Kraken: Blog

The amount of email and comments regarding Robledo Mountain has been overwhelming to this point. Ideally, I'd like to respond to every one regardless of whether it was an email or comment. I've been spending my time concentrating on the emails but rest assured I've been reading the comments as well.

The preponderance of emails and comments has been so positive it almost makes me blush reading them. Combine that with the number of downloads and the voting and it's almost too much to credit. To have three of my ten favorite SOL authors send positive comments is icing on the cake.

Even the emails and comments questioning facts or decisions I made regarding the story as well as those pointing out the ever frustrating disappearing words and typos were generally positive to the story as a whole.

All that said, I want to clear up a couple of things.

First, I completed Robledo Mountain, in its entirety before I ever started posting it. As long as I'm around and remember to post chapters every Friday there is no reason it will ever go to the incomplete que.

Second, as I was writing Robledo Mountain I kept a list of inaccuracies in the story. Most of these were small items that few readers would catch unless they grew up in the Mesilla Valley or New Mexico. Some, however, were things like when muzzle loaders were replaced by revolvers and lever action rifles, the amount of gold available in New Mexico, the size and shape of Geronimo's Cave, and, yes, even how much a 25 foot trailer will hold as well as where and when tumbleweeds arrived in the southwestern US and many other things.

While TeNderLoin and therev were editing and proofreading my final draft, I took the list, changed the name to FACTS and expanded it. I will post it as a separate page on my website and let you know when the website goes live. In the meantime, I encourage you to continue responding with issues you feel affect the story. I'm sure there are questions on points that I didn't consider in my list of facts.

Rest assured that I will clean up the disappearing words as well as typos and repost the cleaned up chapters as I can. These cleaned up chapters will also include things like changing pistol clips to magazines.

Some things, like tumbleweeds will remain unexplained in Robledo Mountain and the follow-on stories for personal reasons. Some things like the magical trailer will remain unexplained in Robledo Mountain but perhaps explained in one of the follow-on stories - I haven't decided yet.

Please keep those emails and comments, positive or negative, coming. Regardless of what you have to say in them, I treasure every one as either a validation of the story and my growing abilities as a writer or as constructive criticism for use in this and future stories.

In response to the overwhelming mail, not to mention the comments, I've decided to release four chapters this week. It's my attempt at addressing the rampant speculation on various plot lines and character development caused by the first three chapters. I hope most of the early questions will be answered by these chapters yet I also know they will raise many new questions. That's one of the things that makes serial submissions great!

Another thing I like about serials great is that it allows me time to work on REFUGE, the next book in the Robledo Mountain saga. The current rough draft is much too long, even for someone who prefers long stories like me. I'm hoping to winnow it down, layer in the details, finish it and get it through the editors by the time I'm done posting Robledo Mountain. That's my hope but, hey, it is almost summer after all and outdoor activities beckon so there may be a little delay before REFUGE is ready.

Causing a little more delay are all the story thefts that have been going on the last year or so. In hopes of averting theft of my story I've decided to take the approach so many others have chosen and have started the ball rolling on publishing Robledo Mountain. As an old fart, that means spending an inordinate amount of time and effort learning the frustrating formatting required to get the process started as well as learning to build a website, etc. Something I'm sure all the youngsters already know well how to do. Learning the various formats has been a less than enjoyable experience and I'm sure I'll have to relearn major portions of steps again in the future. In contrast, building a website has proven to be quite fun - even though it's a free site and rather limited in what I can do with it. More on both the publishing and the website in the future.

Finally, my sincere thanks to all those who've commented and sent me emails. Please, by all means, keep both coming as they not only make the writing worth the effort but help me improve as well.

The first three chapters of my first story, Robledo Mountain, are now available. This is a long story totaling 35 Chapters with new chapters posted weekly. My thanks to TeNderLoin and therev for their editing and proofreading prowess. I'm looking forward to readers comments so don't be shy.