Kenn Ghannon: Blog

Runesward - Tome 1: Hasp is complete and in the books. It was a fun ride and I appreciate all of the time everyone took to write to me and comment on the story. Criticism and praise, I'm thankful for it all.

I'm working on Tome 2 - which is a much larger undertaking. New characters have to be introduced which means a bit more world building - and finding each character's particular voice. I've got to finish off some plotlines and start others. I think there's still plenty of meat on the bone.

I've marked Tome 1 as 'ended'; I don't know if that applies to 'Runesward' or just 'Tome 1' but I guess we'll see. Either way, it's ended until I can finish Tome 2. Wish me luck.

Runesward is entering the closing chapters of 'Tome 1: Hasp'. Although I didn't plan it this way, it's actually closing at the perfect time. Next week (Feb 10 through 17th), I'll be on the road for work so I wouldn't have been able to post anything anyway (or, at least, not as easily as I can from home).

This also means that my time this week will be limited as I try to clean things up for my week away. Being on the road plays havoc with work because I won't have the normal time to do my job. This means, in effect, that when I return on the 18th, I'll end up working twice as much just to catch up. (I do have teammates who will step in as necessary - but they're extremely busy, too, so inevitably we end up doing twice as much work when we return - it's not just me).

To that effect, I've spent today pre-processing the final 4 chapters for 'Runesward - Tome 1: Hasp' and have posted them to release on the normal schedule - one chapter each day. I actually agonized over this and considered just releasing them all on Monday - but the extra week or two will give me more time to work on 'Runesward - Tome 2: Callisto'. Unless I somehow manage to get A LOT done during my time on the road, it still won't be ready to post when I get back, but this is one less week of everyone not having something new from me in their browser (vanity, thy name is Kenn Ghannon).

So, if you e-mail me or comment on the story and I don't immediately respond, it is definitely NOT because I'm ignoring anyone. I'm just running far behind. As one of my favorite quotes says: 'I have been put on this earth to complete a specific number of things. Right now, I'm so far behind I will never die.' If only this were so (and, yes, I'm probably mis-quoting it).

The best laid plans of mice and men...

Generally speaking, I go through the following day's post the evening before. If I get through it, I post it to be 'released' at 0800 the following morning. If I don't, I tend to be up very early in the morning and post it as soon as I complete it. Everything usually posts by 1000 - 1100 at the latest.

Of course, Real Life™ happens (I'm copyrighting that - no T-shirts for you!). Yesterday evening was fraught full of family goodness and this morning was very eventful at work. Needless to say, I have not prepped the chapter yet.

I'll upload it as soon as I can; by this evening for certain.

TeNderLoin - who has graciously edited 'Runesward, Tome 1: Hasp' - has accused me of being in love with the semi-colon. He's right. I admit I use it way, way too much. It just seems - convenient. While, technically, it should only be used to conjoin related sentence fragments - sentences that can't stand on their own - or a sentence fragment with a related full sentence, I use it to conjoin related whole sentences. It's a failure of mine.

So far, I've ignored his advice - but he has a very valid point. So, I'm going to go back through - hopefully later today but definitely soon - and get rid of them as he's been after me to do. Mostly. I reserve the right to keep a semi-colon when I want - artistic license. :)

As you might have noticed, I've been lucky enough to acquire the editing services of Anne N. Mouse and TeNderLoin. Both of them have contributed significantly to the 'crowd-source' editing previously and were kind enough to agree to edit the full Tome.

This doesn't negate the 'crowd sourcing'. It's in addition to it. Anything the three of us miss is a bonus to be crowd-sourced.

While I like the thought of asking everyone to be an editor, I'm not sure it's sustainable for the long term. It actually takes a bit longer than I thought it would - and I'd rather front-load the effort as much as possible. Of course, Anne N. Mouse, TeNderLoin and I are only human - so we're bound to miss something (probably because those two caught it and I was either too stupid or too lazy to correct it - but I choose to think I left it just so you have something to send me mail about; I'm vain that way).

Some of the story for Tome 2 - tentatively titled 'Callisto' - has run through my head. I've begun outlining it and fleshing parts out. This isn't a commitment to immediately continue the story, however. I don't want to get to the point where I'm not having fun with it. I'd rather, if it comes to that, move to another story. I'm committed to writing - though not daily - for the long term. I just refuse to commit to any specific story (beyond what I've already revealed as my plans).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy chapter 16. Runesward, Tome 1: Hasp came in at 29 chapters, so we're definitely on the second half.