State of the Author, May 2019 · 6:27pm May 1st, 2019
Everyone else is doing one so I figured I'd try it too!
I don't think I have exactly as much bad news as most people, which to be honest is pretty shocking all things considered. Lots of stress like usual but it's just that low-level stress of always being worried and waiting for the other shoe to drop. My mother spent a big chunk of last month in the hospital, but everything worked out okay there (without getting into details, she had a seizure and there's no real root cause and it seems like a one-off thing).
I've been getting a lot more writing done these last few weeks than I did in basically all of March and April, so I think I'm officially making some kind of reasonable progress again. I want to get people up to speed in very frank terms on all my current projects:
Sequel to Witch of the Everfree: Yes, I really have started work on this. I came up with the few key ideas I needed and bashed out a big-picture outline for the whole thing. The tentative title is 'The Witch of Canterlot', though we'll see if I keep using that. I have the general shape of the story from start to finish and I'm very happy with the plot threads. I've had some short pieces ready for years that were going to be the backbone of the story, but I was never pleased with the central conflict. They'll be included as interludes and flashbacks between arcs of the new story. For the curious, this story will see Sunset Shimmer going to Saddle Arabia, where she'll have to confront problems that she can't solve with explosions.
Terminal Fault: The pony cyberpunk story I've been putting up on my Patreon for early viewing. I'm nearly done with part one, with about five and a half chapters finished out of six. I want to do some final editing, but I think Part 1 will be ready to publish before the end of the month, which will be about sixty thousand words and covers the events of a major disaster from six perspectives. No points for guessing the six ponies involved.
Machina Cor Armageddon: My sprawling, dumb tale of overpowered ponies punching monsters to serve as a backdrop for wartime political drama. This has been a story that has been in the Outer Limits of production hell, which is appropriate considering the source material I draw from is Evangelion and Getter Robo. I still need to land the ending, but if nothing else I've managed to nail down a better prologue and the mid-season recap, both of which were giving me trouble. I could start publishing this now but I told myself I wouldn't until I was totally done. So far that's been a good decision because I've gone back and changed things in the very first chapters multiple times.
Secret Commission: I've been poking at a commission for a few months now - it's at about 17k words and I really appreciate the understanding of the person that commissioned it for being kind with my delays and slow progress. Thankfully, like my other stories, I've started making much better progress. I don't want to reveal too much until it's done, but it's quite interesting and going well.
Finishing an Older Fic: I've also been asked to finish a certain older fic of mine. Feel free to guess which one in the comments. I pulled up my old notes and have been putting together a few chapters to finish it off. I'd like to get this complete before the end of the month as well, and it should be possible.
Anyway, that's where I've been at, lately. As always, feel free to donate to my patreon to keep my lights on and water flowing for as long as possible.
I hope it's Scholars Mate or The Dark Mare!!
While i doubt it, i hope its a hawkward situation
I would love to see more Witch of Everfree!
But all problems can be solved with explosions, you just have to make the explosion big enough
Hurray for progress!
Age of False Innocence?