Hmmmmmm.....remember when I said "I hope to have [Chapters 8 and 9] out by this Saturday"? Yeah, well, that was said on April 13th (ironic) and was in reference to April 18th. Not exactly "this Saturday" huh? 
Anyway, I can now honestly state that Chapter 8 is finished. I'm not going to give an "I hope it's released on ____" because my editor, Solus, is quite busy and has taken a SWF vacation until next week. I don't know if this means she won't have time to review it or not, so I'm not going to make a guarantee on a quick release.
In regards to the chapter, I like the way it turned out. It's definitely a character driven one and it moves the plot along nicely. You learn more about Annikin Skywalker, Queen Arcadia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and you're also introduced to an Utapau guard named Logan Amator who, despite not appearing in the first draft, will be a main supporting character in this novel and the follow-up novella, Star Wars: Genesis.
After this, we’ll move onto Chapter 9, where you’re going to be introduced to Sarus, the leader of the band of hermits you met in Chapter 6 and a character who appeared in the previous draft of the novel. Sarus will begin to clue Annikin into his destiny, but Annikin of course isn’t going to believe a word he says...that is, of course, until Cliegg starts to confirm some of what Sarus is saying. Chapter 9 will set the stage for the rest of the Tatooine arc. Once this chapter's completed we’re going to shift focus away from Tatooine for a chapter or two and pick up with Macy Windy and his trek to find the cloners on Kamino.
- Just as a note so I can legitimately do this in my articles, the clone plot has EVERYTHING to do with the Invasion of Utapau plot. That's both a spoiler for you and a justification for me to add that stuff into the Invasion of Utapau article here on SWF. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog posting...
I hope to release Chapter 8 and 9 together, but if Chapter 9 is delayed for any reason then I'll put Chapter 8 out to hold readers over. I'd rather do it at once, though, since these are the last two chapters before I shift over to Kamino for two chapters or so, after which point I'll bring the story back to Tatooine. If anything changes, I’ll let you know in the comments section below. As always, thanks for reading!