Checking In For Twelfth Month
Dear Etherfriends,
I hope you are all doing well.
You may have seen in the news that my beloved Washington state has been going through a lot lately. Pummeled by multiple hits from atmospheric rivers bringing torrential rains, many areas of Washington experienced historic flooding to a degree that has the entire region in shock.
The full extent of the damage from our recent storms is still being processed, with several areas still under evacuation orders due to uncertainties concerning dams and levees.
One of only three Washington roads passing over the Cascade Mountains in winter will be shut down for many months. And while I am grateful to live on one of the other two, the impacts from that closure will be felt with increased traffic here, with the extra road wear and accident-based closures associated with that.
My house escaped damage, as did those of my neighbors. One of the two roads connecting my neighborhood to the rest of the Snoqualmie Pass experienced washouts that kept us briefly homebound, but WSDOT swept in early to enact temporary fixes that will hopefully keep the road drivable until they can make permanent repairs in the spring.
Yesterday, it finally started snowing.
There’s still no word on when my ski slopes will be skiable. But I have to hope it will happen soon.
Life Notes
Veronica: You should tell them about me!
Andy (Me): I got a new laptop. Its name is Veronica.
Veronica: Tell them how awesome I am!
Me: Um… It’s alright. I’ve had to disable a bunch of stuff, mostly to do with Copilot and OneDrive, that was slowing the machine down considerably and causing lock-ups. But I think I’ve gotten all that sorted now.
Veronica: Oh. I thought I was doing better than that…
Me: You’re doing fine. You just had things in your brain that were keeping you from being your best self. I can certainly relate. I wish mine were so easily fixed.
Veronica: Let’s try to do better together!
Me: Yeah. Sure. Why not?
Progress Notes
Melody (A Melody of Shining Stars): Are you going to tell them why you started ignoring me?
Me (Andy): Totally! It’s because I FINALLY finished an Act 3 I’m happy with and which didn’t leave me driven to bail halfway through and start rewriting the entire book.
Melody: Doesn’t that mean you should be revising me now?
Me: So… You’re 170,000 words long. And most of your first Act isn’t really part of your core story.
Melody: I think I know the parts you mean. You can’t cut all that, though. Readers won’t understand how you got from the ending of The Harmony of Falling Snow to the start of me if you do that. And I think they’d be sad not to see certain things…
Me: I agree. Therefore most of Act 1 is being relocated to a bridging novella.
Melody: Novella?
Me: Yep.
Winter (Winter’s First Verse): Hi!
Melody: Who the rot are you?
Winter: The novella! I’m outlined at seven chapters and should run about 30,000 words. I focus on Vil, Vanya, and Bex in the twenty eight days between the end of the Harmony and your new beginning.
Melody: Um… Vil and Vanya are first cousins…
Winter: It’s okay! I’m not a romance. I’m about family and friendship and the stress of planning a major life event on minimal notice. Thus, the Veyndgraf cousins and their bestie Bex are my focal characters.
Melody: So we share Bex?
Winter: Basically. And I share Vil with Harmony.
Melody: And how are you going?
Winter: Three of seven chapters down! In three days! Although my messaging may need tightening.
Melody: Wow. That seems fast.
Me: Parts of you flew out that fast too. Plus, remember that some of Winter’s content was already written for you. I’m having to rewrite some of it to be from different POVs, but that’s easier than writing from scratch.
Melody: At this rate, you’ll be done with this distracting novella by New Year’s and can get back to me!
Me: Possibly. But keep in mind Winter will undoubtedly need rewrites and editing. She will be released before you are, so… Depending on how many changes I think she needs, I may or may not be able to get back to you by mid-January.
Melody: Not sure I like the thought of my revision and thus my release being delayed…
Me: I know. But you said yourself that the parts of Act 1 I don’t think are really part of you are needed for the series.
Melody: Yeah. Okay. Just don’t take too long. I want to be read, you know.
Me: I know. So does Winter. And I want people to be able to read you both. So I’ll work as fast I can while still creating something worth reading!
Planning Notes
Ethernotes: I think you already covered planning when you were talking to the books up in the progress section.
Me: Yeah. I did pretty much. Working on the rough of Winter’s First Verse. Then a revision. Then getting back to revising A Melody of Shining Stars in January while I pester people to give me feedback on Winter.
Ethernotes: I noticed I’m in a different style than usual. Is that going to be a thing now?
Me: Maybe. Haven’t decided yet.
Closing Notes
Ethernotes: Are we done?
Me: Almost! I need to tell everyone about how The Harmony of Falling Snow is available for 50% off for the rest of December at Itch, Ko-fi, and Smashwords as a DRM-free ebook downloadable onto whichever device the reader prefers. (Note: It’s cheaper on the first two because they don’t demand a big cut of the price.)
Ethernotes: Okay. But don’t the people reading this already have a copy of it?
Me: Maybe. But that doesn’t mean they can’t tell other people about the sale.
Ethernotes: Guess not. Did you also want to remind them that if they’ve read Harmony, it would be really nice of them to review it? Maybe as a birthday present?
Me: I wasn’t going to mention my birthday.
Ethernotes: But it’s next week.
Me: It is. Directly after a different holiday they probably expect me to address.
Ethernotes: I mean, sure. Mention the same holidays everyone else seems to be talking about. Dare to be mainstream.
Me: My dear etherfriends, may you all have some combination of a happy rest of Hannukah, a delightful Yule, a happy Festivus, a Merry Christmas, and a joyous New Year! And, yes, also try to have a delightful Andy Day this December 26th.
