I like to write because I’m a surly, misanthrope who wants nothing so much as to be left along to pursue his own thoughts. So you can imagine the humbling surprise when I learned that whatever virtue my writing has is due to the assistance of other people. barikman, msclrhd, and Pontifex have been helpful, skillful, and encouraging editors. The value of their contribution is immeasurable. Their camaraderie has lightened my labor.
I have already started work on Book IV. I’ve written the first three chapters. Several times, in fact. I may yet get them right. Book IV will open on the day following the end of Book III. It will go off in a new direction and introduce a new major character. The old characters will still be there and there are still plenty of issues hanging around from the first three books to deal with.
I don’t have an estimate of when I will start to post chapters from Book IV, although I will try to keep you up to date with the occasional blog entry. All I can say for sure is that I will post nothing until I have a solid first draft. I keep telling myself that I should start posting chapters on a weekly basis while I complete the remainder of the story, but I don’t know if I’ll actually be able to make myself work that way. I’m pretty sure that my writing is better because I don’t post until the entire story has begun to approach completion. If I were smart I would probably just admit that I’m not one of those guys who can write and polish a new chapter every week, somehow maintaining continuity with chapters that were released months earlier.
By the way, I want to thank Lazeez who has developed a system that is nearly trouble-free for authors and that gives the readers a great experience.
Way back when, I said that Book III had thirty-five chapters and that I'd try to post one each day until it was done.
I've managed to keep up with that schedule, but a funny thing happened along the way. The story grew from thirty-five to thirty-seven chapters.
So, I apologize to everyone who thought they would be rid of me Sunday with the posting of Chapter 35. It looks like you'll have to persevere until Tuesday.
The following passage appeared in chapter 21:
Jake fixed Carol in his gaze. "I love you." He turned to Julie. "However, I hate you."
"Why do you hate me?" Julie asked, hurt in her voice.
“Jake, stop it,” Leanne said, her voice tinged with exasperation. “She doesn’t understand the joke.”
"How can anyone not know about Alice 27 and Alice 210?"
Shortly thereafter, a long-time correspondent sent me a message that reads:
Hehe, what the heck is Alice 27 and Alice 210?
"I love you. However, I hate you." is a quote from the episode of the original Star Trek entitled "I, Mudd." For everybody who's interested (i.e., both of you), you can find the quote in context on this web page.
If I were being a little less petty when I drafted last night's blog entry complaining about JC's email service's anti-spam filter I would have pointed out that it also included a link to a form I could have filled out to get put on the list of senders whose mail is actually delivered.
I looked at the form. It asked for several pieces of information and had a captcha thing. I decided not to fill out the form and submit it. I didn't want to have to jump through hoops to help someone else avoid spam. Perhaps that's more pettiness. But I have to admit that I wasn't feeling very cooperative after being told by JC that he only allows email from "senders I have approved beforehand." I expect that JC didn't actually write that phrase, that it was boilerplate generated by his email service. But, come on, look at what the literal meaning is here. I had been told that JC wouldn't even deign to accept my message because he didn't approve of me. How does a company that does something so boneheaded stay in business?
I got a message from Brent this morning (from my alma mater, no less), pointing out that JC couldn't have put me on his list of approved senders, even if he had wanted to, because he didn't have my email address since SOL uses a web from to send email. I appreciate what Brent said. His point is correct. But I guess I would argue that this demonstrates why it is foolish to filter spam based on the sender's email address when you don't know in advance the addresses of who will be sending you email.
All that being said, one reason I wrote about the incident was that I wanted JC to know that I had tried to reply to his email. Another was to imply that maybe he should consider a different email service.
JC (I trust that this is sufficiently anonymous that I'm not subjecting anybody to unwanted attention) sent me an email with a comment that was provocative enough that I spent some time composing an response. I hit the send button and went on with my affairs (including trying to get through some much needed revision on Chapter 19).
A few minutes later I noticed return email from JC in my inbox. I was curious about his response so I opened it and found this:
I apologize for this automatic reply to your email.
To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand.
In the long run, this is not a big deal. The frustration of wasting my time composing a message that won't be delivered will be quickly forgotten.
Still I have to wonder, why anyone would use a service to handle their email that's going to intercept return messages. To say nothing of one that treats their correspondents this rudely.