not available anywhere else, exclusive sneak peeks, coupon codes, a special subscriber only forum, eventually direct sales for eBook and audiobooks, and the earliest news on everything I’m working on. So come on over, check it out, and let me know what you think!
The LitRPG Convention Is Coming!
It’s almost here! In just two weeks, the LitRPG Convention kicks off in Denver, and I could not be more excited to be attending!
I’ll be arriving on July 9th and sticking around until Sunday evening, so there’s plenty of time to catch me throughout the weekend! If you’d like to come see me at one of my panels, take a look at my schedule below so you know exactly where and when to find me:
| Location / Time | Panel / Event Name | Description |
| Friday – Colorado Ballroom – 12:00 PM | Who’s a Good Murder Machine? | A look at animal companions in LitRPG, from loyal pets to overpowered sidekicks. Authors and narrators discuss how to balance charm, combat utility, and emotional connection without letting the companion steal the entire story. |
| Friday – Columbia – 4:30 PM | The Voices in Your Head Were Real | A lively panel about the partnership between authors and narrators, featuring discussions on character interpretation, audiobook surprises, fan reactions, and what it takes to turn progression fantasy into immersive audio entertainment. |
| Saturday – Harvard – 12:00 PM | The World Ended and All I Got Was This System | Join authors as they talk about the joy (and chaos) of destroying their worlds just to build them back better. Expect behind-the-scenes storytelling, system design stories, and plenty of “this got out of hand fast” moments. |
| Saturday – Sopris B – 3:00 PM | Just Because It’s Called a Safe Zone Doesn’t Mean Safety Is Guaranteed | A panel on how safe zones and hostile zones shape progression, storytelling rhythm, and player expectations in LitRPG worlds. |
Very excited to see you all there!
Starbreaker: Volume 6 Is Almost Here!
I know that we are focused about talking to July right now, but that means that August is only a stone’s throw away, specifically August 4th and the day that Starbreaker: Volume 6, the last and final book of the series, finally launches!
As you can no doubt imagine, this is the big one, the conclusion to Sylvas’ journey and the last book in the series. It’s going to be available on both Amazon and Audible, and if you want to see how the rest of Sylvas’ and the others’ adventure comes to a close, now is the perfect time to pre-order your copies! I am beyond excited to see what you all think of the final book!
Ascend Online Has Gone German!
Here’s a fun one for our international readers! I’m thrilled to announce that the translated German version of Ascend Online is now live on Amazon for anyone who wants to experience the series in German! It’s always such a special feeling to see my work reach new readers in new languages, and I couldn’t be happier to share this one with you all. You can grab it on Amazon or Audible right now!
This is Going To A Staple, But Pre-Order Ascend Online’s Traditional Edition!
If you’ve missed the news, Ascend Online is getting a special traditionally published hard cover version through Aethon and if you want to see more from the series, please help me by pre-ordering it!
Available at Barnes and Noble this book is a fancy new edition that will be available at all major retailers across the world and like I said before, I need your help to make that happen! The more copies we get pre-ordered the more shelf space they’ll reserve for us! So, all the support that you can give us now, will only help us down the road for more!
Where In The World Do You Want Luke to Go?
Adding onto the Ascend Online Pre-order I’ve got something else to be excited about! To celebrate the launch of Ascend Online’s traditional release this winter, I’m planning a book tour all through Canada and the USA! But exactly where I end up going is entirely up to you!
That’s right, I want to hear from you! Tell me where you’d love to see me, and I’ll do my very best to see if I can make it happen! Whether it’s your hometown, your favorite bookstore, or just a city you think would be a blast to visit, let me know. You can fill out your answer using the form right here! I can’t wait to see where you all want me to go, and hopefully I’ll get the chance to meet even more of you out on the road this winter!
Back To The Word Mines I Go!
And that’s a wrap for July! With how packed this month, and next month is looking to be, I’m getting straight back to work before all of this gets away from me! I am absolutely swamped and already worried about how I’m going to be performing come Season 2 looking forward to finishing these next projects! I expect that I will have some fantastic and exciting news for you all next month to share!
Until then, as always, I hope you all stay happy and healthy, and that you get a chance to soak up a little of that summer sun! See you all there, and I’ll catch the rest of you when August rolls around!
Luke
