Update Link: Smoke & Mirrors   | Collect Your Regrets

Hello! This is my last pop-in before regular updates resume next weekend. Starting April 1, Flash Fiction returns! I’m excited to get that back into the schedule.  I’ve been working on hard on Fool Me Twice, Book 2 and the final draft of Signs of Life. I ended up deciding to add a bunch of material to Signs, so I’m putting off posting it until I’m done. I’ll bring it back shortly with more regular updates. I wrote a chapter of FMT this morning, and as soon as I finish this update, I’m off to write another one. I definitely feel like I’m starting to hit the groove there, and hope to finish Act 1 in the next week, possibly two.

This week’s bonus is the last draft of Smoke & Mirrors I worked on in November 2021 for NaNoWrimo. I’ve been working on this AU premise for YEARS at this point — I can remember going to my practicum in the fall of 2017 and making notes, but I still haven’t quite nailed the world building and characters. I think this version is the closest, and there’s a lot that I like here, but I’m still unhappy with Anna’s character. I think it’s too far out of actual character for her, and you know that kind of thing bothers me, lol. But I want the trio of Robin, Elizabeth, and Nadine as cousins, so  don’t have any easy to fix this. I have some thoughts, but it’s huge obstacle at the moment, so please don’t hesitate to let me know.

I’m so glad so many of you liked Kismet! I was so happy with how it was turning until I hit a storyline snag with Jason and the organization. I don’t know the 90s stuff as well as the 00s, so it’s been harder to write. I’m planning to do a rewatch of the summer of 97 to do some research so I can fix that and get back to it.

The other file, Collect Your Regrets, was a quick compile of my Scrivener folders for my trio of Flash Fiction series where I rewrote three Liz stories: the maternity lie, Jake’s return, and Tom Baker. I was asked by a mutual on Twitter for a PDF copy so she could read on vacation, so I figured I’d post the link for everyone. It’s SUPER messy without any real chapter breaks, but if you want it in one space, enjoy.

See you guys next week for Flash Fiction!

Update Link: Kismet, Prologue – Chapter 4

I need someone to slap my immune system, so it wakes up. I got sick AGAIN this week, but thankfully, it was just a head cold that cleared out after a few days. Still, the irritation of it all.

Anyway! I’m still writing, still making progress, but I haven’t had a chance to edit chapters of Signs of Life — I figured I should concentrate on Fool Me Twice, which is what I did. But I hate not having anything for you guys to check out, so I dug out Kismet, the NaNoWriMo project from last fall. I think my opening chapters are some of my best work, and I’m looking forward to digging back into this at some point this summer.

This is the Prologue and Chapters 1-4. I wrote two and a half more chapters, but most of the changes I need to make are in those chapters, so I figure this will hold you over 😛 It’s around 54 pages. I left it in PDF form because I want to go write FMT.

Some notes about Kismet — It begins with a prologue on the day of Sonny & Brenda’s wedding, and it uses actual dialogue from the Jason/Sonny scene with some tweaks, and refers to a scene that happened the night before. Jason’s story is mostly the same, but Liz has a new background (still a Hardy/Webber but aging her up means some new aspects to her backstory). I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Update Link: Signs of Life – Chapter 8

Hello! I didn’t mean for my posting hiatus to take quite so long. Thank you for the patience and we’re back to updating Signs of Life more regularly. Since March 1, I’ve been back to working on Fool Me Twice and doing writing sprints during the week live on the Crimson Glass YouTube channel in the evenings. Flash Fiction will be back on April 1:) See you guys in a few days with more Signs of Life and news.

Hey, just checking in with an update on my status. I got really sick this week — even sicker than when I had Covid. I ended up with a version of a strep throat that doesn’t show up on rapid tests, so they missed it at first. By the time I had a diagnosis, the infection had caused literally the worst fever of my life. I spiked to 103.9 and it wouldn’t come down for a while. I was literally miserable from Tuesday night until maybe two hours ago (Saturday around 6 PM). The worst of the fever broke yesterday, but the throat pain has been literally unbearable.

