Grey Wolf: Blog

I'll be posting chapter 20 of Variation on a Theme, Book 3 tomorrow. You can think of this as a belated anniversary celebration, or as something of an apology for how long the primary story arc has run right now.

When I wrote the story you're reading (or, based on some feedback, suffering through) right now, I was still imagining 4x/week publishing. Even then, it's probably at least a couple of chapters too long. There are some good reasons for that - would it really feel consequential if everything had been hashed out in just a short time? - but it's almost certainly tipped over into 'too long'.

Chapter 20 pretty much settles (without wrapping everything up in a pretty box and putting a bow on things - that's chapter 21) where things are heading in terms of 'relationship drama', and also kicks a few more things into motion. For everyone who's been saying 'wrap it up, already!' this is (mostly) that.

Thank you for your patience. I hope you find you like where things are heading and perhaps understand why it mattered that it took a while to get there. There's a lot of interesting ground to cover in the rest of Book 3 (and beyond!), and - as always - thank you, readers, for going on this journey with me.

Slightly belated announcement on this, but it somehow seems fitting that it's a day late.

One year and a day ago, I nervously hit 'Submit For Posting' on Book 1, Chapter 1 of 'Variation on a Theme'. Only two people had read it before - my initial editors.

A year later: 1675 emails from readers, over a thousand between me and my (now five) editors, 1.8 million downloads, and almost 870,000 words posted (well over a million written). I'm still a bit overwhelmed by it all!

I'm looking forward to continuing the stories of Steve and Angie and their parents, and seeing where their stories, and those of Jasmine, and Jane, Jessica, Gene, Cammie and Mel, Sue, Janet and Lizzie, Mike and Sarah, Andy and Cal, Emily and the Wonder Twins, Paige, Lexi, Sheila and Amit, and Meg and Steffie, and so many others take us.

Thank you to everyone for going on this journey with me. I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

I've got two Thanksgiving surprises for Variation on a Theme readers.

First, I'm posting a bonus chapter tomorrow in honor of both Steve and Angie's and Jasmine's families' love of Thanksgiving. Chapter 12 will post tomorrow, and Chapter 13 will follow on Friday.

Second, voting (which I should have turned on following Chapter 10's posting, but failed to) will be turned on tomorrow. I'm not sure exactly when, but some time tomorrow. Depends on how my Thanksgiving is going; I'll be spending it with family and friends.

I am very thankful for the many of you who've gone on this journey with me and are continuing to enjoy the story. Whether or not you're one of them, Happy Thanksgiving to you, and I hope you have a great day!

As always, I enjoy hearing from you. Thanks to those of you who've written to me over the nearly a year that I've been sharing this story (even if you didn't like something).

Thank you to everyone who wrote to me, and to everyone who reads Variation on a Theme. I very much appreciate all of you and your continued support, kind words and thoughts, suggestions, comments, corrections, criticisms, and even gripes.

Variation on a Theme, Book 3 - covering Steve, Angie, and friends' junior year - will commence posting on Monday, November 1, on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday posting schedule. Plenty of new adventures are in store.

As a teaser: pay attention to the disclaimer at the bottom of the Foreword for Book 3 (but don't expect an immediate impact from it, either).

Book 2 of Variation on a Theme is coming to an end very soon. The final chapter (116) should post on Saturday, October 30th. I promise - no cliffhanger this time. See - not so scary! I certainly hope the ending encourages you to wish to continue into Book 3, though.

Speaking of Book 3, here's the (slightly) scary part (for me, anyway; annoying, for many of you). I'm not as far ahead as I'd like to be on getting Book 3 written. Well over enough ahead that posting isn't a problem, but - for now - I'm going to post 3 times a week instead of 4. My current thought is to post M Th S, but I'm open to suggestions for other days.

I can blame a lot of things - a few cases of writer's block, a new job that's keeping me very busy, volunteer commitments, and so forth - but the simple fact is that I don't want to risk running out of things to post and having to post as I get things written. That's not good for anyone. My hope is that 3x a week will at least keep me from getting further behind and may let me build up more story so that the posting pace stays steady long-term.

I'm sure some of you will be disappointed, and I'm sorry. It's a bit of a trick instead of a treat. I'll try to make sure there are some treats, too.

Cast of Characters is still in progress, not forgotten, if you're wondering.

As always, thanks for reading!