An Open Letter to the Story Sponge: In Which I Apologize for Disappearing, and Give Updates on CSO

 Dearest Story Sponge,

The internet keeps eating my comments on your posts (I think WordPress has developed a personal hatred for me), so I have decided to respond to your open letter in kind, and hope that you see it. Perhaps we can carry out an affable professional correspondence in the public eye, in emulation of venerable men like G. K. Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw. 

First of all, I want to thank you for writing the open letter. It warmed (and still warms) the cockles of my heart. I needn't tell you how much encouragement means to a writer. You get it. 

Second of all, I wanted to answer your questions: what state are my children in, and do I have an inkling when you can see them again? 

Well--the children are alive and well.

They've grown up a lot since last time you saw them. I hope you will recognize them, and find them improved with age. 

During the first year that I more or less disappeared from the internet, I spent a lot of time redrafting Book 1. Its main conflict is Dar Beauregard kidnapping Ferdinand and then having to deal with the consequences of that. 

In the second year that I more or less disappeared from the internet, I started the serious redraft of Book 2, which is tentatively entitled "Ferdinand in Festerlon" and details Ferdinand's pursuit of a certain young lady he met in Book 1. 

Last year, I finished the redraft of Book 2 (but it's still incredibly rough) and did extensive edits on the redraft of Book 1. I'm currently querying Book 1, gathering ideas for Book 3, and working up the motivation to edit Book 2. 

If you would like to read Book 1 in its current form (and share it with your sisters), I would so like to have your opinion on it, actually. My hope is that it's improved from the version that was published on the blogosphere all those years ago. But there's a sliver of me that's afraid it's lost its charm and gotten worse. So if you would be willing to be a beta reader--let me know. :) 

I remain, 

The Nutmeg