I know, odd title. It really goes like this: As long as the file is open I’m going to continue fucking with it. And it’s true. I will. If I shut it, I won’t. 🙂
The [Echo Mike Papa] file feels like it has been open for months. I have shut it a few times but not for long. I shut it when I wrote ‘The End’. It was closed for a few days while I worked through the whole ‘Writers Trench Coat Syndrome’ situation. Then it magically opened again. And I played with it. I toyed with it. Created a fast little print mock-up. So I could make the cover, because I like making covers. I find it enjoyable and relaxing. (I’m an active relaxer, I cannot do nothing, it’s in my DNA.)

Anywho, I whipped up an ePub. (Seriously, all I have to do to create an ePub version is ‘export’ to ePub and it’s done.) I sent the ePub to my oldest daughter. She reads everything I write before anybody else gets near it. She sent notes when she was maybe halfway through. I added an extra scene that was needed because there was a big gap between two other such scenes. (Yeah, that’s all you’re getting.) Fiddled with some sentences, changed a few things, and then for fucking funsies changed the ending.
I suppose it wasn’t so much a changed ending as a more in-depth ending. Turned into a whole new chapter or two. That’s just how it goes sometimes.
I still may end up adding a chapter between chapters 27 and 28. I’ll wait until Bex gets that far though, it might not need it … we’ll see.

So the file is still open … it’s almost 99,000 words. That might’ve pushed the page count out a bit more, so I might need to redo the cover. I’ll wait and see. I have no problem redoing the cover. I love it. Such fun. I feel like it needs some gold or something … we’ll see.

There’s this thing wriggling around in my brain. I know it’s a story. I know it’s a cross-over story. And it was pretty much set up by the ending of [EMP] but it doesn’t need to be a thing. The ending stands as it is. It’s not a cliff-hanger.
There are options. There are always options. I could let this spark grow or I could snuff it out. Considering how tired I am, I should probably snuff it out.
Then this other idea came up from the depths … and it came with this … [Indigo Delta Kilo]. Watch this space I guess.

I think I’ve finally realised that my go-to place is gone. Whenever I got really tired or just needed time out over the last forever years … I went home to Mahau and I’ve always known that I could go home. Didn’t need a reason, an invitation, anything. I just needed to make a phone call. Sometimes I’d have kids with me and sometimes it’d just be me.
Last time it was just me and Superman (May/June 2025), and it was really good. We had a lot of laughs. We got things done. He cooked for me. We talked about all sorts of things. Went through stuff. Remembered things. I listened to stories from my childhood from his point of view. I confessed to a few things – he suspected but didn’t know. 🙂 🙂
While I was there I designed the cover for [Foxtrot Foxtrot Sierra] and Superman approved it. He liked the colours. I wanted something bright. Something eye-catching. He said I had succeeded. 🙂

That file is still open …