REP: Blog

I posted my last story a year and a few days ago. One of my readers has requested a blog post about what I have been doing since posting that story. The short answer is not as much as I had planned to do due to a loss of motivation.

Since posting my last story, I spent a lot of time reading other authors stories and posting in the Forum. I also started writing Opening Earth Part 4 and a new story titled, The End and a New Beginning. I have also been reading my prior stories and submitting corrections for the errors that I found. I submitted corrections for more errors than I expected to find.

OE 4 is at 10 chapters and I hit a writer’s block. Doug’s life is evolving in the Multiverse and on Earth. He needs to spend more time in both places than he does; an obvious impossibility. He is trying to resolve that problem by turning control of his activities over to other people when he can find suitable people. Doug and Sandy are starting a series of businesses on Earth to support Doug’s role as the Multiverse’s Ambassador to Earth. Unfortunately, those businesses will require several years for construction of facilities and the Multiverse Trade Guilds don’t want to give Doug the time he needs to prepare Earth for an influx of Multiverse traders. The traders want to do business with Earth merchants now, but they have problems for they can't speak Earth’s languages and Earth’s foods are loaded with the type of sugar that turns the people of the Multiverse into sugar addicts, which can kill them and there is no cure in the Multiverse.

The End and a New Beginning is a different type of story for me. The story is about change in a person’s life. The MC’s life and the lives of those he encounters undergo major changes.

The story is set in what is now Germany and begins in the year 984 AD. The story begins just prior to the marriage of the main character’s future parents. The main character, Victor (Vic) Bauer, is born in the year 988, and his father is a lease farmer. In 1003, he joins his Duke’s Household Guard. In 1004, his King is attacked by the neighboring Kingdom and Vic goes to war. He becomes an outstanding cavalry troop leader and he is promoted from Private to Captain in a two-year period. In 1005, the King of the neighboring Kingdom surrenders. During the surrender negotiations, Vic’s King gains title to the neighboring Kingdom, but there is a problem. The Duke of one of the surrendering Duchies was killed in battle and Vic’s King has to appoint someone to take over and rule the deceased Duke’s Duchy. The King realizes the Duchy is potentially a battleground, so he needs to appoint a noble who is an outstanding soldier, tactician, and leader of men to manage the Duchy for him, but he can’t think of a suitable noble. The King’s choice is the end of Vic’s life as a peasant and the start of his life as a noble. Thus the title The End and a New Beginning.

The above is a brief overview of Vic’s life from his birth until he is 17 years old. I skipped a lot of the details, which are provided in Chapters 1, 2, and the start of Chapter 3. I am currently working on Chapter 7. I think the story will be 8-10 chapters in length at completion. However, there will probably be subsequent Parts, if I can continue writing for that long. My production rate has dropped drastically and I am also working on OE 4, so don’t be surprised if I don’t post the story until early next year.

I have received comments from readers telling me that they are sorry to hear of my illness.

In the Epilogue, It is Ken Hawk (AKA Keyboard Man) speaking. It is him who is announcing his imminent demise. I thought it would add a degree of realism to the story by placing myself and TeNderLion in the story as characters. Evidently that addition led to some confusion.

The story is a product of my imagination and its characters other than me and TeNderLion are fictional. I am also in reasonably good health for a man of 78.

REP

The final chapter of An Old Fart Wins Big will post on Tuesday. If you are reading the story, the ending is unconventional.

How unconventional?

Well, I posted my first story on 4/22/2014 and had been a reader for several years before that. Since I first became a reader, I have never seen an author end their story in this manner.

I hope you enjoy the ending, even if it isn't what you are expecting.

I think I messed up when reposting Chapter 7 of An Old Fart Wins Big. Chapter 7 is the final chapter, but Chapter 4 is currently indicating that it is the final chapter of the story.

I sent a message to Lazeez requesting that he fix my mistake.

REP

I don't know how it happened but Chapter 6 of Time Scope 4 indicates it is the end of the story, but there are still 7 chapters pending to be posted.

I reported the problem to Lazeez.