Update on SEX IN THE CARDS

This post isn't to say there is another delay, because there will be a posting this month. I just wanted to talk a little about what I am currently doing.

When I started writing SEX IN THE CARDS it was following a previous attempt to allow for reader suggestions to help guide the transformations in a story. Sadly, that first experiment didn't work - I couldn't balance the suggestions with how I could drive a narrative that made sense to me.

SEX IN THE CARDS was a quick fix - I found four characters I could throw into a situation that could allow for fun and sexy user input and I winged it from there. I am very satisfied with how it turned out.

But it could have been better. I had four characters I had only barely created personalities for, and I could identify none of them as the main character. Thankfully, characterization wasn't the main purpose of SEX IN THE CARDS, and I think we all had a lot of fun with it - and will continue to have in the next iteration.

But now that we are moving into the next stage, I want to raise the stakes - and the storytelling. You all know that one of the things I enjoy about TF fiction isn't just the Cause and Process of transformation, but the Impact. And to appreciate Impact you need to have some sense of the character pre-alteration.

By the time SEX IN THE CARDS ended, Brini had developed into the closest to a main character. We knew the most about her, and the introduction of Destiny raised the stakes. There's a reason we'll be seeing more of them in the next iteration.

But right now we also have a 22,000+ word story that lacks focus and wavers around a bit, and could use some better detail-checking of the transformations. So in addition to finishing it and leading into Version 2, I am also editing the entirety of it, working with Brini to make her the main character. By the end it will be a far smoother read, with more detailed and consistent transformations across the rounds, and a better sense of Impact.

That sounds scary time consuming - and it is - but I already said above I'm not delaying SEX IN THE CARDS again, right? Because by that I mean if I don't have a new chapter in the main campaign ready by the end of the month there will be a "side quest" I'm calling SitC: Lightning Round. It will involve two people finding the Deck and discovering what it can do in a one-off story. I'll concentrate on using the submitted cards I didn't yet use in the first story. I'll also post up my "guidance file" that helped keep SEX IN THE CARDS as on the rails as it was.

I hope that will satisfy the SitC itch. I know I am very eager to get to the main story and primary reader-submitted card usage again, but I want to make this one a step up from where we were.

Thanks, as always, for reading,

~dS