Stop exaggerating.  It won't be five months until Saturday.  :-P

I didn't even realize it had been that long since a release.  My life has been a lot of chaos and upheaval since then.  Two hurricanes, health issues, depression... just a lot on my plate at the moment.

I have been writing on AC, and Chapter 31 is well on its way to being finished... but no real indicator of when it will reach that mark.

Eric Storm

PS:  You could not pay me enough money to live in California.

You ask to much and Eric will be tempted to finish it next week but won't release it for another month just to annoy us loyal readers.

Personally, I've stopped checking. I think I last checked last week maybe, but I used to check 2-3 times a day even knowing he would give us a notice it went to the proof readers which notoriously take forever to get it back to him.

Stretchlace wrote:

Hi Eric, It's been five months since the last post in the AoC story line. Is this just a case of writer's block or of life getting in the way of the creative process? (Please tell me you don't live in California.)  Any chance we're close to a new chapter or do we have a while more to wait. (I feel like a kid who just finished Thanksgiving Day dinner and realizes that, from a kid's perspective, Christmas is still a very long way to go.)

You know Eric does his best to gives us readers something new to read at least once a month. It may not be the story that some of the readers want to see more of(WBR for me personally is number 1) but the other stories are a good read also. Like currently we are getting chapters in the Misfits story which has become quite intriguing to me.

Jesus..... THAT was intense :-)

(posted from Chapter 31)

Yay!  A new chapter!  It is a great one too!  Nick can be a vindictive little bastard to people to deserve it and I love it

Thank you for a wonderful read.   Gonna be hard to wait for the next one..

(posted from Chapter 31)

Just finished Chapt 30. Love a good series story. I am looking forward to Valerie's involvement with Nick. If he's doing her Mom, then why not. I also look foward to how the developement of the inventions progresses. So many directions, hard to keep my head on a swivel.

Hi Eric, it's been almost 6 weeks since the last chapter of AoC dropped. I know you have Misfits on a 4-5 week schedule. Am wondering if AoC is running at that frequency or should we expect a longer interval between chapters? Just wondering so I know when to look for new reading material. I am really enjoying both story lines. Thank you for your creative efforts. Also, I apologize for my anticipatory impatience.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

You've been here over four years, and you still think I'm releasing Agent of Change on a schedule?  You'll get chapters when I manage to finish writing them.  The only reason that Misfits is on a schedule is because I had written a large portion of it before starting to release it.  When those pre-written chapters run out, that story's schedule will end, too.

Writing Status Thread
That is the forum thread where I discuss how my writing is going.

Eric Storm

ok, not expecting a schedule, just hoping to see more...Love ya Eric

(posted from the Item Information Page)

please post regular updates or post a schedule on when when we can expect a new chapter.

(posted from Cast List - PRM Chapters)

reaper1963 wrote:

please post regular updates or post a schedule on when when we can expect a new chapter.

We will get new chapters for Agent of Change when he has them ready.
We are at the mercy of his muse and trying to hurry him along does not help his muse inspire him.

reaper1963 wrote:

please post regular updates or post a schedule on when when we can expect a new chapter.

(posted from Cast List - PRM Chapters)

You know, it always amazes me.  Readers seem to think there's some conspiracy among us authors to keep them in the dark about when stories will be available.

Do you really think, if I knew when I was going to release the next chapter, I wouldn't tell you?  I have an entire forum thread devoted to my writing status.

Agent of Change is not on a schedule.  It gets released as it gets finished.  There hasn't been anything released because there hasn't been anything finished.  You are no more impatient for more of the story than I am.  The only difference is, I get to feel the frustration and guilt at not getting it done.  So... maybe have a little patience?

Eric Storm

I can wait for the next chapter(s).  I really hope it's taking so long because you're going to release multiple chapters at once.  I like this even more than "CAMP: Ron's Journey," which I've loved for years.

BoboK wrote:

I really hope it's taking so long because you're going to release multiple chapters at once.

Well, let me burst that bubble right now.

I haven't released multiple chapters of anything all at once since I stopped posting to Usenet, which was a very long time ago.  It's taking so long because I haven't been able to write anything significant in months.

Eric Storm

Again, an interesting concept which I am enjoying.

I know life gets in the way, but just wondering if there is any timetable on the next chapters?

(posted from Chapter 31)

I hope that the next chapter doesn't take this long to come out. I wish that there was a schedule or timeline of some sort for chapters releases.

(posted from Chapter 32)

*sigh*

So we'll go over this once again.

Do you really think I'm withholding chapters for months, with no releases at all, to make readers wait on content?  Why would I do that? 

