And the party begins.
Something over 6k on the word count for this chapter, which -- I admit this freely and of my own will -- is basically an extended introduction consisting of quite a few extended introductions. But we are here at last and now that we've arrived, we can hang up our coats and wait for someone to start rifling through the pockets.
...that came out wrong.
At any rate, the environment has been (re)set -- had to be done -- and we have officially moved into Act 3. Without posting a single 40,000 word chapter for this part of the party. (It's a real savings for my patrons, but a real chance of death for me.)
And perhaps just as important: May has ended. Two bad months for writing time have a chance to lead into a third, but at least this particular set of interruptions, distractions, and outright probability-based kicks to the face ends at midnight. As such, I'm going to do something stupid and post a prospective June update slate tomorrow on my blog. I seem to do a little better when I have something posted, although I'm worried about the world treating it as a dare.
So tomorrow: a list. Also, the universe, if you listen closely, may be heard screaming "SUCKER! GOT YOU TO POST A LIST!"
Thank you, The Universe.