All right, I know I'm days overdue, and I apologize for slacking off. That whole pesky real life thing, you know what I mean?

Work has been crazy, family issues have happened, and, to be honest, perhaps a bit too much alcohol has been consumed.I'd expected that I could get a bunch done today, but the fam has insisted on celebrating Firewater, Firearms & Fireworks Day and there wasn't much I could do but join in.

Hey, kids- don't play with explosives. Let the adults who have been drinking a bit too much do that for you. It sounds like an artillery battle somewhere in the distance. Thankfully my dogs don't seem to be bothered by it.

As far as Emmy and Leah go, I've been chipping away at the next arc- leaving the Bay Area and moving to the City Of Angels. The tone is very different from the NYC chapters, and I'm having a bit of a time shifting gears. It's happening, my lovelies, just not at the speed I'd expected.

Tomorrow is a day off for me, so hopefully I'll be able to take the time to get something posted.

I have to admit that another thing has interrupted my writing time, and that's that I've been doing some reading. Yes, it's true. You guys ought to try it. The whole reading thing is actually pretty amazing.

Here's where I need to give some shouts out (shout outs? Whatever) to some stuff that has been demanding my attention away from producing my own literature.

First off, I've been enjoying several stories here on Royal Road. Let me start by mentioning Abyssal Road Trip by redhand. It's strange and nightmarish, makes some odd leaps here and there, but is always compelling and true to itself. It may not be your cup of tea, but it's creative, fascinating, and perhaps a bit disturbing. Give it a try.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

An extremely well-written fantasy you may find worthwhile is A Practical Guide To Sorcery by Azalea Ellis. It's actually being published in eBook format as well. If you enjoy it, please follw the links and buy a digital copy. The story is well written, certainly as well as or better than the typical fantasy novels you might find on the shelves of your local bookstore. The story so far has been well worth the time I've spent reading it.

A third I'd recommend is military sci-fi, but delivered in a strange and unusual way. First Contact by Ralts Bloodthorne was originally from reddit's HFY (Humanity, Fuck Yeah!) sub, but now can be found here on Royal Road. The HFY stories all revolve around a simple premise. What if we, as human beings, are the scary space monsters every other star-faring species is terrified of? The most famous of the HFY stories is The Deathworlders (hosted on its own site now) with is something like 4,000,000 words long at this point. I've been reading Deathworlders for a while now, and I do enjoy it, but I really wish it weren't so very Heinlein-esque in its adoration of ubermensch figures born to be great. Anyhow, First Contact is like a tapestry of vignettes, mini-stories, really, of the war between the human-led TerraSol Confederation and ancient alien murdermachines left over from the Precursor War a hundred million years ago. I greatly admire the way the story is being told- from many POVs, many different, non-contiguous events, and many different styles of narrative. Military sci-fi really isn't my bag, but this one has sucked me in. I really wish the author had the incredible proofreading crew you guys have been for me, but hey- the errors and typos rarely derail the storytelling.

Anyhow, let me get back to Leah in Palo Alto. With any luck and a bit of perseverence I'll have a chapter up tomorrow.