First, the poll. Last week it was a dead heat, one chapter a week against two, and I asked you for a tiebreaker. You gave me one. It did not break the way I expected.
153 votes in:
Two chapters a week: 47.7% (73)
Three chapters a week: 30.1% (46)
One chapter a week: 22.2% (34)
One chapter every two weeks: nobody. Not a single vote.
So it was never really slow burn or a little more fuel. Nearly four in five of you asked for at least two chapters a week, and more of you want three than want one. That is faster than I sleep. I am working out what that means for The Long Way Back, and I would rather do it properly than promise something I cannot hold. But I have heard you, and the room has clearly spoken.
The poll is still open if you have not voted. At this point you would be voting for the record rather than the result.
And the news: Available Light is live on ZBookStore.
I told you what it is in yesterday's post, so I will not do it again here. If you missed it, scroll back. What matters for planning your evening: it is a novella, a little under sixteen thousand words, complete and self-contained. One held breath instead of a long walk. No timeline to hold in your head, no waiting on me between chapters.
It is coming here too, on StoriesOnline, in the next few days. Same story, no catch. If you would rather wait and read it here, then wait and read it here. If you want to put a little support behind the work, ZBookStore is the place for that. Both are fine by me. Reading and leaving a comment has always been enough.
Thank you for the tiebreaker. And for arguing with my characters as though they owe you an explanation. Keep doing that. They do.
Staragain
First, thank you. I mean it.
The reads, the follows, the comments that show up quietly under a chapter and then sit with me for days. Some of you have caught things I only half-knew I'd put on the page. A few of you argue with my characters like they owe you an explanation. They do. That back-and-forth is the best part of posting here. I get to keep learning about my own story from the people reading it, and that beats writing into the dark every time.
Honestly, this is the part I love most. Not just the finished chapter, but the whole messy business of building a story and watching it land with real readers. So thank you for being part of that.
On the poll: still a dead heat. One chapter a week and two chapters a week are tied, right down the middle. Which is either a nice problem to have or a sign I need a tiebreaker. If you haven't voted yet, now is the moment. Slow burn or a little more fuel? You tell me.
And this week, something different. I'm putting up a short story. It stands on its own, moves faster than *The Long Way Back*, and it doesn't ask you to hold a whole timeline in your head. One held breath instead of a long walk.
It's called Available Light.
Evan Reed used to be a medical researcher. Now he photographs weddings, and he's good enough at it to be frightened by it. The story opens in a too-warm hotel room in Prague, eight hours before he has to stand on a stage and talk to a room full of people who do what he does. His badge says SPEAKER. He keeps turning it facedown.
Evan's mind, as a friend once told him, is "a room where everyone has a key." Too many doors, too much noise, too many things starting at once. The one place it all goes quiet is a wedding day, where there's finally enough to see that nobody can accuse him of seeing too much. Then the day ends, the edit begins, and the doubt comes back.
Available light is a photographer's term. No flash, no rescue. You work with whatever light the room is willing to give you. That's the whole story, really. A man figuring out what he can make of the light he actually has instead of the light he keeps wishing for.
One more thing. The Long Way Back is already up on ZBookStore, and Available Light will join it there this week. So if you'd rather read on ZBookStore, or you just want to throw a little support behind the work, that's the place to do it. No pressure either way. Reading here and leaving a comment already means a lot.
The short story goes live this week. I hope you'll spend some time with it, and as always, I'll be reading every comment.
Thanks for being here.
Staragain
Feel free to fill in the poll!
If you can't wait that long, the book is now available on the ZBookStore.
https://zbookstore.com/s/4366/the-long-way-back
So... I said I will wait with releasing but I got so excited I uploaded the 3rd chapter.
And was planned at 18 chapters is growing to 22 chapters, and perhaps a follow up story.
Let me know true messages or comments what you think of the story.
This is my first time publishing a story and I have to admit it feels very intimidating but I truly hope you will like it. I've been an avid reader here, so it's an daunting experience to do. Currently planning on 18 chapters for this book with release of 1 to 2 chapters per week. Feel free to leave feedback. Love to hear about your thoughts, comments and how to improve!