So, Sterlings is finished. Done all the way through. After all that, it was cut down by 96,000 words. It's funny: Charlie Stross was just mentioning on rec.arts.sf.composition his own completion and lessons learned, but I'm more or less regretting finishing. It's a little sad knowing that I won't be talking to Dove or Polly or the Dekans or even Khrystyne for a while. They go onto the back-burner while I flail around for four more episodes to put into the hopper so that there'll be a reliable year's worth of material.
As it is, the wait to get to the end of Sterlings is May 20th, 2008. That's how much material I have at my usual posting schedule. So that's how long I have to get something new written. Somehow, it's almost tragic that anyone has to wait that long for the final showdown between Polly and Zia, or the big surprise about Dove, or any of the really good stuff.
Actually, that's not entirely true: Saul shows up in just two weeks, and he gets some fabulous lines.
I have two more stories, Miao and Faithful Friend, that have complete first drafts. Last Will is almost done, Forgoing Eternity (an experiment in writing horror) is about half done. Umechan isn't gelling, but I might have enough material for Extension Cord. I guess that's enough to last the year.
When I get the final four, I'll put them into the queue, and then I'll turn my attention to Caprice Starr, Agent of the Science Council and the Slums of Mars.