Slight Delay

My writing computer, an iMac, has been a trooper for many years with zero problems, but in the last few days has very suddenly slowed down to the point it takes minutes to load a web page. It will not even open Scrivener--which I need access to for all my lore and plotting notes. I am taking it into the repair shop directly after posting this message, but if they cannot fix it I'll need to buy a replacement. I'm almost certain to miss this week's Thursday chapter. It's just one thing after another this month, huh?

Update:

My computer is still in the shop.

It was a 2017 iMac, and part of the fusion drive was beginning to fail. They offered to replace it with a modern SSD (for an unfortunately high price that I accepted to avoid the hassle of trying to order parts and do everything myself--that's how they get you), and told me the repair and transfer of info to the new hard drive would take them 2-4 business days.

I haven't heard back yet but if that holds true, it should be finished soon-ish. Fingers crossed. Once it is repaired, it should last another 3-5 years before slowly becoming obsolete, which I think is pretty good value overall.

And some minor consolation, please have this recent photo of my coworker Ender. He is on a two-cat cat tree, which his kaiju-like frame takes the entirety of.

And here's another of him on a secret spy mission that involves some moving materials and the the protection of some nuclear codes.


 
This one is a bit older, as he tries to take a quick nap on his office chair so that he can get back to writing these books for me, but has some trouble with his head falling off the side. He just let his head hang like that, entirely unsupported, for several minutes.

I'll keep you updated, but I anticipate that if nothing goes wrong with the repair, I'll be back with a chapter by next Thursday. And then hopefully smooth sailing from there.

Update #2: I finally have my computer back, as of an hour ago! That is the good news.

The bad news is that this leaves me with about 2 days to complete and edit the chapter, and I am not a particularly fast writer.

I'll do the best I can, but it's possible, if this next chapter ends up being on the longer end (which is likely unless there's a good stopping point and I feel there's enough content to split it into two chapters), that there will be a short delay before it's posted.

Like, maybe it won't come out until Friday.

In a small silver lining, I have been getting some long-term plotting work done and making several notes for ideas to add to upcoming chapters while I've been without my work computer, so this time hasn't been wasted.

And please take this fourth picture of Ender for your amusement. He likes to entice belly rubs by acting provocative. Unlike some cats, he will take unlimited belly rubs without becoming angry.

 

Update #3:

Indeed, it is not going quickly. Or rather, it's just that there's too much to do. This chapter is very important and a bit delicate, and I really needed more time.

I've been putting in the hours and pushing my brain to fatigue, but the chapter is not ready yet. IT MIGHT NOT BE READY BY TOMORROW. But unless I end up in the hospital there's no way it will be later than Saturday. Obviously, the chapter being the right is more important than it coming out on time, but I really, really do not like delaying releases, and it sucks that I've had to do it multiple times recently. It makes my skin itch, guys.

It's partially due to the fact that I've had unexpected "real-life" stuff going on (in various forms, but including the computer issues, getting stuck in transition before moving, finally moving, ongoing family obligations, etc), but mostly it's because I don't have any buffer chapters left.

Life always happens and things go wrong. It's expected. But if I had the chapter buffer I've been working with until now, sometimes I write less and sometimes more, and I would be generally able to keep a consistent weekly release schedule.

My goal is to start rebuilding the buffer so that this doesn't happen again any time soon. I want my readers to be able to depend on the release day and time without wondering.

So, my apologies. Hopefully the chapter will be worth the wait.

Update #4:

Just confirming that the chapter IS coming tonight. I still need to write the ending, do a quick editing pass, and post it, but it should only be a few more hours.