SO, after a lot of consideration, soul searching and just general plotting, i think i’m going to cut the second semester of WW:U into two parts.  There’s a lot of reasons behind this, but the primary one is i just have WAY too much i want to put into the thing, and if  keep going as i’ve been, not only will i need to charge, like, 4.99 for it when it comes out, it’s going to be literally years before it does.  The other is for my sanity, because as someone recently summed up perfectly: “you don’t want to be left feeling as if you’re pouring all of your writing into a black hole.”  And that’s where i’ve been, pouring more and more time and energy into whats feeling like a three-year long black whole which shall never be complete.  Splitting it will actually make me get this thing done, vs dragging my feet feeling like i’m getting no-where.

I have also found out this week that there will be a delay in the publication of the Tazu novel–no one’s fault or anything it’s just the way it works out sometimes. (and the price i pay for writing really long novels lol)  I don’t know how much of a delay, but i will say that late 2013 doesn’t look to be happening right now.  Much more likely it will be in early 2014, which i’m fine with b/c i have more time to work on sequels.  :p  However, i don’t feel that’s fair to the loyal fans, and i’d rather push to see if we can get the next WW:U installment done for the fall.  No promises, as i have no clue how fast the editing will be, but yeah, we’re talking that much sooner of a release if i can tweak a few things.

So, what are you getting in the continuation, what is now the ‘middle’ portion of a trilogy?  Well, for all of you who REALLY hate Jun or Sem, there’s a lovely chance you can have a nice big confrontation with one of them–leading to several possible ‘endings’.  For those not quite so hating of them, you can discover a few choice plot points about llyan Gesisi–including the discovery of her research’s hiding spot.  Everyone’s got a chance to up their stats, engage in the first few weeks of classes (of which you get to pick two of them), and get involved in the dating scene at Tar’citadel.  There are, of course, a few more plot-related twists in there, so be prepared for some major surprises, especially with regards to Jun’s past if you are friendly with him/her. 😉

There shall also be the option to start directly with the second half with either a saved game OR i’m going to be making up some ‘stock characters’ for readers to choose from.  These will be characters that have their stats preset as if they’d ‘played’ through the game once before.  They’ll have little bios for you to read, thus bringing you up to speed on what choices they’ve made, and you can then customize them to suit your gender and name your Angel Guide, respectively. 

What you won‘t see, is the over a dozen ‘endings’ i’ve got plotted out, nor the gauntlet of classes vs social life/plot stuff, or the second round of dating your special someone.  You’ll get a little bit of the latter two in the first section, but it won’t kick into high-gear until the third, and swear it will be the final, part.  Most likely i shall be opening the third portion with the ‘birthday party’ i’d planned for the mid-break of the semester.  of course, it’s never just a birthday party in Tar’citadel. 😉

So, i’m going to be trying to button this up for you guys this spring–but it wll depend on when i get the content edit back from the publisher for the Tazu novel.  As said, i don’t know about the editing time, nor the artwork, as i’m going to be trying to hire an artist to get the pictures done.  if i can’t then there’s a good chance there won’t be any artwork in the next two parts.  I just have the time for it, sadly. 😦

Last, but not least–before i’m done, is there anything you guys want to see explained/wrapped up in the middle section?  Keep in mind i’m not reveling anything about Gesisi past what i said above–but is there anything else with the other characters or some tidbit of Tar’citadel culture from part one you’d like answered in part two?  I want to make sure the second installment still feels like the complete experience, so please, let me know either in the forums, the facebook page or go ahead and leave a comment here!

j. leigh