Update: You’re Not Sorry – Part 1

I was originally going to do a bonus update of Dear Reader to wrap it up faster, but I wasn’t really feeling a second update in me today (this usually happens to me as I wind down a story, the fun stuff is over, lol) but I still wanted to do something that keeps me awake for a late Phillies game, so…we’re launching the new flash series early!

I haven’t added it to the Recent Updates // Flash page yet, so I’ll do that tomorrow, but I’m very excited about this one. I’ve been plotting out the whole story, and I’ve got 10k of scenes and dialogue sketched out, and I’m a little past halfway through. Hope you guys enjoy this one 🙂

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Update Link: Dear Reader – Part 48

I’ve been feeling super tired and sleeping a lot lately — and last night, I went to bed around 10 because I really wanted to get up at a good time and get a lot of work done — but then I slept until almost 9AM and still struggled to get out of bed. I started to think well maybe with it being summer, I don’t need to take my melatonin — I usually take 2 10mg tablets because I struggle to sleep during the school year.

I look at the bottle today and it’s 40MG tablets! I’ve been taking 80MG of melatonin every damn night. NO WONDER I’m freaking tired. I didn’t look closely when I got this bottle, lol. So we’re going cold turkey for a few days to reset my system. Just wild, lol.

Anyway.

Phillies play at 9:45 three times this week, so if I end up doing bonus updates for Flash to keep myself awake, I’ll start writing at 8:30 and post at 9:30PM tonight, Tuesday, and Friday.

So I might be back tonight, I might not. Sign up for updates in the sidebar if you want emails 🙂

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Update: Dear Reader – Part 47

One my favorite things about summer is no Sunday scaries 😛 I overslept this morning, mostly because I stayed up too late last night. My schedule is all off, lol, and it won’t get better with 9:45 starts in San Francisco this week. There are three of them, so don’t be surprised if I pop up with updates here at at like 9 or 9:30. (These would be extra, not late updates)

See you guys tomorrow 😛

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Update Link: Dear Reader – Part 46

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! I’m making up the updates for Tues/Thurs that I ended up skipping so I can stay on schedule — though I did sneak a peek at the times for the upcoming Phillies games on Mon/Wed and let me tell you — they’re in San Francisco and starting at 9. So I might end up doing some bonus updates just to stay away. Not committing to that, of course, but don’t be surprised if I pop up at 9:30 PM with updates, lol.

Glad you guys seem to enjoy the teens! I tend to write them a bit more realistically than the show does mostly because this is the age group I teach, and there’s no subject too serious that they can’t start messing with each other. Teenage boys tend to put on a mask and go with the flow most of the time, and don’t really let it all hang out for people to see if that makes sense.

I’m looking forward to expanding Dear Reader and really fleshing it out when it goes into edits — this was my first time writing a ton of these characters and this time period, so I was doing a lot of experimenting. When will that happen? Excellent question.

See you guys tomorrow — probably around a similar time, but maybe writing at 7, posting at 8.

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Update Link: Dear Reader – Part 45

Apologies for missing yesterday. I’ve been decluttering my office and yesterday’s project stirred up dust which triggered my allergies which triggers my asthma–anyway. I’m actually decluttering this time, and not just moving things to new homes where they sit for a year until I declutter that space. I’m actually finding permanent homes for objects and discarding things I haven’t used in forever. I have a huge problem of just shoving loose books and papers and related objects into empty spaces on my shelves and desk.

And also sorry it’s so late today! I meant to do it this morning, then earlier this evening, but my sister is out of town with her family (scheduled forever ago before my aunt) and my dad’s with her, so Mom ended up not feeling up to my brother’s. I felt bad and wanted to take her ribs fresh from the grill and check up on her, so we’re late tonight 🙂

I’ll be back tomorrow and Sunday to make Flash updates so I can still finish this story on schedule 🙂 Happy Fourth!

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Update: Dear Reader – Part 44

Recent Updates | Tortured Poets Collection: The Black Dog (Crimson Swift Summer Patreon Special)

Finally managed a day where I’m mostly on schedule, even if the Phils are working against me. Game was rained out last night, there’s a double header today, and we already lost the first game, so that’s how the day is going so far.

I have, unsurprisingly, not found a lot of time to work on These Small Hours which is wildly off schedule. I’d hoped to start digging into it this week, but I’ve had, unsurprisingly, things that are distracting me, and I’ve prioritized Flash Fiction & the work on Patreon to finish The Black Dog. I’m hoping to change that up this week and next, so cross your fingers that nothing else in my life goes catastrophically awry.

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Update Link: Dear Reader – Part 43

Recent Updates | Tortured Poets Collection: The Black Dog (Crimson Swift Summer Patreon Special)

Apologies for the lack of updates yesterday. The last four days have been…well, they happened.

