So,
TQC has been on hold while I've been busy with real life, but the project is still very much alive. The two-page-story-that-got-out-of-hand should (I estimate) run to about 140 chapters if it's to be a regular novel. (And if not, well, whatever. But at least this gives me something to shoot for.)
Now that I actually, like, have a life - which wasn't the case when I started the project
two years ago - I feel a lot more comfortable writing about conflicts, relationships, sex, and so on. Also I want to branch off into more stories like
this one that take place in the Gilkesh universe but not in the time/space frame of TQC. (Beardedpunk's comment interested me - it's good to know that I use different styles to reach more people.)
And yes, I do plan to write more stuff that's not specifically Gilkesh-related.
I think what I mainly need to do is discipline myself to spend a certain amount of time working on writing every day. There are a bunch of scenes and chapter fragments floating around in my mind, and I need to string them together.