Update Link: Masquerade – Part 1

Okay, so I can explain.

I’ve been dealing with a bit of block with Chain Reaction which is another reason that updates have slowed down and even when I have posted, we’re not really going anywhere. The story was in my head but when I tried to sketch it out, I just couldn’t quite make it work the way I wanted. So I’ve pushed updates and focused on These Small Hours (Book 2 is officially underway!) hoping it would shake me loose. But that means just not posting until I can get Chain Reaction working again, and pressure never helps. I’m hoping that if I start the next series that I had planned anyway which is wildly different than everything I’ve written for the last few years, it’ll trick my brain into relaxing and I’ll be able to figure out how to get where I want to go. So just a temporary hiatus.

The good news is that the postseason has started. The Phillies don’t play again until Saturday, and then they’re off on Monday, so I can guarantee Monday updates. And if they get out of the NLDS, there are built in off days the rest of the month. So right now, I’m tentatively committing to Monday & Wednesday updates. If I can get Chain Reaction moving, I’ll put in M/W/F updates and do what I did when I was juggling in Warning Shots. One week on, one week off.

I won’t know anything for sure until Wednesday/Thursday when they set the times for the NLDS series (Wild Card comes first!)

October is going to be a little funky, but sadly, the baseball season will be over, and we’ll settle into some routines 🙂

I hope you like this one. It’s been percolating in the back of my head for a while. See you Wednesday!

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Update Link: Chain Reaction – Part 37

Yay, finally updating this! It’s an off day for the Phillies — their last one of the regular season. I appreciate you guys working with me as Flash Fiction moves all over the place during the regular season. It’s been so fun getting back into baseball now that I’m in a place in my life to dedicate to it. Just zero time during grad school and student teaching.

Anyway! Let’s talk about October because lots of good news for you guys!

The Phillies clinched the Number 1/2 seed in the NL last night which means they don’t play after Saturday until Saturday, October 5.  I’ll have next week free in the evenings, and while I’m working on Hours Book 2, I also want to add some more Flash Fic updates to really start to wind Chain Reaction down. I’m juggling a few options for the next story, and I’ll let you know when I decide. We’re definitely in Act 3 of CR, but I’m working out the ending, so I don’t know how many parts are left.

I’m going to get through this weekend and see how much of Hours Book 2 I finish before deciding how many Flash updates I’ll make. I’ll update the widget by Sunday night, so check the sidebar!

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Update Link: These Small Hours, Book 1: Undone

Hey! Sorry about not updating Flash Fiction basically since going back to work. September’s been pretty rough, and I really thought I’d be able to get to it on Friday, but I seriously overestimated my energy levels.

Anyway, I dropped a whole book this week so hopefully you guys were all busy reading that and didn’t even notice Flash being gone. I’ll be diving into Book 2 starting Monday and I’ll see you guys on Thursday, the next Phillies’ off day for a Flash Fic update.

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Update Link: These Small Hours, Book 1

Chapters | Timeline & Setting

Chapter 4-32 are now live which means These Small Hours, Book 1: Undone is officially out in the world! Don’t forget to leave me a thumbs up as you read each chapter to let me know you were there. It’s an easy, no pressure way to leave quick feedback.

Book 2 will be out in December! Be sure to let me know what you think and what you hope happens next!

I’ll see you later this week for some Flash Fiction.

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Update Link: Chain Reaction – Part 26
In Case You Missed It: These Small Hours, Chapters 1-3

Note: Most of this blog post is personal and may contain some trigger warnings for pet illness, but here’s some story news: These Small Hours is scheduled and ready for release on Tuesday morning. I anticipate at least one Flash Fiction update midweek while the Phillies play the Brewers — the start time is pushed back an hour when they go to Milwaukee. I’ll update the sidebar as soon as I know. We’re in the final weeks of the season, so Flash will get a stable off-season time slot soon. See you for the next flash update.

Thanks for your patience these last few weeks as I got back to work and battled some real life issues. I picked up a really nasty cold that laid me absolutely flat last week — I used pretty much all my energy to finish the edit for These Small Hours. I started to feel a little better as the week got underway, but Wednesday morning, I woke up without a voice! I made it through Wednesday & Thursday without much of a voice, but teaching high school — it was really taking a toll on me. I was already planning to take Friday off to rest it, catch up on some sleep, and just generally kick the last of the cold.

But, well, it wasn’t to be. I did make it to the doctor on Thursday and I’m feeling better that way, though the voice isn’t entirely back, I’m good enough to get back to corralling students. When I got home on Thursday, I had to kind of face something I’ve been avoiding for pretty much the entire summer. I didn’t talk about it here, other than mentioning her vet visits. I think I just wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening. We got lucky — the tumor grew very slowly and literally, Sasha was her normal, cuddly, interrupting, keyboard stealing self on Wednesday night, just a little bit slower and eating less. But at some point over that next 24 hours, the tumor just — it took over. If you’ve ever had a cat with a nasal tumor, you might know what I mean, and I’ll leave it at that. And by Friday morning, it was clear I was down to days if that, before her condition deteriorated rapidly. I never wanted that for her, not for my sweet girl who deserved much better. So I made the choice to let her go. She passed, just before 5PM on Friday, in my arms, sleeping, after one last round of treats.