You get a new chapter of Agent of Change when I manage to finish writing a new chapter.  If you look back at the writing log, I finished writing this chapter at the beginning of the month.  Then it went through my reviewers.  Once they were done with it, I posted it.  There is no down-time or intentional delay in the system.  Chapters are either "in production" (ie, being written), "in review", or they've been posted.

I'm sorry you find the time between chapter posts annoying.  Trust me, you aren't even half as annoyed about it as I am.  I have so many stories that I know I'm not going to get to tell because I'm never going to manage to get to them, because I have to finish what I'm already working on, and that's taking forever.

You think you've got it bad?  My best donor is waiting for me to continue Where the Brontosaurs Roam.  I haven't touched that story in three or four years.

So... yeah.  If you don't have the patience to hang with me, I'm probably not the writer you want to be reading.  My output is, has always been, and most likely always will be, very sporadic.  Sometimes I get on a streak and I can pump out two, maybe even three, chapters of something or other in a single month.  On the other hand, sometimes I go for six months without putting down a single word.  That's just how it is.  I can't change that any more than you can.  But you bitching about it only depresses me, and depression does make it much harder to write anything, so...  act accordingly.

Eric Storm

PS:  Before someone brings it up, Misfits is a different beast.  I had written a huge amount of that story before releasing any of it, so yes, there are chapters of that just sitting and waiting to be posted, but I am posting one chapter a month.  As soon as you catch up to where I am, Misfits will be just like Agent of Change: chapters will be posted when I get them finished.  As to why I didn't post all of the written chapters at once:  Did you really want to be waiting for me to get more written, without having anything at all to read during those months?

what a lovely chapter. So many mini stories toyched on and all woven together to make me think I know what is to come, but also make me realize you will yet again surprise me eith your plot twists and turns.  I wish I had even half your imagination.  Thanks for sharing.

(posted from Chapter 32)

Great to see a new chapter, and a cracking good one at that.

I love the way the Kurtz family is getting its due, and love the interplay with Veena's husband.

I am wondering what Erin at AMCAR has against Nick - and whether it will inevitably end with Nick getting another notch on his bedpost :-)

Anyway, I know wishing won't make it so (especially since you haven't even begun writing chapter 33) - but, y'know .... :-)

(posted from Chapter 32)

Here's a thought, atheism has been Faith based since 1929 when hubble discovered that the universe had a beginning.  This made the belief that what caused the beginning of the universe a matter of faith.  We know it happened, but it takes faith to believe it either was purposeful, or not as there is no scientific evidence either way.  Available evidence actual leads to a theory of purposeful origin, because current scientific understanding is that all things have a cause.
Happy to be caught up with newest chapter, thanks!

(posted from the Item Information Page)

If we are defining the term "Atheism" as "The belief that there is no God", then Atheism has always been faith-based, as "faith" is merely the belief in something for which there is currently no proof.  You cannot prove a negative, therefore you can never prove "There is no God."

Of course, modern Atheists seem to want to change the definition of Atheism, replacing it with the definition of Agnosticism, which is simply the acceptance that there is no proof either way, and is thus the only truly non-faith-based system.

Not sure how this was relevant to current chapters, but oh well. 

Eric Storm

I disagree with your definition of atheism. For many it is a lack of belief any god or gods.  It is not a belief itself. Most atheists would accept actual evidence of an intelligent force if the evidence was provided. 

To clarify the distinction from agnosticism, an agnostic simply says they don't know and all possibilities are equally likely.  The non-belief atheists provide me evidence and I will consider it. 

I liken it to belief in bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. The people who believe need to show me the evidence.  Until then, I will assume there is no god or gods, just like I assume there is no bigfoot or Loch Ness monster.  That's not the same as agnosticism, nor is it an affirmative belief.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

Man I would like to edit that, but I believe my point is clear,

(posted from the Item Information Page)

hst666 wrote:

nor is it an affirmative belief.

Actually, it very much IS an affirmative belief.  You accept something as true, without any proof of its validity.  You said it point blank:

hst666 wrote:

I will assume there is no god or gods

"There is no god."  That is a statement of belief, as you have absolutely no evidence to back it up.

I don't understand why people shy away from this definition so much.  If you truly believe there is no God, then own that, and call yourself what you are: an Atheist.  If you truly accept that you don't know one way or the other, then own that, and call yourself an Agnostic.  It confuses me that people keep trying to redefine Atheist to mean Agnostic.  Well, if that's to be the case, then what do we call people who truly believe there is no God?

Eric Storm