Good morning friends!
We’re already three quarters into 2024, that’s hard to believe. Spooky season is already upon us and here in the Netherlands, kruidnoten have been on the shelves for almost a month already even though Sinterklaas isn’t until December. Not that I should complain, I like some of the candy they only sell in this part of the year. As you know, the end of the year is when posts tend to slow down a little bit on this blog. That is partially because The Hesitant Hero is on a short break between volumes, partially because NaNoWriMo is fast approaching and partially because this is a busy and exhausting time for the year for me at work. So to force myself to keep some regularity and to let you know what you can expect, let me walk you through what I have planned for the upcoming weeks.
Let’s start with what doesn’t change. Wednesdays. One Piece Wednesdays will stay the same for the most part as there are still around 20 volumes to go until we’re caught up. The series will continue after that point, but in a slightly different way. I will likely take a break or two around November to really focus on more important projects. The manga itself is getting really exciting so I can’t wait to be fully caught up on the volumes as well. (Of course I’m already reading the chapters weekly on the Manga Plus app, but there’s something special about reading the actual volumes).
Fridays change a bunch. There won’t be any new chapters of the Hesitant Hero until the new year. If you’ve been here for a while you know that this happens every year and there is no need to worry. What I would like to do is write about the series every other week or so. Not a set biweekly schedule, but somewhat regularly. I have some thoughts on the first three volumes that I want to talk about. There’s a reasonable chance that volume 4 will pick up with some changes having gone through in the story that aren’t reflected in the chapters you will find online. To give some examples, I’m introducing Petriya Solin much earlier in the story and I’m streamlining what she’s been doing behind the scenes. I like a scheming villain as much as the next guy, but right now it feels like she’s kind of too far removed from the reader. I want there to be enough hints that something is going on that it doesn’t feel forced. That’s difficult, at least I think it is. There are many other changes – like the recent Vadier Estate chapter from Volume 1 – as well as just general thoughts. I might even give a small sneak peak for Volume 4, but no weekly updates, that is the only thing that is certain.
Finally, there’s still the Monday slot left. I plan to just yap a little. I like that word. “Yapping.” It doesn’t make me feel old and out of touch yet like when my kids ask me if I have skibidi ohio rizz. I watch enough Twitch to have a vague idea of zoomer/gen alpha vocabulary but I couldn’t tell you what most of it means. I have some topics lined up which include talking about social skills training in education, a short analysis of an old Bo Burnham song and perhaps some anime reviews. I recently watched Berserk and Ghost in the Shell and both were very good. Maybe I’ll chat about those at some point. But the moral of the story is, I’ll be busy and I won’t be uploading as much as early on in the year. If everything goes well, I’ll have a (somewhat) definitive version of Volume 1 ready by Christmas and a very early version of Volume 4 by the end of November. That way, when the new year gets going, we can go back to a more full schedule. I do have to admit that writing short stories hasn’t been going as well as I would have liked, so there likely won’t be any in the near future. I am working on a separate story but it’s going to be longer than I initially planned and I’m leaving it as a concept until I have more time. I can’t juggle multiple stories on top of my work all that easily so I should just be smart and focus on the one.
And that’s pretty much all I have to say. It’s my birthday next Monday, so I’ll probably yap a bit about the ever present ticking of the clock that hangs above all of us. Bring your own cake. Thanks for reading!
Opal Kaharis 