An optionally quick update (Patreon)

Optionally cos here's the tl;dr: next chapter will be a bit late as a side effect of the bonus chapter being pushed out last night.  More detail to follow for those who want to know.

So the long and the short of it is I'm having trouble with the bonus chapters; that should be apparent from how deep the backlog is.  I alluded to this in the last bonus topic poll, but not everybody got to see that so I'm posting the updated info here: for at least the next bonus chapter and possibly the next several, instead of being properly "bonus" they will occupy a spot in the normal update schedule.

The reasons for this are that at least the next two (and also the last one that was just published) I worked into the core plot of Book 3, and thus they needed to occur at specific points in that book, so the main chapters are gonna start having to wait for them to be done and since it turns out I can't crank them out at the speed I was hoping, I have to pace myself.  I've been trying to work on the next chapter since I got up this morning and while it's still relatively early, I can already tell this isn't going to work.  That's fairly typical for me, I'm always mentally fried on the day after finishing a chapter and need a little time to recover.  Much as I hate that, it is what it is.

Pursuant to my recent posts and polls and feedback requests, I'm going to implement some changes starting next book; I want to provide some more benefits to my Patrons and thanks to some good suggestions I've found a few options that should be doable without draining my already strained mental faculties any further, so I'm going to start doing those after my next writing break.  As of this morning I've also decided to change how the bonus chapters are handled.  Haven't yet decided how, exactly, but it's clear to me the current system isn't working and I want to be fair to everyone without overburdening my malfunctioning brain, so I will think on it and come up with something that works for everybody.  It may be as simple as making each monthly bonus chapter part of the normal update schedule; there are some problems with that, but I'll consider it and am open to suggestions as always.

What can't keep happening is them building up a constant backlog and now causing delays in the main publication schedule.  Any kind of commissioned content is always more difficult for me than stories that come strictly from my own ideas.  Not that I don't enjoy doing them, it's just harder, so it takes longer and adds a bit of extra strain to my creative abilities, which are pretty creaky as a baseline these days.

Anyway, I appreciate your patience, everybody.  Book 3 is drawing quickly to its conclusion and I'm very excited for the upcoming chapters in particular.  I apologize for the wait but I'm confident that this time in particular it'll be worth it!