It’s 5:27 AM as of writing, and I believe I slept for seven hours? Eight? I cannot tell, and I was trying for nine, and I did sleep nine or ten hours the last few days.
I cannot anymore. I was tossing and turning after I woke up. Hungry. I realized there was a part of this chapter that I had failed to write and that my beta-readers were right.
This is my understanding of how the finale of the Solstice is going, everyone. My perception comes the beta-readers, typo finders, assistant, and people who help me write The Wandering Inn, who I rely on for feedback and notes when writing ahead. They have read the final chapters of the Solstice, and I have finished writing.
I began Thursday, and it was Sunday when I finished. 70,600 words across three days was the tally. After I stopped, I sat for hours without really doing much because my brain shut down.
What I have to tell you is how the readers felt without spoiling it for you. Some liked it, though the enjoyment might be painful. Others were more shocked or surprised and took it in.
Some disliked it, though some parts were strong, but felt the chapter did not connect, land, or come together for them, especially in the parts that mattered.
I have had chapters like this before, and the split reaction should terrify me, but I’m tired. I went to bed weary, and in the night I realized they were right, and I am going to take today, and tomorrow, though it is Christmas and family abound, to work and address what I can.
However, the most true thing they said was they had to see it all. I have written the ‘final chapter’ of the Solstice. They see it now, everything done and said…but it is not over entirely.
There is an epilogue. Of course there is. It may not be as long–though now I think of it, there is so much you must imagine I have to write. I know some scenes very, very well. I am uncertain about others, or reveals–but I agree with my beta-readers’ comments.
They have to see the epilogue and the rest to judge whether it was worth it, whether I have given the story what it deserves, and so I will not publish the chapter tomorrow. I will edit–but also write that epilogue and aim to publish by Saturday.
Yet, if I cannot capture the thing that makes The Wandering Inn my beloved story, I will delay it until Christmas, or after. When I am done, I will post it wholesale, for public and Patreon readers alike.
I don’t think you can call it a Christmas gift straight-faced this time, but you will deserve to read it when it is done. Not just one massive…three-part chapter or two-part, but the chapter and the epilogue. This is the case where I think you deserve to have the entire ending before you read, not wait for the denouement and the last moments, because it all ties together.
One might almost hope to let it be until after the holidays, for a day when you need to do–if you wish it, even–nothing but read. If it matters that much and gives you anything, I will have succeeded.
However, no chapter tomorrow. The chapter’s bones are done, and I think there are good ones in there and places that need a lot of work. I still, somehow, don’t understand timelines, but I will have help, and I’ll write the epilogue, and then they’ll tell me whether the Solstice was worth it.
I would lie to you and say I’m afraid I might fail at the epilogue, but the truth is I have come this far on faith and believing it mattered, so I will do my best. Then we’ll all see the story. I doubt I’ll write another post unless there’s a huge delay, so until the ending of Volume 9, thank you for your patience.
–pirateaba
