Well... I'm back. · 9:16am Nov 30th, 2012
Quietly, for now... though I'm not exactly sure how quiet a "blog post" is.
The last six months of my life have been... interesting. Let's leave it at that.
Anyway, the important part of this blog post: What is going to happen to my stories?
Long story short, they're going to be finished. Partially by Garnot, and partially by myself. When? Soon. Ish.
Long story long: I've been "back" for almost two weeks now. Not really long enough to change anything that Garnot did to Heart of Gold, but he did an excellent job on it (and Two Beats, for that matter), which I knew he would in the first place. Still, I read it, and I liked it.
So that leaves the bigger story: Summer Days and Evening Flames. Right now, Garnot is near an intriguing checkpoint with the story, one that comes from an idea he had while revising the story: splitting the story into two halves. He explained his reasoning, and while it'll take a little more work to get everything polished and ready, I like the thematic spread that it allows for.
In simplest terms, Summer Days and Evening Flames is now being broken up into two halves, aptly named Summer Days and Evening Flames.
Because I'm all about duality.
More importantly, it will equalize the chapters and get rid of some unnecessary elements of the story. So instead of a chapter 9 that's 43,000 words long, parts of that chapter can either be omitted (because the events are being changed) or moved to another chapter (for thematic emphasis).
What this all means, in terms of a release date? Summer Days is almost complete, pending pre-release reviews. Evening Flames is going to take a bit more work, but nothing incredibly substantial. Either way, it won't be another year before a new chapter is released. Nor will there be another "author meltdown" to fuck things up.
So... there's that.
Edit:
I must admit, you have my interest piqued.
Have a Blinky:
imageshack.us/a/img577/111/inky.gif
Hmmm...I have been watching you here, an dI don't even know why. Let me check your stories...
Eeyup. Two beats.
I tell you hwhat. If you were to make a sequel to Two Beats, one set of chapters goin one direction, and another set of chapters goin the other, you'd be makin a lot a people happy.
Nicknack, out of curiosity, how do you feel about the "remixed" Two Beats?
Like, is there some aspect of the story that you though "Hmmm, Garnot made a damn good job with this passage."? Or "Oh, this new thing certainly works!"?
Anything at all.
I haven't had a chance to read the first version, sadly.
Hah, this must be kind of awkward situation for you and Garnot.
Anyway, I am glad you are back.
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I had an idea for a continuation of Two Beats, that was basically four stories that split off from that one choice: two where Crossfade succeeds at their job, and two where he or she doesn't. And then I'd work them into one document. Sort of like mixing tracks, except in a literary sense.
I have no idea how that would work, mind you.
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I like it, and Garnot did an incredible job with it.
He streamlined the hell out of that story—8125 words, down to 7050. He fixed the "club" writing style (it's a lot more "fast" and "jerky"), and he did a better job at making Crossfade into a skeezy little self-absorbed asshole. A relateable skeezy little self-absorbed asshole, but nonetheless, Crossfade was never meant to move mountains.
Day 2 was a lot better done as well: no "oh, your boss randomly got robbed" scene; instead, Garnot capitalized on that scene where Right Hoof and Crossfade had a conversation, where it can actually plant seeds of hope of "going out" with Mills (I wouldn't call it a relationship, because at least until the fallout of Two Beats settles down, Crossfade is a little too self-absorbed for a give-and-take relationship)
The "homygawd, WHY?" freakout at the end is a little more warranted; I like the idea of the physical token of "shades." After all, they're part of Crossfade's style, something done because it's "cool," but really, it just distorts one's perception of reality... sound familiar?
Moreover, the "red eyes / blue eyes" in the bathroom scene... I love it.
Anyway, I've always liked that story, and I can gush about how I like it now even more.
As for the "first version," I'm sure it's out there somewhere. But you're not missing much except for "missing the mark" and a pointless conversation about an unrelated robbery.
Glad you're back, man. Hope you're doing better. I missed ya.
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Yes! You wont believe how happy this makes me! I love the story you have written for Gilda and have been waiting for the continuation.