My aunt passed away on Saturday. Mom and I went to see her last week, and left Wednesday morning. Called her on the way home, told her I loved her, and she texted me back that she loved me, too. Told her I’d send her more kitten photos and stories about Lizzie the Menace. Her blood pressure crashed on Thursday, and she slipped into a coma. They put her on life support early Saturday morning, but told my uncle she’d never wake up. He made the difficult, but right, decision to let her go. She died at 11:48 A.M.

She’d been sick for a few months, in the hospital since March, and we knew it was bad — it was part of the reason Mom went down as soon as school ended for her, but she’s always been so tough, it just seemed like she’d find a way to bounce back. It’s hard for Mom, especially this time of year. We lost my grandmother in June 2006, my grandfather in July 1998, and my uncle (her brother) in September 1996, so she’s the last one left. We kept her busy on Saturday, thanks to my nieces, and I showed her how to find Gordon Ramsay related reruns on YouTube, so mindless TV is always good.

I usually distract myself with work and writing, so I don’t expect much interruption to my schedule. I’ll be heading back to Maryland at some point for services, so I’ll update the schedule as needed.

Yesterday it was unrelated to my aunt — Dad had the chimney guy coming out, and he was supposed to be here at 8:30, then didn’t show up until almost 1PM which just messed up the whole day, and by the time they all left, I was just exhausted, so I decided to skip. I plan to make it up on Thursday or Saturday.

I’ll see you guys tomorrow, though Flash will be later in the evening because the Phillies play early 🙂

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Update Link: Dear Reader – Part 42
Tortured Poets Collection: The Black Dog (Crimson Swift Summer Patreon Special)

Running a bit late this morning! I forgot that I had scheduled my gas company to change the meter today (I did it months ago and forgot to write it down!) He showed up at 11:30, and then after doing a leak check to make sure it was done correctly, he told me my water heater isn’t ventilating correctly and needed to be shut off. He thinks there’s been a chimney collapse. So I had to deal with that, and wash my hair before the hot water was gone, so I was off schedule. I didn’t want to miss another start date for my Crimson Swift project, so I did a 25 min writing session and posted that a few hours ago.

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Update Link: Dear Reader – Part 41

It has been a crazy busy week, but hopefully things are slowing down and I can get into a bit of a routine where I actually get work done! I’ll be back tomorrow, writing at 2PM and posting at 3PM.

On Monday with daily updates until Friday. I’m writing at 2PM and posting at 3PM on Mon, Tues & Thurs, then writing at 5PM and posting at 6PM on Tues & Fri.  We’re still scheduled to wrap up Dear Reader on July 10, and we’ll go straight into the next story, You’re Not Sorry, on Jul 10. I am very excited for that one — I’ve been working really hard behind the scenes to plot it out so it feels more developed and will be easier to write and edit. A description is included below 🙂

See you tomorrow!

YOU’RE NOT SORRY 
Single from Taylor Swift

Set September 2024. Federal agent John Cates is found shot and murdered on the Quartermaine estate as their Labor Day barbecue winds down. Though the party was well-attended, the shooting occurs down near the lake and there’s only a handful of people who hear the shot: Quartermaine scion, Michael Corinthos; the notorious prodigal criminal son, Jason Morgan; longtime friend and former girlfriend, Elizabeth Webber; and Jason’s two teenage sons, Jake and Danny.

Unfortunately for Jason, the case is immediately taken over by the local FBI office who know the history between Jason and the victim is contentious — and every single witness is connected to him with a reason to lie. He’s used to being a target of investigations, after all, his record is littered with arrests and the only conviction ever registered was a guilty plea he orchestrated himself.

But the killer has a plan to cover their tracks and to force Jason into taking the blame — by targeting Elizabeth and framing her for the crime. Can Jason and Elizabeth find them before anyone else gets hurt?

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Update Link: Dear Reader – Part 40 | Patreon

Hello 🙂 I’m home from my short trip to see my aunt. She went into the hospital in March, and she’s been in a rehab center since May, recovering her ability to walk. With the school year and my mom’s knee, it’s the first time she’s been able to go see her so we stayed a few days to get plenty of visits in. We’re hoping she can come home at the end of July, so send good thoughts 🙂

I have a couple of adjustments to tomorrow’s schedule. I had the chance to pick up a few hours tomorrow at the school working hall duty, so I obviously jumped at it. I’m hoping to pick up 1 or 2 more of those shifts as we move through the summer to help pad out that summer budget. Here’s the schedule for the rest of June (after tonight):

• Thurs, Jun 26: Dear Reader, Part 41 @ 7 PM | Crimson Swift @ 1:30 PM (on Patreon) $1 Summer Special
• Fri, Jun 27: Dear Reader, Part 42 @ 3PM | Crimson Swift @ 12PM (on Patreon) $1 Summer Special
• Sat, Jun 28 & Sun, Jun 29: Malice @ 11 AM (on Patreon)
• Mon, Jun 30: Dear Reader, Part 43 @ 3PM | Crimson Swift @ 12PM (on Patreon) $1 Summer Special

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