133: There’s No Going Back Now
1/13/2025
Okay, I finally finished Chapter 66: Saying Goodbye. Or at least what I’m calling the first draft. Finished it yesterday, coming in at just over 4 pages and at 1,141 words.
I didn’t use any research notes whatsoever, the entire thing just off the cuff without references. It’s extremely straight forward and simple because I only had two objectives: give the three boys a reason to go to Badru for help and have Dougga take Diallo’s horn with him. And that’s pretty much all that happened. I can always build on it later and maybe make it more interesting somehow, but for now I’m content and moving on.
Six more chapters to do in the next ten weeks.
Present-Day Reflection
10/5/2026
I’ve used the notion of being able to build on a chapter later, or fix whatever ails it later, quite a lot in these journals. But now, that’s no longer true. At least, not for Wings of Providence. The print version for Wings of Providence is now published, and I even have 10 copies coming my way in the mail.
Now when I say I’m moving on, it’s definitive, and there will be no going back. Batu canon is locked in, as far as the material in Wings of Providence is concerned.
It feels good, obviously. But it’s also edged with a tinge of sadness – the moving on and leaving behind me the first book in my series. It’s a good thing to move forward though, and I’ll just have to learn to live with my mix of emotions.
