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Chapters 9 and 10 of Longshot have been returned from my editor, corrected, added to, and re-posted. The corrections include some nautical terms - I used aftwards in some cases where stern would be more appropriate - which brings up a point about navigation within the immensity that is the Longshot habitat.
Without a sun or any external reference, there is no "north" or "south" in Longshot. Despite its size, the ship is still a vessel, and is treated that way for the purposes of navigation: forward, in the direction of travel, is the "bow", while the opposite direction is "aft".
The habitat is a spinning cylinder, rendering any distinction between "port" and "starboard" moot. Instead, cardinal directions along the circumference are referred to as "spinward" (i.e. in the direction the habitat spins: clockwise, if you are looking at the bow) or "antispinward".
Over time, geographical locations will be given greater precedence; at this stage of the story, our protagonist is still exploring his strange world, and naming things within it. (I'm also continuing to work on a map, for those readers who are more visually inclined).
While the full manuscript of Longshot is still in development, I've re-published Chapter 8 today to include corrections from my editor and a little re-writing to improve and tighten the prose.
Shooting well past my original estimates, Longshot has now become my longest work by far, currently coming in at more than 156,000 words. Spanning over 300 years, the plot is winding and complex; part of the reason I haven't published more chapters of late (aside from the fact that I want to proceed from a state in which everything has been thoroughly edited) is that I find myself dashing back and forwards through time, correcting the inevitable inconsistencies that develop in a story of this length and working in the foreshadowing of actions that occur much later.
I believe that the final finished work will be much stronger as a result, rather than improvising as I go, but I do understand that the delay must be wearying to devoted readers. I will begin to publish new chapters as soon as they come back from the editor.
Increasing the pace of re-posting, Chapter 7 of Longshot was re-published today, correcting a number of adjective/adverb errors. This brings us halfway through the previously published content of Longshot on SOL.
My thanks as always to my editor and you, Constant Reader, for remaining so patient as we set the groundwork for the remaining chapters and those to come.
Due to the wonderful ongoing efforts of my editor Yellow Peril, Chapter 6 of Longshot has been reposted to SOL today. The few grammar errors in the chapter have either been corrected directly, or passages rewritten to avoid the original error (hopefully without introducing any fresh mistakes).
In our correspondence YP pointed out that the word "anastomose" - a rejoining of things that have diverged or branched outwards - would be a more accurate term to describe the geography of Longshot's falls at the edge of the cascade. An author's primary job is to bring scenes and characters to life for the reader, but I believe it is also their responsibility to very occasionally use rarer words might be a better fit for a passage, expanding the reader's vocabulary in the bargin. I'm no Lovecraft - you won't find "squamous" or "cacodaemoniacal" used with regularity - but you will sometimes come across words that are unusual. In all such cases, their meaning should be easily derived from the context in which they are used.
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