Hello there Nick I'm glad to see you I hope you're better
and well I can't resist the curiosity of asking How do you feel about the way Garnot managed your stories while you weren't here, and is "two beats" going to stay as a 1 shot?, anyway I'm glad you seem to be doing fine and as usual I'll be waiting for anything new from you.
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please refer to:
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I've missed you SOOOOOOO MUCH. Also, I'm a bit confounded on the "new" version of Heart of Gold, Feathers of Steel. I'll give it a re-read, regardless of how minute the changes were
In all honesty, I wasn't expecting to see you back.
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Things happened. Then more things happened, and other things. And now I'm back.
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Why would it be an awkward situation?
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Nick, my friend, you do me far too much credit. I did what I did to help out the story, nothing more. I changed your words, and that always made me feel uneasy. I'm glad you like my changes (something you never quite let on till now) and feel content with my work on Heart of Gold.
But you and I, we aren't yet done.
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Yes, he has returned. My work is done. It all makes me feel sad...
Nick! You're back! :D You already knew that, but I thought I'd let you know.
It's good to see you again! HoG,FoS is on my to-read list for next. I've been waiting a long time to get to that story. If it doesn't make me stop hating Gilda, I just don't know what I'll do with myself!
Anyway, it's good to have you back, and I hope you're doing all right! :D
Good on ya.
So, if it's not too early for you to know, will the Advice Emporium be back in business, and will you be pre-reading for EqD?
Dawww!
Kratos seems so happy. Congratulations to him, for whatever he has won, he deserves it. And about your blog post. Your stories are worth waiting for, not only the time I spend waiting until now, but also the time I will spend waiting in the future. Even if it takes another year, I'm ready. For you are one of the best writers ever.
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Nor did I.
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It's good to see you again, to say the absolute least.
I won't ask here because I don't expect you to perform any gut-spilling on a public blog post comment feed, but I am interested in hearing what has happened with you and how you've been faring. Same email address and all. If you've already been bombarded with requests to share how you've been and don't want to, I understand.
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How wouldn't it be?
Not even a small twinge of resentment? Maybe it is just me being a little cynical; hell, maybe I am completely wrong about this; you know… magic of friendship and all… (there should be a malevolent smile twilight emoticon).
Story seems to be getting a lot of love lately; it would be nice to see it challenge municipal engines in ratings.
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I won't deny there is a certain level of sadness at losing a story I'd come to love like one of my own. I also won't deny that it's bittersweet to see it featured.
Heh, the first story I've ever worked on to be featured, and it's no longer mine...
But to be fair, I feel no resentment. Why should I? I took the story, preserved it, worked it, and made sure it was not forgotten. I gave it new wings, and when its time came, set it free. Naturally, it returned to its owner, its real family. I've done my part, done my job, and that alone is enough for me.
Now, I just need to give my own tales the same amount of care. I may not ever make it to the featured box, but that's okay. Some of us are destined for fame and glory. Others are destined to do great things from the shadows.
Welcome back, I suppose. Not that we knew each other all that well.
Still, nice to see you around.
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Heart of gold sir, heart of gold...
... Wait, are you being sarcastic?
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Why would I be sarcastic about it? I mean every word.
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Oh... I apologize then.
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No need to apologize. It's good that you ask and wonder.
Welcome back, Nick.
Glad to see you're still alive and kickin'.
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The advice emporium will be open, in the form of "if you email me at nick.nack.137@gmail.com," I will try to answer you as best I can. I'll probably make a blog post about it once things settle down. For now, I'm back, but I'm trying to ease into things.
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Since I'm on a roll with Lord of the Rings references... you bow to no one.
As far as I'm concerned, Two Beats, Heart of Gold, and Summer Days are at least partially yours at this point. If there's ever a collaborative author system put on this site (which I thought I saw somewhere, but then again, this site is hard to navigate), you can rest assured that I'll add you to those two stories.
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Thank you.
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Cool, cool. !!PinkiePie locked the Emporium when you left and will unlock it if you ever request such.
Heheh, thanks for the PM. Brought a smile to my face.
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I'm going to avoid *chans for a while. People there know my Google Chat address if they want to say anything. But mostly, I'm going to focus on finishing my/Garnot's story.
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Swell.