Weekly Update - 11/17/21 (Patreon)

Hey there, neighbors.  Time for your regular weekly check in, to let you know where I'm at, what I'm doing and what I'm working on.

Obviously yesterday I didn't post a section from Old Times and I did that because I had something new to drop instead, something that had fallen outside of the schedule I'd planned for the month, so consider it a nice little surprise. Sometimes I get inspired or have an idea come to me, and I've learned that when inspiration is hot, it's a smart idea to strike the anvil before it disappears. 

The ground rule for writing has always been "If you don't see the story you want in the world, then put it into the world." I was out in the world over the weekend, and I overheard a discussion at a bar of two girls who had both decided to go for the same guy, with the other girl's knowledge. They had to be college age girls, and they were a few seats down the bar from me, but they were talking loudly enough that I could hear them, and they were both so... civil about it. As a person who's seen a lot of competitive people growing up, I'm used to competitors being antagonistic to one another. But friendly competition? That's a new one on me. The idea of the The Janus Coins was born right then and there. The idea of him being unable to lie about which was better in anything they'd competed on with him came late into the writing, but I'm glad I incorporated it.

So John's Story will be the first Janus Coins story, and is either going to be three acts or five, with each act consisting of somewhere between three and seven chapters. I'll be sending this one over to EMCSA in a month's time, and the hope is that it'll inspire other people to play around with the concept. I'll delve a bit more into the mythology behind the coins over the course of my stories, but I feel like I laid down the ground rules pretty well in the first one, while still leaving some fun corner cases that other writers could they explore if they wanted to, some of which I'm going to explore myself. The first act is set in 1998 so that I can leap forward in time for other acts. No idea when we'll be back for chapter 2, but it's definitely an option moving forward!

Speaking of options moving forward, later today I'll throw up the poll for what I'm writing for 12/3 for tier 3 patrons and above. As per the decision from earlier, for the month of December, there will be two polls for voter's choice, but whatever is selected in the first one will not be an option in the second one. We'll see how that feels mid-December and assess how January will look.

Work on the next chapter of Morgana's Gift is still continuing with a hope of getting it out sometime on 11/19 but there is an off-chance it might slip into being on 11/20 instead, just based on the week I've had. I know people have been eagerly anticipating a return to Kev and his strange world, especially since Elizabeth is up next, and she's been a fan favorite since that series started, so I want to be sure and get it right. Odds are probably 60/40 Friday/Saturday right now, so if you don't see it from me on Friday, I assure you, it's coming, and will be out by Saturday at the latest.

I've got a very quiet writing environment next week as all my friends are basically out of town for Thanksgiving, which will help, as I cram a lot of writing into that time. I anticipate still hitting the targets of Quaranteam: Phil's Story - Chapter 1 for 11/23 and Brewster's Brood - Part 4 for 11/30. When nobody's around, I tend to be able to zone in a little easier, turn the music up in the house and just let the creative juices flow. 

And, to everyone's satisfaction, I'm sure, I'm currently anticipating to round out the month with Quaranteam 32 on 11/26, although that's a lot of writing to get done over the next couple of weeks, so delivery dates may be a little floaty for all of these. We'll see how next week turns out, when I can just crank the music and dial down and try and get a bucketload of writing done.

Bunch of new faces over the last few weeks, so be aware, I do a weekly update every Wednesday, and am always happy to hear from people here in the comments, via email or on the Discord, where I'm happy to answer some questions, as long as they don't lift the veil of mystery. Also, reminder that the weekly update posts are now visible to everyone, including non-Patrons, so people can see what I'm up to, and to encourage them to chip in. Cheers folks!