Phoenix Apprentice

Uploaded Chapter 9 today as I've got quite a bit of stuff to do tomorrow--a D&D session and possibly a ski trip (if I'm not too tired from the one I went on yesterday). It'll post at the regular time! Thanks everyone for reading!

Chapter 8 will post tonight! I'm still investigating the situation at my job, the, uh, the "magic" situation and all. So far, all I've really done is read about 800 pages of bad fanfics and work on my books. I think I've annoyed someone, and because of that I've been assigned to this particular section of the fiction archives. Probably Judy. She seems like the kind of vindictive, passive-aggressive sort of person, from what I've seen. When she's not violently ill from consuming sticks of butter. I mean, I think that would make anyone sick, let alone someone whose digestive tract literally can't process half a teaspoon of the stuff.
          I guess I can't complain, though. I'm being paid to read and write, basically. That's what I've always wanted.

Chapter 7 is coming tonight! Will Silvia escape her harrowing situation?! I mean. Probably. She is the MC and it would be a really short story if she was killed off. BUT WILL SHE ESCAPE?!?!?! TUNE IN TONIGHT TO FIND OUT!
          
          Also, an update on my job.
          
          Judy Butterfield, my boss, might have some sort of lactose-intolerance-based masochistic disorder. I swear, I've never seen ANYONE with any kind of allergy so recklessly into consuming every food item to do with it. Even her name is ironic because butter is her favorite, and there's a rumor that she eats five sticks of it straight per day. Consequently, she has her own private restroom at the Arcom.
          
          But the reason I'm here is not to discuss my new boss's absurd habits. I just wanted to let you all know that magic might be real, and I might be involved with it. I guess not magic in the way it's represented in popular literature, you know, pointing wands and saying silly words—silly words can definitely be involved, but it's more like aggressively thinking until something happens. I know I'm not really making sense right now, but I want to do a little more investigating before I decide that these people do straight-up use magic. They've sure been insistent about me publishing Dark Within. I've had to tell them over and over that I'm doing it serially, but apparently patience is a rarity around here.

We are now on Part Two, Chapter 6, and it's going to hit the ground running. 
          
          To give a slight recap from Light Within, through the course of the book we learned that Dromisse is actually a dream world created in Silvia's mind with the power of a mysterious, multicolored earring. None of it is real, though some of the people in it are real, and are trapped asleep in this dream world. Silvia created the dream world to destroy the Nightmare, otherwise known as Rimis, otherwise known as Duncan, the apparent source of all evil and suffering. But she came to regret doing so, and now she can't wake up, because she promised the earring she would destroy Rimis. It won't let her wake up--or anyone else--until she fulfills that promise.
          
          And it might pay to remember a certain Hazel Shepherd who wanted to free Rimis from Dromisse ...
          
          So! Keep all that in mind as you read this chapter! And thanks everyone who has been following along!

Chapter 5 is ready for tonight! This is the last chapter for this section. Now we venture on to a different part of the story!

Chapter 4 is up to post! Next week will be the last chapter of Part One. Then it'll shift to follow some other characters for a while ... some rather familiar characters. Until then!

Chapter 3 is up to post tonight! Got kind of a late start today, been kind of tired from my new job.
          
          Also, this is not a normal job. It's not a cult either (mildly sad), but it's for sure not a normal job.
          Apparently, what they do is not archiving fiction, but more than that. According to my boss, Archivist Judy Butterfield, the Arcom archives the human psyche? And I just—I've just happened to been put in the fiction department. She tried to explain it to me, but I ... I didn't understand. Not at all. And then she gave me a disappointed and confused look (or I assumed she was disappointed and confused—she did mention being lactose intolerant and then she went in the break room and had the complimentary donuts left behind, the donuts and MILK, I heard she had seven glasses and seven donuts, so the look could have been caused by that) but then she walked away.
          I think I've functionally misunderstood something about this job, but I don't know what. At least I seem to be doing okay.

Chapter 2 will post later tonight!
          
          Still doing training for my new job, trying to suss it out. Will post an update next week!

IT'S TIME! Later tonight, Dark Within will finally be posted! Same time as always, 7 p.m. MST. It will be the prologue/introduction and the first chapter. From there it will be published serially just like Light Within, once every Saturday at 7. There are 58 chapters and so it'll run for 58 weeks, which puts us a little over a year.
          
          Also, I've got great news! I just got a new job! I was offered a position as an archival assistant at this place called 'Arcom' which is short for 'Archive Omnium.' It's a huge national project here in the United States comparable to the Library of Congress, only instead of a governmental entity it's entirely independent and operates out of Salt Lake City, Utah. What Arcom predominantly does is preserve fictional works, especially those of unpublished or otherwise unrecognized authors/artists, and they accept any submissions freely. That was actually one of the things that came up in my job interview, were questions about my own writing. I've been writing for a long time so spent a lot of effort answering, which was fine, because they went even further and asked me to name all my characters. All of them. They also asked about previous imaginary friends I had when I was a kid, which I thought was pretty weird, but you know how things are nowadays. You take a job where you can get it. Only thing is, I get the oppressive sense that I've joined a cult. But in this economy, you know, sign me up for a cult that pays well! I'll keep posting updates as I learn more about the job!

Oh, I guess I've forgotten to make an announcement here for a while. Whoops! Today's extra is more special than last the last few weeks anyway. But I won't spoil what it is. Just have to wait until 7 to find out!