Hey! Just ducking in to let you know that I’ve completed the beta edits on Book 1! It’s taken WAY longer than I had ever thought (I had originally hoped to be done in January, heh) but we’re there. The only thing I have to do is a final read through for typos.  Since the chapters are done, I wanted to see how you guys wanted to read the last few chapters:

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I’ll leave this up until sometime tomorrow and let you know. I wouldn’t post anything until Sunday or Monday because I want to do that final read through.

Oh — and just a note for anyone who read Chapter 30 and thinks I might be letting Carly off too easy — make sure you’re paying attention to the characters letting her off the hook because they have their reasons and I plan to redo the Nelle gaslighting Carly thing in Book 2 to really break Carly apart into tiny little pieces, heh. I’ll see you later!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter 30

You know that old eighties song? The Final Countdown by Europe? I swear, I have it running in my head literally every minute we’re in school. Four more days! Two this week, then two next. I am so ready to be done and so are the kids.

I’m finished editing through Chapter 34, and I’m scheduled to finish up the final edits this weekend. I’ll be glad to put this project away finally. I was supposed to be done with it months ago, but well, it’s been one of those years.  It’s also complicated by the fact that this is literally the longest book I’ve ever written. It’s at 224k and still has some more scenes I need to write. Not that many — there’s about four, I think? Maybe five?

In other news – I was scheduled to bring back Flash Fiction next weekend on my first day of summer vacation. I’m still coming back with Flash Fiction, but I don’t really know what my schedule is going to be like. I know I probably won’t be starting Flash Fiction next Wednesday. My mom is having some medical tests, so my sister and I are spending the night down at her place.  I’m not thinking about it too much yet until we know what’s going on. They think it might be a type of blood cancer but it almost might not be, so I’m working on not making that the center of my brain until I have to.

Until I know more, I’m just not committing to anything writing wise after this week. Once FMT is finished, we’ll be posting until the first or second week of July. I am going to be writing Flash Fic, I just don’t know if it’ll be on the regular update schedule I planned. I’ll keep you guys in the loop.

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter 29

Happy Monday! It’s actually a relatively happy Monday for me. Our grades were due yesterday, so I am done grading and assigning work for the year. Then, they decided to make this entire week half days for the students due to the heat. I’m still stuck at work until 2:50 every day at least through the end of this week, but my instruction time has been cut from 84 minutes to 45. Huge difference. Even better — the two meetings I was supposed to have this week after school are going to be earlier. Instead of being at school until almost 4 today and tomorrow, I get to come home on time.

I’m still struggling with my sleep — it was super bad last week. I literally feel like I dragged myself through Friday on sheer will and then just collapsed this weekend. If it weren’t for the absolutely amazing students I have this cycle, I think I’d be at the end of my rope. I’m thinking it won’t be like that this week only because I don’t have to put on the act for so much of the day. I love my job, but teaching is definitely about putting on the show. Sometimes the show feels easy and part of you, and sometimes it’s a grind. It’s been a grind these last few weeks because of this sleeping issue.

I will be out of edited chapters on Thursday, which is sort of a concerning thing but not really. I have eight chapters left to edit. The flashbacks aren’t written, but they’re pretty short. Four of those chapters have the other scenes that have been cleaned up, and four of them need light editing and some rewriting. I actually think we won’t see a break in writing. I’m stuck at work until 2:50 every day this week. Because of my schedule during the day, I am literally done teaching and duties at 11:05. I’ll be bringing my computer to work and I actually do expect to get most of that done this week at work. My energy doesn’t crash until around 4 PM.

Anyway — we’re in the final countdown now and I’m beyond ready to move on from this project.

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter 28

Well, two days later — still no stove and my sleeping is all over the place. There’s always something, huh? For a few weeks, I’ve been waiting up before my alarm (set for about 5:30). At first it was like 4:40, 4:50, nothing too terrible, just annoying. But lately, it’s been like 3 AM or 4 AM and I can’t get back to sleep. It’s adding up and by the time I get home from work, I am exhausted. I’m afraid to nap because that’s going to mess it up more.

It’s been very hard to write these last few days because I spend my entire work day peeling middle school kids off the ceiling (did you know summer vacation is in two weeks? they definitely know). So we’re going to take a day at a time. I have chapters for next week. I really just need to finish a few flashbacks and some light edits on the next five chapters. The last three need some more work because I’m adjusting the Sam storyline. I’m going to attempt to get those flashbacks done this week, and finish editing this weekend, but as long as I stay ahead of the chapters, I’m not going to worry so much.

See you next Monday!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter 27

I hope everyone is having a relaxing long weekend. I’ve been looking forward to these three days for weeks, but then of course — Saturday, my stove breaks. Such a bummer! I was having a really good morning and writing at a good clip. I went down to make some lunch, and boom! The burner wouldn’t shut off. My dad had to come up, turn off the gas to my stove and oven and it’s still not fixed even this morning. He’s supposed to come to up to take care of it, but it’s been so annoying. It’s also been really crappy weather, LOL. Last weekend, it was hard to write because it was so hot in my office and this weekend, it was too cold. NEW JERSEY GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER.

