Behind the Quill: March Update

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, and I don’t know how long it will be until I post again. For now, we might be looking at monthly updates until things quiet down a bit.

The new school year started at the beginning of March, and since then I haven’t had much energy, even when I’ve had time. So anything extra has mostly just… not been getting done.

That said, it’s not like I haven’t been doing anything.

Before March, I completed timelines for most of Jane Austen’s works based on the dates I chose to use. In some cases, I made multiple versions—one where the timeline fits perfectly, and one where I adjusted things to match the dates I wanted. That alone took a fair amount of work.

I also found and fixed an error in Refined and Returned Volume 1. It’s now updated and re-uploaded on both platforms.

On top of that, I created paperback versions of The Watsons: Beginnings Arc 1, and I finished writing, editing, and proofreading Arc 2. Both the ebook and paperback for Arc 2 will be released on May 5th.

For anyone wondering why I’m doing paperbacks now—this wasn’t the original plan. I was going to wait and release a full collection of all five prequel arcs as a single print book. However, some of my friends, students, and former students here in Korea and Japan said they wanted to support me, but Refined and Returned Volume 1 is too large and difficult for them to read comfortably, especially with the smaller print size. Increasing the font would make the book physically too large, so instead I decided to release the prequel arcs individually in paperback with larger, more readable text.

In the meantime, I’ve been working on Arc 3. It’s about halfway done. I got it to that point before putting it aside to finish other tasks and deal with the start of the school year. I’m hoping to finish the first draft by the end of April, but realistically it may take until June.

Originally, I planned to publish it in July, but that timeline was too tight for both me and my editor—especially if I tried to push out Arcs 2, 3, and 4 all in the same year. So I adjusted the schedule. Arc 3 will now (hopefully) be released in September, and Arc 4 is being pushed back until after Volume 2 is finished. That means Arc 4 will likely come out in fall 2027.

Alongside that, I’ve been dealing with several smaller tasks that turned out to be anything but small. The biggest one is my Austenverse family tree. It’s currently over 18 MB, which means I can’t properly duplicate or upload it where I need it. Since I’m planning multiple “collective Austenverses” with different timelines and divergences, I need separate versions of that tree. Cutting it down without breaking anything has been slow, tedious, and honestly a bit of a nightmare.

I’ve also been working on transcribing an early 1800s book on domestic economy. It’s technically about economics, but it includes a lot of useful details about finances and daily life in the period. I’ve been transcribing and reformatting it for my own research, and I’ve decided to turn it into an ebook so others can use it as well. If all goes well, that should be out sometime this year.

Beyond that, I’ve been considering whether I have the time and energy to work on side projects like my sci-fi and horror stories. I’m not sure yet. Those are less mentally demanding than my Austen-based work, which focuses heavily on character psychology, so they might be easier to fit in when I’m low on energy. We’ll see.

For now, that’s where things stand.

Arc 2 comes out in just over a month, so at least I’m on track with this year’s publishing goals—more or less. Now I just need to keep it that way.