Phil Brown: Blog

To those of you who emailed, thanks for caring enough to take the time to write.

For most of the last four months, I have been on sabbatical, trying to recover both physically and emotionally.

While I have always tried to respond to your emails in the past; this time, I decided it would be better not to. Trust me, you would not have liked me if I had.

But time heals all things and I've finally found the positive mental energy to live and to write some more on the story.

This is just a short note to let you know that I posted Chapter 18 this morning. And that I will continue to post as I am able, but probably not as fast as you would like. Sorry.

As always, thank you for reading "Second Time Through",

Phil

It's here!

The re-write of Book 2 of the Second Time Through' series was just posted.

I DID NOT change the story significantly, except maybe to those of you who, like myself, are perfectionists. Mostly, I just corrected mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation and several word usage faux pas.

I also re-worded several sentences and paragraphs to better explain a situation. By my calculations, I probably added about 6000 words, but since it was almost a quarter million words already, it's not too big a deal.

So if you're one of those readers with a phenomenal memory and never likes to re-read a story, forget it. Don't bother.

However, if you happen to LIKE re-reading a story, (like me), and you appreciate not having to stumble around mistakes, then you might want to download the re-write.

Either way, thanks for reading Second Time Through…

Phil Brown

Several of my editors were surprised when I started sending them chapters to edit for Book IV. Most of them said they had to go back and re-read the first three books to catch up again. And I appreciate their efforts. However, since they have a tendency to be blunt with me (which is one of the traits that makes them great editors), they were not shy about reminding me of all the errors in Book I.

Unknown to them, I have actually been working on all three books for the last six months, going through each of the books, editing, correcting, and re-phasing as I went.

I did it for me and had not intended to post the corrected chapters. I had kept every e-mail that pointed out a mistake, misspell, etc and went through every last one of them systematically to get as many mistakes corrected as possible, which is why it took me so long. It was also good therapy after everything I've gone through over the last two years.

As many of you know, I am something of a perfectionist, and I truly wanted to make the story flow better. Also, all the errors that you have been so gracious and helpful to point out were driving me crazy and needed be corrected for my personal sanity, even if no one else ever saw them.

However, thanks to Cassie's and Greg's chastisement, I have now uploaded a complete re-edit of Book One.

There are no major changes to the story, only grammar, punctuation, and spelling corrections, along with a lot of re-phrasing and some added explanations in spots. All told, I added about 6000 words to the story (or about two chapters).

I have books II and III corrected, but they have not been formatted for SoL because, as I said, I did not intend to concern myself with updating what was already posted. However, if enough of you want them, I will spend the extra time to format and upload Book II and Book III. (I think I just heard a groan from Laz…).

By the way, Special thanks to Laz and his team for helping me through the technical aspects of uploading Book I yesterday.

As always, thanks for reading,

Phil

"For it was written that he that commands the Te'trad will be amongst the most powerful of all the gods."

And Michael now has three of the four pieces. Should he put off his long planned trip to Tapato and his coronation? Not-to-mention his marriages to Hanna and Abby? Just to go searching for the missing piece of the Te'trad?

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I just posted the first five chapters of Second Time Through - Book IV.

For those of you who have written, thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

The doctors, in their infinite wisdom have decided that I can go on living… albeit with certain restrictions. So now I am faced with the age old distinction between life for life's sake, and/or quality of life.

I mean… no cigarettes (or cigars), no alcohol, and absolutely no food that tastes good. (I've yet to find anything that tastes better without salt). Not to mention what all the meds do to the old libido. Where's the quality in that?

I know. I know.

"But you're alive," they tell me.

"And you call this living?" is my almost automatic reply.

Just so you know, I'm still trying to figure out the answer to that one. I mean, I'm better off than some (see cmsix, for example), so maybe I should just quit grousing and start writing.

Speaking of cmsix, it was great to hear from him again (via his March 31, 2014 blog post). I just finished re-reading his story, "John and Argent" and it's still one of my all-time favorites. If you get the chance, drop him a quick line to wish him well and tell him to get off his ass and finish SOMETHING! (Personally, I'd like to read more of his story called 'Depression', but truthfully, I like them all).

As for the next book of Second Time Through , I cannot say when it will get here. However, I am definitely feeling much better and I'm hoping that the light I see at the end of the tunnel is not the 4:45 Express from Gate City.

To all who voted for my story in the Clitorides Awards, a heartfelt thank you. First place in "Do-Over" and third place overall is not too shabby.

Phil