Anyway, so this single response contained some very high praise (on top of pointing out a typo, which I hastily fixed after reading the comment)! I thought I would share it here:
I sort of really love this. I had a big smile on my face as I read this. It's a very charming story with a bold, noble message. [...] Reading your work is always fun, and as you pointed out, originals deserve some attention, too.
I found that very, very high praise, and I will mention that that is not the first piece of praise I have received from ZU Forums user Holden either!
Anyway, if you want to read about my progress on "Illusions & Lies: Undercover," (spoiler-free), please "hit the jump," as they say!
Oh, you must have continued! Either that or you're reading the feed or something! But I digress.
As you are probably unaware, I write the majority of my short stories down on a notepad first before typing them up. Actually, about half of them. This notepad is a bit bigger than the standard 8.5-by-11. I am currently on the third page of "Undercover." This is about 2 pages and two-thirds of 8.5-by-11 pages in Microsoft Word. This is because the font is smaller than my writing.
The beginning is pretty silly (in a good way, of course!), and I'm currently writing about an argument between Leonard Rickson and his manager at the "bookshop on Errins Street" (remember that from "Day One?"). That is a pretty awkward yet funny scene!
While "Undercover" isn't nearly as plot-twist-filled as the previous three installments, it is less about exposition (which is basically what Part 1 was all about) and more about moving the plot along. I can (almost) assure you that it'll still be pretty interesting!
I'm still sticking with my original estimate of launch being sometime late next week or so.
Farewell, for now!