Whew! A half-million word novel is no joke folks... Especially when it isn't even your first extremely-long-form-got-away-from-me-Gryphons-rarely-do-anything-small escapade.

They say no plan ever fully survives first contact with the real world, but to fail to plan is to plan to fail. Plans are clay to work with as the situation evolves.

So here is mine, currently:

First, I again want to shout-out Keystone Gray, and The Campaigner.

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Here, in no particularly organized fashion, are all the achievements (the vast majority by Generic Friendship) which sadly didn't make it into The Advocate for story/brevity/etc reasons.

• Out of the Cold, Around the Fire - Go camping with a party of individuals. - “All right, all set. I’ll go set up the bear traps…”
• Your Plus One - Have Roger recognize Malacandra as a member of your party. - “I could write the book on being the third wheel.”

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Just to relieve anyone who still is keeping an eye out; I am working hard on The Advocate!

I have been trying to get away from the practice of tossing out a few chapters, vanishing for a month, then repeat. So I am presently building up a backlog.

The good news is, that backlog is almost long enough that I'm ready to start releasing again, on a set schedule, right through to the end of the book!

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For the interested: I'm still focused on getting The Advocate completed.

I had planned to make some progress this week, and still might depending how the weekend falls out, but it is becoming clear it won't be as much progress as I'd hoped, if any.

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Yes - I am still writing daily on RO, and hoping to finish this year.

With that out of the way; It's been a busy few months. Lots of good projects at work, and lots of family issues, medical and more positive ( a couple killer DnD sessions, among other things).

As a result, It's been radio silence for a bit.

I consider that a nice recharge break, now I'm back to finishing RO... With a small twist.

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Horses have a funny way of testing you.

Sam's breeders/original owners had, apparently, fully lead-line trained him, and started him on a bit+bridle as well.

You'd never have known it from the trouble I had at first.

A year of open pasture with zero responsibilities, practice, or work will turn a horse into quite a stubborn little child.

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So despite my best efforts, I ended up being extremely productive during Christmas/New Year time off... On everything except Rising Omega.

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Anyone who has ever worked with horses will know what I mean when I say that they have moods.

For everyone else; An adult horse has roughly (by some counts) the mental and emotional acuity and maturity of a 4 year old Human child....

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Alternate title: I've only gone and done it after all. I bought a horse.

Alright, full disclosure; Not only is he not at all little, he's not exactly a Pony either.

This is Sam:

He is 2, going on 3. He is a gelding Draft Horse, and stands over 5' 5" at the shoulder. Still growing.
He is gentle, smart, kind, and very, very attached to me.

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The title says it all.

I live in a mountainous region with an absolute shed-load of trails and wild land all around, accessible directly without even having to use a trailer, my family owns enough land for grazing, and we have access to about 50 acres more adjacent besides, some of which is already fenced and available.

I already know this horse and have been caring for him for several months. I rather like him, and judging by how he behaves around me the feeling is mutual.

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