Changing Times · 1:04pm Feb 20th, 2013
Hey all, Silent Quill here.
I'd like to start by saying how much of a thrill it is for Changing Times to have become such a quick hit, I posted it and honestly thought that it would be drowned out by Twilicorn stories within minutes, only for it to explode and hit the featured board in less than a day. For me, that's huge, and I just want to thank each and every one of you for it.
Now that's over, let's get to the part where I make everyone like me a little less.
Normally I would be able to come up with and write recurring chapters of stories within, ooh, a week. Even 10-15k words -which is no mean feat with how busy TAFE has me- could be typed up rather swiftly, and then checked and double checked for errors and inconsistencies.
Like how I had to correct Phony Paige's two chapters to realign that Whiterobe and Clank Clop were married. Hoo that was a doozey of a messup.
Recently, though, I've hit one or two snags; one being worry over how well I've thought out the Changelings situation and reactions since arriving in Canterlot and becoming refugees. The other? Australian Summer.
It's no mystery that Australia enjoys what one would call 'hot summers', hell we practically advertise our perfect barbeque weekends and fantastic beach days in travel brochures.
I'm an IT student currently, and my world revolves around computers. Hot weather is something of a thorn in my side since, as we all know, computers hate the heat. Guess what? So do I. Now, while we do have an air conditioner in the house, running it at a rate that will keep the house nice and cool will cost a fair penny, and I can't afford to pay a stupidly massive electricity bill. We can open the doors and windows to let in a breeze, but when the breeze is 50% humidity and 25-30 Celsius, you can see where the problem lies.
I'd love to say that it's not a burden on my creativity, I really would, but on days when night's coldest is around 20 Celsius and the days reach 40? Hmm, must admit my conviction wanders. I've sat here reading a few stories on FimFiction using my tablet to ensure my PC doesn't overheat, but my actual drive to write has gone out the window until it cools down a little.
Not saying that I won't, I'm just saying that my weekly story drive is now slowly becoming more fortnightly at best.
I love to write my stories, it's one of the things I love most in the world; the opportunity to get my imagination into words and out where others can see it is something that I've always enjoyed. If I could become an author of stories and keep my IT career, I'd leap on it; for now, however, it will remain my private passion alongside my artwork. I would never imagine giving up writing for you guys, and I do love getting honest critique on what I've offered, your comments give me the drive to write on and continue, and I love you Bronies and Pegasisters for it. That you all loved my story enough to get it featured gives me the warm fuzzies and makes me want to continue, but my body just screams no at me. Heck, I put Scarlet Tears, a story I've wanted to write since just after I wrote Nightmares so many months ago, on hiatus to try and get more drive into Changing Times, but...
For now, while Changing Times is still being written, I'm going to have to ask you all to have just a little patience for me.
I thank you for reading through this post as I know many Blogs (or journals for sites like SoFurry) are simply ignored, and for your time, I say again;
Thank you.
2 weeks for a 10-15k words chapter? Fine by me =D
Then I shall await your next installment of Changing Times when you're ready.
Just please tell me you're not gonna cancel Scarlet Tears. I just finished Nightmares and it'd break my heart to start the next story only to find out it's never gonna be finished.
Take your time. We can wait.
Whenever.
the more i hear about aussie summers the more i am glad to live over the 'ditch" in New Zealand
I LOVE Changing Times!
to ensure my PC doesn't overheat - at 40 C outside temperature (meaning about 35 C inside)? Are you 100% sure you have adequate cooling? This should not happen (my PC can cope with such temperatures - it had to :( )! Check the thermal paste on the CPU and, if necessary, replace with something decent. If you have stock CPU cooler, replace it as well. Make sure to add a small fan for the HDD (the optimal temperature is 35+-5 C, don't go lower than 30 C - it's not healthy for the disc!)
About the air conditioning - I cannot offer any suggestions as I don't have any experience with them... There is one thing I would search the Internet more about - there are special foils you put on the outside of your windows that reflect the heat.
40 °C = (32 + 40*(9/5)) °F = ouch, 104 °F? That's gotta suck.
What kinds of worries are you having about the Changelings' situation and reactions?
851502
Well, as you pointed out in your own comments, they aren't showing to be very... sympathetic to what they caused in Canterlot. I will admit that it seems a bit odd that the press took a whole month to find out that the Changelings were IN Canterlot, but until Flitterwing and Glitter were released they could all just disguise as ponies in public to hide, so that kinda explains that away, but that they're not showing much of an apologetic face is what I'm struggling with...
Also your argument of them having 1000 years to worry about the food shortage pokes big ugly holes in what I thought was a good way to explain their dire situation, but I guess I just... didn't think it through THAT much.
Eeh, I dunno, mayhap I'm just overthinking things, but your arguments were well thought out and I wanna get my head around them before I screw up again.