I've been writing non-stop for the past three weeks. Three chapters each of Wayzgoose's A Place Among Peers and aroslav's Drawing on the Dark Side of the Brain 2. Doesn't sound like a lot until you add in the 25 chapters and 83,000 words of Team Manager that I wrote in that time. I've started posting to my Tier 3 Patreon members with the first seven chapters and the response has been positive. Patron Karl said after the first three chapters: "Really enjoying the start of Team Manager. 'Overwhelm' us with as many chapters as you can!"
So, what is it about the timeless story of the reluctant hero who is always being picked on and shunned but finds the character and courage to stand up to the bullies and to protect his growing harem? It's a classic trope and I've picked a new direction for it as High School Sophomore Dennis Enders, the near-sighted shrimp who was abused as a manager for the JV basketball team, comes into his own as manager of the newly formed girls' basketball team. What's not to like about one shrimp geek with thick glasses tossed in with a dozen tall athletic girls at the peak of their teen hormones?
I've sent the first batch of chapters to my editors and cei_mel sent me a note this morning that said, "Your other readers are right--I was hooked at page 50. This story has wide appeal."
Of course, to me, that means I need to read and beef up pages 1-10 so it doesn't take so long the get my readers hooked on the story. 50 pages is the first three chapters. But I'd like you hooked in the first chapter.
I think my brain took that as permission to think about this story all the time and write at every possible moment. So, since I've already written twice as much on Team Manager in three weeks as I have on Dark Side 2 in two months plus, it will probably be the next story I post here on SOL, probably starting in early May. As always, I don't post here until I've finished a story--or at least a completed segment (like I did with the Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins series). And yes, that means I expect there will be more than one segment to this story as we follow my nearsighted geek through the remainder of his high school career and beyond.
Well, my alpha reader basically looks over my shoulder as I'm writing and makes comments. His included: "Just read the latest chapter. Still great stuff! Keep it coming! This is one of your best in recent memory!"
With encouragement like that, I guess I'll quit blogging for the day and get back to writing. I have an acute case of writer-brain at the moment.