Back to work and back to writing Feathered Hearts - C&C...

With my turkey week break over (except that my family doesn’t do Turkey for thanksgiving dinner due to it not agreeing with certain palates), it’s back to work at the office and back to work writing, though I didn’t stop the latter during my week off. C&C chapter 30 is well underway, and I also gave the newly released M-rated chapters 10-14 a second and sorely needed editing pass.

Second editing pass on new M-rated chapters

I used fimfiction’s smartphone voiceover feature to listen to chapters 10-14 recited to me during the drive home, and found myself wincing and even swearing violently a couple times as I listened. Chapter 12: Lockdown Lifted and especially 14: Feathered Heart had major issues that I could hear, from repeated words to poor sentence structure to multiple errors of continuity.

Worse, some of the links in the author’s notes and at the end of chapters to T-rated versions were broken even though I swore I checked each of them. So my apologies for whoever followed them and ended up at the M-rated versions of chapters instead.

As soon as I got home, I fixed them, knowing they couldn’t wait, and then spent the following morning giving each chapter a thorough editing pass. 14 sounds much smoother now and I got out all the logical errors I heard, so mission accomplished there. 12 wasn’t as bad but still had issues, so those should be gone now, too. Clearly, I should have waited another day to release them and given them that additional editing pass then.

C&C - Chapter 30: Battle of Lake Languid

Chapter 30 is the new chapter. I didn’t get as much as I wanted done on it last week, with having to drive north to visit my family for three days over the holiday. Five hour drives through bad traffic and darkness don’t lend themselves much to creative writing, as by the time they’re over, you just want to shut your brain down and maybe stretch your legs for a bit since you’ve been sitting for too long. Nevertheless, the next C&C chapter is over half-done at this point with over 9100 words, and I suspect the final length will be north of 16,000 before all is said and done.

Yes, it’s a big boi, as a climatic combat chapter deserves. No clop is planned, though there will be callbacks to it. With the Cloven determined to destroy our heroes and corrupt the humans after just pausing long enough to gather sufficient strength, the final Escape to Aricia chapter will be at a breakneck pace with only one brief intermission involved. I’ll also be incorporating a large chunk of the original Feathered Heart’s chapter 9, though modified and expanded to suit the new story.

So what’s in the new C&C chapter?

As for what to expect aside from a fight to the finish with a brutally determined foe, there will be not one but two big-time twists in the chapter as the combat reaches its crescendo. One was planned, but I was planning to do something else in place of the other until a new idea suddenly hit me—one that made far more sense, and better yet, called back to certain chapters and characters in Firefly. The new twist will be in honor of another author, but I won’t explain more than that until the first comment after the release.

I’m tempted to include a teaser, but I don’t consider what I’ve got polished enough yet. I promise one for later, but the goal is to have the new C&C chapter draft complete and off to prereaders by the weekend. I will also take some time to make a T-rated version of part 29 for release later this week. It won’t take me that long to do, but I have some momentum on the next C&C chapter and prefer to work on that right now.

Plans for December

After that, with the Battle of Lake Languid concluded, it’ll be time for new chapters of Eros and Unleash the Magic as we head towards the holidays. I won’t rule out another C&C chapter if I need a further break from clop, though Nightmare Night can still serve the same purpose given the next chapter involves an epic duel between a Corrupted Twilight and an Ascended Sunset rather than sex. We’ll just have to see how things go.

In any event, I hope that all my US readers had a good Thanksgiving, and though there are no turkeys involved here, you’ll certainly see some stuffed birds over the course of the main story and Eros!

Sorry, couldn’t resist. In all honesty, I don’t foresee sex happening again soon in the story given 1) everybody will be too exhausted for much, 2) a lot of wounded bodies and psyches need to be tended, and 3) Gilda can’t escape her responsibilities as Centurion. But don’t worry—as before, it will happen in due course as they settle into Aricia, and you can also expect events from the later Aricia-bsaed chapters of Feathered Heart to take place here as well.

For those who hadn’t already heard, R-rated and M-rated chapters will get T-rated counterparts from here on out. It’s more work, but necessary for existing readers who are here for the gun and combat porn rather than the more literal kind.

M-rated vs T-rated

I want it understood that I consider the M-rated chapter versions to be the canon ones. As much as possible, future T-rated version of adult chapters will imply the same events but relegate them to the background, keeping them off-camera.

Earlier T-rated chapters of the newly updated M-rated ones do not do this, however, and I’m not going to set time aside right now to update them. I may later, but for now, I’m concentrating on chapter 30, which I feel safe in assuming that everybody wants to see first.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. Be looking for a teaser later this week as I get the new C&C chapter closer to finished. And for the T-rated chapter 29 to release late in the week.

Comments

[Black--Soul]

Your effort is most commendable and appreciated 👍

Chris needs the spikes pulled and the holes filled, as well his spine repaired.
Our big girl has her leg broken and probably could need ahug from Girardi.
Flip-Boy is still mostly serviceable and probably will be Gildas cuddle buddy for the rough nights ahead.

Looking forward to seeing it all fall into place.

I wonder if the Changeling can somehow aid them with emotional support? I would guess that they make for great Moral supporters and mental doctors.

I am concerned about the infiltrated Griffon following Gilda. Even if he can't kill or cripple anyone, he is giving away position and plans in hearing range.
A spy in the vicinity might do more damage than a assasin killing someone.
Example:
A steady report of their plans and / or location will take all surprise elements away and knowing the composition of the forces allows them to count down the enemy troops like a poker player would count cards...

May the force Ancestors be with them...