Update on the State of the Writer.

Here's something - The Education of Clover the Clever got a great review by PaulAsaran on Thursday. That warmed my heart, that did. And it makes me think maybe I should update people on what I'm doing, writingwise.

Now, the past year since I finished The Education has not been a great one for my writing. I have struggled to find focus, and to concentrate on any one idea long enough to finish it. But by strange coincidence this week right now has been one of the more productive ones.

Firstly, The Crown of Night is still not cancelled, though I'll forgive you for being skeptical. I have had the next chapter of the story lying around in a partly written form for years now, struggling to figure out how to make it work. It's a big old slice of life chapter that introduces a lot of characters. Individually each of those parts has a lot of potential, but getting them all to play well together and work as a story has proven extremely challenging. But at this point I've pretty much made peace with the fact that it's just going to be that way, and that any chapter that's written is better than the greatest chapter that isn't. So here's hoping to make more progress on that.

Secondly, there's another thing I haven't mentioned publicly at all, except perhaps in a few comment responses. So I'm saying it now:

I am working on The Seven Trials of Clover the Clever.

It's a direct sequel to The Education, and I expect it will have all the good stuff people liked about that story without feeling like a repeat. It's an all-new adventure with all-new challenges, and we will both explore new relationships and further develop old ones. I wrote a prologue earlier in the summer, and this week I suddenly found a good dose of inspiration for the first chapter. I make no promises about when you can expect to see it, but I love the ideas I have for it and if I know my readers I think you will too.

Here's hoping for what it takes.

-Daedalus.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

I'm sure this is going to be amazing.

[Georg]

One of the seven have to be something so incredibly ordinary that it gets overthought.

"You want me to step over this line." Clover squinted at the plain chalk line drawn across the floor, with no sigals, glyphs, signes, portentess, or darke symboles of dire doom on it. "This line. Right here. On the floor. What's the catch?"

[Darkhanos]

I agree with , 4941551, I know you have a tendency to overthink, overanalyze and worry for days on end about your writing, but time and again you've proven to exceed everyone's expectations and then some.

Perhaps it's partly because of your meticulous editing, but I've always enjoyed reading your stories. I'm just not one to leave too many comments, as I'd much rather PM ya to give my thoughts (which, admittedly, I've neglected to do that as of late).

So, in short, what I'm saying is we all have faith in ya, and we all eagerly away what you'll grace us with. We can wait.

[Daedalus Aegle]

4941609
The Third Trial of Clover the Clever: A Really Bad Cold.

[Daedalus Aegle]

4941551
The prologue includes lines like this:

“The adherents of the Beast with a Thousand Claws is not an apocalypse cult!” One of the cultists protested. They thought about it for a second. “But I can understand the confusion.”

Clover cleared her throat. “The Beast with a Thousand Claws longs to rend and devour all things, right?” she asked. “And it commanded its servants to always work towards that goal?”

“The sacred scripture is very metaphorical,” another cultist interjected. “I prefer to read it as saying that the Beast will rend injustice, and devour the causes of suffering that plague the earth.”

So yes, I think so too

[iisaw]

4941639
Pure awesome!

And congrats on the well-deserved review!

[Latrans]

I will read the words! All of them!

[Daedalus Aegle]

4941610
Thanks

[Georg]

4941616 That would make the Fourth Trial of Clover being "She gave Starswirl her cold, and now she has to nurse him through it without destroying the world...."

[SIGAWESOME]

4941616

The Third Trial of Clover the Clever: A Really Bad Cold.

Clover the Clever (Tries) to get a Mortgage in Cambridle For Her New Wizard's Tower

“The sacred scripture is very metaphorical,” another cultist interjected. “I prefer to read it as saying that the Beast will rend injustice, and devour the causes of suffering that plague the earth.”

Needs the phrase "hermeneutical exegesis" to be 20% cooler