Apologies! The first poll did not work for some reason, so I changed plugins. Please vote again — no vote was recorded. I am publishing a new post so that email goes out again. The poll is open until midnight on June 26 so that I’ll have a couple of days to outline the winning project.

Back in 2014, when I was winding down A Few Words Too Many, I asked for you guys to pick the next project I worked on. You guys picked The Best Thing, which only proves how smart y’all are since it’s literally the best thing I’ve ever written.

So here are five descriptions of the projects I’d like to focus on in July, during Camp NaNoWriMo. Read them over, and then select your favorite in the poll

MAD WORLD
Set in Summer 2003.
Elizabeth’s hasty marriage and tragic miscarriage shortly thereafter has the people in her life worried about her, including best friend Emily Quartermaine who’s back in town to attend her brother Jason’s wedding—to her other brother’s former wife.

When Carly Corinthos, five months pregnant, goes missing before the ceremony, Elizabeth’s husband is the primary suspect. Elizabeth is forced to confront some deadly truths about herself, the men in her life, her health—and even her own past.

Carly’s kidnapping is only the starting point. What happens when everything you thought you knew about yourself proves to be a lie?

FOR THE BROKEN GIRL
Set Spring 2006
Jason Morgan and Elizabeth Webber have always been friends, but it’s been a few years since they were close. That changes after Jason’s sister and Elizabeth’s best friends gets herself in deep with Sonny Corinthos, and Jason turns to Elizabeth for help. When supposedly reformed criminal Manny Ruiz gets a job at the hospital, Elizabeth looks to Jason for reassurance and protection. Their friendship is rekindled, but she’s married and he’s engaged. That’s where it starts and ends as far as they’re concerned.

A chance meeting at a spring carnival changes everything. A shot rings out, and Elizabeth’s cop husband loses his partner, and Jason’s fiancée suffers a potentially fatal injury. What happens next will destroy the futures they both thought they were building, and Elizabeth is left with more than her dreams shattered.

FALLEN FROM GRACE
Set Fall 2006
Almost on a whim, Robin Scorpio accepts Nikolas Cassadine’s offer of marriage and the chance to raise his son after the truth about the paternity is revealed. Elizabeth Spencer is rebuilding her life after her husband’s drug addiction nearly killed her son, while Jason Morgan goes to work at the WSB after a breakup with his fiancée. Patrick Drake attempts to recover his dignity after Robin leaves him for the Cassadine prince, while Emily Quartermaine doesn’t understand why everything had to chance so drastically. Lucky Spencer returns from rehab to start a private investigation firm with Sam McCall.

Eight people had their world turned upside down in the Summer of 2006. They rebuild it in surprising ways with surprising romances, affairs, and friendships. But nothing lasts forever in Port Charles.

BURN IN HEAVEN
Set Fall 2007
Sequel to A Few Words Too Many. Three years after Ric Lansing was dealt with and Faith Roscoe lit out of town, Elizabeth Morgan has moved on with her life. Now married to Jason with two children (Cady and Jake), Elizabeth is a hard-working nurse and co-president of the Stone Cates foundation. She has a healthy, thriving social life with a lot of friends and family. Sonny and Carly divorced, leaving her free to marry Jax and Sonny to enjoy a variety of relationships.

Faith Roscoe has never forgotten Sonny Corinthos, and her promise to destroy his life. When she finally decided to wreak her revenge, she teams up with another Corinthos enemy: Anthony Zacchara. Death, destruction, torture? These are only the beginning.

THESE SMALL HOURS
Set in Fall 2008.
After Kate Howard is shot at her wedding to Sonny Corinthos, her brokenhearted fiancé swears revenge on the man he holds responsible—the same man Sonny has blamed for every tragedy for over a year: Johnny Zacchara. Nurse Nadine Crowell has the misfortune of witnessing the violent shootout between the two men, and Johnny turns to a time-honored tradition in Port Charles to keep her quiet: marriage.

Jason Morgan agreed to take over Sonny’s organization, but his former boss isn’t going without a fight and the two butt heads over how to handle Kate’s shooting, the drugs in Port Charles, and the Zacchara family. Jason is also attempting to build a life with fiancée, Elizabeth Webber, and their two sons, after a car accident forces Jason to take their relationship public.

Between Sonny’s temper, Nadine’s penchant for getting into trouble, Anthony Zacchara’s insanity, and Claudia Zacchara’s fierce and deadly loyalty to her brother, the mob war in Port Charles is only getting started.

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Hey! This would have been up a few days ago but my work schedule got all wonky. Thanks for the feedback so far. I hope you like this part.

