Update Link: Watch Me Burn – Part 55

Well, the final part except for the small epilogue I’m posting tomorrow. 😛  Stay tuned around the usual noon time. 

Saying Goodbye to This Story

Thanks so much for joining me on this journey! This is probably the first Flash Fiction series I’ve written where I knew from the outset that I was writing the first draft of what would be a novel. When I began the other story that ended up nearly as long (Signs of Life), I anticipated that it would run maybe sixteen parts. But I always knew Watch Me Burn would take us a while, lol. Though once I got going this summer, we made a lot of progress.

I’m looking forward to taking this first draft and reworking it. Adding more Robin/Patrick in the first Act, spending a bit more time with our minor characters as they grieve the deaths of those lost. We brushed on Maxie, Dillon, Lulu, Nikolas, Sonny, and Alexis, but I think they could all play more of a role in making the story a bit deeper considering how they’re all connected to our major characters.

Thank you so much for embracing Lucky on this journey. I rewatched the kidnapping story last summer, and I was struck by how much empathy I had for Lucky. How he had actually tried to be the husband Elizabeth wanted — and where I thought his story should take him. He wasn’t perfect, but it was really lovely to see how many of the readers were rooting for him towards the end.

What’s Next?

I’m ready with our next story, Hits Different, which was voted on back in August. That will be posted next Saturday, and then you’ll get a few double updates on my holiday weekends to get us moving. I’m excited to play with this one! Here’s the synopsis:

Set 1996. Jason Quartermaine woke up from a coma without a single memory of his first twenty-three years. All he knows is that the family claiming to love him are so controlling and arrogant that escaping them is his top priority. But the Quartermaines won’t let him go without a fight. First, they cut off his access to a trust fund that’s supposed to be his. Then they get him fired from any job he can find. Just when he’s ready to sleep under the docks, he learns that there’s an apartment lease in his name that they’re trying to cancel.

When he investigates, he finds Elizabeth – a bartender from Luke’s – and apparently, Jason Quartermaine’s wife. And that’s not the only secret the Quartermaines have been keeping. What is he going to do with the wife he didn’t pick and the family he can’t get rid of?

As for Fool Me Twice, I was able to start writing again this week. I finished Chapter 83 which has been in limo ALL month, and I wrote half of Chapter 84 last night. Going to keep writing through Tuesday, then work on These Small Hours for NaNoWriMo, starting November 1. Stay tuned for a much more productive November! Thanks for your patience and support!

I’ll see you tomorrow with the epilogue for Watch Me Burn.

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Updated: Signs of Life – Chapter 27

Look at me updating on time, or mostly, lol. We had PSAT/SAT testing today, and my school made it a half day for the kids. They got to leave between 11-12 and the admin gave us the rest of the day as a teacher work day which was really nice. In my last district, they made the poor kids go to classes and kept them. Just exhausting for everyone. I had hall duty and had to wander for three hours, but from 11-3, I was able to just work in my room which was great. I got a lot done and feel pretty good about the next few weeks.

Now that things are back on track with work, I’m looking to get back into writing which I know I say a lot, but it’s hard to force yourself to add something to your routine when energy is low. But you have to force it a bit to make it part of the routine. I’m still exploring what time is right  — at the last job, I used to do around 7 but I’ve been more tired. I still need a break when I get home, so I’m thinking more like 5-6? I’ll figure it out and play with a few times.

I wanted to use November as a break from FMT — because at the time, I thought I’d be writing more of FMT but then my shoulder got so much worse and I just couldn’t write at all. I’m contemplating doing both (hear me out — ) Doing a 25 min sprint on FMT and then doing the 1700ish goal on These Small Hours for NaNo. At least for a few days to see how it works out. I’ll keep you posted.

Anyway, let me finish this post so I can go write tonight and maybe finish a chapter.

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Update: Signs of Life – Chapter 26

Hope everyone is having a better week than me, lol. My Phillies lost last night and our season is done. It’s always interesting to look at the social media reactions and see how unhinged people can be. I think it’s more sad that more people can’t just take a deep breath, acknowledge that it sucks, but that it was, in many ways, a great season that gave us a lot of entertaining games and fun with the players. No, it’s more fun to get on Twitter and call the players a bunch of names, sometimes even tagging them as if Nick Castellanos doesn’t know how he played or what his out in the 4th inning might have cost us in momentum or Bryce doesn’t know he had a moment for another swing of his life and fell short. People need to touch grass.