I appreciate all the warm thoughts and wishes sent my way. Sasha was a regular feature in my updates and tweets, and it’s already been unsettling these last few days not to be interrupted at my desk, or to protect my egg yolks from her begging eyes (would have bathed in yolk if I’d let her). Or leaving my laundry on my bed, folded, but without a sheet pulled over it because Sasha loved nothing more than laying across fresh laundry and leaving some cat hairs behind. I had fifteen amazing years with her, and I know she felt loved until the end. I just wish it had been longer. I wish I had hugged her one more time, but isn’t that always how it goes?

If you have any pets, give them hugs and kisses, and tell them I said hi. <3

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Update Link: These Small Hours – Chapter 3
In Case You Missed It: Chapter 1 & Chapter 2
Early Access for Patreon: Full Book Available for $5, publicly available for free on Tues

I really do expect to have a flash fiction update out this weekend, but there are some circumstances that have come up that will prevent me from updating tonight as I’d hoped. I’m just not sure of the rest of my schedule for Saturday & Sunday, so I decided to throw up one last preview chapter for you guys. I was working on the sub-site this morning, and posting this helped me work out some of the design kinks.  I still have to finish the content, but I’m pretty happy with how the theme came out. Let me know if you have any thoughts on the colors.

I took a sick day today because I lost my voice this week due to my cold, and I had some extra time on my hands. It’s been an interesting experience trying to teach high school kids with zero voice, but I wasn’t in the mood for a third day.

I’ll see you when I see you this weekend. Thanks for understanding.

Continue reading →

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Update: These Small Hours – Chapter 2   | Chapter 1

I really thought I’d have flash fiction this weekend, but you know the universe always has a curve ball, lol.

The first week went off really well — probably my best first week back since the pandemic. I was pretty tired the first two days, but by Thursday, I was up to cooking and working on things. I edited for a little while, and was looking forward to a great weekend. Then as I went to sleep on Thursday night, I started to feel less than great. I barely slept, and over the course of Friday, I developed my first cold of the week. My immune system didn’t even try this year to hold off, so I guess that’s good since it means my three day weekend in October might not suck after all, lol.

Anyway, I got cold medicine and slept better last night but I’m still feeling a little run down. My focus this weekend has to be prepping for next week and finishing up These Small Hours so I just refuse to commit to updating flash fiction. (I’m not ruling out tomorrow or even Monday, I just won’t promise it).

So I’m giving you the final preview chapter for These Small Hours. Book 1 will be up for early access on Patreon by Tuesday, and I’ll be releasing the whole thing next Tuesday, September 17 at 7 am.

I’ll see you as soon as possible for the next flash fiction!

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Update Link: Chain Reaction – Part 35

I can’t believe I have to go to work tomorrow! The last few weeks went so fast! I tried to set this post up for almost 20 minutes, lol, but the cat keeps laying in front of the keyboard. I think she knows I’m about to abandon her, lol.

Anyway, I’ll be back at some point between Friday-Sunday with the next update, and I’ll try and figure out what the schedule looks like.

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Update Link: Warning Shots – Part 36

Happy Sunday! Started an hour later tonight so I could eat dinner first 😛 I usually finish writing at 6, then start dinner but decided to treat myself to some takeout 🙂

Well, this is the last part of Warning Shots. Started as a little detour, and then I got caught up. Really had no idea where this one was going after a few parts and definitely even times I opened up my Scriv file and had nothing planned so if it felt messy and off the rails, well, it was. I did that a few times with Chain Reaction, too, this summer. It was fun, lol, but I don’t know if I wanna do that again.

Tomorrow’s the very last day of summer break before the kids come back, so I have a lot of things to do. Luckily, there’s no Phillies game on to distract me, so I will definitely have time for Flash Fiction tomorrow. It should be posted at 6 or 7. See you then!

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Update Link: Warning Shots – Part 35

I actually can’t believe school starts Tuesday. Summer went so slow and yet so fast all at the same time.

Just a quick update on how edits are going on These Small Hours, Book 1. I finished editing Chapter 16 last night. The first half of the book needed a handful of new scenes (and then I made a Jason story tweak that meant reworking some scenes) but the second half is all clean up and will probably take me about two or three days. The deadline to finish the PDF is September 9, and I’ll have book out to you guys on CG September 17 as scheduled.

I really just wanna finish it as soon as possible so I can dive into the edits on Books 2 & 3 so they’re out as scheduled in November and December. If you missed it, I posted the first chapter last week and I’m really excited for you guys to read the rest 🙂

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