For the possibly two people actually interested, I figured I'd post a progress report on what I've been working on recently.

Okay, I've really been working almost exclusively on my "rewrite for publishing" work, so not a lot can be said about my other stuff, with the exception of saying Romeo/Roomiette is about 70-80% complete, and should be out either late November or December some time, depending on how industrious I get.

Other than that, it's all been Oh, Cheers for the past few weeks. And oh, what a trip down memory lane it's been!

Those who've read the original will undoubtedly recognize it in the rewrite, but the changes already are extensive. I'm about halfway through Part 1 right now (I'm averaging around 700 words on the rewrite a day) and the story is already at 17k words. I know, I know, for a lot of people here that's going to be like "17k? That's a drop in the bucket!" Well, to them I'd like to say this: the original story was only about 42k in its entirety, and I've covered less than a quarter of it so far. At this rate, the story is looking to likely double in length by the time I finish it, at least, and the content changes are extensive. I'm tightening up the way the time periods are handled (calendars are fun AND useful!) and adding a number of deeper character relationships to flesh out not only Dane/Dana more, but several ancillary characters as well (Named parents! Patty has a last name! Yayness!)

Then there is the bonus content...

If things go well - and right now, they most definitely are - I hope to include my long-ago-promised Gaming Sessions as book exclusive bonus content. The reason for this is twofold:
--1-- It allows me to flesh out the length of the book substantially. Each of the gaming sessions is going to be a self contained short story for the most part, so not reading them won't affect the book any, but will give you more insight into a few of the characters who pop up. Plus, I've always felt if you're going to charge someone for something they can already get free, make it worth their money. The extensive rewrite is great, but will (mostly? partially?) be the same story available here. By adding all-new content, in the form of the gaming sessions, I hope people see it as a better value.
--2-- A lot of the characterizations in Gaming Sessions are going to be heavily influenced by, or possibly even act as spoilers for, personalities and characters within the rewritten story. In addition to that, there is a possibility I will be referencing within Gaming Sessions events that take place in the rewrite that didn't happen in the original, so providing them in any form other than as bonus content could ruin the excitement of the rewrite for potential readers.

So, there you go. That's pretty much what I've been up to. Any questions or comments are welcome!

Melanie E.