After a whirlwind month of learning how to write I have reposted a new and improved version of the story to date, from the Introduction to Chapter 11. Chapter 12 is in the hands of my editor; I shall submit that chapter as soon as he is able to return it. Chapter 13 is being written now.
Who is this mystery person? The editor who has been generous with his time, advice, insight and patience? He is none other than Graybyrd, the creator of the "Masi'shen" universe and a man who has forgotten more about writing than I will likely ever know. A month ago he was kind enough to reach out to a new author, someone who was writing a story he saw potential in. When I didn't bite his head off for offering advice, a dialogue began; that dialogue led to an offer to be my editor, which I jumped at.
I strongly encourage you to restart the story from the Introduction now that it has been reposted, as the chapters and the character development have been much expanded. Gaps in the timeline are filled in and the story flows much easier. There are over one hundred kilobytes of new material.
My original posting schedule of every other day now seems ambitious. For now, as I break new ground with Jeff, I believe a post a week seems reasonable, maybe twice a week. This schedule is subject to the pressures of home and office and the resulting amount of time I will have to write. I do have a plan for Jeff, it just has to make it into a text file.
Thank you very much to the readers who have reached out to offer encouragement, who have bookmarked this story and taken the time to vote for it.
On with the show!