Star Again: Blog

Two bits of news today, and both feel good to write.

First, Chapter 9 of The Long Way Back is live. Go read it. We're staying on the two-a-week rhythm you voted for, and so far it feels like the right pace for this story.
Second, the novella is complete. Available Light is finished and fully online now, start to end. If you followed Evan Reed into that too-warm hotel room in Prague, you can now walk the whole way with him. I'm proud of this one, and I'd love to know what you think.

Both the book and the novella are up on ZBookStore as well. Any support over there is genuinely welcome and it's a big part of what lets me keep doing this. No pressure though. Reading here already means a lot. And that's the thing I keep coming back to: your comments and your mails. I read every one. Some make me laugh, some make me rethink a scene, and a few have stayed with me for weeks. That back-and-forth is half the reason I write.

So thank you, honestly. I'm not slowing down. There's more coming, and I'm looking forward to writing it. See you in the next chapter.
S.

Just submitted chapter 8. Hope it will be posted soon.

James finally has a number. The building he lives in has a price now, and a price is a harder thing than a wish. It has to get past a bank, a landlord who's tired rather than sentimental, and a tutoring side-hustle that's outgrowing its room. He's good at building the net. He hasn't asked yet what it closes around.

The chapter turns on a question Marieke has been owed the whole book, and a phone call with his mother that was the hardest thing here to get right. Some care doesn't arrive as help. Sometimes it's a door shutting, quietly.

I also gave Chapter 7 a light trim, cut a few lines that said out loud what the scene already showed. No plot changes. If you've read it, skip the reread.

Scores and comments actually steer this thing, so if a line landed or clanged, tell me. I read them all.

More soon.

— Star Again

A new standalone novella starts today. Available Light is about a wedding
photographer who can read any room and cannot stand being seen in one, and
about the woman in the third row who notices.

It is eight chapters, complete, and I will post it in three parts: chapters
I to III today, IV to VI in three days, and the final two three days after
that. Romance first; the heat arrives late and earns its place.

If you would rather not wait between parts, or simply want to support the
writing, the complete ebook is already on ZBookStore, together with The
Long Way Back. Every copy there directly supports the next story.

Scores and comments are the fuel. Thank you for reading.

Star Again

You voted, and I listened.

273 of you weighed in on how much room you wanted between chapters, and the answer was clear. Two chapters a week took it with 49.5% (135 votes). Three a week came in strong behind that at 28.6% (78), and one a week held its own at 21.6% (59). Exactly one brave soul asked for a chapter every two weeks, and I salute your patience, whoever you are. So two a week it is. That's a pace I can keep and that gives the story room to breathe, which feels like the right meeting point between your appetite and mine.

To make it official: Chapter 7 is live today. Go read it.
Thank you for voting, and more than that, for caring enough to have an opinion about the rhythm of a story. That's a good problem for a writer to have.
One more note. Both the book and the novella, The Long Way Back and Available Light, are now up on ZBookStore. Any support over there means a lot and helps me keep doing this. And if you'd rather wait, that's fine too. Be patient. More will come online in time. Back to two chapters a week.

See you in the next one.

Staragain

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