Hi all. I want to give an update on the story, as I have not uploaded a new chapter in a while. First, I have not given up on finishing Shadow Net. The past year or so, I've been very exhausted and creativity drained, but I was recently put onto an anti-depressant medication for something else, and it seems to have put me back to normal again, well normal for me. So, I might have had mild depression for a while and had no idea. Since the meds, I've been interested in art and writing once again. I've got a few things to mention but if you'd like to skip most of it and get a quick update, scroll down a few paragraphs to the one that starts with, "So for Shadow Net".

Now for a bit something that might be both bad news and good news as it pertains to Shadow Net; I began a whole new sci-fi story that I am writing right now. It's going to be a bit more episodic with an ongoing story, instead of one grand story like Shadow Net. It's just easier for me to write that way. I have quite a few health issues and as I get older; I'm 30 now and began Shadow Net at 19 or so, my good days are fewer and far between. So having a story that I can just write for fun without having to worry about the whole grand scheme is nice for me.

Back when I first started Shadow Net I had two stories going as well. The other was a Star Wars story with original characters and it worked pretty well. I'd write in one for a bit until I ran out of ideas or momentum, and by then I already had ideas for the other story, so I could go right into that. Alternating back and forth until I gave up on the Star Wars story because I just wanted to do my own original stories. So this will be the first time in many years I've had two stories going on at once and I hope it helps me like it did back then.

As for the progress on Shadow Net, I actually have quite a few finished chapters to post, but the problem is I hit a bit of a writer's block in the middle, and had a finish in mind. So, I skipped a bit of the middle at write the end of the series. So, I can't really post them here until I go back and finish the middle. Sorry about that. Also, the point I left on was a very, very important part of the ending so I don't want to jump back into it after what was a year off, more-or-less. So I hope this second story will help break me from my writer-rust; to fuel me into the Shadow Net ending.

Besides the mental slothfulness I had for about a year, I think I was struggling with deciding on a finale for Shadow Net. I want it to be perfect, obviously, but kept being indecisive. Also, a part of me was not wanting to reach the finale since Shadow Net has been part of my life for over a decade and has been very therapeutic for me and my health issues. Now with a second story, I don't feel as much like I want to hold onto it, and not have it end.

So for Shadow Net, to quickly sum it all up. I went through some stuff for a year, am better now. I hit a road block in the middle of the story, so I decided to write the last third. I have many chapters written up but can't post because they're the end third. It'll be some time before I can post another chapter on Shadow Net because when I get around to posting the middle, I'll have essentially finished the whole story and can post it all close together. I'm also still taking a bit of a break before continuing Shadow Net as I try and recharge my creative batteries with another story. That's pretty much it for the Shadow Net update. If you'd like to learn more about the second story I'm working on, please continue.

For the second story, I have no official title yet but I've just been calling it "Orchard" to myself. Like Shadow Net, it is sci-fi. A much heavier sci-fi than Shadow Net, with aliens and ships of all shapes and variety, including humans. If you enjoy the humor, action, and invention in Shadow Net I think you'll like Orchard as well. I think they'll both share a similar feel because that's just how I write. I'm a one-trick. As of writing this update, I have about 2 chapters worth of content written up, but I'm not sure how I'm going to post this one. If I'll do it by chapters or episodes with multiple chapters, I'm not sure yet. However, I should be posting it here on this account. At least to start off. There is always a chance where I might actually start trying to sell to a publisher or something, at some point.

As a fun note, I also have done a lot of character concepts for the new story. They're not super high quality or anything, I'm no pro artist, but I like how they turned out, myself. I always like to keep my character's appearance vague in story description so people can picture them however they want, so if that is you, I'd recommend not checking them out and keep them free to imagine how you wish. If you're even interested in this new story, that is. However, some people ask me for better description of characters so I thought this might work both ways.

If you're interested in checking them out, just google "Orchardline Deviantart" and I should show up there. I'd link it but I'm not sure if Fictionpress ever changed policies about links or not. Also, if you're unaware of what Deviantart is, be cautious because there can be some... let us say, peculiar and adult themed artworks on there. Mine are all tame but other pieces can be pretty out there.

So that's it for now. I'm glad to be back writing again, and I'm sorry for this big gap in chapters. I hope I can keep up this mental rate and post regularly again. Thank you all for reading, it means a lot.