…to say thank you for your patience and support over what was a long and trying summer. Last spring, I felt like I was on top of the world. I had launched a new book and a new marketing concept, I was hitting my goals on Tales of MU, I felt like I’d found all the pieces to make my life work.
Then it all came crashing down, and it’s taken me a while to build things back up… to build myself back up. Those of you who read my personal blog have been able to follow the process, which only really started to come together this month. I feel like I hit a stride in this past week, which is particularly exciting since it happened in the midst of an insomnia spell and the sort of random physical debilitation that my body is prone to, the very same things that have thrown me off in the past.
In other words, I had a great writing week in the middle of a bad personal week, and that’s pretty awesome because writing just makes my life better… figuring out how to keep doing it when things are bad means things will never be *quite* as bad as they would be. The fact that you all stayed by me… even those of you who understandably grumbled were still grumbling here… coupled with the overwhelming outpouring of emotional support back in July helped quite a bit. It really means a lot.
So, again, this is just to say thank you and that your patience is not in vain. Now that I have the main Tales of MU story back on track, you will start seeing more of the other things you’ve been waiting for, starting with a new Other Tales next weekend and culminating with the long-delayed debut of Kin & Distant Relations before the end of the month.
(Also, next MU chapter will be up on Tuesday. This is subject to change as I figure out the best rhythm, but count on Tuesday and Friday as the regular update days.)
I would type something sentimental or go on about how everyone has things that come up and say we all understand. But the reality is since I do not really know you, and my ability to sympathize is limited, sadly. But the fact is your writing is wonderful and though the schedule isn’t always like clockwork, and sometimes you are more on top of it than others, that does not change the fact. I am invested in the story and characters, and through them you and your ability to create and write them. As long as the stories come fairly regularly and you don’t leave us without for months without an update I will continue to be an avid reader. The universe only lives because you think it and present it, and I love reading your creation. Thank you.
Sev says: I am invested in the story and characters….
That really says it all.
The internal self-consistency of the world you have created, and the characters in it, make it very easy to “suspend disbelief”. All of this seems real. The quality of the writing is also very high and very helpful to me to simply be “in the story” while I am reading it. The result is that, like Sev, I am invested in the story and characters. I think that is true for the great majority of your readers. I would keep coming back to check for the next update even if it had been a year since you posted anything new.
Referring back to Tolkien’s “On Fairy-Stories”, I would say you are an excellent and gifted “sub-creator”.
How many thousands of pages have you written thus far?
I don’t have an accurate word count, but a conservative estimate would be 6,000 pages.
Yeah, yeah, bad spell, good spell. Just keep writing. For as it is stated elsewhere, nothing annoys God more than a moving target. So keep it up with yourself, and no matter what, be good.