Chapter 2

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Hey! I put up another chapter of Smoke and Mirrors. I’m not going to kill myself trying to get two or three scenes for each chapter and making sure each chapter is like 5000 words long. I’ll write whatever gets written and there’s the chapter. Thanks for the feedback so far. I hope you guys like where it’s going.

Chapter One

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I took a lot of this week off, mostly due to a cold that disrupted my plans. But I slept in a lot, relaxed. I didn’t even work on the third paper that I need to finish for this semester. I’m trying to recharge.

One of the reasons my longer stories take so long to get to you guys is I’m trying to complete them in advance and go through beta reading, which is not something I ever did when I was writing a decade ago. In fact, back then, I had three or four stories in progress at all times which was sometimes a good thing, sometimes not. I still tended to write more.

So I’m going to start posting a second story — one that I don’t schedule regular updates. You guys will get updates when I write them, which means it may be a while between chapters or they may come daily, depending on the muse. I’m trying to take some pressure off myself.

This is an alternate universe story, a reworking of the Homecoming series from the Workshop. I’ve posted the prologue of Smoke and Mirrors, and hopefully it’s something you guys like.

I also did some housekeeping — updated the By Title page, added some missing stuff to Short Stories and Recent Updates, etc. So the site is current again. I hope to be back writing more regularly.

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In an effort to bring back Workshop Sundays, I bring you A Sign of Life, set in 1999. It’s an idea I’m workshopping and hoping to turn into a longer story.

I’m almost finished everything that needs to be done before I can really take a break. Teaching requirements are done, student teaching is over — I just need to write two papers. I can’t wait to really get back to writing!

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I probably won’t be around for a while. Maybe a week, maybe more. I don’t know. I don’t really know where my head is right now.

I’ve written about my grandmother and her struggle with Alzheimer’s. Aside from my parents, my grandmother was probably the most supportive person in my life. Anything I ever wanted to do, she told me I could do. When I wanted to start working as a substitute and I didn’t have the money for background checks and fingerprints, she gave it to me. She was just always there for me, so the last few months as her Alzheimer’s got worse was horrible.

She passed away yesterday morning.

I don’t even have the luxury of being able to stop and process. I’m finishing up my semester, I have student teaching to finish, papers to write. Assignments. I have to go to work tomorrow. I have two observations left or I can’t get my license. This probably won’t even hit me until we celebrate Mother’s Day and she’s not there. My birthday next month, and her not being there. My nephew’s birthday. My niece’s. Christmas. God. All the moments she was a part of, and we didn’t know it would be the last time.

So I just wanted to say I’m disappearing for a while. It might just be a few days, I just don’t know. I didn’t want to disappear without saying something.

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Apologies for the lack of a chapter this week. This semester has just been beyond exhausting, and my beta, Cora, is also dealing with a lot at her job. We’re both creatively exhausted, which has slowed the process. I have about seven more chapters finished and maybe five or six left to write.

My question for you guys is would you rather that I just hold off coming back to post until I’ve finished those last five chapters and all the chapters are through the beta? Or do you mind the chapters coming irregularly? Let me know by commenting.

Another note: Fool Me Twice is now out of workshop. I’ve worked out the kinks in the general plot, so now I’m going into outline mode. I figured out how to merge the two stories I had and basically turn Jason’s return into a much better storyline that uses the entire canvas more effectively.  I have to update various parts of the website to reflect that change. I’ll keep you guys posted.

The light is at the end of the tunnel. I finish student teaching on May 4. My semester is over May 7, and after that I’m just doing my regular jobs which gives me more time for writing. I reallllly miss writing. If I can get my paper done this week, I’m hoping to use some of my extra time next week for it.

Anyway, let me know how you guys want to handle the last twelve chapters of Bittersweet.

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Thanks for your patience guys with our mini hiatus. I’m hoping we can keep to the once a week schedule going forward, but hey, if I don’t promise it, it doesn’t end up being a lie. And at least I posted a short story for you during the hiatus 🙂

Posting this early because at this point, most people will read it tomorrow anyway.

Bittersweet, Chapter 22

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I was really disappointed in the GH anniversary episode. The flashbacks were nice, but they didn’t feel all that connected to what was happening on the screen. It felt like random people put in the room. Also, Elizabeth didn’t get nearly the kind of prominence a character like her deserves. So I rewrote the episode, and yeah, it’s heavy on Elizabeth and Jason. That’s who I am as a writer, and it’s also where I think they should be. They’re two hugely popular legacy characters with a deep history and connections to basically everyone on the show. They’ve also barely shared any screen time in the six months Steve has been back.

So this doesn’t use all the vets the show did, but I still tried to do the same stories. Writing Mike’s scenes was hard. My grandmother is dealing with dementia, so I wrote his conversations to mirror the way my grandmother slips in and out. And the regret and worry I feel for me and family. I hope you like this.

The Years Go By

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