Chapter Twelve is written, and I’ve sent it (and a slightly-revised Chapter Eleven) to donors. I’m a page or two into writing Chapter Thirteen.

I’m getting close to the money required to post Chapter Ten; I should double-check those numbers and see just what’s still needed. Might be as little as twenty bucks. Unfortunately, PayPal made some software changes that have made it harder to check; I had it set up to be pretty much automatic, and now it isn’t. I should see if I can jigger it to work with the updated version.

I know this is going really slowly, and I apologize for that. I really do intend to finish writing it, whether any more money comes in or not; making it available to non-donors, on the other hand, does depend on getting paid.

For those of you awaiting another Ethshar serial, or hoping for some other serial entirely, that’ll have to wait until I’m finished writing (not posting) Realms of Light, but I do expect it to happen eventually, despite the current project’s lack of immediate success.

Been awhile, hasn’t it?  Sorry about that.

We moved on May 21, from a house we’d lived in for twenty-two years to a brand-new one that didn’t yet have all the details finished.  This pretty much ate my life for a couple of months.  We still aren’t completely unpacked.

I don’t have exact numbers at my fingertips at the moment, but no, I haven’t taken in enough to post Chapter Ten.  Money’s been trickling in, but very slowly; I’d guess we’re about halfway there.

And I’m halfway through writing Chapter Twelve.

I’m hoping to get back to work on it soon, when I’ve opened the last of these movers’ cartons.

Chapter Nine has been posted. Finally. Got a donation today that put me over the top.

Chapter Ten is written and has been distributed to those donors who signed up to receive chapters as soon as they’re written.

Chapter Eleven is less than half written, unfortunately. I’ve been busy with other matters, such as page proofs, copy edits, and delivering a new novel to Tor, and also with preparations for relocating — we’re selling our house here and buying one closer to where my wife works. We have a buyer and we’ve found a house we want, so if all goes well we expect to move in early June. Which is exciting and wonderful and very, very time-consuming.

I do intend to complete Realms of Light whether the money comes in for the web serial or not, but unless the cash flow takes a huge jump, it’ll probably be a very slow process.

Thanks to all of you who have supported this project.

Current total: $1,977.00

Chapter Nine posts at: $2,000.00.

I better start getting the files ready.

Haven’t written much of Chapter Eleven, unfortunately; I’ve been busy with other stuff (like finishing Above His Proper Station for Tor, and doing our income taxes). Chapter Ten is written, as donors should know. I have a couple of minor projects to wrap up, and then I should be able to focus on Realms for awhile.

I’ve just sent Chapter Ten out to donors who signed up to receive chapters as soon as they’re ready.

I’ve only just started Chapter Eleven, so it’ll be awhile yet before that one’s ready. Incidentally, I’m now estimating the novel will run twenty-four chapters, but that could turn out to be way off.

I know it’s going absurdly slowly, but I’ve just been too busy with other things to focus on it — not so much other writing (though I’m midway through the third and final draft of Above His Proper Station) as dealing with real estate. Getting our house ready to show was a huge job, and keeping it ready can also be a challenge sometimes. And then there’s all that time we’ve spent looking at houses we might buy when this one sells.

And frankly, it’s not as if there’s huge demand for this story. I’m very grateful to those who have contributed, but your numbers are few. It makes it hard to build up much enthusiasm or momentum.

Still, I’ll get it done eventually.

For now: Chapter Nine will be posted to the web when the receipts total $2,000.00. The current total is $1,837.00. Chapter Ten is written.

Funds received: $1,662. Needed for next chapter: $1,750.

I’m now e-mailing chapters to donors as soon as they’re completed, so those who have signed up for this service have received Chapter Eight. (If you’re a donor and haven’t signed up, what are you waiting for?)

I’ve written about two-thirds of Chapter Nine, but I’ve been severely distracted by preparing our house to be sold, and by a sudden rush of paid critiquing. The house prep is about 95% complete and I’ve started writing the last of the critiques (which means I’ve read the entire very long novel in question), so I’m hoping to have those out of the way soon, which will allow me to concentrate more on Realms of Light. Though there are still other distractions.

And to reiterate what I told someone in a comment thread: The longer it takes to finish Realms of Light, the longer it will be before I start another Ethshar story. I am not going to abandon this until at least 2010, and I’m not going to start another serial until this one’s finished. Anyone impatiently waiting for me to give up on Carlisle Hsing and get to The Final Calling will have a long wait.

Thanks for your support.

Just to not keep you in suspense, it appears unlikely that the next chapter will be posted tomorrow. Chapter Eight is written, but it’s due at $1,750, and the total take so far is $1,627.

I’ve made some minor revisions to previously-posted chapters, though, and I might manage to get those changes online. I’m not sure; it depends on whether I get some urgent household business out of the way.

I still haven’t finished writing Chapter Nine, partly because I ran into a small plot hitch, now solved; partly because I’ve been sick with the worst cold I’ve had in years; and partly because I’ve been very, very busy getting our house ready to put on the market. We’re planning to relocate. I do hope to finish the chapter soon, though.

I’m considering modifying my model here; I may start e-mailing chapters to donors as I finish them, regardless of how much money has come in in total, rather than making people who have done their share wait for the rest of the world. Let me know if that would interest you.

Okay, even though I haven’t received the requisite funds, I’ve posted Chapter Seven, because I felt like it.

Still haven’t finished writing Chapter Nine, but I’ve finished two of the three other writing projects I was working on this week, so I’m hoping to get to it soon.

Not really much else to report. Hope you like the chapter.

Okay, I’m a bit more awake and less harried.

The belated Chapter Six has indeed been posted, almost a month late. My apologies. I managed to keep up through Christmas, but then things got really busy with family business, travel, and getting our house ready to go on the market.

We had six rooms repainted, four rooms and a hallway recarpeted, the cabinets refinished, and new countertops and light fixtures installed. That made it difficult to get much done here, especially when some items were delayed and we couldn’t cook for several days.

And then I had to sort through my comic book collection, more than 14,000 of the little devils, because we don’t want them here when prospective buyers tour the house, and we don’t plan to take most of them with us when we move. I thought I had six to eight thousand, so the sorting, cataloging, and packing was a much bigger job than I’d expected. It’s done now, though, so I can get back to writing, which is, after all, at least theoretically, what I do for a living.

Meanwhile, I still don’t actually have $1,500 in hand. I have $1,487. Which is close enough that I posted the new chapter anyway; I feared that if I waited any longer the whole project would be given up for dead.

It’s not dead. Not even pining for the fjords. It’s just running a little slow. And not bringing in the great waves of cash I’d like.

In view of that, and the state of the economy, and that my plans to coordinate this with other serials seem to have gone completely by the boards, I think it’s time to reconsider my pricing. I am hereby lowering the price from $300 per chapter to $250 per chapter — which means I’m $13 short of posting Chapter Seven, and if that $13 comes in, Chapter Seven will be posted on Wednesday, February 4th.

(I know Chapter Six was posted on a Friday. I don’t care. It should have been Wednesday. Maybe if I hadn’t been so busy with the comics…)

I am, by the way, still in the middle of writing Chapter Nine.

So there we are. My apologies for the delay, and I hope we can get back on track.

There’s much more I should say, but it’s late and I want to get to bed, so I’ll just say that Chapter Six has finally been posted.

More on Friday.