Nothing major. Just updated a bunch of PDFs that were missing for various parts of A Kind of Drug. The list is:

Chapter 4 - Acceleration - Part II

Chapter 9 - Wrath - Part VI

Chapter 10 - Mythmaker - Part I
Chapter 10 - Mythmaker - Part IV

Chapter 11 - Godlike - Part I
Chapter 11 - Godlike - Part II

That's it. Off to champagne land for me.

Seriously. Mythmaker VII is online a day late. And somehow, it's short a dollar. Don't ask how. It's probably mostly in loose change. But there's definitely money missing from it's wallet. It's really weird.

Oh, you may also notice when Chapter 11 is debuting. A two week break is about to happen before Godlike shows it's head. Why? Cause I hate you all. Fuck you, that's why.

Or cause it's the second to last chapter (Almost the last chapter, really, since Chapter 12 is only going to be about 2 parts. Maybe even just 1.) and it's like squeezing blood out of a rock trying to get the last, little bit of this story out of my head. Two nights of writing were all complete garbage. And I don't want the story quality to go in the toilet right at the end.

So give me a little extra time. The end is coming soon. I promise.

Yes, really. Mythmaker VI is the final "philosophy" conversation of the novel. And yes, I spend a lot of it talking about Socratic Form.

Cause I'm a dick.

Well, at least it's not too much longer till all of this crap makes sense, right? Just two chapters to go. Wooo!

You all should get an award for sticking around this long. *

Figure out who are the bad guys and who are the good guys so far in Mythmaker? Something to think about, if you haven't. I'm just gonna leave that there and let you ponder it. Who are the heroes? And who are the villains?

Ah, Mythmaker V. 

This week's update begins what is probably the longest, single conversation in the entire novel. The interaction at the end of Sloth with the kid in the motel is a close second, but again, that's more of a whole scene that's played out and not just a discussion. This is a 15-page conversation between two people. I don't know why I like dialogue so much, but I do.

So yeah. Cannibalism. Why the hell not? I think half the reason I stuck it in there was cause I had written about every single other taboo in all of human culture. Somehow I missed cannibalism. I couldn't let that slide. I'm a jerk.

Oh, and sirens, too. Sirens are fun.

But Mythmaker IV also introduces you to the first, real character since....shit, since god knows how long. Since Despair, I think? Erin finally breathes a little bit of new life into our misbegotten narrator. And curses at him and hits him. 

Is this really what I look for in an ideal woman? 

I need a therapist.

Note the title. Cause that's sort of what happens in Mythmaker III. All of the sudden, out of nowhere, there are mythical beasts introduced into a book that  at no point has shown signs of being like a fantasy novel. Not like dragons are gonna start showing up or anything, but even I have to agree it is a little unusual.

Don't worry though. It'll all make sense. Sort of. I mean, as much sense as A Kind of Drug has made so far. Or did you forget the whole premise of the book was a written language that had narcotic-like effects? Tsk tsk.

If you've made it this far into A Kind of Drug, you should notice I have a penchant for lengthy dialogue. I much prefer conveying character and story through witty banter than through exposition.But when your novel devolves into a one man show, that sort of becomes tough.

Mythmaker II has about 4 lines of dialogue in it and none of it is directed at an actual person. By this point in time, I was finding it increasingly difficult for me to tell the story because all I wanted to do was skim over everything and just get to the part where dialogue starts up again (yes, it happens soon). So, I mostly had to force myself to write this entire portion of the chapter and it was excruciating.

Wait, this has all been way too serious.

Uhhh....taco sauce? Dirty underwear? 

Fuck, I need a drink.

I'll be honest, I can't believe how far along I am in this novel. With Mythmaker I now live, we are now totally in the home stretch. I mean, we're talking about 14 weeks, TOPS, left till A Kind of Drug wraps up forever. And yes, 14 is still a ways away, but considering today's update brings us to #61, it definitely means it's coming near the end.

But don't worry. Things are not going to really calm down before it all ends. In fact, it's gonna get a little bananas in this here chapter. Just give it a couple more weeks. Though I don't think there'll be any of that good ol' fashioned rape or infanticide.

Hm. I might have to work on that.