Hello!
For the announcements TL:DR, look at the post-chapter notes! Otherwise, read on!
So, another arbitrary milestone reached. Volume 3. I'm still surprised I've gone on for so long, even though I have no plans of stopping, at this point.
That said, I'm a pessimistic introvert kind of person; I'm my own worst critic (like many of us), and it's especially bad when I'm writing and posting it for the world to see.
"Will they like this?! Is this too much? Am I losing touch with what made people like my story?! Is my next story arc going to disgust everyone!?" And so many more thoughts swirl in my head before, during and after writing my newest chapter.
I hope it's all in my head, and I keep telling myself it is, and people keep showing up and reading, and leaving comments, so I guess at least some of it is just in my head. :)
Writing has become a routine for me at this point, one that I both find daunting (see above for the state of mind I find myself in), but also one that I feel... required. When I had to skip a day, or when I started writing too late in the day and had to cut short and get to bed, that feeling of incompleteness follows me around. I can only hope that, one day, my stupid brain remembers that, and stops thinking about the first.
Now! If volume 1 was about discovering a new life, and volume 2 was about dealing with the present, volume 3 was about settling the past. Volume 4... well, you can guess where it's headed.
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Volume 5 is likely to be a skip into the future as well. I do want to write about Niala's and David's life as a couple, but also as a family, and that means kids. So, those are coming- I'm just not certain when. Do you guys want to read more about the kid-less couples' life? Or are we all hankerin' to get to the mini-Davids and mini-Nialas getting into all sort of trouble? Who wants to see Mom Niala deal with her kids? :D
With that said... some news/changes:
I am taking a break.
DON'T PANIC!
It's a very short one; 1, maybe 2 weeks. Why? Because I've been writing 6 days a week, about 3 hours a day, for the past... 6 months? I didn't even stop during the holidays! I need a little break!
BUT! I will not be idle. I want to use that time to go back and fix everything I've been meaning to fix / re-write, and maybe start filling out the Niala's Encyclopedia source book I've started up as well.I don't think I'll need much more than a week, but we'll see.
So, a little break. We'll be right back, before you know it!
However - I will also be reducing the posting schedule from 5 days a week to 3 days a week.
I know, I'm sorry, but it's not because I'm being lazy. I'm doing this for two main reasons:
A) I want to increase the amount of backlog that I have. Right now I have 20 chapters, and it only grows at a rate of one chapter a week (since I write 6 and post 5.) I want to get this up to 40-to-50. Why? Because I want to finally start a Patreon, and I need a back-log for that as well. Now, once I get to the desired amount of backlog, we'll see if I increase the posting schedule. However...
B) I also want to start a new story. I've had an idea running around in my head for a while, and I want to put the words down for it. It won't poke its nose out before quite a while, but I do need some time to start working on it, so I need some space in my schedule.
So there you have it. I hope I'm not making anyone too mad.
I've put up a poll to see which days people prefer for the reduced schedule. You have three votes, so pick three days :) I'm not saying I'll go with the result, but I'll certainly let it influence me.
With that said, I hope you're looking forward to volume 4!
Which three days of the week would you want the releases to be?
