Township Season 6 Arrives!

We’re finally here.

The story is moving forward!!!

Can you believe the last episode of Season 5 (Episode 67: Home) was published on November 10, 2020!?

That means we’ve had an entire year between the last episode!!!

Well, that’s not entirely true. After all, we did have the winter holiday specials in 2020 (Episodes 68 and 69), and recently we had a new Halloween special (Episodes 70, 71, and 72). I always try to write these specials so that you can skip them if you want, but if you do read them, you’ll always learn something new about the world or characters.

As we kick off the start of Season 6, there’s a few things I need to cover that have changed over the course of the past year… the first is numbering. In the past, I have always numbered episodes based on their “season”. That is to say, I’ve generally had episodes 1 through 10 or so, then restarted in the next season.

As Township has grown, I found that means I have a lot of episode 1s. As I’m working on the eBook release of the series, I’ve generally found it difficult to keep track of your place if you’re constantly starting a new set of numbers. As a result, and after a few discussions with incredible friends, I opted to go with a single numbering for all of Township’s episodes, regardless of the season. The good news is this means that you, as a reader, and know where you are in the series by simply looking at the episode number. That is to say, Episode 71 is after 70. If you step away from reading for a while and come back, it should help you get back to where you left off more easily, and for those who will join in the adventure via the soon to be unveiled eBook, the numbering will be a single track for them to follow, no different from chapters in any other novel.

Additionally, and frankly the largest change this season, is the lack of photography.

The truth is, this part of production was holding up my release schedule far more than I wanted. The days of setting up sets and spending several nights on photos has become increasingly difficult as my family continues to grow and consume more time. My block of entertainment now falls in the window after our kids go to sleep, but before I also fall asleep. That window is now divided between my own entertainment, writing, spending time with my wife, and so on and so forth.

I was faced with a few choices. I could continue to delay the release of episodes so that I could take the photos, edit them, and add them to the posts, or I could push ahead with publishing the story without them. For the last month, season six has sat on the sidelines waiting for me to muster and capture my photos. For one evening, I did finally to manage enough energy to capture photos for the first few episodes, but I found myself becoming rather stressed with the time requirement and when I asked myself if I was still having fun with the idea, the answer was maybe, which wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear.

Adding to all of this, of course, is the fact that incorporating the images into the eBook isn’t an option due to any unintentional legal issues. As a result, the images that I would spend so much time capturing would reach a limited audience as I move into the eBook market.

I don’t know for sure what the future holds, but I know that I love writing Township, and I want to continue to share it with the world. I am fortunate in that I am running on my own steam. I don’t have publishers demanding chapters from me, or a hungry family that needs money from my writing.

In the spirit of continuing to let my ideas flow and to release them accordingly, I’ve decided to forego photos for Season Six of Township. I don’t know if that’s the permanent path, but at this time, it’s the right one.

In the rare case that the readers who have joined me for the last few years feel passionate about this, I do encourage you to reach out to me about it. The work, while time consuming, could be seen as more thrilling if I knew there was a hunger from the audience for me to continue.

Otherwise, get ready for new episodes of Township every Friday! This season we’re going to get to learn a lot about Olivia’s past, a story element that has been teased since Episode 11: Return to Base. The secrets surrounding her own history are on a collision course with other elements that now swirl in a new and dangerous place. Our Township knows about other World Ships and with that, the question of “Are we alone?” begins to shift to “Are we really safe?”

Exciting stuff! I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

As always, thank you for being a part of this journey. I am grateful for your readership.