Category Archives: Site News

December 26, 2022

Update Link: Begin with Chapter 21

I’m so excited for you guys to read this week’s update! Chapters 21 & 22 took FOREVER to write — I got stuck on them for two weeks because they had to be just right, but once I wrote the Jason scene in Chapter 21, a lot came together. They were added in revisions — it’s insane for me to think of the story without them now.

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone is having a great couple of days 🙂 I took the first two days of my break for relaxing, catching up with sleep and holiday stuff.

Very sorry for the problems with last week’s update — I schedule the chapters in advance, and Chapters 17 & 18 didn’t post on time, which not only messed everything up, it also put the chapters out of order with the chapters listing. Super frustrating — but it’s fixed now. I didn’t schedule the chapters this week and just posted them one at a time. I’m going to look into the problem to make sure it’s not a normal thing.

I’m hoping to come back today later and begin a daily flash fiction post for the winter break, but my plumbing backed up again and my dad’s coming up to look at it. Not really sure what the rest of my day looks like, so definitely — starting tomorrow, I’ll be updating Invisible Strings daily until Monday, January 2 since it’s more of a sweet, straight forward romance, better suited for the holidays than the serial killer one, lol.

Update Link: Begin with Chapter 17!

The countdown to Winter Break and ten days of freedom begins! I’ll be updating sometime this week with something else, but until then, enjoy these chapters and take a minute to let me know what you think of the story so far. Is it going the way you thought it would?

December 18, 2022

Update Link: Watch Me Burn – Part 16

Well, I definitely meant to get back here last week and update, but the week got off the rails on Monday, then went off the cliff on Wednesday when I got a head cold, and I sank like a goddamn rock on Thursday when sick as a dog, I got stuck in the rain, soaked, sick, and miserable. Ugh. The week from hell.

ANYWAY.

We are four days away from break (it’s actually five, but Friday is a half day and as a protest of having to go to school in the first place, we’re going to color), and I’m actually prepped for this week. I know I’ve said that before, but I literally scheduled all the posts already. All that I have to do is make copies on Monday morning. That’s it. It’s a glorious feeling. I’m ready for a reset people.

I’ll have a more official post with the 2023 writing plans and what not, but here are the big things for the final week

  • Kismet is going back into Discovery mode as I work out a story snafu that I hadn’t anticipated.
  • Fool Me Twice, Book 2 is going into production and it’s being split into four episodes, the first of which I hope will be out in March (with quarterly releases).
  • Watch Me Burn goes on hiatus for a few weeks so I can finish up the other two Flash Fiction stories, because it’s much longer than either of the other two.

See you tomorrow for Counting Stars updates!

 

December 11, 2022

Update Link: Begin With Chapter 13

Posting the chapters early because I’m having really bad neck and back pain — looks like the steroid injection a week or so ago didn’t take. That’s sort of disappointing, but unsurprising with my track record. I was doing okay today, but then my electric went out for two hours this morning, and it really threw off the whole schedule. I usually do all my school work in the morning but then I needed to do it in the afternoon — ugh. Too much time spend at the computer which always aggravates everything. Boo.

I’ll be back tomorrow night with Flash Fiction.

December 4, 2022

Update Link: Watch Me Burn – Part 15

Happy Sunday! Happy to put November behind me and look forward to a new month and ultimately a new year. Working on some routine changes in my work life that will reduce some stress and exhaustion that drain me of the kind of energy I need to write.

The goal for December is to get back into the regular weekly Flash Fiction updates. It’s been a huge struggle since the school year started, and I know I’ve said this before, but I think we are sort of turning the corner now for real. I’m starting my third rotation of 7th & 8th grade students. I’ll miss my 8th graders, but my 7th graders were really challenging and left me drained by the end of the day. I also finally finished writing the basic program for my 8th graders and some important tweaks that will take some serious weight off my shoulders going forward.

Most of the pressure has come from needing to create two new units from scratch. If you’re interested in what I mean by that, I’ll link to a PDF of some of the units I’ve written. Every single piece of it was designed and written by me — and I also had to create the YT channel and playlist with all the audio/videos, instructional materials including slides and Google Classrooms, Blookets, Quizlets, etc. It’s a huge amount of work that just doesn’t get done during the 40 minutes of prep we get each day.  And these are just the two units I’ve perfected after teaching them a lot of times (Unit 0 I’ve taught 28 times and Unit 1 14). I’m still tweaking the new units, but it’s a lot better now.

Anyway, I’m working on getting into better and healthier routines. Flash Fiction is back and will be updated every week. Hope you enjoy and remember to come back tomorrow for the next update for Counting Stars.

November 28, 2022

Update Link: Begin with Chapter 5

Hello! Chapters 5-8 have been posted! Please remember, if you read the alpha draft, this final draft is VASTLY different — the OG draft had around 96k and this one has 134k. I added a lot and rearranged pieces, too. There are also minor edits between the beta draft and this one.

Apologies for skipping out on Flash Fiction this weekend. I’ve been struggling with some migraines from TMJ, and my neck and back were really making it difficult to sit for long periods of time. I’m supposed to be starting the treatment (finally!) for my neck and back this week, which is also supposed to alleviate some of the TMJ issues. Basically, one of my discs in my neck is compressive nerves in the same area which is inflaming my TMJ and causing the tinnitus in my right ear. The doctor doesn’t know if we can fully resolve it, but he’s hopeful that I’ll get some relief.

Anyway, it’s just messing with my creative energy, so I tried to concentrate where I could by finishing the edits on Counting Stars. That’s been completely edited, and I’ll be able to finish scheduling all the chapters.

I’m probably going to miss my NaNoWriMo goal which is a shame because I came really close all month to getting caught up, but the medical issues held me back. No worries. I go a decent chunk of the first Act done, and I can live with that.

See you later this week!

November 21, 2022

Update Link: Chapter 1

The first four chapters of Counting Stars is online! EEK! So excited for you to finally read this absolutely insane story I’ve been struggling with since 2018. This was the first project I did deep dive for when I relaunched my Patreon last year, and I really only started playing with it for fun. I never imagined that almost a year later, I’d be publishing it! I’ll be updating every Monday — four chapters at time, so you can read at your own pace and not worry about checking the site every day.

I’ve linked you to Chapter 1 but take a quick look at the Timeline if you’re not familiar with January 2000.