The Cogwheel Renegades & The Future

November 8th, 2025

The third and final entry into the Steam War series, The Cogwheel Renegades, is making its way to websites near you beginning December 1st, 2025.

Cog and the rest of the crew, fresh out of a heavy battle which ended in the death of Adolf Hitler, make their way to London to get a break from their busy war life. Their vacation ends abruptly when Uhrwehrk attacks in full swing, and the group suffers one loss after another. Their only chance of saving the world lies with new allies, old adversaries, and an explosive ending.

As mentioned, this will be the last entry of the series, but in the greater Steam War Universe, the story doesn't end here. At least, not intentionally. We've seen the Cogwheel Renegades in one corner, Holly and Tes in another, and Luna and Orion in yet another corner. With The Cogwheel Renegades having a chapter release every Monday beginning December 1st, and the last (two) entries in the Tes Simms Anthology approaching, the universe is nearly complete. However, there are two more stories that have been planned since the beginning: A sequel to Luna/Orion's stories, and one final wrap-up book after that.

But I don't think I can finish it.

I started writing a long time ago, but I started writing these stories almost ten years ago with The Steam War. Since the first draft of The Brass Dove, which was written the summer after, the entire timeline, every story you've read, has been planned. With the addition of the final Steam War book, as well as the ending of the Tes Simms Anthology and the two (and a half) stories in the Carmsborough Vigilantes, we are encroaching 400,000 words across 12 stories. With the last two, this approaches 600,000, with the final entry being... very long.

And the simple fact of the matter is that I can't do it. I can't dedicate the time, or find the motivation, or earn the reader-base to finish things. I've been doing this for years. By the time the last chapter of The Cogwheel Renegades releases, I will have had my works public for six years.

In those six years, I've tried outreach of all sorts, advertising, writing new things, querying to get my work published traditionally, motivating myself and others with Patreon and like support formats, and... nothing has ever come of it. My most popular year was 2022, when Luna on the Run had 400 views on Wattpad and was on the Watty's shortlist. Back then, I received comments on my stories. Friends and others close to me were looking at my stories and interacting with them. Now I get five bot comments with each chapter release and no real engagement.

I love writing, and I've never done it to be popular or to attract attention, but... in truth, it's the only way I would be able to stay motivated to continue. And I'm at a point in my life where I can't dedicate time to doing things for the love of it anymore. So, once the last chapter of The Cogwheel Renegades releases, that's likely the last I'll be writing. Maybe for a period. Maybe forever. I love these characters, their found families and human struggles and senses of humor and motivations, because they are all me. Cog has been a vessel for my trauma. Luna has been a vessel for my anger. Orion has been a vessel for my hope. Tes has been a vessel for my self appreciation. Laurel, a character in a story almost nobody has read and I am since removing from the annals of the internet, has been a vessel for my adult life and my coming out and transition.

I've written things with friends I no longer have. I've written things with people who are no longer with us. I've written things about people I can't look at anymore. I've written things about love I can't confess. And I can't write anymore.

Maybe I'll surprise myself. I'm still young, after all. Maybe five years from now I'll have it figured out. But for now, our last goodbyes will be with the last chapter of The Cogwheel Renegades.