Bittersweet

As promised, Bittersweet finally returns! From today, December 31 through next Sunday, January 7, I will be reposting Chapters One through Eight. I’ve made some small cosmetic changes as well as fixed some continuity issues.

I wrote those chapters in November 2015 before I had plotted the end of the story, so a couple of lines had to change. I definitely recommend rereading if you haven’t read the chapters in a little while.

Starting January 8, I will be posting new chapters of Bittersweet on Mondays and Wednesdays. Posting Bittersweet will take about four or five months depending on a few factors.

I’ve run into some issues writing the last few chapters because I’m unsure of a plot point. I have some ideas to fix it, but I might have to write a few scenes to make it work. I’m still playing around with it, but it really shouldn’t effect the story until we get into March, so I have plenty of time to complete it. I also might be overthinking the issue, which means I don’t have to fix anything and I can just finish writing the story so you guys don’t get any interruptions.

So here is today’s update: Bittersweet, Chapter One. It has been updated here, at Archive of Our Own, and at Fanfiction.net. I am not updating it at Road to Nowhere. I’m not super wild about the transition to Tapatalk and haven’t decided if I’m going to keep posting there.

Also, Sean Kanan is AJ in my head, but I made the graphics for Bittersweet before I had decided that, so it’s still Billy Warlock. I have to fix that when I get a chance.

Workshop: Fool Me Twice

Thanks so much for the responses to Fool Me Twice. It’s definitely a struggle to write for Elizabeth in 2017, but as always, I’m trying some things out.  There are three reasons I wanted to workshop FMT rather than doing my usual process: I wanted to be sure I could write the characters as they are today, I wanted to figure out the supporting characters, and also it’s a current storyline. I wanted to write my version of it before I got influenced by what’s happening on screen.

I will probably workshop the entire main story and then go through and edit and add on to it. So it might feel choppy, it might  not feel as fleshed out as my usual work. It’s mostly me trying to get my thoughts out. Please tell me if the flow isn’t right, if there’s something you think I should add. An aspect I’m not dealing with. The workshop is where y’all get to beta 😛

Fool Me Twice will be updated in the Workshop at least once a week on Fridays. I may or may not toss some micro fiction writing sessions in there sometimes, but they will not be planned. As always, check out my Twitter feed (which is also on the sidebar) because I post

when I start the clock. It will be updated Friday evenings, between 6-9 PM EST.

Mad World

I did not get as far into my new draft this last week as I wanted to. I talked a few weeks ago about how I had re-envisioned Mad World into three parts of an overall story — and the first part requires me to rewrite the panic room storyline.

I’m trying to write a version of Elizabeth who would actually stay in the house without being the gullible idiot she is so often forced to be on the show. It’s like writing Sonny for The Best Thing. Writing that story took two years because I needed Sonny to be just right. Elizabeth is going to deal with a lot of things that real people deal with and I just feel a responsibility to make that actually feel realistic. I’ve heard from some people about Sonny in TBT that it was mostly authentic and that meant a lot to me.

So Mad World is just more difficult and draining than I had anticipated, but it’s moving along. I just have to set more realistic goals for myself than I did originally.  I will keep you all updated.

Other News

+ I’m playing around with longer synopses on the In Progress and Alternate History & Universe pages. Right now, there are just vague tag lines. But I wanted to try to write something a bit longer and descriptive, akin to what you might read on the back cover of a paperback. I posted a new synopsis for Bittersweet on the In Progress page, so let me know what you think about that.

+ I haven’t forgotten my other workshop series. I’m still not satisfied with the magical story, Homecoming, so expect a new opening for that. I really really like the idea I have for that story, I just have to find the right way to present it. I’m also working on the Scottish story and some thoughts about some of the others.

+ I was thinking of writing something less intense than Mad World for the next project and maybe dipping into a new time period. So far since I started writing again 2014, I’ve written for 2003, 2004, 2006, and now for 2002 and 2003 again. I plan on ordering the Liason DVDs for 2007-08 this spring, so it might be time to bring back These Small Hours, which is a lot more action and plot oriented than Mad World. Still thinking that over.

+ Damaged is still on my plate. I’ve got so many ideas, it’s just been difficult to figure out how to make them all work. I’ll keep y’all updated.

+ If you’ve been listening to my chatter for the last two years, you know I’ve been pursuing my teaching certification. This is the semester when I finally get to finish it. I’ll be student teaching fro January 2 through May 4. I’m teaching U.S. History I at the high school level, and I’ll have six classes of about 150 kids. I’ll be writing my own lesson plans, doing my own grading, etc. It’s going to be crazy and it has to absolutely take priority.

The good news is that I’m only taking on other class and I reduced my hours at my other job to make my schedule a bit more less evil like it as last semester. I don’t know yet what the impact on my writing will be, so we’ll play it by ear. Luckily, Bittersweet is designed to take us through most of the semester, so you won’t see too much of a difference.

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