Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Author's Note and Warning

This is the sequel to Magician's Merger. For those of you who are reading this note who read that novel, thank you. I appreciate it. I learned a lot writing it, and to the best of my knowledge, I received only one destructive, nasty bit of criticism. Everything else was either fair and/or constructive. Thanks again.

I originally intended for my next chunk of long writing to be better planned than Magician's Merger, but I'm just not getting anywhere with it. So once again, I intend to write and post as soon as the rough draft gets its first rough editing. This author's note constitutes your fair warning.

I make no promises. I will post when I post with no guaranteed schedule or frequency. I know that this is bad marketing. I plead human weakness. My blood sugar isn't the most stable, and I've also become prone to anxiety attacks. When my blood sugar is acting up, my creativity is killed; and the more seriously I take something, the more likely an anxiety attack is to strike. Therefore, and I'm warning potential readers right here in front, I intend to take this as non-seriously as I can.

If you are not yet scared off, I'm going to admit right now that I don't have much of a plot in mind. Much like Magician's Merger, the plot is going to grow organically. Such a plan leads to flaws. The plot of Magician's Merger, for example, is unbalanced, has dangling threads, and some false starts. I can pretty much guarantee that Magician's Integration will have some or all of the same problems.

If you are still not scared off, I have no idea how the story will end. It might not end. I might simply keep it as an open-ended serial, as Alexandra Erin is doing with her highly recommended Tales of MU. (Go read her stuff before you read mine. Hers is much better.) I might even run out of steam and leave it a dangling serial sitting here on the Interwebs, abandoned and alone.

If you are still not scared off, I invite any reader who so wishes to be a volunteer copy editor. Just post a comment at the end of the chapter with any mistakes that you see. These include, but are not limited to, continuity errors, typos, grammar and usage mistakes (not in character), misspellings, and bad or confusing punctuation. I am not insulted in the least when someone does this. I feel grateful.

As the above paragraph implies, I feel free to edit, even rewrite, the story as needed once it is posted. Some people disagree with this policy. I disagree with those people.

Readers who are willing to read early postings should be aware that they are basically reading the alpha release. If you want to read the beta release, I invite you to wait a few days from posting. (The release candidate and gold version, however, might never get here.)

If you are still, still not scared off, welcome and thank you.

Chapter 1

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rock on dude, I'm along for the ride =)

Anonymous said...

Hooray! Thanks for the warning and thanks many times for the story!!!!

Warlord said...

Greetings

Glad to see you're writing. Very Cool. As for the rest, when and if you can I intend enjoying whatever. Hope you continue to have fun writing it as much as I the reading

Anonymous said...

i want to read it but ill wait until u post on storiesonline as im sure by that time u will have found and removed most of the errors

Xenophon Hendrix said...

If writing errors bother you, waiting until its up on Storiesonline is probably a good idea.

Subject to change of mind or even whim, my current thought is that I'll work about ten chapters ahead here, so chapter one will go up there when chapter eleven goes up here.

Anonymous said...

Alright Hendrix, I have been waiting for you to pick up again with your story. I really liked Merger so I am looking forward to it.

Anonymous said...

AE is a good author, but I honestly enjoyed merger more than I ever enjoyed ToMU.

I'll be looking forward to each new chapter.

Unknown said...

I enjoyed Magician's Merger and I'm looking forward to Magician's Integration. No need to apologize for writing the way you want to, just because some authors plan everything out in advance doesn't mean that you have to. Writing is an idiosyncratic thing, and trying to force yourself into someone else's mold can be a mistake. Also, I wouldn't say Alexandra Erin's writing is better than yours, just different. I enjoy both.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't help myself from staving off my unquenchable curiosity once I started reading your tale. I do not mind an open ending in the least, so long as you continue writing.

Not sure if you will pick this up even after 5 years or so, but I would love to see where your story leads to.

Kudos~

Jochen K. said...

Hi,

it's been ten years now; you appear to have vanished from SOL;what are the chances that you will continue/finish this Volume 2?

Anonymous said...

XH mentioned in reply to a post, XH alluded to the fact he had poor health. Considering the length of time that has passed, perhaps he is now with the Magician.

bht