The Marshmallow Ranch Gazette (Patreon)

Volume 2, Issue 15 -- Friday, July 28th, 2017

Howdy, patrons!

As usual, life happened while I was busy making other plans. Things with my family came to a head, and while they're still not resolved I've got a plan to deal with them and the time to manage that. It means that I'll be fairly busy for a little while longer, but hopefully not overwhelmed. It also means that I'll need to simplify my plans just a little bit.

I'm sorry it's taken longer than I anticipated, but the conclusion of "Too Much Universe" will be going up today -- I really don't want such a short serial to stretch out for multiple months. Apologies about the snafu with the file for part one as well; if you haven't doubled back to that original post, give it another look and pick up the story in either raw text format or PDF, your choice! I think that'll be the way to post serial parts in the future so you have options. PDF allows me to format a little for optimum readability, but text is always there if you want the bare bones.

The Patreon reward for July goes to Brighton, as mentioned; I'll be giving him a full Celtic Cross tarot reading AND the character he submitted way back for THE CULT OF MAXIMUS. Thanks SO much for your patience and patronage, Brighton! The tarot reading will happen today, and I'll write it up and send it to you over the weekend. 

I had planned to offer a choice on the next serial, but because I just haven't had the time I thought I would to develop three different ideas and get ahead on them that won't be happening this time around -- I'm truly sorry about that, but I hope you'll enjoy the next serial, "Boundaries". 

This is a science-fiction story featuring the crew of the USAS Starcarver as they traverse the galaxy discovering new worlds and civilizations while learning how to work together as a highly-efficient crew! With so much divisiveness and rancor in pop culture these days, I really wanted to tell a story that went the Steven Universe route -- where characters do have difficulties with the world and with each other, but they try very hard to do the right thing. I think it's important to show what a multi-cultural society could be and why it's important to keep trying to be mindful and compassionate in your dealings with others. Of course, there will be muscle and macro growth, but I wanted to make sure that characterization and setting gets equal time as well. I'm genuinely excited to tell this story, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you!

Right now, the plan is to make it a seven-part serial that should begin in mid to late August, running through September and (possibly) early October. If possible, I'd like to get caught up on other writing so I can start having other serials in the hopper, building up a backlog that can keep updates happening on a regular basis. We'll see how that goes, though. August promises to be fairly busy.

I've taken the week after my birthday off work to devote to organizing my projects and my life; after that, the plan is to head up to Oregon for a weekend trip to see the total solar eclipse. It's my first one, so I'm quite excited! After THAT, well...there's a chance I might go to Belgium on a work trip to be trained on our company's "new" flagship project and to train others on our own product. It's a bit of a long shot, but I'll need to keep my calendar open just in case.

In the meantime, please enjoy the conclusion of "Too Much Universe"; let me know what you think of the formatting for both PDF and TXT, and whether or not I should keep it. Until next time, partners!