7100 words down on new Firefly chapter... · 5:14pm Feb 19th, 2022
Aiming to be draft complete tomorrow, at which point we’ll see about a teaser. Graphics will take longer, but it’s a three-day weekend for me, so there’s plenty of time to work on it. One of the perks of working for a bank is we get all federal holidays off, including Presidents’ Day.
Coming back to this is proving a bit awkward as I have to put my brain back into its mindset. It’s a different one from Feathered Hearts in that the latter was the perfect mix of action, drama and sex for me; I was able to write all of them into a single chapter at times and immensely enjoyed doing so. It also helped that I was able drawing from an existing story and characters I liked a lot, and thus didn’t have come up with everything on the fly. Though that can also be a two-way sword in that it’s sometimes hard to get old stuff to work with the new, requiring a lot of reorganization and editing before it fits.
With Firefly, it’s different. That’s a straight-up war story of entirely my own design. There’s nothing for me to draw on except my own imagination, and trying to shoehorn sex into it like Feathered Hearts would cheapen it (yes, I know there are some who think the same of Feathered Hearts, but I’m obviously not one of them). It’s weird in that writing battles and sex scenes seem to involve the same areas of my brain and can cause the same kinds of stress within me, which just goes to show how closely related they actually are. It makes sense, though—if you think about it, fighting and lovemaking are just different forms of passion, after all.
I admit there was a time I considered making Firefly M-rated early in its development when it was struggling mightily to gain readers, but I was thankfully persuaded by co-author Leo Archon not to. Just as well. It is what it is—the best damned war epic and military thriller on all of Fimfiction—and so it shall remain. That’s not to say you won’t see some Firefly characters appear in Feathered Hearts later, however. Just how that will happen, I’m keeping a secret, but suffice it to say, it’s going to be part of the epic LoTR-esque story climax. I even have plans for them to appear in Nightmare Night very late in the story, but absolutely no spoilers there!
At this point, I’m still aiming for a Wednesday release or so, and I’ll make the pledge now to try to produce six new Firefly chapters by summer, which should at least come close to finishing off the third book in the magnum opus that Into the Storm has become. The climax of this story will be between the end of the Maresk campaign and the entry of Thestralslovakia into the war as the Loyalty set sail for battle once more, but Firefly and her friends will not be among them. It’s just about time for the Bolt Knights to form, but several things will have to happen in order first. Leo Archon has requested to write the climactic chapter, and I’ve granted his request.
Aside from that, I intend to alternate these chapters with the Unleash the Magic: Midnight Rising rewrite and Harmonic Resonance for the time being, with the intention of finishing off the latter pair of adult works by summer. Whether that can be done remains to be seen, but we’ll give it a try. If so, that means I can concentrate on trying to finish off Nightmare Night in time for Halloween.
Please note that an occasional chapter of Feathered Hearts (both C&C and Eros) remains possible during this time frame. I may use it as a break from the rest, but it will not be my top priority for a bit. Believe me, I know folks are eager for more, but I can’t also let my other projects languish any longer. 
So I’d ask all readers to check out my other writing in the meantime, most notably Firefly. It honestly deserves far more readers than it’s got.
EDIT: I have no idea how I picked up 1000 views on this blog in the first ten minutes after posting?
I can't even remember what position I took back in those days but I do recall a specific instance (I'm not sure I'm at liberty to discuss it) where I was very much against rule 34 being used on a planned future scene and am happy today that Firefly never went that way. The decision would have limited your creative reach and cemented your reputation as "clopfiction guy" which would have been a real shame. Having read your graphic anthro novel, I can say with absolute sincerity that if that story had been entirely PG-13, it probably would have been even more compelling to me.
You can write compelling stories without sex and I feel like the only reason we got FH today was your decision to making RoF what it was.
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Yep, you’re right. I’m not sure what ‘guy’ I am now other than someone who simply enjoys bringing sex and war stories to life. And when they intersect, as seems to be happening in C&C/Eros, so much the better.
Because the adult parts weren’t generally your thing, sure. But if it had been PG-13, *I* wouldn’t have found it as compelling or enjoyed writing it like I did. I’m flattered enough that you liked it despite that, and I’ll certainly invite you to help out on the next one.
I think that’s a fair assessment. I can certainly write compelling non-adult works, but I’m not going to lie and say I don’t enjoy writing sex (ya think?) So yeah, I imagine most people are glad it worked out that way at this point. The only other thing I’d say is be very glad I listen to prereader and other feedback. You yourself have personally saved me from making big writing mistakes more than once.
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And this is why I write strictly clop. Because at the end of the day, you're writing for yourself. I'm just happy you've proven to possess a much greater range than mine.