First, I’d like to apologize to ATL readers for the long gaps in updates for Season 2.
After Season 1 ended last December, the plan was to start back sometime in February or early March, after Hands Held in the Snow got going and I had time to build up another significant backlog. Well, that didn’t come nearly as soon as I had expected. Hands Held in the Snow took much more of my time than I anticipated, and a story I wrote as a joke in my free time, Reborn on a Systemless Earth… With a System became much more popular than I expected (also, ATL fans would love that story. I really recommend it).
So it took until June for the first story of Season 2, The Dial-Up Demon, to release. I decided to release it all in one batch because I didn’t think it worked that well as a serial experience, and decided that I preferred batch releasing many chapters would be better for readers than the thrice-weekly drip-feed that lasted throughout Season 1 (you can sound off on your opinion of that, if you’d like).
But the plan was to release chapter batches at least once a month, and now it’s been nearly two months since The Dial-Up Demon. That is far too long.
Is it really just that I have been busy with other projects? Is that the only reason for all these delays? No, not really. Another important reason is that I found myself in a bind with keeping details and plot/character threads straight. I had not been organizing information in any comprehensive manner, and after a few months away from the story, I found that I had already become rusty and forgetful of a lot of the smaller points. So earlier this year I was forced to go back through the story, and in detail capture a whole lot of the information I hadn’t organized before then. That took a really long time. It’s embarrassing to admit, but a lot less embarrassing than the plethora of continuity errors that would surely have arisen had I not done that.
One other thing that affected me—and this may be a minor SPOILER so warning to those who really don’t want to know—is that I gamed out the rest of the story after Season 1, making estimates for every story and season planned at the time… and I found that, if I continued updating three times a week with no breaks, the story would still end in late 2023. That horrified me. With a story this long at my hands, and one that doesn’t make me a cent (though you sure can back on Patreon if you’d like to see some ATL bonus content), I was frankly intimidated to continue for a little while.
Since then, I’ve made some adjustments that should hopefully make the series a little less… absurdly long… However, I’ve also come to accept that, while ATL is important to me and it’s a very fun story, it’s probably never going to reach the popularity of my other web serials. I’m going to keep having fun with the story, but I’m definitely not shooting for it to become a mega-hit. Thus, delays like this won’t be that uncommon, at least while I’m not a full-time author. I apologize for that, but I hope you’ll stick with the story even if it takes a very long time to reach its eventual conclusion.
I have a lot of other projects in the pipeline besides more ATL, and the Quinlan Circle as a whole is busier than ever. If you’re clamoring for more ATL but can’t stand the wait, please look into these stories:
Finished/Ongoing:
- Hands Held in the Snow, my fantasy romance novel that recently wrapped up after 70 chapters.
- Invisible Werewolf Dracula Meets Vampire Mummy Frankenstein, a delightfully silly exercise in dry comedy by ATL’s character artist, Joi Massat. I really love this one.
- NightMare Verse, a webcomic by the the recent cover artist LEO.
- Jesse Pirnat of the Quinlan Circle has also written many wonderful short stories that are up the alley of any ATL reader, such as “A Broken Clock,” “Justice Never Dies,” and “Cliff Hung’s Comprehensive Guide To Getting Laid Like A Rock Star (Who Gets Laid All The Time).”
Upcoming:
- A new webcomic by Joi Massat called Starcrash!! with Jeff, coming in September (The first 25+ comics available on Patreon already!).
- A new romantic comedy series by me, coming (probably) in
early2021. - A mystery project by me, also coming in early 2021, that will absolutely blow the socks off most of y’all.
Thank you so much for reading ATL, of course. I’ll try as hard as I can to give you high-quality stories and high-quality Morgans, even if it may take a lot longer overall than it should. One day, I’ll be a full-time author and I’ll be able to devote much more time to ATL and other projects. But until then, I hope you’ll be patient with me.