Guys, Chapter 2 of Barry Anderson is live as of today!  {Stadium cheer}  I am honestly so darn proud of 2 – Lessons, although I’ve been putting myself into a panic about posting it, for many reasons.

First, and maybe foremost:  It’s really really long.

You might think I am exaggerating, for my own self-deprecation, or bragging, depending on how you feel about word count, but I am not.  Final clock-in at 28,662 words.  For reference, the longest chapter of all of Harry Potter is around 8,000 words.  I can’t decide if I’m sorry or not.  But I don’t expect anyone to read it in one sitting, unless you want to!  Each chapter of Barry has a unified theme and purpose, and it wouldn’t have worked to chop it.  But I hope it’s not a difficult read.

The chapter is only two weeks long, but it’s a big journey for Barry into a wider world of magical control, and trying to understand if selfness is as changeable as trying on dresses.  It’s a lot of silly, a lot of lore, and a fair amount of thought-provoking.  Thoughts are not the only way in which it’s provocative.  Can’t decide if I’m sorry about that either.

Also, check out the new Enrichment and Extras pages for each chapter!  They’re like DVD extras, but you get to hear more from me!  Which you know you wanted to do, even after 41k words in the first two chapters. 😛  Never can get enough of me, right? 😉

Well if you’re into that kinda thing, I’ve got the pages for Chapter 1 Extras and Chapter 2 Extras up.

There’s a page for each song in the soundtrack, with my reflections on what those songs mean to me in each part of the story, as well as an ongoing look at the themes of the story, and how they’re reflected in the #motifs of the music.  There’s a non-English word glossary (gotta put my Irish-learning to use), my favorite quotes from each chapter, and eventually there will be author chapter commentaries, and scenes written from other character’s points of view.

(FYI I’m finishing a couple of the song pages for Chapter 2; should be up in a few days.  It’ll probably take everyone at least that long to read Chapter 2 anyway.)

I really, truly, hope you enjoy 2 – Lessons.  Amidst so much silly in a chapter, it’s hard for me to own the serious themes of fate, leadership, identity, and whether or not selfness is mutable.

I don’t intend for it to be another 10 months before I post Chapter 3. 😉

<3 Much love,
Calise