I’m completely behind on literally every piece of my life. Thanks to the plumbing back up last week and getting sick, it’s been three weeks since I did laundry, I’m completely backed up on house chores, on work–it’s a huge mess, and I’m hoping I can start to pick at it this week. I’m on a four day break (so I still have off Monday) so that’ll help as long as I feel okay tomorrow and get some sleep tonight (which I haven’t managed more than an hour or so at a time in four days).

I honestly need to get all of that sorted and get things back under control before I can think about writing. The first two months of 2023 have not gotten off to a great start – I’ve spent a lot of time sick, which is really frustrating.

So I’m on a teeny hiatus from things for a bit. Definitely the rest of February.

While you’re waiting for me to come back, don’t forget the huge backlog of novels! I’m gonna link a few of my favorites in case you want reread or check them out for the first time.

1. The Best Thing – Choosing this one first because I finished it six years ago this month, and it’s my favorite Sonny story.
   1. Set in Winter 2004. Sam died giving birth to her daughter and left custody to Jason, whom everyone believes is the father. He and Elizabeth reconnect over the next year as he struggles to keep his promise to Sam while balancing his loyalties to Sonny and Carly. Even as they fall in love, a dangerous power struggle is building that threatens every one in its path.
2. Bittersweet – Has some of my favorite Liason scenes I’ve written 🙂
   1. Set in April 2002. After walking out on a disastrous wedding and unhappy relationship, Elizabeth Webber promised herself a fresh start. She moved into Bobbie’s Brownstone with Gia Campbell as an unlikely ally, and befriended AJ Quartermaine’s new wife and Sonny Corinthos’ long-lost sister, Courtney Matthews. When Carly Corinthos goes missing after a car accident at Vista Point, Jason Morgan is forced to return to Port Charles, testing Elizabeth’s resolve to put all her bad decisions behind her. AJ begins to plan for a custody battle for Michael Benson which pits brother against brother, and putting Elizabeth right in the middle.
3. Mad World – an obvious choice. the most ambitious thing I’ve ever written
   1. Set in Summer 2003. One night in June, Ric kidnaps Carly and locks her in a panic room, drugging Elizabeth to cover his tracks. Before long, Port Charles is embroiled in scandal, corruption, and trauma that hits home for everyone. It will be a long time before anyone forgets Ric Lansing’s reign of terror or the evil simmering beneath the surface of the city. An ensemble series that basically rewrites the entire show from from 2003-04 with nearly every character showing up at some point or another.

Update Link: Signs of Life – Chapter 7

I swear, the universe has something against me. Last week was absolutely horrid. The kids were insane, the faculty meeting stole all my energy, and then four days into our fundraiser, we got told we couldn’t sell candygrams so we had to switch out for pencils and stickers (and organize refunds), and THEN my pipes backed up AGAIN for the fourth time in two years. So I had to spend the entire weekend dealing with that, and now I have to plan my life around my sewer pipe getting dug up sometime in the next few weeks to fix whatever the fuck is happening. There is literally nothing on this planet that I don’t hate right now.

Anyway. The schedule for the last seven days has gone to hell, but I’m determined to reset tomorrow and get back to work.

Update Link: Chapter 5 & Chapter 6

I meant to post over the weekend, but time got away from me. I know you’ve heard this before, but I’m pretty sure Flash Fiction will be back in rotation this weekend. I’ve been working hard to get things on track in school, and we’re there. I’m still caught up on grading and pre-prepped for the week ahead. I was bit worried that I’d get off track because we’re launching our huge fundraiser for Valentine’s Day and that always gets me off track but so far so good.

