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Malenien and Lennis: I want to thank you both for chiming in, and I'd like to ask that you both drop me an email separately at novelist@chronotrigger.info, if you would be so kind.

One thing that everyone has to understand is that this project has been a pioneered effort from the get-go. Yes, I (and "we," meaning the CTNP Committee and all of the fans who have been involved) have understood what kind of challenge we were up against. Countless and varied efforts at gaining support over the years would not have taken place had we felt this was an easy goal. That's why so much of the project has been geared around trying to get people speaking out in support as a means for persuading Square-Enix.

The unfortunate truth is that, as has been mentioned, these efforts have mostly been in vain. Do I wish we would have done many things differently over the years? Yes. Do I wish that much less time straining our brains over new ways at gaining support and developing things like "Operation Ultimate Victory" would have been spent in exchange for more time with the novel itself? Yes. Do I fully regret what we've done? No, mostly because of the lessons learned and people met. But, again, it comes down to that fact that this is a bold, ambitious, and fresh attempt that remains without parellel. It takes guts to TRY to do something like this, and to go at it with the fervor that the Committee, supporters, and I have done so truly reflects a passion and resilience that few can match.

Having said that, I'm not going to stand here and defend so many years of a project that perhaps took the wrong approach much of the time. I haven't announced it, but I will say now that Square-Enix DID review (at the hands of what they called their "Chrono Trigger team") and responded within about one month of my submission. Their response wasn't positive but not altogether damning, either, as they essentially indicated that they were deeply impressed but do not have the resources at this time to devote to such an effort. They didn't say to stop, though they did return my entire package from Japan (also having a second one that was sent to their California office and probably also forwarded to Japan at one point). My take on this is that there's a lot of red tape ... a lot of legal hoops ... and perhaps now is not the time for this. However, keeping in touch with the company, giving them updates, letting them know that I'm still at it until they say stop, and maybe finding an agent and publisher who can vouch on its behalf are all steps that can be taken. There are still routes to take which may finally resonate to SE.

I think that at least Malenien may be underestimating what is actually completed of the novel. The outward work of the project as somewhat shrouded that which has continued behind the scenes. I'm WELL beyond the chapters which have been publically available, and I will confidently take the stance that this novel as a whole reaches well beyond CT purists and takes advantage of countless opportunities for increased depth and content. I've long thought that the entire story would comprise two books, in which case the first of these is completely written and was deep into our own editing process until my recent hiatus. Furthermore, don't forget that the Demo Chapters start with Chapter 2 and that there is a completely new Chapter 1 which actually sets the intro for some of our main characters. Lucca does indeed have a much more appropriate introduction than the abrupt Telepod scene, which I'm glad you pointed out.

For the project, however, many lessons have been hard learned. Of course, how else do you learn them when you're diving so deep into uncharted territory? Yes, I know now that outreach efforts for support, OpUV and the petition, attempted partnerships with other entities, and trying to maintain a Support Team were never the things that were going to help me. I REALLY wish that could have been realized sooner, but I also believe that it all happened this way for a reason and has led up to the much more mature state that the effort is in now.

Now the focus is very clear: the novel is number one. I've taken a substantial break from everything to gather my thoughts but am now near the point of working on it again soon. The project's support emphasis will be removed from the site, and it will be a place mostly for media content and news updates. Not much time will be spent putting up anything else unless deemed relevant to enticing SE for a very specific reason. In the meantime, the possibility of writing a series of my own has also been on my mind. A conversion of the CT novel into a new story isn't out of the question, either, should the worst truly become reality. Either way, ladies and gentlemen, I will do my best to get something out there. We've all just worked too darn hard for it.

I'm sorry for the extremely long post, but I felt that everyone deserved to hear from me after such a prolonged period of silence. I appreciate the ongoing discussion here and hope that it will continue. As our work resumes, I hope to continue to use this forum as means for bouncing around ideas or concepts that could benefit from some healthy discussion amongst the fans. That policy of openness is one that I believe has truly been a successful aspect of this project. With some more work, faith, and a steely resolve to make this happen, hopefully our greatest success is yet to come.

Being here is certainly one thing. I want to keep this place as active as possible (something we need to work on) so that I can get good feedback when I bring topics here for the novel. Otherwise, MC, you've always been a spectacular point of encouragement, and I really appreciate that.