K.H. Elms: Blog

Chapter 19 will be published this morning/early afternoon. It marks the start of the school year for Ryan and Spellman Elementary. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about my experience writing and publishing this story so far.

When I started writing this story I certainly didn't plan for it to take 19 chapters over 100k words to get to this point. I had the idea for the characters, and I knew a lot about what I wanted to happen, but as I continued to write and started setting up characters and situations, things just continued to demand more words.

With the start of the school year, I expect that the timeline will move a bit faster. The routine of Ryan's work week will allow me to hurry past more of the "boring parts."

I don't know how to properly judge actual readership numbers, but I do know that over 800 people have rated my story and that we have over 200 comments worth of discussion here on SOL. That's incredible to me. Thank you so much for your time and attention.

I've always wanted to write, but it's been a struggle for a long time. About ten years ago I had completed a novel and submitted a query and sample chapters to an editor. Much to my surprise, he liked what he read and requested the full manuscript.

Unfortunately, my mental health was not in a great place at the time. His request led not to excitement but to panic. In the end, rather than submit my manuscript, I deleted the whole thing. I hardly wrote again for years.

Now I'm in a much better place. After finally getting the help I needed, I started taking some medication about eighteen months ago that has allowed me to start writing again. Spellman is the longest story I have written in over a decade, with much more still to come.

This story has allowed me to shake off the rust I had allowed to accumulate on my skills. While I am focused on telling a good story, I am also using this opportunity to practice, stretch my wings a bit, and try new things. I'll continue to experiment with different techniques like flashbacks, alternate POVs, and maybe some unusual structures.

Thanks for coming on this journey with me, and for your support so far. Spellman's positive reception here has meant more to me than you could know. I hope that the story continues to entertain you as the school year begins.

Thank you to everyone who sent messages of support in response to my last blog. I feel terrible every time I am late releasing a chapter. We're usually our own toughest critic. It was very nice to see so many readers be so understanding and encourage me to prioritize my health.

Chapter 18 has been submitted, and will hopefully be posted soon.

With no more travel on the horizon and (fingers crossed) my health improving, things should be back on schedule for 19 on Saturday. My goal is to slowly start building back my chapter buffer so that if something like this happens again it won't result in delays for the readers.

Despite my best efforts (and lots of cold medicine) I am still sick. Tried to finish 18 last night but only got about halfway there.

I am going to sleep for a while and then try again. Hopefully will get the chapter up later this evening.

I've spent the last couple of days in a nyquil-induced haze. Today I am in airports and on airplanes.

17 will be up tomorrow (Sunday, April 16)

I'll be traveling this week, so there might be some slight delays in getting the next few chapters posted. I won't have access to my usual PC so there's a chance I won't be able to get edits and formatting done as easily as usual.