After much valiant effort, I've finally beaten Chapter Ten into submission. It had ballooned into my largest chapter yet, so I split it. Then the pieces expanded again, until this first part, entitled "The Free City", became the new largest chapter. The tale grew in the telling, so to speak. Part two of Copper and Keel's visit to Thasia will be out next week.

How did it hulk-out in such a gamma-irradiated fashion? The events were set, and the core parts of the chapter written. But what I'm finding is that, in the polishing and editing process, unexpected things come up. Sometimes a passage that merely summarizes events begins to feel inadequate, as though I'm giving it short shrift. It sits up and demands to be narrated. Sometimes that narration generates fun, interesting, valuable details that would be sad to miss, and are hard to cut.

I'm feeling good about the text. I like the chapter illustration, too. Let me know what you think!

Find it on The Novel page, or here is a direct link.