To anyone still waiting for the next chapter of my serial OFF THE DEEP END, I sincerely apologize for the delay (I'd make some self-deprecating joke about "my five or six fans" here except I'm afraid that might actually be the case...).

In a few hours it will be six months since I last posted a chapter, and the date that I was supposed to resume posting them. By now I was supposed to have all the unfinished chapters completed, everything tidy + polished + chockablock with continuity; and start putting them out on a weekly basis until the whole schmeer was posted in its entirety. That was my plan when I took this hiatus. Finish all the later chapters and work backwards to the mermaid ones, posting chapter 10 (ENOMENA AND THE HALF-FISH PRINCE) on the 13th of November.

And I have been working to get it done, but it's nowhere near finished, with several big gaps; and Chapter 10 is still in outline form.

Year's End??? Can I get it done by the start of 2017?

I sure hope so, that's my revised goal and I hope anyone will still be interested in this ridiculous everything-but-the-kitchen-sink fantasy of mine. I'm disappointed in my progress, but at least the stuff I've got written is what I'd hoped it would be, with lots of twist + turns and new characters and a whole lunar civilization that only existed as a few doodles six months ago.

And I suppose I can console myself that my favorite TV series took longer than this- a WHOLE YEAR off, with only the upcoming Christmas Special to tide its fans over until Dr. Grumpy Eyebrows returns to the screen in April. And while my tale isn't nearly so brilliant, that is sort the mix of comedy, pathos and wild adventure I've been shooting for with my young heroine Suzie's odyssey...

So.... patience, PLEASE!! I'm gonna cancel my Netflix, bust ass on writing this and hope the results will be worth it, if and whenever, hopefully soon...

~hugs and apologies,
Laika