Reluctant_Sir: Blog

First, let me start by saying sorry for dropping out for a bit, sorry for not finishing the second Dark Days story, sorry for no updates and sorry for not answering messages.

Not going to list the reasons (excuses) except to say it was necessary. I am not dead, nor have I been struck deaf or blind. I haven't had a tragic accident that left me with no typing fingers or even had a convenient memory loss. I just got sick, then busy.

Shit happens.

I got an email from a friend who told me about the Clitorides awards, and who called me a dick for dropping out and not, at the very least, acknowledging the votes. He was right.

Please accept my sincere thanks to everyone who either nominated me or voted for me.

As to the future, I am not done writing, so I got that going for me. I have only recently had the time, the energy and the desire to start writing again, and have been going through the 120+ unfinished stories on my HDD hoping for inspiration.

Dark Days 2 is not done, it is sitting at 126K words and needs a few more chapters. When will it be done? I have no freakin idea.

Every other story that has been posted is complete, folks. While it is possible that some might warrant a follow-up, it is not a priority, sorry.

I will be a couple of days, probably, wading through the messages folks sent and, if I answered your question here, I probably won't respond individually, sorry.

Dark Days 2. It's not ready and won't be ready for Xmas release like I hoped.

I know, I know, I tried, really. I could give you a sob story about health issues and whatnot, but what you really want to know is when, right?

How about... I don't know. I had hoped to have the basic story finished by Thanksgiving so I could get it to folks who would try and fix all my screw-ups. Right now, I am shooting for, maybe, Christmas-ish to get it to editors for release late January.

Just know I am not giving up on the sequel.

I found out today I had been nominated again, pretty cool.

https://clitoridesawards.org/view_nominees.php

In looking back, I got nominated in 2015 for two stories, and one in 2016 too, so this being the third time is even cooler.

I am not very good at this self-promotion stuff so, you know...

Go vote!

Or don't.

Or vote for someone else!

I just think it is cool being nominated.

Well folks, despite pressure from readers, I won't be posting early! (Just kidding! A couple of people asked me, very nicely, but I said no.)

The final chapter of Dark Days is up tomorrow. On the plus side, if you like that sort of things, I have the cast list from my working notes being posted as an additional chapter. I put it at the end because most readers don't really care.

The list is my working file. It is neither comprehensive nor it is supposed to be anything other than a reminder about who and where. It is generally organized by where Jack first encountered the person except for the recurring folks like Jake & Dave etc.

On a side note, I have gotten tips, corrections, information and elucidation from many, many people over the course of this story being posted. So many folks to thanks, so few memory brain cells.

I just wanted to thank you all for your time, your patronage and your patience. I had a great time with this story and an even better time reading the more than 300 reader comments and another 300 or so emails.

If reader involvement is measure of success (I think it is) then I hit this one out of the park.

Not only is this the highest scoring story in my list, it is the most commented on and I fully expect it to become the most downloaded as well (Already close!)

Thank you. Each and every one of you who read and voted and commented.

Oh! Before I forget, Dark Days 2 is still in the works. Currently at 105K words and growing. It will be a while before it is done and even more time until it is edited, but it is in the works.

And if you have... well... <drunken declaration> I love you guys!</drunken declaration>

I expected some cr..um... feedback when we got to this point in the story, but got very little hatemail about Cam.

Instead, what I got was a lot of discussion about how this affects the MC, the plotline; about how the MC would react to the situation and how it would affect his decision processes down the line.

Not only was much of it very well thought out, some of it was particularly astute. Some readers' speculations were amazingly on target and you have no idea how pleased that makes me.

Sure, there were some kneejerk "YOU MONSTAR!!!1!" reactions, but they were far outweighed by the more thoughtful, reasoned responses that make writing in a venue like SOL so very rewarding.

Thanks folks, you make this fun!

P.S.: Dark Days 2 is at 80K+