Hello! I said in my livestream yesterday I might be checking in with a poll before I came back officially on Monday, so here I am! I’ve spent the last three days working on outlines and plans to revise my first three completed Flash Fiction series, and I’m here to ask you guys which one do you want me to write first.

All of the series will be largely rewritten (with the exception of Desperate Measures — some of that dialogue will still work) so that I can expand and flesh them out. All three will be substantially longer (40 to 80k). Here are the revised synopses for the projects.

An Everlasting Love

Alternate Universe. Set in California, 1870s.

Their families settled Diamond Springs before the Gold Rush turned it into a boom town, but Jason Morgan and Elizabeth Webber were born into different worlds. She’s the beloved granddaughter of town patriarch Steve Hardy and he’s the illegitimate grandson recognized by the powerful Quartermaine family, but not fully part of them. Jason leaves Elizabeth behind in town to make money working on the railroads, promising he’ll come back for her.

Letters are exchanged and promises are kept, but Elizabeth’s father pressures her into marrying another man — Ric Lansing, the local powerful banker who seems obsessed with her. Elizabeth refuses — until news from Jason’s grandmother causes her to lose faith. She won’t marry Ric, but accepts another proposal. It seems her dreams of romance are behind her for good.

Five years later, Jason finally returns to town as the sheriff, prepared to care for his grandmother in her final years. Jason and Elizabeth realizes that someone has been lying to both of them, and finding their way back to one another might cost them their lives.

Whatever It Takes

Alternate Universe.

Jason Morgan met Elizabeth Webber when she saved his life, alongside her brother Steven, the local mob doctor. He left town to recuperate away from the eyes of the police, and by the time he returns, she’s dating Ric Lansing, his boss’s smug brother. Jason and Elizabeth are drawn to each other, and after some twists and turns, they’re finally together and planning their future. But Ric doesn’t let go so easily

Just before the birth of their first child, Jason and Elizabeth are injured in an explosion that leads to the death of their daughter. Elizabeth sinks into depression as Jason nearly kills himself searching for vengeance, finding enemies around every corner. One night, Jason disappears, and Elizabeth has to force herself out of the darkness to go after her husband to drag him back to her. Will their quest for revenge cost them more than just their marriage?

Desperate Measures

Alternate History.

Set Summer 2018. Angry and disappointed in Franco Baldwin’s constant lies, Elizabeth Webber breaks their engagement and moves her three boys to a new home, eager for a new start.

Standing behind her in support are new found twin brothers, Jason Morgan and Drew Cain, who still struggle to separate their identities and their relationships with the sons Jason created but Drew raised. Jason’s closer to Jake, and Drew is closer to Danny, but their mother has left town, struggling to deal with the return of Danny’s cancer.

But Elizabeth’s first night in her new home ends in a bloody attack. A phone call in the middle of the night finds Jason desperately trying to clear Elizabeth’s name of murder and searching her missing children. The mistakes and regrets of Jason and Elizabeth’s past are coming back to haunt them, and this time, walking away won’t stop it.

 

This poll will be open for 24 hours.

Once a week or so, I do a livestream for my Patreon supporters. Today, since I’ve been so MIA since I finished flash fiction, I wanted to post the link for all my readers. It’s short notice (my livestreams always are) so if you’re around at 12 PM EST, head over. It’s usually pretty quiet since it’s my lazy way of posting writing updates, lol, but I’d love if anyone wanted to have questions or chat.  I’d schedule these more regularly with more notice if anyone wants them.

ETA: If you miss the livestream, the link will still be here for you watch it but will not be available elsewhere on the channel. It’s set to unlisted, so you can only see it if you have the link.

Update Link: Flash Fiction

In Case You Missed It: Ruining Everything (If Wishes Came True Part 5)

Happy Monday! As promised, I’m here to preview your Flash Fiction series when the feature returns next Monday on August 31. I’ll be updating each story once a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, typically in the evenings.

Mondays: Not Knowing When

Set in 2002. After learning that Jason helped Sonny fake his death, then lied to her, Elizabeth walks out on him and a future together. But before long, she finds herself drawn back into his world when she sees something she shouldn’t and has no choice but to trust him.

Wednesdays: A Shot in the Dark

Sam has been reunited with her son, Danny, and Jason and Elizabeth are starting a new chapter in their lives together, putting the past and the tragic loss of their son behind him. Then Lucky comes home with startling news that changes everything.

Friday: A King’s Command

A Flash Fiction Alternate Universe. Set in Medieval Scotland. When Jason Morgan, one of the Highland’s fiercest lairds is commanded to marry the daughter of a Lowland clan, he reluctantly obeys and brings Elizabeth back to his keep, surprised and intrigued by her kindness and beauty. But she’s keeping a dark secret that threatens their future. 

