C&C chapter 39 in prereads - no Foolin' · 3:21pm April 1st
Though I’ve been tempted in the past to do joke chapters of my more serious stories for April Fools Day, when it comes down to it, my writing talents simply don’t include effectively pulling off that kind of parody. In fact, the only author I ever knew who was good at that kind of humor was the long-gone and still-lamented Denim_Blue. I asked him once or twice if he could write an April Fools Day prank chapter of Firefly as a guest author of sorts, but he declined and then eventually departed. *sigh*
But, at least his Changeling hive and lore lives on in both Feathered Hearts and Firefly. In fact, they’ll figure prominently in the opening section of the new Continuation and Chronicles chapter, which has ballooned to 16k words—even after I removed the trailing two sections, bumping them to the following chapter! 
The reason for the length is that in the course of fleshing it out, I kept finding more and more stuff that needed to be said or shown. So get ready for an info dump of a chapter, folks. You’ll learn all about conventional Changeling warfighting (if you want the unconventional kind, check out Eros!) and then sit back and listen as Cipio addresses the city. And I promise that what he and others have to say won’t be bland or boring.
With regards to Eros-type subjects, as we’re getting back to wartime business now and everyone is sexually sated for the time being, there is no adult content in this new chapter. Nada, aside from a fleeting suggestive remark or reference that at worst barely breaches PG-13. But for those of you hoping for more gun porn? Well, if you’ll check the last blog post, you’ll definitely get some. And also get to see what happens when Marco decides it’s a good idea to mouth off to an adolescent drake. 
There will also be a final treat and reward for readers and major characters alike at the end of the chapter. I won’t even spoiler it, except to say that it pays some direct homage back to the original Feathered Heart. Thanks again for an incredible story and verse, DEL, and it’s been very good to be back in touch after all this time.
Chapter will launch as soon as I’ve done a couple more editing passes and all prereads are received—I’d say next weekend at the latest. The first prereading review is already in, courtesy of partner in crime and writing apprentice AJ_Aficionado. He was so taken with it he just devoured it all in one sitting yesterday afternoon, charging right through from beginning to end while leaving his usual fun array of comments along the way. He said he loved it, so hopefully the rest of you will as well.
After this, I’ll shift over to Midnight Rising for a new rewritten chapter. Then I’ll decide whether to finish off the remaining two sections of C&C content I clipped from this latest chapter, or put it on hiatus while I work on my next anthro novel for a few months. I don’t know yet, but in the meantime, a big and meaty chapter of Feathered Hearts is on the way. Hope you folks enjoy!
Sounds great, but 16k? Maybe break it down into part 1/2 or something alike, since usually reading or even listening to over 10k in one sitting can be taxing.
Especially it is also giving more space for individuals comments to the smaller chapters.
Odd... i just checked the overall word counts.
I am very perplexed... other Author's 10K chapter or longer can be a chore to read/listen to, but this story isn't like it...
Can confirm it's a great chapter. A lot of characters get a chance to shine and there's a particularly American moment from Imlay. You'll know it when you read it. The marine isn't the flashiest of characters but he seems like such a genuine person in this extraordinary world of magic and sexy catbirds.
If it means i'll get to see yet another amazing chapter in this incredible story, then i am perfectly happy with waiting a little longer. Besides, the wait between new chapters makes the new one even more exciting to see!