New chapter's up! & I suppose I'll pick up the old tradition of responding to reviews, haha.
@SomeoneI'mSure: Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
@Cinderpaw11: Quite a few elements of Sage's past have popped up throughout the story - more than just a fox of the Skulk meeting with a solitaire in secret. There's one story in particular that's been repeated...but we'll get to that soon enough.
Pan/Lorelei's story is truly the mystery for the ages, haha. It was originally based off a weird dream I had, that kinda kickstarted me into writing Vulpine in the first place (or at least thinking about foxes again, which in turn reminded me of Sage/Sprite, old characters I hadn't really ever done anything with). I'd kinda kicked around the idea of expanding their tale into its own lil story (which is why so much of their story is initially vague) but I kinda gave up on that, so we'll see the conclusion of their legend in due time.
And yeah, four novels in two years was both rough and cake, weirdly enough! I didn't really think of the magnitude of what I'd actually done until I finished my thesis novel. Even then it was just kinda like "I've written four novels in my life, hmm." It wasn't until I went back and looked at the dates that I realized just how close they'd all been written!
Weirdly enough, though, most of them don't have too much crazy family-line stuff. It's completely absent in SQSL1&2, as far as I can remember, and doesn't pop up in Corona either (originally I'd intended a companion piece starring a character related to Corona's main character, but I think they're going to be unrelated after all. Space is a big place, it wouldn't really make sense for them to be connected). It does appear in my thesis novel, Apiarchy, but it's both subverted and played straight - the female main character (Dahlia) is told she's actually the Queen's daughter, who was hidden away after an assassination attempt. Later, she finds out the Queen's full of it, and just trying to cover up the fact that the real heir died years ago; Dahlia just looks close enough to play the part. Of course, the reason she looks close enough is because she and the Princess are actually cousins (their fathers were brothers). However, since power doesn't pass through the male side of things, the connection doesn't make her actually entitled to rule, or anything. So there's definitely a weird family tree, and i plays into the subject of the plot, but the importance of it is later downplayed. Fun stuff!
(Another project of mine, NORTH, has some family tree shenanigans in it, too - but it'll be in the prequel, if I ever get around to that.)
Whoops, rambled on a bit there. Anyway, thanks for sticking with the story, and I hope you'll enjoy future developments as they come. :)
(That goes for the rest of you guys, too. See you next week!)
