Writing Heart of Shadow and Beta Readers

I am having a great time writing the next chapter for Heart of Shadow, but also this is another complicated chapter. Also despite the last chapter's complexity, that chapter was still a little more lowkey than this one is, since this one is taking place in the middle of a war.

It's been exciting to have two beta readers since chapter 19, SLWalker and PermianExtinction. SLWalker has been beta-reading the story for quite a while now, whereas PermianExtinction has recently started beta-reading for this story. They've both been extremely helpful with providing an outside perspective on the story as well as with helping with spelling or grammar details here and there. They're both extremely talented writers and have also taught me a great deal about different writing approaches, which is something I think I can always learn more about. They also give their impressions of things in the story as readers, which helps me to figure out if my story might actually communicate what I am trying to get across. I don't always take advice that I get, but I do always consider it, and I've tried to incorporate a lot of the suggestions I've been given. Getting more than one perspective can also help because different things stand out to different people. Did I mention they are both really good at beta-reading?

My hope is to have this chapter finished sometime this month. I have a whole draft for it now and am simply doing editing. I don't do deadlines, and I tend to prioritize thorough editing over speed, so no guarantees, but it could happen. We'll see!

Cut Strings Status

I'll note that I also have a full draft of chapter 42 of Cut Strings, and that just needs some editing as well before I release it. So now it's just a question of which I will finish first, the new Cut Strings chapter or the new Heart of Shadow chapter. Also whether I will manage any December releases. We'll see!