I did manage some major editing. Chapter 30 was brand new and is finally done. I’m going to finish cleaning up at least 3 or 4 chapters today, depending on my schedule. Dad is coming up today to put in the new valve, and then I’m supposed to head down their place for dinner. It’s my birthday, so we’re doing a little something. The good news is that I’ve done enough to guarantee we won’t have another break in posting.

Two weeks from summer vacation! Let’s do this!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter 26

I feel like I say this every time I update, but honestly, I love this chapter. This has some of my favorite Carly stuff in the entire story. I really wasn’t sure how to write Carly when I first began drafting, so I just let her develop and let the conversations move organically. I’m really looking forward to building what’s in Book 1 in Book 2. And of course, there’s some good Liason stuff.

I’ve written a bit this week, but it got really warm and uncomfortable VERY quick in NJ over the last week, and my office was super uncomfortable, LOL. Dad came up and fixed my central air and put in the office AC so we’re back to being comfortable. I’m planning to put some real words away over the next five days. Tomorrow is an in-service day, and then I have a three day weekend. The only day I have any plans is Monday since it’s my birthday.

I’m really hoping to have Book 1 done by June 1.  I want to turn the page and start with something else. I’ll see you guys on Monday!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter 25

Happy Monday! I’m super excited for this week — I have a three day weekend coming up, and on Friday, it’s a short in-service day. Plus, I just got my hair chopped and I’m so happy to have all that length off. I’ve been keeping it long through the pandemic because it was just easier to get it trimmed. I chopped six inches, so yay for summer hair!

I’m also excited because somehow I managed to avoid rewriting my entire program for the last cycle. I thought I was going to be able to do it, but I was worried I’d crack over the weekend, LOL. I didn’t. This is awesome — this means all my prep is done. All my teaching materials are set. I can really relax and go with the flow for the last fifteen days of school. I’m even bringing my personal laptop to school to write on my lunch break.

In other news, I set a date for Flash Fiction to return as well as a tentative schedule. I plotted out the end of Signs of Life. That will be returning on Wednesday, June 16, my first day of summer. That will be posted twice a week – Wednesdays & Sundays at 11 AM (I’ll start my timer at 10 AM).

The second story is Scars, the final story in the Collect Your Regrets universe. It’s the story that Tania asked me to write a year ago. She wanted me to rewrite Tom Baker’s return, but for me to set it in 2016, I had to decide if I was going to ignore the Jason stuff or how I was going to handle it. I settled for reunited Liason in Part 1, then bringing Jake back in Part 2. Now we’re going to do the Baker rewrite to finish off the series.  That will be posted on Tuesdays & Fridays, also at 11 AM. The morning Flash Fiction really fit my writing energy the last few months, so we’re going to see how that works this summer. I wrote in the morning last summer as well, so I’m optimistic.

Other minor housekeeping: I updated the Alternate History page because I hadn’t updated Mad World listing or added the link for Fool Me Twice. I also updated the side bar for June’s projects and schedule and the Recent Updates page.

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter 24

I hope everyone is having a great week! These upcoming chapters are some of my favorite — honestly, I really adore the back half of this story. I spent a lot of time in the first part maneuvering pieces around to really start telling the story I wanted to tell and we’re finally getting into the meat of the story. I haven’t had a lot of writing time, but I’ve written three of the ten flashbacks I need and I’ll have time this weekend to really dig into things. I managed to stop myself from rewriting my course materials again, so everything is set up for the next cycle that starts on Monday. I haven’t done a lot of work at home which is great so this week was really about just relaxing. Starting this weekend, I’m going to the hit ground running and really put away some chapters. I want to be done with this book so I can move on.

I’ll see you guys on Monday!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter 23

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend! I got the official contract renewal for next year so I definitely have a job next September. That’s really great news for me personally, so I’m looking forward to a summer without interviews, lol.

I’m also really looking forward to the next few weeks. After this upcoming week, I’ll be in my final cycle and I finally have the materials I want so that I won’t be working on rewriting things. I’ll be (hopefully) more relaxed and ready to get back into writing at night. I really missing writing in the evenings, so I’ll be happy to get back into it.

Enjoy this chapter, and I’ll see you on Thursday!

Update Link: Chapter 22

Happy Thursday! I’m so excited for you guys to read this chapter. It was added in revisions as I wanted to beef up the Sam/Krissy storyline, add more Oscar, and deepen the Liason connection. This is definitely one of my favorite Liason scenes in the story so far.

In other news, I finally got the official word that I’d be back next year teaching French! It’s going to be such a different experience this summer, knowing that I have a place in September and a steady paycheck. If I get my French certification by next April (which is the plan), I have a relatively assured position in the district. Teaching French wasn’t the dream, but I love my students so I can make this work.

I’ll see you guys on Monday for the next chapter!