Q1: [Question pertaining to how something works in-setting], [Question that pertains to a future event in the story, whether something will happen or not], [Will the story stay this dark?], etc.

A1:  I make a point of not answering questions like these, because I don’t want to spoil anything (and something doesn’t happen is still a spoiler, because it narrows down possibilities). Wait for future updates, read on, infer from the text.

Q2:  Will there be an ebook version?

A2: I hope to self publish and sell some somewhere down the road.  Going to finish the story first and edit things as thoroughly as possible first.

Q2a:  Can I have an ebook version for free?  I’d like to read offline.

A2a:  I have some, but I’d rather not distribute them.  There’s unethical sorts who are taking others’ work and claiming it as their own (often with a title/name change) and I’d rather not make it easier for them.  I know there’s a few fanmade ebook versions circulating, I accept that it’ll happen, but I don’t want to help the process along.

I’m hoping to get a polished version out at some point.  Should you be interested, send me an email at Wildbowpig [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line ‘WormPublishNews’.  I’ll mass-email everyone on that list when the time comes, to let them know about release.  (For all worm news, use the subject line ‘WormNews’.)

Q3:  Fanart.  Fanfics.  You okay with it?

A3: I am definitely okay with it, love it, but I’d ask that you mention where the work in question comes from (refer back to this site in a clear & obvious way) & mention that you don’t claim the characters/setting/ideas of Worm as your own.  If you want to make money off of it, talk to me first – but generally my answer is going to be a ‘no’.

Q4:  What’s the Missing Interlude?  What happened?

A4:  It’s an interlude I tried to write while badly distracted, after long & busy weeks filled with family events.  A crew of 6-10 people were tearing up/replacing my kitchen & bedroom floors; there was no place to write where I’d be close enough to answer questions but far enough away to have some peace.  On the best of days, it’s hard to be objective enough to judge if a chapter will be loved or loathed.  I’ve braced myself for hate while waiting for a response to some chapters, only to find them my best-received.  To top it off, on any day I’m tired, there’s inevitably little details I’m forced to gloss over in the process of getting a chapter up.  Research I don’t do, or places where I expect readers to fill in the blanks.

This interlude, taking place after the Echidna arc, featured a Tattletale clone who’d slipped through the cracks, crossed paths with a buried Shatterbird and Vista, only to escape and join Weld’s new team.  I got past the point of no return as far as writing it, I wound up putting it up despite my doubts and braced myself for the response to one or two of those points where I didn’t quite cover all the bases.  Except there were more than a few of those iffy moments.  The reader response only helped me realize that I wasn’t happy with it, and I ultimately took it down.  The problems:

• The origin of the character was poorly done.  It made sense in-setting, but to readers, it took place over two offscreen moments.
• The introduction of the character was unnecessary.  It didn’t serve the story.
• The tone of the story suffered for her introduction.  Basically a gut punch at a time when things should have been letting up/winding down.
• The character wasn’t in line with the setting as laid out.  Her behavior as compared to other clones was patient.
• The scenario the character was worked into was both forced and unbelievable:her joining the Irregulars, them not questioning the introduction of an amnesiac after anti-Stranger measures were established midway through arc 18, her being immediately given a management position.

It didn’t make sense.  It’s no longer canon, but I expect the story will continue to hint that the events besides the introduction of this ill-conceived villain were more or less accurate.

There’s only been one similar incident since I began Worm: one chapter (7.9) was a little too frantic and description heavy.  I pulled an all-nighter to rewrite it before the remainder of my readers woke up in the morning and saw it, joking that it was canon.  (See 8.8 for why)

Q5:  Worm ends!?  When!?

A5:  The last update is already up!  Damn!

Q5a: What’s next?

Ward is the follow-up to Worm.