For those looking for progress on the stories currently in serialization, this isn’t the news you want to hear, but I did some more work on Colony Flipper, writing dialog, working on character profiles and doing more general research. As much as I enjoy this stage of the creative process, I really do need to be returning my attention to the stories I have out now. I’ll see what I can make happen in the coming days. Stay tuned.

Between a fairly busy week at work and me having very little energy once I get back to the ranchero, I haven’t gotten any writing on EM3 or site work done. However, something unusual happened. My coworkers tend to spam messages on LINE and in the LINE app, there was this banner ad for a browser game called ZeroDora. I clicked on it out of curiosity and it seemed like a fairly generic sim with a scifi coat of paint. As a game, there’s not much going for it, but the setting managed to stir my imagination and a concept quickly took shape.

Tentatively, I’m calling this project Colony Flipper, the story of a real estate developer charged with rehabilitating an abandoned offworld colony to turn a profit for a shady corporation. It’s an opportunity to look at the Cross Arc from a very different perspective than any of the other stories I’ve written so far or any that I’ve planned before. I know I have other, bigger priorities at the moment, but it’d be a waste to not capitalize on this surge of creativity while it lasts.

Things should slow down a fair bit during finals week, so I’m hoping to turn things around then. The first half of next week will continue to be busy, but from Thursday on, I should have a little more time for the story and site restoration work I want to be doing. If only I have the energy to meet the demands of the tasks ahead… Anyway, at least you know something’s getting done. Now if I could just start meeting quotas and deadlines again… Stay tuned.

I haven’t posted since Monday’s efforts, so you might think that I haven’t been doing anything productive in all that time. While I haven’t made the story progress I would have hoped, I was doing a fair bit of work in the peripheral materials, divvying up the territories in the rest of the Eight Kingdoms as I had done for Bergeny. Why was I doing this when there was a chapter I needed to be finishing? Well, I needed a better understanding of the area where the chapter was taking place as the local politics factor into how the story plays out. Yes, it’s more effort than some authors put into the behind-the-scenes part of their work, but this is the kind of author I am.

I did get some actual story progress done during my time at Immigration and City Hall yesterday, moving a bit forward in Chapter 21 of TWH, but nowhere near enough to make the deadline. I now have to decide between giving it another week or switching over to EM3 for the time being, though I’m even more lost on the upcoming chapter there. (I know the overall plot, but I’m getting bogged down in the details of how to make it all work plausibly.) You’ll find out after next Monday, I imagine. Stay tuned.

Last week was really rough, hence the lack of updates, but now I find myself with a fair bit of time on my hands, so I was able to work on the movie review section and finish Page 13. I’ll move on to the TV section next. Stay tuned.

I was running a scene from PMGtK in my head on my way home and wanted to commit it to the page. This was time that probably should have been devoted to TWH. Now, I was going to get some writing done there, but by the time I was ready to do that, the mascot had decided it was bedtime and there was no negotiating with her for more time. Well, so it goes. I’ll see what I can get done tomorrow. Stay tuned.

After a whole week of not even touching any story content, it felt really nice to actually sit down and meet my daily quota for a change working on Chapter 21 of TWH. Maybe I can get into the habit of taking a nap in the evening, then doing my writing and going to bed. I know I’d managed something along those lines last year. Now if I can just make a habit of it. We’ll see what I can get done. Stay tuned.

I got a few movie reviews up, but I haven’t had much time to get much of anything done. Bits and pieces are something. We’ll see what else I can get done. Stay tuned.

I finished Page 6 of the comics section, so now I’m going to circle back to the movie section. Stay tuned.

I was making good progress and completed Page 5 of the TV section, so now it’s back to the comic section. Moving right along. I just have to keep at it. Stay tuned.

I pushed my way through to the end of Chapter 24 of EM3, doing about three days’ quota in the process. It’d be nice if I could make progress like this more often. I’ll see if I can’t get a bit of a headstart on Chapter 25 before next cycle. Stay tuned.