Update Link: Scars – Part 19

Purchase Counting Stars Alpha Draft (all payments encrypted through Stripe — can use Google Pay for purchase) Use Contact form or reply to this post if there are any issues and see below for more information.

You’ll be getting a decent amount of Scars over the next few weeks, as today and next Saturday are make up days. So Scars is getting updated today (8/27), Tuesday (8/30), Friday (9/2), and Saturday (9/3.) Then two more updates to finish up the story on Friday (9/9) and Sunday (9/11).

I have to do a bit of housekeeping at CG — I have to update the widgets with the schedule for the next two weeks, and the Recent Updates page hasn’t been touched since early August. It’s definitely something that fell off my radar. August really has been a rough month. I hyperfocused on anything that would keep my mind busy and lost track of completely everything else.

Purchasing Drafts

I played around with a WordPress plugin that would allow me to have downloads that work as a purchase. It’s not perfect, but I tested it, and it actually works.  There’s some design elements to work out, but I like it as an alternative to Patreon for drafts. Early access chapters will probably still stay on that platform for now.

All drafts available for single purchase will be priced according to the Patreon level. Counting Stars, Alpha Draft, is currently available for my Crimson Obsessed tier ($10). This is the version that is my first attempt at the story. It hasn’t been edited for typos or consistencies. One of the really awesome things about posting my alpha drafts is that it gives people a chance to give feedback on early versions. There’s an Alexis/Dante scene in Mad World, Book 4 that got added in edits because someone asked for it, and I’m so glad it’s there.

The next version will be the beta draft, which is the major round of edits (and Counting Stars will have a decent amount added). That’ll be out at the end of next month and will be priced at the Crimson Adored tier ($7). The final version, the posting draft, should be out at the end of October and will be priced at the Crimson Devoted tier price ($5). The posting edit is usually the version that you see on Crimson Glass, but I’m still finding typos and doing final edits right up until they go live.

I want to put together a mailing list for a bundle price on the next project — if you just want to pay one price for all three rounds of drafts with no second purchase necessary — let me know if this is something you’re interested in.

Where Does the Money Go

For a little transparency, I wanted to let everyone know where the money I get for Patreon goes.

• First, it pays for the hosting services. I use a VPS, which means my site never crashes because I’m not sharing resources with anyone else. The database with the comments and plugins take up a lot of resources. That costs $25.50 a month.
• Any money left over after hosting services goes into my savings account. I use that to pay the property taxes on my house, which run about $4k every year. I don’t quite make that much from Patreon, but it’s a HUGE help.
• Before 2019, I worked a second job. I went to graduate school full-time, subbed during the day, and tutored at night. It left very little time for writing. I also worked full-time during the summer. Longtime readers will remember an inconsistent posting schedule from 2016-2018.
• I quit tutoring in the fall of 2018 because of scheduling conflicts and things were really tight every month. Then I relaunched the Patreon, and made enough for gas money and some of my bills.
• In the fall of 2019, I took over my parents’ house, including the utilities, property taxes, and homeowner’s insurance. Without Patreon to provide about 80% of that money, I would need to go back to tutoring full-time in the summer.
• So if you’ve enjoyed all the Flash Fiction, the six books, and countless short stories I’ve put out since 2019, that’s due largely to the amazing community here that made it possible for me to treat writing like a second career.
• No story of mine is ever going to be behind a permanent paywall. The final edits will always be available, as they have been since I started Patreon.

Update Link: Scars – Part 18

Well, first week of updating in the evening in the bag, and so far so good. Let’s just hope I can keep going once I’m back at work, lol, and I’ve been dealing with middle schoolers.

I was planning some Patreon perks for next week, and I had a thought. I’ve had a few people over the last two years (since I really made an effort with the Patreon) ask if they could get a copy of the draft for whatever the tier cost. I’d give them my Paypal, and then email the copy. I know there are some of you who just don’t want to do a recurring donation (which is absolutely fine), so I’ve been thinking of ways to open up Patreon benefits in different ways.

Would anyone be interested in a way to get drafts if it involved just a one time purchase? No story of mine is ever behind a permanent paywall — Patreons get early access and copies of the story that change a lot as I move between drafts, but finalized versions are always released for free. Let me know, and I’ll look into getting something together.

See you tomorrow for another update of Scars! (I’m catching up from the two Tuesdays I missed)

Update Link: Watch Me Burn – Part 9

Hope everyone is having a good day! I’ve been overwhelmed by the Mad World feedback — I’m so glad everyone liked how the book concluded. I still have to finish formatting the ebook and do a final round of typos, so it won’t be the last you hear of it, but we’re done with it for now.

