StarFleet Carl: Blog

In case anyone wonders how things can go when writing -

What I thought was a throwaway line from Chapter Two has now become a major sub-plot in Chapter Twenty-Four, that's going to have assorted repercussions for quite a while.

First 15 chapters are through the second edit, one more edit to go. I've had to go back and fix a couple of issues, courtesy of other throw-away things. (Never mention a character has a pet unless you really mean it - you may have to add said pet in again, when you realize your editor points out - "what happened to the cat?" - and you go, aw, crap. :)

First, thanks for the more than 55,000 downloads and 530 votes for Love Never Changes. The last chapter went up more than a month ago, and I'm still getting mail from people who thought it was inspiring. (Personal note, that wasn't my intent in writing it, but apparently something crept in.)

I've had several mails asking about my next story. I don't think it's going to be quite as inspiring. The first 18 chapters have come back from initial editing. If nothing else, I've found I still make lots of errors when typing. Extra spaces, word choice, and my first reader on this one told me, and I quote,
"Well, this is DEFINITELY different than your take on video games. And on certain cultural icons." He wouldn't tell me whether he thought that was good or bad.

I had it plotted out, on where I wanted it to go. About Chapter 8, it took a left turn at Albuquerque. (No, Bugs Bunny is NOT in it, but his phrase fits.) So, the plot has been completely thrown out the window, and at this point, I'm really pretty much letting the characters drive where it's going now. I don't think the phrase, 'I'm making this up as I go along', has ever been more relevant.

At least the story does. Final two chapters uploaded for your reading pleasure. Thanks, let me know how you liked it, and for those of you who only download and read complete stories, here's another nice sized one for you.

Wow. Next week, I'll post the last two chapters, and this ride will have come to an end. I'm very grateful to everyone who's written me via the mail system here, as well as those people who've taken the time to post comments.

Not to worry, I'm now on Chapter Four of something ... different ... for me. I'm really not sure where that ride is going to go, but once I get about 15 chapters written, I'll send them off for editing and start posting that one.

Bonus Chapter for the new year. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts.