Just wanted to drop a note that I have returned from Ireland. Amazing trip 🙂 I’ll have updates for The Best Thing, Damaged and Poisonous Dreams hopefully on Monday as this is my friend’s last day in London and tomorrow, I’m working on my dissertation  and laundry 🙂

0

I added three chapters to Poisonous Dreams to make up for not having updated more these last few days. I’m leaving for Ireland in the morning, so all further updates are postponed until sometime Saturday.

0

Sorry for just disappearing the last few days. My friend from Jersey is staying with me, and I have a major dissertation meeting with my supervisor tomorrow that I’ve been getting ready for pretty much every waking hour.

Tomorrow, I have that meeting, then some activities with friends planned, and then I’m going to dinner at Gordon Ramsey’s Maze in London for my birthday. After that, I’ll be in Ireland for three days. I don’t think I’ll be getting much writing done before Saturday, or even posting.

I’m still sending manual updates in addition to the site generated emails. If you have signed up to receive updates, and you have not received them, either from melissasuemchugh@gmail.com or newsletter@cg.dearisobel.org, please let me know!

I’ll try to take a break from dissertation research today and post some chapters of PD.

The Best Thing – Chapter 3 added. Thanks to Cora for the beta 🙂

0

I added Chapters Twelve and Thirteen to Poisonous Dreams. I should have that finished sometime next week, depending on my interest in finishing it off.

I forgot when I decided on a Tues/Friday schedule that my Fridays are pretty much fricked for the next few weeks. Ha. A friend arrives tomorrow, I go home for a week on a Friday, next Friday, I’ll be coming back from Ireland, etc. So we’re switching back to a Mon/Thurs schedule that worked decently enough for FWTM in the beginning.

And since I wanted to concentrate on my dissertation the rest of the day and then finish preparing my room, I posted The Best Thing – Chapter Two early.

A Note about TBT:

So over all four sites I posted this at (RTN, CG, AON, and FF) I had a few people suggesting Elizabeth be in the live in nanny. In my original outline, I actually had Elizabeth as a student nurse at General Hospital being more involved and moving in for a while, but I kept getting stuck on how to get them to reconnect. I finally discarded that concept because I didn’t want it to feel like they’d had a faux family experience and fell in love that way.

I wanted to channel their original love story—coming together at crossroads in their lives, talking, and just being there for one another, which is how I wrote a version of the opening scene. Plus, I love the idea of Elizabeth finally making a living from her art. So she won’t need to be a live-in nanny, because our girl gets a massive art opening in Chapter Six that makes her comfortable. I mentioned that she sold art in California in the first chapter, and will build on more later how that enabled her to survive until her show.

Also, this story more than anything else is going to be Jason’s story. A Few Words was definitely Elizabeth’s journey, but since the major theme in this is Jason’s loyalty, you’ll get his voice more often, particularly in the later chapters when that takes off. It’s going to be a challenge for me, one I might not have done once but I think I can do it. Though this chapter is Elizabeth’s POV, since he was the narrator in the first one.

0

I posted on Facebook last night that I was going to post The Best Thing on Thursday, but then I went and wrote all of Chapter Six in about two hours, because sometimes a story just works. I’ll be posting two chapters a week, so I’ve got a decent buffer to keep the chapters flowing. The next chapter is due on Friday (or possibly very late Thursday for me). So…Chapter One is finally online!

I also added two chapters of Poisonous Dreams yesterday.

I continue to hear from you guys that your updates are starting to arrive. I think I’ve removed everyone that has contacted me, but please don’t hesitate to yell at me if I missed you 😛

I know I’m overdue to add Damaged, Episode 004 and I am really sorry. I’m going to finish up TBT 7 this week and hopefully have Damaged 4 out this weekend, but next week is going to be rough. I have a friend staying with me starting Friday, and then leaving for Ireland next Tuesday for three days, and then a dissertation conference right after that.

Edit: For some reason, Microsoft Word pretended I didn’t spend a half hour going over the beta copy Cora sent me and because I thought it had…you know..believed me when I accepted her changes, I just went ahead and posted without rereading the chapter. Technology, I smite thee. Anyway, I put off fixing it because I posted this bastard in four places and it didn’t seem fair not to fix it in all places. So that’s all done now.

0

Hey, so in addition to updating Poisonous Dreams with Chapter 9, I’ve become aware that the plugin I use to send users an activation code for their accounts may not be compatible with the version of WordPress. I am happy send anyone their activation codes by email, so just let me know.

