Sage Mullins: Blog

I'm happy to announce that real life, after maintaining its grip on me for much longer than I expected, has finally let go, and I've been back in full writing mode for a few days now. Or, at least as "full" as it ever gets for me.

I had been disengaged from "An Unwanted Alias" for so long that I actually had to re-read the story, from the beginning, to get my mind pointed in the right direction. And the thing is, the upcoming chapter 15 is the most important chapter in the story. That's why I'm taking my time here ... I want to get it right.

At any rate, it shouldn't be much longer before it gets posted. Taking editing time into account, give me another week or so.

Real life has grabbed hold of me big time over the past few weeks. Nothing problematic, it's just that I've been busy and haven't had much time to write. I haven't forgotten about An Unwanted Alias. I have the next chapter partly written, and will be picking it up again soon.

On another note, I just happened to notice that Lightning in a Bottle has been nominated for 2014 Clitorides Awards in three categories. I'd like to thank those who submitted the nominations!

The latest chapter of An Unwanted Alias should be up in the next couple of days. It's likely, however, that the following chapter won't appear until the new year is several days old. Holiday stuff will likely cut into my writing.

There's one rule that many authors subscribe to, and it's one I've recommended once or twice to other authors: Don't start posting a story until it's finished.

Thing is, I'm unable to follow my own advice. :)

With Lightning in a Bottle, I got about 20 chapters written before I gave into temptation and started posting them. By the time I got to about chapter 35, my backlog was gone. Some readers will recall that as a result, there were occasional gaps between updates of two or three weeks - sometimes more.

With AUA, I felt compelled to start posting one chapter a week with eight chapters written. Real life intervened for a while, and once again, the backlog vanished before I knew it.

When I start writing a story, I find that I have a very strong urge to get it out there for public consumption as quickly as possible.

So, you may ask, what's the point here? The point is that even though the chapters are going up at a slower rate, it's not because I'm losing interest in the story. It's because I no longer have any backlog, and the chapters are going up at the rate they are produced.

After chapter 14, AUA should have three more chapters (possibly two, but most likely three), plus an epilogue. Next on my writing agenda is to finish Song of Adelita. I'll go into greater detail on my upcoming writing plans in a later blog entry.

Happy Holidays!

I am back online, and ready to pick up where I left off regarding "An Unwanted Alias."

I was somewhat concerned about the reaction to the sad end to Chapter 12, which went up while I was away. Thankfully, not only did the story score avoid a precipitous drop, it actually ticked up a few notches after 12 was posted.

I haven't started to write chapter 13, but I plan to jump right into it. Don't expect a chapter to be posted on Tuesday, however. It's extremely likely that the calendar will turn over into December before 13 gets released.

Just a heads-up here: I will be out of town for the next ten days or so, with little or no internet access for the duration.

That won't affect my posting schedule for An Unwanted Alias, at least not right away. Chapter 11 is in the posting queue as we speak. I've queued up Chapter 12 to be posted on Tuesday 11/18, so that it will go up in my absence.

However, looking beyond chapter 12 ... it's all but certain that it will take longer than a week for me to get the next chapter up. I haven't started writing chapter 13 yet, which means I won't get to it until after my return.

Right now, I expect the final version of AUA to be about 18 chapters long. This is not an epic-length story like Lightning in a Bottle. Still, the story is far from over. Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that I snuck in the "Tear Jerker" code in the very recent past. That's right ... I probably need to give the readership a heads-up that an unexpected and sad turn of events is in the offing. It's not in chapter 11, though.