The next Firefly chapter is well on the way, but even at 8300 words written is not coming quickly. The last three chapters, I found, pretty much wrote themselves as I was doing scenes I'd envisioned for a while. This time? I'm trying to thread a very difficult plot needle and so far I haven't succeeded, either according to myself or the one prereader who has looked at it. Without giving away the game, this has turned into a Fell Flight-centric chapter that's trying to set something up;

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But it needs to be perfect before I hit the publish button. Reaction to the previous chapter has made very clear I have to absolutely nail this next one to validate it and address some of the concerns people have raised. Current plans are to release tomorrow, Monday the 24th, which is Memorial Day--a time to recognize fallen soldiers as well as officially kick off the summer cookout season--here in the USA. Memorial Day should be a fitting day for a new Firefly chapter release.

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After a work-enforced two weeks away from writing, I’m finally on a weeklong vacation, and the result has been rapid progress on the next Firefly chapter, now at 6500 words and growing quickly. Though I’m uncertain of its final length, there’s a very good chance you’re going to see it launched on or before the weekend. Prereaders, stand by.

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Tentatively titled “Spoiling Strike”, it’s been very well-received by prereaders to this point, but I’m having a horrible time with the second combat section involving Kaval/Gaius, and if’s not finished to satisfaction by September 1st, I’ll release the chapter without it.

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Tentatively titled Answers, it's coming quickly now, and will likely release well before September 1st. Which is fine, because that means the second chapter can be reserved for the anniversary of the story's launch. Expect no combat in this chapter but its aftermath, and a tearjerker scene or two including another harmony-fueled song inspired by a certain famous fantasy series.

A teaser was promised. And so it is delivered:

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Target release date is Sunday, September 30th. What to expect? No major battles this time, as I think we need a break from them, but we'll get into the aftermath of the raids, including the gryphon search for the mole at Raptor, a parley at Epsilon, a check-in with Royal Navy Battle Group Four, another meeting with Sky Sentry, and... a song.

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As Silverblade5 pointed out, the duel between Gavian and Thunderbolt lasted considerably longer than five minutes. And though it's tempting to say that this simply happened on DBZ time, using their definition of five minutes (where it lasts eight episodes), I won't.

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Even after I'd been doubting I could finish the new Firefly chapter and asked others for help, it turned out I didn't need it--it wasn’t easy as the tactics and battle progression were still giving me fits, but I felt my way forward and finally found the path, grinding through the remaining 3000 words of the new chapter yesterday to complete the initial draft, to good reviews along with some suggestions for enhancements and elaborations from my prereaders.

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Currently 4300 words down. Will be putting on a big push to get it done this weekend, though it's unlikely to release before next week. But since you've been so patient, here's a teaser:

News that we were planning a counterstrike was an instant morale boost to my beleaguered troops.

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Or maybe it was food poisoning; take your pick as the result was the same ()--I'm resuming work on Firefly, with work being done on not one but two chapters. The release of the last one was a roaring success and easily the most popular chapter yet, judging by the number and content of the comments. I'd like to thank everyone who dropped a comment, and welcome new readers to the story as well. Interestingly, the story did NOT feature upon launch of the latest chapter, but

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In the end, I decided to break it up, both because of its growing length and because the lengthy opening section deserved its own chapter. On the one hoof, that means you won’t get the battle right away, on the other, it means you get a new chapter quickly, with some surprising content. Be looking for it later today or tomorrow.

With a major denouement planned, this is going to be a big one; maybe reaching 14k words or more before all is said and done. I've still got a lot of writing to do, and I'd rather not break it up into two chapters if I can at all help it. Only reason I would is if it reaches 16k words, which is kind of my unofficial limit on a single chapter.

A teaser? Sure, a brief one. I promised there would be a new perspective on this war, and I'll reveal it here:

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At 4pm Eastern time (9pm Greenwich) on Friday, September 1st with the launch of Into the Storm: The Flight of Firefly.

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Having been given a head start with a section of the new chapter already written by Leo Archon, I launched into that next chapter and now find it coming quite quickly. Already at 6000 words, it is likely to be finished by the weekend, and depending on how quickly my prereaders can get to it, it might even go out on Sunday.

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After struggling to write a few hundred words a day, the dam broke once I figured out the flow of battle and I wrote the final 3000 words in the last day. Part 13 has reached 9373 words as of this writing, and the first prereader to get his hooves on the full chapter loves it. Chapter will release on Sunday morning or sooner if all prereads are received in time.

A teaser? Sure, why not...

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Tentatively titled “Change of Command”, it’s currently coming in at just shy of 9000 words and it’s going to test my writing ability to create extreme tension and suspense in readers even without an actual battle.

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Courtesy of prereader Denim_Blue, who you may recall wrote a great deal of the story-ending changeling interlude chapter in the previous book, that detailed the theft of gryphon war plans out of Mosclaw by Changeling agents and the effort to deliver them to Equestria. He also introduced

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Following Monday's chapter release. As I seem to have some strong momentum on the story, I'll continue working on it in lieu of Nightmare Night for now.

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Let me start by saying the last chapter release was a roaring success, with a long-lived visit to the feature list, resulting in five new likes spread across both Firefly stories. The original Before the Storm is now closing in on the 300-like milestone, and I'll have an announcement for when it crosses it. So a warm welcome to new readers, with my great thanks for all the upvotes and comments. Can't say enough how much getting good feedback drives authors to create more!

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7500 words down, with likely another ~2500 words to go as work has eased a bit if not entirely relented. Unfortunately, just writing the draft it isn’t enough; this will require some graphics before it’s called ready to go. But it should be going to prereaders this weekend, at least. I’ve given the first half of it to Silentwoodfire and AJ_Aficionado, who have given it their thumbs-up thus far. The chapter will be almost entirely about the Battle of Harness Hill, and thus will be titled that as

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