Thanks for letting me know when your updates are being sent by the site. I still haven’t heard from the vast majority of you, so either you just ignore these emails altogether, or you’re not receiving it. At least 20 people have been in touch with me, so that’s something. I am happy to continue manual updates even if a handful of you end up not getting the newsletter. As I’ve told several of you, if you care enough to get updates, I’ll do what I can to see that you get updated.

No ETA on posting The Best Thing quite yet. The first three chaptes are with my beta, and I won’t post until I’ve finished through chapter seven. I’m partway through chapter five, so that’s something.

I also, hah, spent some time sketching plots for some other ideas I had while watching my 2006 DVDs. I really enjoyed that year on GH, even though I spend so much time rewritng certain aspects. I think it had a great mix of characters and interactions that set up some great things, so even though I may rewrite it, I’m still happy with that year — until the great paternity debacle that screwed the next eight years up. (My God, how was it eight years ago? Where does the time go?)

0

So the media section had videos added today. Three for These Small Hours, a promo for The Best Thing (made today!), and a fan video for the beauty that was Matt Hunter back in 2008 when he first graced us with his presence. Before he got…broken.

I’ll sort out the slideshows later.

I have updated the contacts list with those of you who contacted me to tell me you’re receiving site emails. Let me know if you start receiving them. The email log is starting to work better, but I still don’t know if they’re being blocked by servers.

I also added Chapters Seven and Eight to Poisonous Dreams.

I’m embedding the promo for TBT here because I’m kind of okay with how it turned out :

0

If you contacted me to let me know that you receive the site generated update emails, then I removed you from my manual update list.  My host support was basically useless on this point, so I still have no way of knowing who is receiving emails and who isn’t.

Again, if you are receiving the site generated updates (which will come from newsletter@cg.dearisobel.org), please let me know. I send manual updates from melissasuemchugh@gmail.com, so if all your updates come from the second email, you’re not on the list.

I added Chapter Five and Six of Poisonous Dreams. I had added Chapter Four yesterday but didn’t update the main page about it. Yesterday was…a difficult day. I was violated by a German final, proceeded to drink away my pain, and then fell down a short flight of stairs. It’s all good, because my ankle broke my fall.

Anyway. I also updated the media section with playlists from Spotify. My original Spotify playlist was over 500 songs, but only the first 200 showed on the embedded list, so I split the list into four sections, and then posted them all on one page, with a rotating embed on the widget. I also added links for the soundtracks currently available.

I updated the Story Status page (and readded the category which I must have deleted by accident at some point)  with the current status of things I’m writing, things I’m thinking about and stuff I’m ignoring. Ha. (I have too many ideas, it’s really sad)

0

Site News

– Despite paying $15 for a plugin to allow me to see who is receiving emails and who is not, I still have not the first clue how many of you guys are able to enjoy the services of what everyone on the internet tells me is the most amazing subscription plugin ever. I know this, because I have looked eight hundred times for something to replace it.

– I currently have an email into my domain host to see if it is not the plugin, but rather my server blocking some of the emails. I am still receiving the emails, and I’ve heard from one or two of you tell me you are receiving them. If you have received emails with post updates (other than the manual ones) please please reply to the email and let me know, so I can pinpoint the trouble better.

Ebook News

– I am currently converting I Shall Believe and The Witness to prepare for ebook form, but they’re not currently in any condition to be ready soon. I can have Aurora Dawning and Daughters up faster, if people are interested, because I had already saved them in t right format.  Let me know by replying to this.

– I may be updating A Few Words, the ebook, to correct some types I found at some point this week. I will keep you informed.

Story News

– I added Chapter Three to Poisonous Dreams.

– I added a preview of Illusions, an AU fic that’s on my backburner, but it’s someting you guys haven’t seen yet, and I’m trying to make you guys not hate me for the update nonsense.

– Chapter 1 of The Best Thing is done. I’m going to write five chapters before I send it off to my beta, which means the earliest you guys could could have the first chapter is maybe sometime next week, if these five chapters cooperate, and if I haven’t already harassed my beta, Cora, into quitting. (I have a gift for such things).

– I have a dissertation meeting tomorrow and a German final on Wednesday, so we’ll see what happens.  I’m about to stop playing around with plugins and updates to go write

0

If you haven’t received updates to this site since I changed the type of list I use, don’t fret. Apparently, I am the only one receiving them. Oy.

For now, I’m going to do a manual update list. (Absolutely no extra work is required from you to deal with this). I am reaching out to support to figure this out. Hopefully, it’s something fixable. Otherwise, I may just set the place on fire.

Again, with the oy.

Except apparently you don’t.

Have no fear, people. I’m on this. This will not beat me.

0