SUMMER. Just another friendly bombshell.

Okay ladies n’ germs, I wanted to let you guys know that this coming month of June and through the first half of July updates for Eikasia will be very irregular.  Lemme say that again:

THIS COMING MONTH OF JUNE AND THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF JULY, UPDATES FOR EIKASIA WILL BE VERY IRREGULAR.

Meaning–they will still happen!  But I won’t be able to hit my usual Friday update, and I may not even manage an update every week.  However, there WILL be updates!  During that time, my focus will shift to getting a bonus update or two done.  Why the sudden pseudo-hiatus?  Because–it’s SUMMER!  And I actually have a lot of plans and hopes and determinations to meet in my personal life that will take me away from the steady stream of writing I’ve been doing.  Consider it preemptive burnout recovery…or something. Ha ha!  The timing of this is a bit funny because we’re so soon to finishing In Sight, In Mind–but if you’ll recall, I mentioned I had a bit of a plot error souring things up.  Along with focusing on bonus updates, I’ll be trying to edit and tighten up the story a bit.  I’ve been doing that a lot recently, here and there, changing sentences and fixing old typos and rewriting certain portions (a major one was for Chapter 1.1 this week, where I chopped up the first sentence and added a new paragraph. For a story, this is like plastic surgery on a person’s face)

Basically, we’ve been chugging along at anything between 40-60 mph story-wise.  Now we’re going to grind down to 5-10 mph so that I can fix up the site and handle the backlog of stories I owe you wonderful bastards.  Once I begin Part 3 I’m going to be making a major ad push to encourage new readers to join in.  I’ll likely do something to try and enlist everyone’s help.  I’ve already chosen a name for Part 3, but I won’t tell you all yet.  It’s going to be a short one.  If I don’t let things run away from me, than it’ll be no longer than 6-7 chapters.

So there’s my announcement/FYI/please-don’t-stone-me-I-swear-I’m-still-going-to-be-writing message.

Take care everyone!  Chapter 17.3 shall be up soon.

Beautification and Preparation–Plus, new poll!

So I was working on the website, adding some cool little things here and there.  Basically, I finally gave titles to Part 1 and Part 2 (meaning that new readers or those re-reading Eikasia now know when a story arc begins and ends.)  I also added some stuff to the main page or the “new readers” page, to help people navigate the site easier.  First, I added a list of direct links to where both Part 1: Tributaries and Part 2: In Sight, In Mind start.  Second, I added some navigational tips regarding the links at the bottom of each post and the drop down menus to be found in the sidebar.  Even if you’ve been reading since the beginning, the tips I put up might help you out, so give ’em a looksee.  Another change I did to the website was in the categories.  I shifted Tobias Stories under Intermission as those are the only places we ever get to see them, and gave “The Wind and the Web” its own spot in the tree so that readers can find it easily.  I gave it a title just like I did the story arcs.

Why this sudden interest in adding these little fancy touches?  Why the change to organization, the concern for navigational ease?  Because Part 2 is nearing its end!  That’s right.  Which means a new story arc will soon begin, as well as yet another intermission, so I’m getting the website ready for it.  I’ve been at this for over a year now, and in four months I’ll have officially reached the two year mark.  I’ve been gradually figuring out the ins and outs of maintaining a website, and while I’m still working things out, I think Eikasia has come a LONG way from how it originally began!  (Imagine this:  no “new reader” page, no FAQs, no contact info, no post-to-post navigation links, no drop down menu, not even an RSS feed!  AHH!!  It was like the dark ages in 2008!)

And here’s the question that I’ve been wondering for ages–AGES I tell you.  Would you guys consider paying to see extra content for Eikasia?  And I’m not talking about something I scribbled during a coffee break at work.  I mean high quality stuff–stuff I have to PAY to get done, but would delight me eternally to do if I just knew it wouldn’t hurt my bank account so.  You see, I won’t make much money out of this at all, so while I have no idea for prices to set up, know that they wouldn’t be very high at all.

See, I’m talking about having 10-30 page comics done by some of the best artists on the web, I’m talking about sexy pin-ups that you can ogle at, and detailed maps to make the story that much more alive.  I’m talking about awesome animated shorts, beautiful wallpapers, and exclusive stories of 9000+ words…stories likely containing all the things I’d be afraid to post willy nilly in case my 13-year-old nephew reads it one day!  I’m talking about stuff you might actually want to pay for, be that one-time, or in a subscription so that you can have access to anything new I put out when it comes out.  The poll is available in Eikasia’s side bar.  Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 16.3 and A Serious Goof

So I was writing Chapter 16.3 (now available, btw) and something horrifying came to my attention.

I have a serious plot hole.

Now why am I pointing this out to you all?  Why aren’t I trying to sweep it under a rug?

Because at the pace I’m going, so close to finishing Part 2, with a backlog of bonus updates to do, I can’t really address this issue right away.  For now I have to let it be.

You see, the issue is simple, but important:  Graziano, Hakeem, and Arduino.

Yes!  That’s right.  If you’ve already read 16.3, then you’ll have noticed my sad attempt at mending the serious problem in characterization.  Graziano “forgot” to ask Hakeem what happened to Arduino.  The truth of it was, I forgot to make him remember, which leaves us with a poor explanation for the problem and a stupid resolution.  I’m pointing this out because I fully intend on fixing this once I finish Part 2, never mind that I still need to edit Part 1.  So if you read Part 2 again, or see some reference to a change I’ve made in the story, you’ll know why.  Now that I think on it, I’m surprised I didn’t mess up like this sooner.  But you guys are all good sports, right?  You all know that I’m basically posting up the first draft of the story for you all, so you knew this was bound to happen sooner or later, right?

So…yeah.  That was pretty much it.  Thanks for being so understanding! ❤

Have a cookie!