Anyway. Social media is usually a mistake, and I’m going back to spending less time there. People are great when things are good, but the toxicity is depressing.

See you tomorrow for another update!

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Updated Link: Signs of Life – Chapter 25

Hope everyone is having a better Tuesday than I am. Tonight’s Game 7 of the NLCS, and if the Phillies lose tonight, our season ends. First Game 7 in our entire 141-year history, so who knows what’s going to happen.

Thanks for all the kind words after I posted on Saturday. I’m feeling better — sometimes things feel worse than you think they are. I sat down on Sunday, made out a list of what needed to be done at work, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Still a lot, but I’ve made progress, and I was even able to write a little bit on Sunday. I’m hoping to write more today, but I’ll definitely be able to write the rest of the week as I’ll be caught up with the big things today.

See you tomorrow for another update!

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Updated: Watch Me Burn – Part 54

Hope everyone had a good week. Sorry for basically disappearing. I’ve been really struggling for some reason with focus and just generally staying on track. At work, I feel scattered and incompetent, and at home, I’m just…ugh, I don’t know. Just not altogether okay. I couldn’t write. I kept opening the file and staring at it, and just couldn’t concentrate. I’m horribly behind in everything. Laundry, household chores, work–just literally everything. Maybe it’s the frustration of the shoulder injury which is better but still not great.

Anyway, just got to find a way to shake it off. Reset. And not to think about it too much. Hoping Flash fiction helps me get back on track and be more productive this weekend and get some fight back. I’ll get back on track with Signs of Life, too, and schedule the chapters this weekend so it’s one less thing to do after work this week.

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Update Link: Watch Me Burn – Part 53

It seems almost insane that I’m just about done this story! It’s the longest, most intense flash fiction story I’ve written, and I’m really looking forward to next summer when I flesh it out and rework it just a bit. We’ll finish this up in two weeks, just before the end of November.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I hate the shift in seasons! My allergies and sinuses make my life miserable, lol.

Hope everyone is having a good week! I’ll see you on Tuesday!

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Update Link: Signs of Life – Chapter 24

Patreon Check In – Open to Everyone

Hey! I was hoping to get back from the dealership in time to set up for Flash Fiction, but it took FOREVER and I didn’t get home until 10 AM, which meant I had an hour to reset and just my brain wasn’t in it, so I decided to push it until Sunday again.

So I’m giving you another update of Signs of Life to make up for it, but I’m contemplating a shift in my Flash Fiction schedule anyway. In December, after the postseason (MY PHILLIES ARE IN THE NLCS) and NaNoWriMo, I’m going to do Flash Fiction on weeknights, so I can spend more time writing my novels on the weekends. I’ll keep you in the loop when that happens.

I did a livestream check in for my Patreon community — these are usually for the paid members, but I figured I owed everyone a bit of an update for everything, so if you’re interested, check it out on Patreon. It’s time stamped so if you want to hear me talk about the nonsense in my real life, you can, but you can also jump straight to Fool Me Twice or Flash Fiction updates.

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Updated: Signs of Life – Chapter 23

Hey! Sorry I didn’t post this yesterday. I was distracted after a long day at work, and then made plans to go to family’s house for dinner and watching the final NLDS game (well we hoped it would be, lol). My Phillies tried to murder me at least three times — my soul DEFINITELY left my body during the top of the seventh and seeing Matt Strahm come in at the top of 9th with no outs caused a panic attack (joking, but not by much), but they did it. And they had the decency to clinch last night so I could have three days to recover, lol. I have work to catch up on from the injury, and of course the writing took a backseat this week. But I’m almost there, and I promise to do a better job of writing before the game, lol.

Flash Fiction might be late tomorrow — I have to get my oil changed at 8 AM. I should be back in time but sometimes it takes longer than I plan for. Will definitely be up tomorrow!

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Update Link: Signs of Life – Chapter 22

Writing this update post an hour before Game 3 of the NLDS and trying not to think about the game, lol. Hope you guys enjoy this update, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Update Link: Signs of Life – Chapter 21

Hope everyone is having a good day. I’m dragging really hard — I couldn’t really sleep last night and I spent my entire day grading so I could get completely caught up and stay that way. And my brain probably hurts from the Phillies-Braves game which we were four outs away from being up 2-0 and then — well — disaster.

I’ll see you guys tomorrow!

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