For those of you who voted for my story as best story by a new author and for me as best new author, thank you! It was an honor to be second place in both of those categories. I would have loved to see the story get first place, but I feel there are other new authors out there putting out a lot more content than me at this point.
So, several of you have dropped me a note to ask how book II is coming along. I'll try to keep the answer long and the excuses short.
It's not going very well, but don't fret.
The progress is about exactly where it was in mid-March. I have two completed chapters and a tricky third chapter that I have paused and restarted a couple of times. I didn't like where it was headed.
Life has been extraordinarily busy. Right now, I'm coaching 11U baseball for my son's team. That means practice three nights a week and tournaments nearly every weekend. In fact, every weekend of my summer is already accounted for until late July.
I'm up at 4:30 a.m. each weekday to head to work, then I have a short amount time after work to get ready for baseball practice, then I'm home sometime after 7:30 p.m. There just isn't much time for writing right now.
This is NOT a complaint. I'm LOVING life. My wife and I get to spend a lot of time with our son, coaching and watching him play. It is rewarding. I have older friends who have told me to cherish this while I can. He's going to be graduating from high school in a handful of years, and it will go by like the blink of an eye.
Many authors take a hiatus for various reasons that just plain suck. Health concerns, family issues, work problems. I don't have any of those problems, and that makes excuses harder to relate.
My spare time is sparse. It's difficult to spend in my home office at the computer. I'm doing plenty of that already at work.
So where do we stand?
I'm not blocked, I'm just busy. I can't really call it a hiatus. I have to say I think about the story all the time. I think about the direction we're headed, character development. Events that will happen far into the future. I even think about individual dialogue.
The story is not dead. Jake and company are very much alive. I do plan to complete another book. I just can't definitively tell you when it will happen.
I'm thinking about starting to publish some chapters after the baseball season ends. (late July) If allowed to publish on a bi-weekly schedule, I think I could do it.
Patreon?
I recently followed Tefler on Patreon to help support his work and really get a better feel for how that process works.
I have decided that's not for me right now. I do this as a hobby for the time being. I do visualize a time when I'm closer to retirement that I may sell written works or ask for that kind of patronage.
For now, I have a job, and I can tell you it keeps me plenty busy.
So again, thanks so much for reading the story, dropping me notes and your votes. You'll get some new content at some point, and I'll keep in touch.