Hello everyone.
Well, when last I posted, I had THOUGHT I was going to have time to write again. I was wrong. I had too much going on in my life and had to put my writing on hold (among other things).
I would also like to offer my apologies to those I haven't responded to in email. I'll hopefully get to the backlog over the next few days.
In a week or two, I once again think I'm about to have time available. I still need to get my new desktop set up -- by the way, since I write on my laptop, this is not a direct excuse/reason for my absence, but it should be the last big item on my "to do" list that needs to be completed -- after which I may have an hour or more every day or two to get back to writing.
The good news is that I've been building up ideas that haven't had an outlet for the past couple months, like steam build-up in a boiler that's either going to start powering an engine or will explode in protest.
"Life" has had me largely out of communication (and with very little writing done) for the past month. I should be able to return to normal by next week.
Please forgive my lack of email response as I haven't done more than glance at the account for a few weeks.
I plan for story updates to begin again in January or February.
Happy Holidays in the meantime!
Woo hoo! Finally finished Book One! Enjoy!
Note that Chapters 20-21 are plot heavy, and I do bring back a couple characters from previous chapters.
Yes, there will be a Book Two. Don't know when.
I've gotten a number of emails over the past week or so from readers who are concerned that I have fallen off the face of the earth.
I thank you all for your concern and would like to reassure you that I am fine, aside from a general lack of free time.
Chapters 20 and 21 are basically done (39 and 47 pages respectively in OpenOffice). They need a little tweaking and a final edit, but all major scenes are complete. Barring surprises, expect them to appear within the next couple weeks.
They are intended to be posted together, linked with a 'to be continued'/cliffhanger, and will complete Life with Alpha Book 1. I already have notes and a few pages written for chapter one of book 2, though I hope to complete parts 2 & 3 of the side-story first (intended to be much shorter than my normal chapter lengths).
AP
Just a quick update. Progress is moving forward smoothly now that I have a more realistic schedule.
Chapter Twenty has 25 solid pages, plus 7 more pages which need filling out -- incomplete scenes, scenes requiring connective material and notes that need to be expanded into actual text. I expect the current 32 pages to end up somewhere closer to 40.
Chapter Twenty-One continues exactly where Chapter Twenty leaves off. Currently the first 23 pages are complete, with 14 more pages semi-complete. I expect those 37 pages to end up somewhere maybe in the mid-40's.
Overall this puts me just above 80% complete, if my final page estimates are accurate. I've been able to add two or more pages each week recently, though a single day's worth of mostly writing should let me finish them both, should such a day become available.
Note that I do plan to post both chapters at the same time, or at most a day apart.
Chapter 21 will complete part one of Life With Alpha, leading into Part Two, tentatively named "Alpha's World".
AP