Monthly Author's Update!

Howdy Folks!

How is everyone doing? Hope you're well.

Man, there are a TON of bugs going around in my area. I was sick just a week ago, and I think I'm getting sick again. The woes and trials of being a high school teacher are rough. I currently have ANOTHER weird bug that makes my chest feel like its on fire. Still writing, but it feels rough.

Speaking of which, I'll be coaching and managing a thousand-member plus tournament this upcoming weekend. That means no chappy likely on Saturday, but a guaranteed one on Sunday. I may, MAY, be able to get a chapter out early, but it is doubtful.

Instead of pushing for an early chapter with arguably bad writing within it, I'm considering editing the previous one. There's something about it I just don't like. Is it rushed? Is it not enough detail and insight? I'm not sure, but I know I don't like it. It gets the information out that I wanted, but it's still missing that OOMPH.

Maybe I was just already getting sick and didn't know it. I like to tell my students, "If you don't enjoy writing it, why would I enjoy reading it." I feel like maybe that's the problem. I went about writing it formulaically instead of with joy in my heart.

The more I think on it, the more I believe it needs to be thoroughly worked on. I don't want to put out inferior chapters, so that's that.

If you checked the last newsletter, we lost some Patrons, but a lot of them are cyclical. They come in, catch up on their reading, then bounce out of their subscription. I don't blame them, as I do the same damn thing myself. That's why you never really see me push too hard for Patrons to stay or to constantly gain new ones. I'm happy if you guys are willing to stick it out with me, that's why I put the price for the lowest tier at the lowest value I can conceivably see (aside from 1-2$ as that just doesn't feel right).

For my few Tier 2's and 3's, I really appreciate you guys hanging with me. The chapter arc with systems continues on for about....five more? He sets up just about everything he needs for end game (minus a few unique things) with the exception of the Faction system (and reputations) that comes after.

Then, it's off to Conservatory lands in huge time skips. We're going to see a series of side-arcs, hop over back to Earth for a minute to see what's going on with the Omega Protocol, then the bubble ends.

It's been a long bubble for some, too long many would say, but that's the direction the story went in. My goal in writing this story is to never have it be "too" linear. There should be a plan in place for how the plot moves forward, but I don't want readers to be able to guess every step of things. That way lies boredom, and no book I write should ever truly be boring. Sure I have setup chapters, but then we dive into the meat of things.

Strands and messing with them were always one of the big arcs I wanted to include. With the addition of (Spoiler), knowing what the System truly is, the value of strands and understanding what they do is going to be a massive pull. You'll know, once he really starts to become proficient with them, that we're nearing the end of the series.

That's all for my biggest author update ever. Please let me know if there are parts of the story you didn't like, and what you liked the most. I'll try to do more of one and less of another...hopefully the right way. Thanks!