My sincere apologies for how long it took to get this chapter out. It was 90+% complete when I posted chapter five, and I expected to get it out quickly.
While a few things happened in my personal life, none of it was sufficient to cause the big delay. What happened instead was that I hit a mental wall. I know this isn't high art or serious literature, but even so, I had serious writer's block. It got to the point where I was writing maybe a sentence a week, on average. After a couple months of no progress, I switched to a series of standalone stories set in the omake-ish Alpha offshoot and was able to start writing again. (Not that any of those stories are ready to post, but all together, I currently have about 29,000 words worth of material written. Yes, I am a seriously undisciplined writer.)
So, the last bit that I couldn't write for this chapter has finally been written. It's shorter than I had planned, but it's done. I also currently have:
- 26K words/53 pages written for Chapter 7, where we introduce new characters and visit DC,
- 3800 words for Chapter 8, where we visit Paris, and
- 20K words for Chapter 9, where the plot is secret for now.
(For comparison, this chapter is roughly 64 pages/32K words.)
As for the future? If the story comes smoothly, I could have Chapter 7 out in a few weeks. If not, then who knows.
I also have a big backlog of emails to go through. Again, my apologies. When I can't write, answering emails related to said writing is frustrating.