Nerd!

 Originally posted on August 21, 2020 at https://ailovestogrow.wixsite.com/mysite/post/_nerd

I had someone call this out to me at the local store and it just kind of stuck in my head. "I'm a geek - an expert, often amateur, in various types of jargon and trivial knowledge of a subject, mostly related to obscure fictional material - not a nerd - an expert, often professional, in a field of science or technology, usually, but not always, related to computers." I was wearing a hat and mask combo that let people know I play video games, so whatever.

First off, got Ch25 done and part of 26, 11,000 words. It felt good to get back to the swing of writing, even if I'm currently sleep deprived. Honoka is deep inside her wives at the moment and everyone is going through what I'm calling Allocation Boot Camp, so lots of sex, sparring and LOTS of process transformations all around. Also winding things up for the big finale, so I hope everyone is getting as excited as I am!

Reviews!! First is Dark Ape from GoodReads, happy to see you like the book even without the sex! Also perused your other reviews and based on your averages, 4 stars is high praise. Thank you! Kindle Customer also liked the story between the erotica and absurd kinks. Thank you! Sam Nock then wondered when books 2-6 were coming out and while I am flattered that you think I can keep anyone's interest for 6 of these paperweights, it got me thinking. Thanks for the review!

Book 1 is 198k words long. Technically, it is 194k, but the rest is what happened when I converted the Status blocks into images. When I submitted the book to Editor-kun, it was 210k, which he cut down to under 190k and then I built it back up over the next few drafts. Currently, Book 2 is riding high on a little under 200k, so after editing and drafts the final count will probably be in the range of 230k-250k, but I don't know, I haven't done much self-editing this time around. By the Law Of Authoring, that means Book 3 will probably be around 300k. Ug, that sounds like an absolute slog. Can you imagine 300k of bad puns and dick jokes?

That is then the end of Honoka's adventures. I'm sorry if that sounds like not enough, but I'm a firm believer that when a story is done it is done. However, 750k words are the equivalent of around 9-12 average length harem/litRPG novels or around 80 short erotica (closer to 100 process genre shorts) based on average word counts. Heck, that's more words than Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy! I'll probably keep writing under this name but even right now I have the singular longest work starring a futa girl. When I'm done I'll have one of the longest series - based on word count - involving fantasy erotica, harems and especially process kinks. Take that, Lingster!

So if it seems like I'm taking forever, it is because I'm writing novels the size of books professional fantasy authors are putting out, and I'm doing it at roughly their same speed (or lightyears faster: how long until Winds Of Winter comes out?) and I'm doing it while working a full-time job. I'm not as fast as my idol, JC McCrae, but that man is inhuman. Really, each chapter of Worm is 4k-8k, unedited, and he was popping them out 3 to 4 times a week while working full time as a painter. Still, his last chapter had...

...

Ward is done. It finished in May.

...

My hands are legitimately shaking. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Worm, it is my favorite series of all time. It isn't perfect, it drags in parts, but Taylor is my super-duper hero and I nearly drove myself insane in 2013 waiting for McCrae to put out another chapter every few days. I legit have made my own Skitter cosplay outfit and worn it in public. When asked who I'm dressed as I just say I'm cosplaying the best superhero. Its why I've put off even looking at https://www.parahumans.net because I didn't want to start into something that wasn't finished yet, especially a sequel to such a life-defining story like Worm. I'm a busy woman, for the last year I've dedicated 90% of my free time to writing my books and I KNEW if I got distracted I'd never get anything done.

McCrae had more influence in forcing me to write and publish than any other author. I know I talk about Jim Butcher a lot but I based my chapter sizes on Worm's chapter word counts. Mostly, I looked at how he was able to just write and put it out there and people loved it. I found the strength to write from his example. You are reading Becoming Monsters because Worm exists.

Honoka has a lot of me in her, but when I built a world with essentially superpowers and spread it out I used the Wormverse as my yardstick. How powers work, how a person can react both good and bad to gaining powers, these are all themes I got from reading Worm. AND THE SEQUAL SERIES IS FINISHED AND JUST BEGGING TO BE READ!!

I...this is going to be really hard for me, but I need to not read Ward right now. If I read Ward, I'll have to reread Worm, 1.7 million words. With Ward's chapters, it looks like it is probably at least a million words. That's like Wheel Of Time amount of reading, and I'd have to read and reread them both a few times before I got it out of my system. Book 2 would never get finished and I'd probably spiral out of control in an emotional whirlpool I'd never get out of. That sounds crazy but you people be the judge, based on my own fragile state most weeks.

Crap, now I gotta have Editor-kun make a profanity-free version of Ward. He did that for me on my birthday a few years ago, absolutely awesome, but he later told me it was so much work he would need to charge me if he did it again. McCrae is stellar, but he tends to be a potty mouth.

I'm rambling. I need to stop thinking about it and just get back to writing, but as soon as Book 2 is done I'm going full silent running and jumping back into the Wormverse. This is non-negotiable, I've been waiting years for this and besides, Book 2 has been like hiking the tallest mountain. I'm worn out and I'm not even done. Like Bilbo, I need a holiday when this whole thing is over, giving me the fortitude I'll need to get into Book 3.

A lot of what happens in the next chapters for Book 2 are party preparation, allocation and harmonizing the Second Wives Club. Then the final climax and Editor-kun gets started. I then reread some public domain children's books and finish the dream sequence. I'm almost there, this funky ride is almost done. And I know I still have Book 3 to get to after that, but I have to eat this elephant one bite at a time.

AAAARGH!! I want to read Ward SO BAD!!

Keep harmonizing!

#ailovestogrow #wardisout #abookaslongashonokasdick #temptation