Weekly Update - 11/24 - Scrapin' The Sky (Patreon)

So hopefully everyone enjoyed the first chapter of Quaranteam: Phil's Tale, which went up yesterday. As a reminder, the first chapter of QT proper is set in May of 2020, and the first chapter of QT:PT is set on 1/2/2020, so obviously with the PT spin-off (a commissioned work, it's important to note!) I'll be delving a bit more into where the fictional DuoHalo Virus branched off into our story, and how the fictional pandemic I'm writing caused the devastation we've been seeing in the main QT storyline. Phil's story has been running in the background of the main QT, and I've always tried to give the character a little bit of mystery, and to make it clear that whatever's going on, Phil clearly knows a lot more than he's told Andy about. As we move forward, expect to start seeing several other familiar faces, in most cases before we met them in the main QT. My notes section for PT continues to swell, but believe me, I think you'll want to stick around for more.

Yesterday I started in on Quaranteam 32 and anticipate I should be able to make that release if not for 11/26 then for 11/27. Call it 70/30 odds right now on Friday being the day. I've been letting the scene simmer in my brain for weeks now, and that means the writing itself should be relatively straightforward, assuming I can figure my way through the middle fiddly bit. The opening and ending bits are completely set in my brain, but the midsection has some floaty sections to hammer out. And I know lots of people are wondering how Andy's going to maneuver his way past Katie Couric's question. Soon! Soon answers shall be coming!

And it'll be back-to-back QT chapters, since QT won the vote for what I'll be working on for 12/3, as I sort of expected it would, which means QT32 on 11/26 and QT33 on 12/3 followed by another long break before we're back to QT again, although there will be QT:PT2 in December unless plans change.  The second vote will run from 12/10-12/17 for what I'm writing for 12/31 and as per the rules I laid down before Quaranteam will not be on the available list of choices, since it won the first vote in the month. That means everyone will get to pick from all of my other projects, including getting me to do a new idea as well. I think I'm also going to set that particular poll so everyone voting can only cast 1 vote, rather than allowing people to pick multiple options, so people will have to decide what's their favorite story that isn't QT.

 Early next week gets a little cramped, as I have Brewster's Brood 4 to finish knocking out for 11/30, and a late private commissioned work to squeak in as well, but I feel like I'm in a good groove right now, and think I'll be able to get those done without too much effort. And I'm going to make Brewster's Brood 5 for 12/10, the first of the two BB updates for December. The second one, BB6, will take up a Tuesday in the late part of the month.  Around the time I post either 5 or 6, I'm probably also going to make the first part, BB1, available to all Patrons (or maybe even to everyone), so people who are on the fence about bumping up to tier 2 can get a free taste, see if it's something they'd be interested in. I've been very happy with how BB is coming along so far, and feel like we're just getting started with some of the fun bits of intrigue. I'm writing the story, and I can't wait to get to Ironwood Estates, but I also don't want to rush to it. Believe you me, though, boy is it coming. I can't wait.

 For those of you who are fans of the Old Times posts from the archives, the next one of those will be on 12/7, to give me a little room to breathe. I'll still be writing during that time, but will be using it to get a little bit ahead for the rest of the month. I'm currently leaning towards 12/17 being another If I'm Honest chapter, but it's far enough out that I'm still considering. I might want to do another Janus Coin chapter instead. Still milling it over in my head right now. Also by that point, the first Silversmith story will be available to the public, so maybe there will be a swell of interest in me doing more of those. The back half of December still needs to get worked out, but I'm trying not to plan too far ahead.

A few last things to wrap up for today - if you haven't watched the Netflix live action remix of Cowboy Bebop, I'm two episodes away from the finale, and have enjoyed it quite a bit. If you aren't familiar with the anime, it's basically the pinnacle of anime if you ask me, and it's worth the watch. Also, I blasted through the first two episodes of Disney+'s Hawkeye series this morning, and it's great, a lot of what I hoped it would be and a few things that caught me off-guard in a good way. It's drawn from a combination of Matt Fraction & David Aja's run of Hawkeye and Kelly Thompson & Leonardo Romero's run of the other Hawkeye (aka Kate Bishop) and incorporates elements from both into the MCU in excellent ways. 

Finally, I'm gonna close out every weekly update from here on out with some piece of music that is currently floating around my mental inventory. Sometimes it'll be someone you may have heard of, but a lot of times, expect it to be a lost gem that I simply want to share. This week's musical interlude is a British band called Kingmaker, who made three amazing albums before disappearing. Kingmaker - Really scrape the sky - YouTube

 To my American readers, enjoy your Thanksgiving, and realize that it's both important to stand up for your beliefs and important to remember your family is still your family, no matter how crazy they may be. Don't get killed in a Black Friday rush, and I'll see everyone on Friday or Saturday for QT32.