So you might have noticed the chapters have been slow to come...

The reason is a story in it's own right, but since around a hundred of you have done my the honor of reading the story this far, I feel obliged to tell it to you.

First - my Christmas bonus this year was finding out I'd be losing my job. It's not too surprising, considering my bonus last year was a $1 scratch off lottery ticket (which was not a winner by the way). Searching for a new job has, as you might expect, been a bit stressful and it's cut into my writing pretty much completely as a result. I think I have a new one lined up, which is why I'm taking this time to write you all an update, but I expect that I won't have as much time to write as I move into the new year as I did this year, and that means I have to really consider where I put my writing energy.

Second - "The Young Master" is my first experiment in "pantsing". "pantsing" for those who don't know, is when a writer doesn't outline, and just writes with a general idea of where the characters are headed and what they'll do along the way.

I hate it.

This story has been so much lower in quality than anything else I've written. I wish that wasn't true, but it is. I know how I want the story to end, and I knew the general "road trip" I had lined up for the characters, but the urgency I usually look for in my characters actions just wasn't present after chapter 8. As a consequence, I'm not just thinking of stopping "The Young Master" but going back and reworking the entire story. Instead of jumping straight into the multiverse, I think it would be a lot more effective to send Yi Cao back to Nshamti and the Hidden Heart Sect with the looted source in order to sort out his differences with Elder Xia and his cousin before getting thrown into the multiverse. I think I can do it without screwing up the ending I have in mind, it will just require some very careful handling. The kind of careful handling I don't think I can do pantsing.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

It's all been a valuable learning experience, and the commentary you have all left or sent to me in personal messages has been invaluable in exploring alternatives. It's been an honor to share this story with all of you, and incredible to see how many of you enjoyed it enough to read all the way to the end.

Unfortunately, with both my changing work circumstances, and the creative issues I have with how I handled this "first volume" I think I need to put this story on Hiatus until I have time to rework it from the ground up. It's not what I want for the series, and its not the ambition I aimed for at the start of this adventure, but its where I find myself now. I'd rather be open about that than grind away without facing the truth.

so. Here are the concrete details.

I will be pausing billing on the Patreon starting immediately. I have no idea how this will effect people who are already signed up. If you have issues please get ahold of me and I'll try to help you sort them all out.

I will be transferring all 12 chapters from the Patreon to Royal Road and scheduling them to publish on Christmas. If you choose to read them, it will take you (pretty much) through the end of the current arch. (Okay, really it takes you right up to the climax, but it was just going to be a big cliff hanger anyways, so you won't be missing out on too much).

In January, I will be pulling "The Young Master" off of Royal Road in its entirety in order to start reworking it. I wish I could say when I will have a new draft finished, but with my changing circumstances I really have no idea. I do know that during my brief stint advertising "The Young Master" I had A LOT of people asking me to continue my (far more popular) "Icon of the Sword" series, and their repeated requests have me revisiting that world. What that might turn into, I have no idea, but we could see the series coming back sometime late next year, depending on what I choose to put my energy towards after starting this new job.

With all of that said. I must thank you all again for joining me on this adventure. I know that it's a shame to see it going into hibernation like this, but it's been an honor, for its brief existence, to share it with all of you.

Thank you, as always, for being part of my reader family.

I look forward to sharing future (completed) adventures with all of you.

--- Emerson Fortier