I’ve been writing FMT mostly, and I want to be sure that project is really off the ground before I reintroduce Flash Fiction into the routine. I’ve written four chapters of the planned 27, which is less than I’d like since I began on January 1, but in my defense — Covid, lol. So hopeful that the next time I check in, we’ve made even more progress.

See you in a few days!

Update Link: Signs of Life – Chapter 4

Hope everyone’s having a good week. I got off a to a good start with some live sprints on Monday & Tuesday, but the temperature dropped hard in my area on Tuesday, and it’s messing with my congestion. The air is really dry, and my humidifier isn’t keeping up. It’s giving me some breathing issues which is messing up my sleep, so I’m more tired than normal. Hoping that’s going to get sorted sooner rather than later. I don’t normally have this issue in the winter, but who knows post-Covid.

I’m doing really well keeping up with work — I’m already prepped for next week, so I don’t have to spend three hours on Sunday morning working on it, so yay for me 😛 Grades are current, too, so maybe I really meant it this time when I said I’d figured out my system.

Right now, I’m planning to come back for Flash Fiction at least twice this weekend, if not three times. I’m still really trying to get Invisible Strings completed, so I can put it into edits. And I’m going to be bumping up Signs of Life updates to every other day.

See you this weekend!

Update Link: Signs of Life – Chapter 3

Hope everyone had a great week. Things were absolutely insane literally from the moment the school week started. It was rotten luck that I got Covid the week before our NJHS induction ceremony — it’s the busiest week of the year in a normal school year but it also coincided with the end of the marking period and the full rotation turnover as I closed down three classes with 63 kids and prepped and met 65 new ones. Sooo I’m a bit tired, lol, and taking this weekend to rest and recharge.

I started doing writing sprints live on my Patreon last week, but I wasn’t able to get back to it this week with the craziness. That will start up again on Monday as I get back into the swing of things. I’m mostly recovered (there’s some lingering nasal congestion and fatigue but it’s already better than a few days ago) but things around me fell apart and I’m struggling to get the house back in order. Did a lot of work today and some last round of chores tomorrow, but we’re back on track.

I’m planning to have Flash Fiction tomorrow, but it will definitely be back next week for sure. Thanks for your patience as I worked through this rough month. 2023 is off to, uh, some kind of start. Let’s hope for a snow day on Tuesday (snow is forecasted, let’s goooo) because your girl needs a break.

Update Link: Signs of Life – Chapter 2

Hello 🙂 Busy exhausting week for me but things really slow down — tonight is the NJHS induction ceremony and tomorrow is the end of the marking period, then Friday, I swap out my 60 students for 64 new ones — but next week, I should have things under control again.

See you later!

Update Link: Chapter 1 | Signs of Life Story Page

I finished this Flash Fiction series back in the summer, but haven’t had a chance to edit and repost here and at the archives where I post, Fanfiction.net and Archive of our Own. I’m going to be posting new chapters a few times a week. I do plan on adding a scene or two as I move through the edit, so feel free to reread 🙂 This should hold you guys over for a few weeks as I get back into a regular writing routine.

I’m mostly recovered from Covid — I’m really lucky that the worst of it only lasted a few days — I was really bad last Saturday with aches and chills and the fever. The congestion has lingered, as has the fatigue, but I’m grateful that I got vaccinated and boosted. I’m sure that helped it from getting worse. I remember when I ended up on my first quarantine back in the fall of 2020 — the level of anxiety was absolutely insane, and then going back into the classroom full time — oof. Now cut to a few years later, and it really was just a pretty bad flu.

But I literally did nothing for six days, and I’m absolutely slammed at work and tons of things around the house piled up, so I couldn’t get back to Flash Fiction this week. The plan is to be back on schedule next or week, or definitely by the first weekend in February.

I started to write at night last week, and did pretty good. I finished a Chapter of Fool Me Twice (will be posted tomorrow for Patreon perks), but I had a pretty bad headache and sinus congestion all day on Saturday that put me behind again. Frustrating, but working through it.