THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE MISSING AUTHOR

For almost four months, something rather unusual has happened in the world of Pegged.

Nothing.

Not a single new scene. Not a paragraph revised. Not even a promising sentence scribbled on a napkin.

The culprit? The author, who apparently decided that real life deserved some attention too.

Fortunately, fictional characters are remarkably patient. Although I suspect Steenberg would have serious objections to the way this project is being managed.

But don't mistake silence for surrender. Pegged hasn't been abandoned. Its characters, ambitions, and unresolved questions are still very much alive.

And I intend to return to them soon.

WHY I'M WRITING THIS

I've been publishing reports because I wanted to share more than the finished product. I wanted readers to accompany the creation of a novel, including its detours, frustrations, and occasional surprises.

A four-month silence is part of that story too.

I also realize that keeping in touch shouldn't depend entirely on how many pages I've written.

There are plenty of questions surrounding Pegged that remain worth discussing, even when the manuscript isn't moving forward.

Who should decide how money is allocated? Why do we insist that every allocation must have a justification? What happens when a system challenges that assumption?

These questions haven't gone away. Neither has my curiosity about them.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

I plan to resume work on the novel soon.

I'm not announcing a deadline, writing doesn't always respect the calendar.

In the meantime, I'd like to keep this conversation alive.

There is still plenty to share: unpublished scenes, fragments from Alias's notebooks, the ideas that inspire the story, and perhaps a few things that will never make it into the finished novel.

But I'm equally interested in what you make of it all.

What has stayed with you from Pegged so far? A character, an idea, a question—or perhaps something that never quite convinced you?

I'd genuinely enjoy hearing your thoughts. After all, one of the pleasures of writing a novel is discovering that readers sometimes see things its author never anticipated.

ONE MORE THING: the search continues

I'm still looking for a literary agent who might be interested in accompanying this rather unconventional project.

If you know someone in publishing who appreciates ambitious fiction that challenges familiar assumptions, an introduction would mean a great deal.

And if you know someone who might enjoy Pegged, please share it with them. Every new reader brings another perspective to the conversation.

Thank you for staying with Pegged, even when its author occasionally disappears.

The characters are waiting. The questions remain. And the story isn't finished.

— Ava