Once upon a time
Chris Lynch
In 2019, I picked up the first few pages of the novel I’d started in 2009 and began writing it again. For the last five years it’s been almost the only creative work I’ve done. It’s been a slow process. 100 words is a good day, and quite often a good week. In large part that’s because I’ve been attempting to juggle full-time teaching with several other major side-projects, or trying to make full-time teaching my only side-project.
Progress has also been slow because the book will be a long one, with a structure and form that has taken a lot of time to figure out. I say “will be” because, while I finished part one of the book early this year, I still have most of part two and nearly all of parts three and four to go. At the rate I’m going, it’s going to take me another five to ten years to finish.
So I’ve decided to serialise part one online (and, all going well, the other parts too). For a few reasons. One, I think (hope) that with the first part done, the final pages of every other part drafted, and a reduction in my teaching load, the rest of the book will come easier and faster, and that a regular publishing schedule will help keep me moving forward. I tend to spend a lot of time tinkering.
Two, I’ve realised that due to the book’s slightly unusual form, and its total length, publishing online first will produce a manuscript more likely to find a print publisher, for reasons that will hopefully become apparent further down the track.
And three, given that I’m essentially writing three linked novellas and something else over the course of 20-30 years, it would be good to get some encouragement along the way from anyone who enjoys what they read. Or, for that matter, feedback from those who don’t.
Episodes are mostly very short, often less than twice the length of this post, and will arrive in subscribers’ inbox once a week. The story begins with Episode 1 on 1st January 2025, and part one of Tortoise and Gecko’s adventures will conclude with Episode 52 at the end of the year. Perhaps you’ll sign up or drop by from time to time and enjoy the story being told—I hope so.