Sunday: 2001

At the moment, Sunday’s series is a bit loose. I’m intending to just do a series of scene rewrites or episode tags set in 2001, but I also know who I am as a person and I’m sure once I start playing in this time period, I might come up with a few ideas that need fleshing out. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.

I’m excited to write all of these series, but particularly to tackle 2001 and 2002. This is a time period that I haven’t revisited in nearly 18 years. I wrote a lot of 2002 fanfiction at the time, but once Courtney and Ric came along, I set more stories in 2003 and re-visited the fall a lot less. When I wrote Bittersweet, I rewrote all of Jason’s return, instead of starting partially through it. As for 2001, I wrote one single story set in 2001 but it wasn’t that great, lol, and it’s not available anywhere to read. So those two series are going to be A LOT of fun.

For A Shot in the Dark, I know how many of you guys wanted to continue following Jason and Elizabeth after Darkest Before the Dawn and the revelation of Jake being alive. That was always going be posted, but I’m glad I have a lot of interest. And A King’s Command is a revisit of one of my earliest Flash Fiction series and one of the most frequent requests to bring back.

I think this is the only update I’ll be making for a few days — but you never know know with me. I’ve been feeling a bit burnt out the last few days, and my migraines and TMJ are back since I’m not sleeping well. Hoping to get that sorted out at the doctor’s today 🙂

Your Update Link: Ruining Everything (If Wishes Came True, Part 5)

Hello! I hope you guys are having a great weekend. I’ve done nothing for almost four days, lol, but this afternoon, I decided to finish some restructuring work for If Wishes Came True, my strange 2020 episode tag series, then got inspired to add to it. I meant this series to be deleted scenes, but the show took a nose dive in quality last week and, well, I couldn’t abandon Jason and Elizabeth without at least trying. This continues to be just short stories that I’ll update when I can.

I also updated the Production Schedule with Mad World’s new dates. Book 3 will be released on the site October 6, then Book 4 on December 8. Fool Me Twice has been pushed to March. This is mostly to make up for the fact that I didn’t give myself enough of a break between writing the first draft of Books 3 and 4 before going into revisions so my brain forced a break on me. Now I know — it doesn’t matter how long a first draft takes — I need a minimum of seven full days before I can throw myself into revisions. Otherwise, my brain will revolt.

I’ll update tomorrow with the new schedule for Flash Fiction.  New series return August 31 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. I’ll see you tomorrow!

Your Update Link: Desperate Measures – Part 20

Happy Thursday! I have to admit — this week has been a struggle for me, mostly because I’m staying up late for the DNC (last night was amazing) and then I’m sleeping in way past my normal comfort zone. I’m used to getting up between 6-7, not I can’t quite roll out of bed until closer to 8:30 because I’m going to sleep until 1:30. It’s rough, LOL. I’m not as young as I used to be. In college — I used to go to Philly for pub quiz from 8-11, then come home to do German homework until 2:30, then get up for a 9;30 German class.  There is no way I could live that schedule now.

Today, as stated, is the last day of Daily Flash Fiction. I just want to say how much I have adored this feature this summer. It gave structure to all of my days and really helped the muse keep in shape for writing in the afternoon. I had a huge collection of people coming back every day for updates and replying — you guys are the reason that I do this so every reply, every view keeps me going. I had an absolute blast writing all four othese incredibly different stories. They were messy, insane, and sometimes — they were even good. I can’t wait to get into revisions and make them mainstream.

I’m developing my Fall schedule — and I’ve settled on a posting schedule for Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Mon/Wed/Frid will be the typical series you’ve come to expect while Sunday will be a special rewrite series. I’ll get into all the details next week because Friday’s series is still be voted on by my Patreon supporters. That poll is available to all tiers.

As I wrote yesterday, I completed the epic Facelift checklist. It’s…extensive, LOL. But while I initially felt overwhelmed yesterday, I actually feel good about it today. I can’t wait to get back to this project now. It’s also been linked in the Currently Working so you can check it out if you want.  I’ll let you know if I complete anything major.

Your Update Link: Darkest Before the Dawn, Part 16

Good morning! Hope your weeks are going well. I’m sorry if there was any confusion with yesterday’s entry to Desperate Measures — there is one more part due out tomorrow. Today, however, is the last part for Darkest Before the Dawn.  There are at least two more parts to this story, but we’re done with the first Elizabeth rewrite — the rewrite of the maternity lie in 2012. The next story we’ll rewrite? Well, I hope you like the final scene.

In CG Facelift news, I said that I needed to make a detailed list of all my projects and steps for the whole thing — so I started that list. I’m only just starting the list for the Alternate History, but I do really well with to-do lists. My favorite thing in the whole world is to make a list and then check things off, LOL. I keep a bullet journal and it’s the only way I got through my student teaching semester when I was juggling the teaching, my night job, and graduate school.

