I finished Chapter XIV! That’s really all I have to say, but after a few months of having nothing to say, I’m looking for almost any excuse to write something here! (Chapters XII and XIII, as you know, took a while to get out!)

I’m curious to know why some chapters take so long to write while others almost write themselves. Maybe I’ll never know. Maybe I shouldn’t ask about the sausage. Maybe I should just be grateful that I’m able to write at all?! I discovered some interesting things while I was writing Chapter XIV. (That’s probably one reason why it seemed so “easy” to write!)

I’m not sure what else to say about these recent chapters. Most anything I could say would probably give away the store, and I’m not ready to do that. Yet. That said, I will include another small excerpt:

He was flying. Hovering, at least, a few feet above the dirt. The force had surrendered its iron grip, and a welcome shudder of euphoria radiated across his body. Between him and Zhalera, Abarandal floated, too, centered within a golden nimbus reflected from the sandy ground. In the distant north, beyond the plain and above the stringy clouds, a violent bloom of energy ripped the night apart and draped the world in a caul of flaxen light as bright as day.

Excerpted from Between the Lion and the Wolf, Chapter XIV.5

That’s not the most exciting part, though! (Why it’s exciting will be revealed…later!) No, it’s more the way other elements—loose strings, maybe—tied themselves together. I say tied themselves together, because I’m not entirely convinced I started out with some of the ideas these recent chapters ended with! I’ve said before (and I’m sure I’ll say it again) that I strive for logical consistency. I’m sure I don’t always achieve it, but I certainly appreciate it when disparate elements from prior chapters integrate so cleanly with others.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Gotta get to work on Chapters XV through XX!