January Newsflash #2

This fortnight's been a big one, full of a variety of real-life dramas (leaking pipes! rats! curtain rails falling down! ...among other things) but I'm pleased to have been able to make progress despite the disruptions.

I've been working on Chapter 8 of Honor Bound this fortnight, and in the last newsflash I'd just started coding; I'm now about 40% through writing it, and it's going well.

Here's a new addition to my playlist that I'm listening to right now!

Chapter 5 is going up here for Sneak Preview subscribers on 6th February, but in the meantime here is an alpha preview of the first part of the chapter. And there is a sad Savarel story up for Bonus Supplement subscribers too.

Honor Bound current wordcount: 304471 (past 300K! Bigger than Blood Money!!)

Honor Bound fortnight wordcount: 21786

Honor Bound current average playthrough: 74904 (getting into real novel-length territory now!)

Behind the Scenes:

I've been reading so much over the holidays! I loved Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia in particular. I highly recommend both.

My favourite bit:

I wrote a lot about Matia today, and some of my favourite parts were about them and Korzha interacting. I'm going to give a sneak peek of one of the bits, but another favourite one was writing Matia's responses to the MC and Korzha being in a romance, or Korzha's responses to the MC and Matia. I really enjoyed showing how they act, and how warm they are to each other (even if you happened to dump one of them for the other).

Sneak peek:

This is one of the branches I wrote today when talking to Korzha and Matia:

${varenn} looks faintly alarmed, and tentatively pats Matia on the shoulder. Matia looks up at ${var_them} incredulously.

"That's how you act comforting?" ${mat_they} ${mat_say}, but ${mat_they} @{mat_pl look|looks} a lot more cheerful even so. "I guess I shouldn't expect anything else after all these years."

*fake_choice

#"How did you become friends in the first place?"

Matia starts to launch into an improbable story about a daring horse rescue, but ${varenn} shakes ${var_their} head.

"It was after my parents died," ${var_they} ${var_say}. "Matia wanted to make sure I was all right, and kept insisting on bringing me coffee and such. So I let ${mat_them} stay and talk at me."

"Wow," Matia says, but ${mat_they} @{mat_pl look|looks} entirely pleased with ${mat_themself}.

#"${varenn} just has that manner, I guess."

Matia pats ${varenn}'s arm. "And we wouldn't have you any other way."

#"You really don't like expressing yourself, do you?"

${varenn} inclines ${var_their} head. "I do what I prefer."

"And we wouldn't have you any other way," Matia says, patting ${var_their} arm.

#"Don't tease ${var_them} too much, Matia."

Matia grins. "But it's so fun. I couldn't give it up. Well, maybe I'll do it in moderation."