So I’ve reworked the post I gave you guys last month, and before I continue any other Facelift project, I’m going to make the complete list so that I can approach this systematically and not skip anything. It’s more for me, but if you want to see my crazy on display, here you go: CG Facelift. I will post here when it’s done. I also updated the top bar and removed a few links that I don’t think you guys really use. It was making the site stretch out weird on the tablet.

Mad World continues to progress —  I wrote another chapter last night and started line editing the next two chapters. I’m through around Chapter 65 — still six more to write, but I’m getting there.

ETA: I finished the Facelift checklist. It’s….well, it’s there.

Your Update Link: Desperate Measures, Part 19

Your Channel Link: Fool Me Twice 5: Carly Doesn’t Get Slapped Enough

Good morning! I had a really great day yesterday — I wrote an entire chapter of Mad World and edited three more. If you look in the sidebar, I’ve updated the progress chart but it’s hard to really tell what kind of progress has been made, lol. Out of 23 chapters in Book 3, I’m done 8 of them. I still have seven chapters to write and five more to line edit. I’m staying up late this week for the Democratic National Convention, so I’m line editing at night which gives me most of the day to get chapters written. I’m scheduled to finish the Book 3 beta by Sunday, and then I’ll get started on Book 4.

I started working on a YouTube channel page for the site. It’s crazy disorganized right now, but it’s been linked in the top bar. I have so much to do to get that section under control, but I’ll be satisfied if I can just do a bit at a time. I have a crazy habit of taking on a bunch of projects at once and then…not getting any of them, done, LOL. So I think I just need to take minute, make a list of all the things I need to do — then do them in order. I also linked all of CG’s social media accounts in the the sidebar.

There’s a new vlog up — the next entry in the Discovering Fool Me Twice.  I talk at length about the Jason story in this one which I hope explains the title. I’m still working on transcripts, but I think honestly — let’s get the section organized, done, and then I can go back in and do the transcripts. I’ll embed the video below.

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Your Update Link: Darkest Before the Dawn, Part 15

Good morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend! It seems crazy that this Thursday we’ll be ending the daily flash fiction updates. It’s been really fun (and challenging!) to follow this content schedule and I had a lot of fun, even if juggling four series and one novel project drove me a bit batty once in a while. I’ve also liked checking in with you guys often as Mad World took shape — usually when I’m in progress on a novel, I check in once every few weeks but I really feel like you guys were able to live through this experience with me.

I had a bit of a crazy weekend, but I still managed to do a lot of work! Mad World, Book 3 is now 23 chapters and seven of those chapters have been revised. This week, I’m focusing on writing the new chapters and finishing up the other 8 chapters that need line edits. When I started revisions, Book 3 was about 93k. I’ve already addded 9k to that total and 6k of that is just new scenes between Chapters 51-57. I started Chapter 58 yesterday which is brand new–and I’m so happy with the Sonny/Carly and Jason/Elizabeth scene I just wrote. I think these two chapters I’ve inserted at this point in the story are going to be some of the best.

Fool Me Twice is still moving along — I’m really deep into the outline and looking forward to moving that project into its next stages. I’m really glad I gave myself two full months to plan — it’s been so relaxing and fun to lean in to it like this and just do a bit a day. It keeps my interest engaged and really makes me excited to get to it. I can’t wait to finally start writing it! And — I even opened up my Broken Girl scriv file to jot down some brainstorming notes for Book 2. This summer has been crazy productive, and I’m hoping to find a way to manage that momentum going into the fall and going back to work.

I have a couple of things planned this week, but I’m not sure how my schedule is going to work out so just stay tuned!

Your Update Links: Darkest Before the Dawn, Part 14 | If Wishes Came True

Hope you’re enjoying the start to your weekend : )

I spent a little time this morning organizing my 2020 episode tag universe on to a page: If Wishes Came True, so that they’re in order and it’s established kind of the theme I have going. I kind of like the idea of writing cut scenes with Jason & Elizabeth discussing the things going on in their lives — you know, the kind of scenes we’d get if they were writing their friendship. The only aspect of this tag universe that doesn’t really fit the show is the POA subplot but I think it’s kind of fun. It lets me add on as I want to without pressure to write a full-fledged 2020 story, if that makes sense.   It’s still a little under construction and I might still change the title.

In other news, I’ve been working on editing Mad World, and changed the Mad World subsite to illustrate the division of Book 3 into two books. I’ve line-edited the first six chapters — today I’m going to work on Chapter 57 and write the new scenes for Chapters 54-57. Tomorrow, I get to start writing the new chapters 🙂 It’s coming along really nicely and I’m excited for this change.

Your Update Link: If Wishes Came True, Part 2

I, uh, think I need to sit down this week and organize the episode tags onto their own page because they’re clearly part of the same universe and all of them kind of happen as cut scenes from GH — nothing says this isn’t happening in the background, I mean, LOL. I just…I have issues.