Okay, everybody, I have decided to make a slight format change for the upcoming serial. Before I said there were going to be TWO serial novels next year, with updates every Friday for thirteen weeks. The original idea was to have each chapter be about 5,000 words long, which would equal to one book being 65,000 words. (Compared to Happy Valley, Son of Santa, and The Tumbleweed Dossier, all of which are approximately 50,000 words.)

The new format, which I just hashed out today, calls for a SINGLE serial novel with thirteen installments, and there will be a new chapter of about 6,000 words posted every other Friday instead of every Friday. The upside to this format is that it will be a longer (78,000 words,) more fulfilling novel spread out over a longer period of time. The start date is still going to be January 2nd, but the end date will be June 19th.

Why am I changing it up? Simple. I don’t want to lose my mind doing this. Lemme ’splain. The pace at which I would have to write to meet a 5,000 word deadline every week would have been about 1,000 words a day, Saturday through Wednesday, Thursday being a polish or catchup day if I needed it. While that doesn’t seem like a lot, I think I would probably lose my mind after about three weeks of this, and I don’t want to burn out too quickly. The new schedule gives me some breathing room and allows me to take a day or two off in the middle of the week if I need it.

I haven’t ruled out a second serial after this one is done, but I haven’t ruled it back in, either. I am waiting to see how I feel after this one is done. If I feel like I am up for it again in July, then I’ll go for it, but if I’m too burnt from this one, then I probably won’t. Like I said, it all depends on how I feel at the end of June.

Well, I have seen the future when it involves this website, anyway. And the future is: SERIAL NOVELS.

Yes, that’s right. I have decided that starting the first week in January, I will begin publishing an online serial novel. The format goes like this: One chapter every Friday for thirteen weeks. Then I will take a break and do it again some time later in the year. So the plan, at least for right now, is to publish two online serial novels in 2009.

I know what you’re saying “Dave, that’s insane. You’ll never be able to keep up with it.” Maybe it is insane, but I have decided that writing fiction is what I want to do with my life, and this will force me to step out of complacency and actually challenge myself.

So, I’ll keep everybody updated until the actual story begins. Wish me luck!