A New Beginning
Added 2023-07-20 21:40:26 +0000 UTCAll right, I'm fully back and ready to launch into what's next. I have three things to announce:
- Book 17 of The Gods are Bastards begins now. I've been looking forward to this and working toward it for a long time now, and while I regret that it has to come as a result of another creative breakdown and at the expense of OVDT, returning to Tiraas feels like coming home. I haven't been this excited about anything in the longest time. The first chapter will go up by Friday to re-launch my normal publication schedule, and it will follow the pattern OVDT has been on, every Tuesday and Friday aside from my break periods. Chapter 1 will be available to Avenist-tier backers by tomorrow, all other Patrons on Tuesday, and on tiraas.net next Friday.
- TGAB will be cross-posted to Royal Road in the near future. This is a bit of a process, both to set it up initially, and especially to do all the actual posting. There are hundreds of chapters to import; it'll take a while. I don't have a specific ETA on this, just that it's upcoming and I'll have it rolled out as soon as I can.
- Only Villains Do That will go on formal hiatus when Book 4 finishes. In the meantime, it will move to a "whenever" schedule. The story is a source of stress and burnout for me at the moment and I'm no longer able to keep working on it on a regular publication schedule, but after experimenting during my recent emergency break, I've decided I don't need to cut it off entirely yet. Chapters will continue, but they'll be irregular and will go up whenever I am able to get one done, until I come to the end of Book 4 and thus a good stopping point to put it officially on break. One way or another, eventually, OVDT will be completed in its entirety. I don't expect the break will be another three-year one, not least because I've learned to recognize burnout and yield to it before I really damage myself.
I really appreciate all of you staying with me during all this recent mess. It feels very good to be moving forward again.
Comments
I am glad you are doing somewhat better. It's great that you are exciting about writing something. I am an avid reader, but I have no real desire or ability to write, so it's a blessing to me whenever a good writer is motivated to create. I haven't read TGAB, so I will have to check it out. Hopefully I will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed OVDT. About OVDT, it's good that you want to finish out the current book. I wanted to make a comment. As a stranger offering advice on the internet, it's worth only what you choose to take. Please take this positively, it's not meant negative at all. When you get to the point where you have finished book 4 for ODVT and get to a long term stop point, don't promise it will be finished. I have seen that over and over and it rarely happens, and that is perfectly fine. You don't owe use anything, much less finishing a specific story. So unless you know from personal experience that making a promise like that helps motivate you in a positive way, don't do it. Don't give yourself that potential guilt, don't give others that expectation. Say that it's important to you to finish and you want to do so in the future, but don't make a promise that it's definitely absolutely going to be finished. Maybe this isn't a problem for you, and maybe I'm just projecting something, but I know for me, it's far to easy to make honest and true commitments, that I mean and intend and they are good, but it eventually becomes a chain that the enemy can use to pull me down. So just avoid it, it's not needed. It's clear to anyone who reads your writing how important it is to you, so you don't need to add any expectations to yourself beyond what helps motivate you in a positive way. Thanks for sharing your writing.
Vysirez
2023-07-27 02:33:44 +0000 UTChaha i am abnormal in that i often reread books- i think i’ve read TGAB 3 times in its entirety, and another 1-2 times skipping some parts. i also follow a decent number (~10) of webserials. i pretty much always have to have a book i am reading at any given time- as soon as i finish one, i look for either a new one or an older one i haven’t read in a while that sounds good to me. sometimes i will even reread a webserial that i am currently reading!
Reed M
2023-07-21 16:18:59 +0000 UTCSo excited by the return of TGAB. Don’t get me wrong I like OVDT a lot but I discovered TGAB last year after reading OVDT and I absolutely loved it and devoured it.
giom
2023-07-21 05:43:24 +0000 UTCThe prophesied return! But also please take the time to take care of yourself. That being said I am super excited for TGAB.
a passing Fnord
2023-07-21 04:01:16 +0000 UTCBeyond stoked for the return of TGAB, and gratified to get more OVDT on any kind of schedule. Please add my voice to the others wishing you well with your mental health, and encouraging you to do what you need not what pleases us.
Dominic Corbin
2023-07-21 00:18:50 +0000 UTCHaha, I read about 100-150 books a year, plus a ton of web serials I follow. I don't have time to read the new releases by authors I follow, let alone re-read a web serial that may or may not ever finish.
Rex Schrader
2023-07-20 23:30:13 +0000 UTCI’ll agree that a “previously on” would be good (at least a quick recap of the last 2-3 books), but I’m definitely taking this opportunity to do a full re-read. Conveniently, I’d already taken the next week off work with no more plans than “do something relaxing”…
Rob W
2023-07-20 23:14:28 +0000 UTCwait you mean you don’t do a periodic reread every 6-8 months?! lol jk
Reed M
2023-07-20 22:56:10 +0000 UTCI am super excited about the return of TGAB. I wonder if it would be possible to have a "Previously on..." to set the scene? I don't really have the time to re-read 16 books and it's been ~3 years?
Rex Schrader
2023-07-20 22:30:59 +0000 UTCWow. I am psyched to see TGaB come back, although it's too bad that it had to come at the expense of your mental health and (much less important) OVDT. Although as much as I'd like to see both of those stories finished, I hope that you have a third story in your back pocket, in case both TGaB and OVDT cause you issues. Because each of them has.
Too Much Sanity May Be Madness
2023-07-20 21:49:02 +0000 UTCIm glad you are feeling better now, and I'm really excited about the TGAB continuation; I've read it twice now and it really is a tour de force
Aaradur
2023-07-20 21:45:04 +0000 UTCYay! So glad the TGaB is returning!
Tohron
2023-07-20 21:44:18 +0000 UTCOh wow, when you said you had other things to write, I did not expect it to be TGAB! That’s how I first discovered you, and I loved it, and then I moved on to OVDT when you burned out on TGAB. Excited to return to Tiraas! And just want to say, I want you to stay healthy more than I want TGAB or OVDT content, so if you feel another burnout coming on, please take care of yourself!
Reed M
2023-07-20 21:44:05 +0000 UTCI am just happy to have you writing stuff. Your worlds entertain and your writing delights. (or some other BS, I dunno how to say nice things to people)
Monty
2023-07-20 21:43:03 +0000 UTC
