The once and future schedule slip (Patreon)

Last Avenist update was a partial chapter; the full one wasn't completed until today, just in time for it to go up for the other Patreon levels.  I can't count that as a full Avenist-level update, so I'm counting today as a missed update for that level.  Which means...you know the drill.  Skipped update for other Patreon levels next time, skipped update for public readers the time after that.

I'm frustrated with myself and very sorry to all of you for this, especially coming as it does right on the heels of the last such slip.  This time there's a reason for it beyond my usual mental instability, and that reason means this is probably going to keep happening with some regularity for the next few weeks at least, so I want to make a public statement on it to keep everybody in the loop.

If you haven't heard the news, Only Villains Do That has been signed by Podium for a full release including ebook, audiobook, and paperback formats.  That is the bulk of what I've been dealing with the last couple weeks.  There's a lot of work that needs to be done to get it ready for publication: in addition to editing all three books myself, then looking over the copyedited manuscripts once they're done with their end of the process, Podium has been giving me a lot of other homework.  I've been giving notes on names and pronunciations, cover art, titles, voice actor casting, the works.

To be clear, this is the furthest thing from a complaint.  On the contrary, it's immensely reassuring: the level of detail and care being put into this tells me Podium is taking it very seriously, trying to create the best final product they can, and involving me in every step of the creative process.  It's fantastic, I have enjoyed dealing with everyone I've worked with.

It's just that, as an unavoidable byproduct of all this, it's exhausting.  Most of these tasks aren't hugely time-consuming - except the editing, which takes a long time and a lot of detail-oriented work.  But my whole mental health issue is that I have a very limited amount of creative energy and pre-book tasks are burning through it at an alarming rate.  Not to mention that it's immersing me in OVDT again, right when I was beginning to recover from the emotional stress that story was causing me.

So basically I'm tired and stressed and overextended and it's all toward a very good purpose which I'm incredibly excited about and proud of but in the short term it's playing hell with my ability to get chapters done and published on time.  Which means, until I manage to get all this stuff wrapped up, these things will probably happen more than usual.

I'm very sorry about that.  I promise I will do my best to keep the disruptions down to a minimum, but I can't in good conscience promise a specific amount; the whole issue is that I'm stretched a little too thin to be in control of my creative output.

Once it's all done it'll be so worth it, though.

In the meantime, thank you all very much for sticking with me.  I really hope you're continuing to enjoy the story; I'm still determined to produce my best work, as often as I'm able to get the work done.

I appreciate you.