Sorry for the lack of updates, but life’s been hectic, and likely will continue to be so for the next week or two. However, I come bearing good news! A milestone has been reached – The Light of Civilization has finally passed The Loneliness of Stars in length! TLOS topped out at 232/234 pages (depending on edition), and TLOC currently sits at 238 pages! The climax is rapidly approaching, with Jak now actually in the fabled Great Chamber, and I now have an outline for how the final chapters will go. The end is nigh! I hope… Now that I have lots of inspiration, hopefully things will go faster and papers on Leninism’s influence on the Russian Revolution and its deviance from Marxism won’t interfere overly much.

I’d also like to take this time to inform you that I have changed my mind! People of the Storm is beginning to look like an exceedingly ambitious project, and as such, my 2010 NaNoWriMo novel will be The Libel of Blood, completing the Jakken Trilogy. More books will be set in that world, however, so don’t lose hope! After TLOB is completed, I shall work in earnest on Dark Aeons – I miss my short stories – and on People of the Storm. Hope to update soon, and here’s a tidbit for you all, unedited as always:

***

“Now, look in the distance, near the end of the line in your vision.” This time, I did as I was told without question, and was surprised to see that there was something at the end of the line. My concentration slipped for an instant and the image vanished. But I hurriedly re-entered my meditative state and found it again.

What I saw was a nexus. In my attempt to peer more closely at it, I found myself actually moving along the line, until I reached the nexus. Countless Lines branched off in every direction from this central green circular hub.

“The Ley Nexus. There is one nearby. Try not to be too alarmed, but every Ley Nexus is a black hole – as the Ley Lines are the Stelisians’ communicative and travular pathways, and are frequently used.

Before my eyes, one of the lines suddenly began to vibrate rapidly, and then turned a deep red. “See that red? That is the line being used by a Stelisian. The red means that a communication message is being sent through it.” As he spoke, the red abruptly vanished and the violently vibrating line returned to its more gentle thrumming green state. “If a line goes red, don’t take it. If a line goes red while you’re on it, you want to stop moving forward and focus all of your concentration on not getting thrown off. It will only last a few moments, and then you can continue on your way again. If you get thrown off, you have a near certain chance of death.

“If the line ever goes blue, look behind you for anything else travelling along that line and get out of its way. Don’t let it knock you off. Blue means that a Stelisian is using the line to send something to one of their compatriots.

“If a line ever goes black… there is nothing you can do. It means that a Stelisian is traveling along the line, and any others along the line when he reaches them will be slain instantly and painlessly. So don’t worry about black lines – if they occur, you won’t feel a thing.”

That didn’t make me feel any better.