Author's Quarterly Update: Fall 2022 · 7:48pm Oct 3rd, 2022
Another quarter down, and life continues to get closer to normal again.
On the home front, my wife's mostly back to herself again, at least in terms of general operation. Still lacking endurance, but she's got about 75% of her mobility back. Barring further problems, she should be at full by spring and the year mark of her injuries. It was rough going, but we made it through and I'm pleased by that. I'm still pretty emotionally sapped from everything, but like many problems? That will be fixed by the passage of time.
Writing-wise (which, let's face it, is why y'all are here) I'm roughly on target-ish. I don't have as much padding for my ongoings as I'd like and I had a planned story fall through, but I'm still keeping to the schedule so I can't be too displeased. Should still get my target of 66 by year end plus probably an extra or two for Jinglemas. (Also I'm doing another slight revision of how I organize my queue in this blog, though that's probably obvious with the following lines.)
PUBLISHED (3)
Please, Not Her - Sometimes you get that nice 'lightning in a bottle' idea. This one got pounded out in only a couple of hours and honestly? Pretty happy with the end results. It might not be my biggest and best ever, but it was a solid story I enjoyed writing. I think it turned out well.
Dream A Dream - Okay, so this one is a bit of a story behind the curtain. The first chapter of this was written almost a year ago, then sat for months. It was only the single chapter at the time, and I didn't like how it ended. Life (obviously) got away from me, but I kept coming back and being unsatisfied with how the story wrapped up. Fast-forward to the end of August: it's coming up on my first publish anniversary, and I'm looking through my files to see what I want to post for that. Stumble onto this one and it hits me like a lightning bolt - the reason why the end feels so off is because it isn't the end of the story. Suddenly the whole thing blooms out and makes a lot more sense. And ironically, judging by the comments? I could have made it a lot longer and people wanted that. But I had no constructed plans for a longer version (I did the second chapter almost entirely on the fly) and don't have the time to dedicate to another longer ongoing. Still, I'm really happy with how it turned out and the reception it got.
First Night - Unlike this one. I dunno, it was okay but I just don't feel like it lived up to its potential. I re-read it and nothing's wrong but it just feels like it's missing something and didn't get to where it needed to be. It was good enough, I suppose.
ONGOING (2)
First Hoof Account - On track and making solid progress. The first act is just about done and we're coming up to a chapter or two I've been eagerly awaiting the chance to write. Right now, the main problem is fighting my urge to speed up the narrative - but part of this project is forcing myself to pace slower.
House Of Lies - Currently aiming this one for late October/early November. I swear to Celestia, it is getting done before the end of 2022.
ACTIVE WRITING (3)
Ancestral Tribute entry - This one's a toughie. I had a pretty solid idea for this contest and started work on it. And about a week and a half along, I realized that the idea needed a lot more time and word count than the contest was going to allow - so I set it aside in my scraps bin. Since then I've been shuffling through ideas, none of which have really been good enough to take off. I'm gonna try for it and this contest is pegged as my October publish, but at this point I'm starting to think I won't complete it before the deadline.
She Has A Type - Octavia/Trixie… sort of romance? This one was a lightning bolt hit on an old idea a few weeks back. It's currently in a little bit of stasis while I figure out where I'm going with it in the fine print, but it's around 50% complete. I've got the jist down, but it needs more time in the cooker to develop and get down on paper.
The Good Art - Celestsia/OC comedy. This one's been getting chipped at for a while but was low priority. Currently at about 20%, I've been doubling back to redo a lot of the opening and tweak it that way. If I don't get the Ancestral Tribute entry done, this will be my October. Mostly because I've done far too much somber stuff lately, so a good comedy is needed to break the mood up.
PARTIAL COMPLETE - HOLDING PATTERN (3)
Reunion - Fiddlesticks/Lightning Dust romance. Was intended for the FiddleDust contest, but about halfway through I lost the storyline and it all sputtered to a halt. Still gonna finish it at some point because I like Red, but there's no current ETA.
Hair Spray - Celestia/Zephyr Breeze romance. Planned entry for the Original Pairings contest. Absolutely loved the opening, then I ran out of time. Now that I've got a lighter load from life, it's more likely to get done but at this point? I'mma hold it until the contest next year. Why waste it?
Serenity - Applejack/Rainbow Dash romance. Leftover from the discontinued AppleDash contest. Sensing a theme here? Anyway, I really like the hook so I want to finish it at some point, but it's been in storage for a while so there's no rush.
PLANNED (3)
If You Give A Pony A Time Spell - Main cast comedy anthology. I've got this one outlined, it just needs to be written. It should be relatively quick once I do, so I'm holding this one as a semi-reserve for a month where I don't have a better idea.
Flashbang - Trixie/Flash Sentry rom-com. This one's on the back burner at the moment mostly because it's going to be intermediate length: not quite an ongoing, but significantly sized enough that it won't be all in one go. It's going to take time to chip at it.
Neither Rain Nor Snow Nor Gloom Of Night - Luna/Derpy buddy adventure. I've basically put this one back to square one and erased most/all of the previous progress. What I had just wasn't satisfying. But I still really want to do this one, so it's staying on the table.
SEQUEL STORAGE (4)
Some Kind Of Hero 2 - Scifi CMC adventures
Dream A Dream 2 - Rarity as a dreamwalker
A Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Starswirl/Tempest adventure among the deer
Mnemosyne - Sunset/Wallflower extended romance
All four of these are eventual planned sequels to already published stories. Currently, while I've done a bit of work on all of them? None are anywhere near ready for prime time and I'm not sure when I'll be able to put them on my active docket. Some Kind Of Hero 2 is the most complete, but while I've got the first chapter almost entirely done? I have zero idea of where that project's going afterwards. The other three are mostly still in the outline/fragments stage.
DISCARDED (1)
Griffon Guard - While I do still like the idea of a post-S9 Gallus adventure, it's been sitting at the bottom of my queue for like two years now. I have to finally admit that it isn't going to happen. Maybe some day.
glad your wife is doing better!