I’m midway through writing Chapter Twenty-One; I should be farther, but I’ve been distracted by other projects, such as the chapbook to accompany Realms of Light, and getting the cleaned-up files of The Cyborg and the Sorcerers and The Wizard and the War Machine ready for the upcoming Wildside Press reprint volume.

The serial is paid for up through Chapter Nineteen; Chapter Twenty is almost paid for.

Chapter Fourteen will be posted next week, though perhaps not at exactly the usual time; I’ll be traveling, and am not certain of my schedule. However, I won’t have my own computer, and I’m not planning to take all my mailing lists and passwords and so on, so I won’t be making all the usual announcements; you’ll just have to check for yourselves.

Chapter Fifteen will be delayed; I don’t know how much. I won’t have net access on the 22nd. Everything should be squared away and up to date again by September 29th, when Chapter Sixteen will be posted.

I’m midway through writing Chapter Twenty.

The serial’s paid for through Chapter Nineteen.

Chapter Thirteen will be posted Wednesday, September 8.

Hey, I’m finally farther along in writing than I’ve been paid for!

Generally speaking, I think it’s going reasonably well. I’m into a section where my working outline is a bit skimpy, but I think I can manage.

I’m midway through writing Chapter Eighteen.

The serial’s paid for through Chapter Eighteen.

Chapter Twelve will be posted Wednesday, September 1.

Life should be a little less hectic after tomorrow — at least, until I leave on September 13th for a two-week trip.

I’m almost finished writing Chapter Sixteen; it should have been done long ago, but the last couple of weeks have been crazy busy.

The serial is paid for through Chapter Seventeen.

Chapter Eleven will be posted Wednesday, August 25th.

I’m paid through Chapter Sixteen, and a significant portion of Chapter Seventeen — I haven’t run the numbers today. I was away for a four-day weekend, and then we had guests, so I haven’t had time to do much.

I haven’t had time to write any more, either — I’m still just starting Chapter Sixteen.

This is going to be a busy week, so I may not get much writing done for the next few days either, but next week there shouldn’t be any distractions. Chapter Ten will be posted on Wednesday, August 18th.

Hope you like the story so far.

I’m paid up through Chapter Sixteen.

I’ve written to the beginning of Chapter Sixteen.

I’ll be away this weekend, at NASFiC in Raleigh, so I won’t be replying to comments or acknowledging donations, but I should be back online by Monday afternoon and will catch up in time to get Chapter Nine posted on Wednesday, August 11.

I think that’s it. Am I forgetting anything?

I maybe had to cheat a little — I’m actually still a couple of dollars short, but I decided it was close enough. Or if you count the advance from FoxAcre Press (which I don’t), then this chapter was paid for a couple of weeks ago.

The contracts with FoxAcre are signed, the token advance has been paid, cover art has been approved and the rights obtained. The editor has read the novel, and says there are a very few small changes wanted; I’m waiting for the file telling me what those are. None of them are potential deal-breakers, I’m assured, so everything’s on track. Due to unrelated family stuff taking up most of the publisher’s time right now, we don’t yet have a publication date, but it shouldn’t be too much longer.

Regarding the planned bonus chapbook, I lost the working file of Setting the Stage in a computer crash a few weeks ago, and will need to rewrite it from scratch; I do still have all the original materials, so it shouldn’t be difficult, but I haven’t yet found time to tackle it.

And I think that’s about everything; back to The Final Calling.

Chapters One through Fourteen are paid for; Chapter Fifteen was about halfway, last I checked.

Chapters One through Fourteen are written, and I’ve just started Chapter Fifteen.

Chapter Eight will be posted on Wednesday, August 4th.

Guess that’s everything; we’re getting settled in here.

Chapters One through Fourteen are paid for.

Chapters One through Twelve are written, and I’m working on Thirteen.

Chapter Seven will be posted on Wednesday, July 28.

For those who missed previous mentions, there’s now a fan-created Ethshar Wiki you might want to check out and contribute to. (I’ve made some corrections, but I’m not writing any of it.)

I don’t know how long this novel will be; it’s a safe bet it’ll be more than twenty chapters, but beyond that, I don’t have a very clear idea at all.

There’s no publication date yet, though; the publisher is in the midst of relocating because of his wife’s job, so everything’s at sixes and sevens. (I love strange old idioms like that.) It may, I regret to say, be awhile. Realms of Light is next in the editorial queue, but we don’t know when he’ll get to it. We do have cover art.

Further bad news: In a recent computer crash I lost the entire working file for the half-finished “Setting the Stage,” and no, I idiotically didn’t have back-ups. I’ll need to rewrite it from scratch. (I was able to recover the other two damaged files, but not that one.)

On the other hand, I wasn’t happy with how it was going, which was why it was only half-finished, and the delays at FoxAcre give me more time to get it right. I do still have the original letters.

As for the serial, I have $137 toward posting Chapter Fifteen, out of $250 needed. Inching forward very slowly…