The Iron Horse updates... later, unfortunately. · 5:03am Feb 26th, 2016
So, uh, yeah... I'm going to have to delay the next chapter by about a week.
"What did you just say?"
Sorry. 
I have been working on the chapter (15 pages of it are done, in fact!), but it's not yet finished and while I could wrap it up before my usual deadline on Sunday or Monday, that would mean it not having an illustration and being unedited, and I'd rather release a polished product late than an unsatisfactory product early.
If you care to know why, there are several reasons, but, in brief:
-Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I'm a teacher. We have testing this week before Spring Break and my students need a lot of help. Also other work things are being annoying (not serious, just irritating and stressful). Bottom line, helping and grading and teacherly things have taken a toll.
-A secret project I'm working on and trying to meet a second deadline on. I can't say much besides telling you that it is a story and it is "Iron Horse" related. 
-On top of my main story and the secret project, I'm trying to find time to work on an entry for the Everfree NW Contest. As it was the event that got me to start writing in the first place, I'd like to take another stab at it.
-Boring personal stuff you wouldn't care about that is also taking attention away from my work.
Anyway, I better get back to work so I can make my delayed deadline. See you all soon!
"Please be patient. Your robot pony is currently loading..."
Quality trumps quantity. We'll wait.
For a moment , when you mentionned a secret project , I though that you were creating a real Turing Test IA for us.
It was a very short and foolish moment.
Anyways , take your time , quality over speed... plus , I don't have any adress to send the death threats to ...yet.
No problem; I too would rather have the chapter when it's ready rather than something that was rushed out half-finished. Good luck with the other things. :)
You're a teacher?
What do you teach?
3778204 I'm a professor of English as a Second Language at a small Texas university. Folks from all over want to study in American universities, so I help them get enough academic English to pursue that dream. It's rewarding work and I love it, but it can get pretty busy at times.
Don't worry, take your time.
Even if, you are still one of the most regular fimfic author I'm following. Many of them are sadly have their time full with their jobs and RL issues, for months if not years...
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Thanks for the supportive comments, everyone. I'm glad you're not disappointed... I really try to uphold my standards for short intervals between updates because I wasn't always that good at avoiding schedule slip. I feel confident that it will be ready in a week and a half, though, so thanks for your patience.
What have I always said, Hatsie? We will wait for our cute robot pony. Besides, I'm pretty sure it won't kill us to wait a bit for our Apple to update
Oh hey, that would have been a cool chapter name. 'Updating Your Apple.'
3778383 Just think about what would happen if your English students ever read the story and come to you with comments about grammar issues that you marked them down on. "Mister Smith, you marked five points off my story for mixing up future and present tense, but here and here you have..."
I can wait for quality
3778465 I think I'd probably thank them and give them extra credit points for that sort of thing.
Of course, that's assuming they ever found out that I write fanfics and were willing to read one this long (I give them a book to read over the course of a month that's about 80-120 pages in length).
You're a teacher?
Well then... that changes things!
*puts gun back under desk and leans back*
Carry on!