So when we last visited the Thrilling Tales project... about a year ago, in fact... I was just launching the online serial The Lair of the Clockwork Book.

The serial's been, er, ticking away since then with its regular, twice a week updates, and it's going to conclude in April.  Like the earlier Thrilling Tale (Trapped in the Tower of the Brain Thieves) I'll be publishing the complete story as a 130-odd page, full color paperback.

But I've just launched a new Kickstarter project to fund a limited edition hardcover of the same book.  I won't bore you with the details here, because I know you've just clicked on that link and you've now absorbed every thrilling word.  And the other ones.  But I am excited about the hardcover book.  This is a pattern I'd like to repeat with each one of the serials, as they conclude.  We'll see how that works out.

As always, nothing will happen if we don't quite reach the goal - so tell all your friends and neighbors, okay?

So what does all this mean for The Toaster With TWO BRAINS?

In some respects, the Clockwork Book has done exactly what it was supposed to do.  It's helped me add content to the Thrilling Tales web site on a frequent schedule - so people have a reason to keep coming back.  That's the part that's worked pretty well, because they have been coming, and coming back to see the updates, and their numbers have grown over time.

However.  Those two updates per week have come to rule my schedule.  I had planned to work on the Clockwork Book for two-month stretches, and in between those I'd be putting in a similar two-month stretch on The Riddle of the Wrong Brain (that's Part Two of The Toaster With TWO BRAINS).  And it nearly worked that way, at first.

But other tasks pile up, the occasional freelance job comes in, things now and then start leaking blue smoke at one or another of my web sites.... and that Clockwork Book schedule was sacred to me.  I could not ever be late with an update.

As a result, as I near the end of my (first!) serial story, only one quarter of the Riddle of the Wrong Brain illustrations are done.  Something had to give, and that's the thing yjay had no ironclad schedule, and so.....

For these reasons there will probably be two changes for the next serial.  First off, it'll start late.  I'm going to have to spend some uninterrupted time with TWO BRAINS if I hope to have Part Two finished this year (!).  Second, the next serial will probably update just once a week - though with a longer part of the story.

I really prefer two updates per week:  I think it's much better for the readers.  But there's no way (I have now proved) that I can complete two stories at once on that schedule.

There will be some other changes in the next serial, too, but they're particular:  this is general.

So believe that TWO BRAINS is not forgotten.  I'm going to put the next serial on the shelf for awhile so I can catch up.  And if you're inclined, have a look at the Clockwork Book project here at Kickstarter.  Tell everybody!  That's a large chunk of change, to get those nifty books printed.  I'd sure like to see them!

And here's where it all comes together and amounts to something: after several months of preparation, today sees the launch of a new serial story at Thrilling Tales of the Downright Unusual: The Lair of the Clockwork Book.

In addition to writing the story and creating its first 33 illustrations I've made a set of revisions to the Thrilling Tales site that support these new, linear, serialized stories. Some of that's a different system for navigation, while a lot is pretty much invisible to the reader; but I've also added a comments panel so that readers can leave feedback on the pages. The comment system is collapsed by default, so it won't be distracting to those who are just there for the tale itself.

To say that I'm really happy to see this new story start would be sort of obvious, maybe redundant, and certainly an understatement. And I thank all my backers (again!) for helping to make this new story possible.

Now that it's gone live I've scheduled myself to return to The Toaster With TWO BRAINS for the next two months, at which time I'll need to turn my hat around on my head again to do the next set of illustrations for the Clockwork Book story. I'll be on that revolving schedule until early next year, when I ought to be finishing both stories at about the same time (oops!). And right about then, the printed versions of both stories should also be available.

So, in short: long haul; much work done; much work to do; thanks again!