An open thread while we wait for Chapter 21.

Yo! I know that several of you are waiting for more of the story, and, as always, I really do appreciate your interest and enthusiasm. Wish that I thought a new chapter was imminent -- this stretch really is a monkey on my back -- but after putting down a few thousand words, I kind of don't like what I have, so it's going to require some more thinking and work.

In the interim, you can leave any questions, complaints, love letters, etc., in the comments. I can't promise that I'll respond, but I'll definitely read them.

Here's an e-mail I just sent to a somewhat demanding (if complimentary) e-mailer who aggressively asked me why the hell I'm not updating more frequently:

Dude! You have to understand that I'm a just a guy with a demanding job, an active social life and lots of interests that tend to demand my time, too. Working on the story is a really cool activity that I enjoy, but it's not like I'm getting rich or famous from it -- I'm just some guy doing it because I like it. I also try to resist the urge to post a chapter just to meet demand. Last chapter, I had several thousand words written before I decided that it sucked and went back to square one. Something similar is happening with this one. I've got a plan and structure in place for the whole story, but there are certain sections that I knew were going to be kind of hard. This is just one of those things. I'm not a professional; I have to do the best that I can with my time and my ideas.

That said, thanks so much for your interest and enthusiasm. I really appreciate it, and feel very lucky that people take an interest in what I'm doing. I've got to think that by the end, we're all going to have a better time if I just try to enjoy the writing and do the best that I can, and not rush it just to put a new chapter out there.