Hey everyone. I've been trying to deny this for about a month now, but I think it's time to admit I've bitten off more than I can handle.

I thought I could juggle two stories at once, but it turns out it's a lot harder to switch mental tracks when doing chapters five days a week than one chapter every three days. I simply can't get into the right mindset for Maya's story, and I'm on a deadline that I can't miss for Re: System.

Therefore, though it pains me to do so, I'm going to completely rearrange my schedule for the year once again. I thought with ReIgnite off my plate, I could fit in World 9352, but it turns out that with this kind of constant deadline pressure my max active projects is one.

Re: System book 1 is due in June, which also coincides with the beginning of my usual summer hiatus. This is official, not self-imposed, a deadline I have to meet. My current writing schedule for that is five days a week, and even at that rate I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it on time without stepping up the pace.

I can't afford to slow down, and I don't have the ability to switch gears constantly between projects sufficiently. I've written maybe 300 words of Trickster's Chance in the past three weeks.

After the summer, I'll be into revisions for Re: System and starting drafting book 2. Again, publisher, deadlines, serious stuff. I'm already stretching things to take the summer off, but I know I won't be able to do edits in the madness of tourist season and I've told them that in advance so they won't be expecting any.

Therefore, I have come to the obvious conclusion: if I won't have the time or mental energy to write TC before the summer, and I won't have the time or mental energy to write TC after the summer... my only option is to do it during the summer.

You might say... but, Asviloka! That's crazy. You just finished explaining that you'll be exhausted and braindead all summer! You expect us to believe that you'll magically be able to put out chapters during the one time of year you've always set aside for not-writing?

To which I might answer... yes. Because I know my capabilities. I may not be capable of switching rapidly between multiple books at once, but I know I can do this.

It's not that I can't write in the summer, just that it's harder to focus on and I know it would be detrimental to my wellbeing to try being fully dedicated to my job and also fully dedicated to a posting schedule. Usually I write smaller things on no particular schedule, oneshots for my Not Quite What You Meant collection, or more Unfinished Beginnings that won't go anywhere.

This year, I'm going to just trade out those smaller things for TC. I won't try to promise anything specific. I won't commit to daily chapters, or a steady weekly schedule. But I will write this story, as much as I can, throughout July and August.

The space between finishing Re: System book 1 and turning it over to the editors, and beginning book 2 in the fall, will be an important break from that world for me whether I'm writing or not. May as well fill in the cracks with my oldest, longest ongoing saga.

I'm hoping that'll look like 2-3 chapters a week, probably shorter than the old average (I've become accustomed to writing 1000-1500 size chapters with Re: System and Zu Mari) but, who knows.

It might mean one chapter every two weeks. It might mean two chapters a day for a week, then nothing for a month.

I can't guess how it'll turn out, because I do have to prioritize work. Some days I won't be able to write a thing. Others I may well get multiple chapters done. We'll just have to see how it plays out.

I love this story, this world, and there is so much left to tell. The grand plans I've been building up toward, the silly side quests, all of it.

I truly wish I could continue writing it on a steady weekly schedule as I have in previous years, but between the increased responsibilities at work and the increased pressure of an actual deadline for finishing another book, it seems I've finally found the limit to what I can squeeze chapters in between. Can apparently only cram so many priorities into my head before it says 'sorry, nope'.

To do this story properly, I need to be able to move in to World 9352 mentally, to linger over it and let the flow of the characters and story return. I can't do that when I'm already fully living in the world of Re: System.

I'd like to say 'if I'm so inspired, I'll try to drop a chapter occasionally before then' but realistically I know that my full attention has to be on finishing Re: System book 1. I'm already behind schedule and if I want to wrap this plot up I need to move up the pace. Worrying about the fact that I'm not managing to write any chapters for World 9352 is a complication I don't have time for.

I've been planning to do more Zu Mari for writeathon in April, since that's low-continuity and doesn't have the kind of grand overarching plan as either Re: System or World 9352, but at the rate things are going I don't know if I'll even be able to do that.

So... all that to say, I'm sorry to be so inconsistent. I want to write all the things all the time. Alas, physical and mental realities must be worked around.

Trickster's Chance will re-resume in July, even if it's just a few paragraphs in tiny mini-chapters, I will put out something.

I've been away from World 9352 too long as it is. I may have newer projects with higher ratings and more money, but this is still my first litrpg, my first serial, the first story I ever managed to stick to for multiple years. I'm not ready to give up on it yet.