Just a reminder that next Wednesday is August 31, so the summer schedule ends. There will be no updates on Thursday, September 1, and then I’m back on Friday for the new weekend schedule.

I finished the plot sketch for Fool Me Twice, Book 2 today, which is the last step before chapter breakdown. I spent a year yelling at this book, so it’s great that it’s finally on the right track. I’ll have more information on that this Sunday.

Update Links: Mad World, Book 4 – Chapter 115 & Epilogue

A long time ago, practically in another life, Ric married Alexis. I sat at home wondering what would happen if Elizabeth had walked in on him marrying another woman with their divorce barely finalized. That was November 2004, and I was still a pantser. I wrote that scene and then continued writing about other characters, and without really thinking about it, I added a scene between Brooke Lynn and Diego. Brooke’s sexual assault is the only real thread that ties the original Mad World from the Fiction Graveyard to this series, but without that scene added randomly when I was 20, I wouldn’t have written these books.

Mad World was only ever supposed to be one book — a story about a serial rapist set in the aftermath of the panic room.  It continued to grow until it was four books, more than a hundred chapters, and over half a million words in length. These were the first books I wrote where I completed the entire story before posting, something I’ve always wanted to do because it allowed me to really edit, add, or cut scenes.

In Book 2, at the end, Dante visits Vinnie in jail — that scene wasn’t in the original draft (I wrote the entire book completely forgetting Vinnie and Dante were cousins because I only used it as a story excuse for Dante being in Port Charles!). But without that scene, Dante’s story in the next two books doesn’t exist.  The majority of Book 3 wasn’t planned — but now I can’t imagine the series without those chapters, without really exploring the aftermath of the serial rapist.

I’m incredibly proud of this insane series, and I want to thank you guys for going on the journey with me and for falling in love with characters who weren’t Jason and Elizabeth. It meant a lot to me. If you get to the end of the book, I hope you’ll give me a quick reply. I’d love to hear what your favorite part was.

It’s time to close the book on this mad, mad, mad world.

Update Link: The Last Time – Scenes 19-20

Got a little bit of a late start on this tonight — had a massive migraine and my TMJ was acting up, so I took some meds and a nap. Only writing for half hour.   If you’re subscribed to the update lists, you’ll get two emails tomorrow. Usually when Mad World updates on the same day as Flash Fiction, I just wait to do the links at the same time. But since it’s the last one and my updates for Flash Fiction are at night, I’ll be doing two posts.

 

Update Links: Scars – Part 17 | Mad World, Book 4 – Chapter 114

Had my last doctor’s appoint of my summer vacation today — and got the results of my MRI. It’s what she thought last month, but she was able to get a more finalized diagnosis. I have arthritis in my neck cased by degenerative disc disease, and there’s a possibility that I’ll have issues with my left arm in the future. Just super fun, really. No real treatment beyond managing the pain at this point. It’s just a condition I’ll be living with for the rest of my life, trying to keep it from getting worse. I have my appointment for the pain management clinic, but they can’t see me until October. Getting old is stupid.

Second to last update of Mad World went live today. We’ll finish up with Chapter 115 and the epilogue on Thursday.

Update Link: Invisible Strings – Part 9

Today is the first day of the new weekday schedule — Flash Fiction updates will be made in the evening. I’ll start writing around 7 PM (some nights I might do 6:30 PM) and post an hour later.  This is only for Flash Fiction — we’re done posting daily on August 31. Updates shift to Friday-Sunday, then Monday will be added in November when I launch Counting Stars. That’ll be posted at 7 AM with an update post going live at the same time. Hopefully that makes sense.

Two weeks from tomorrow, we’re back at school with the kiddos. Can’t decide if I’m excited yet, lol. I’m back to work for teacher prep days on September 1.

I can’t believe Mad World ends this week! Chapter 114 goes live tomorrow morning at 7 AM and the conclusion on Thursday!

Update: Watch Me Burn – Part 8

Does anyone else have, like, six stages of doing laundry? My washer/dryer is in the basement, so I feel like, Day 1  -take laundry to first floor; Day 2- actually do laundry; Day 3 – redry clothes so they’re not wrinkled and bring them to first floor to fold; Day 4 bring clothes to second floor; Day 5 – bring to bedroom; Day 6 – actually put them away. Just in time to start the nightmare again. And it’s exclusively a summer thing — I have no issues during the school year. Maybe it’s because my brain knows I can wear yoga pants, so it’s not like I need the clothes.

Anyway 😛 Tomorrow, I’m going to attempt to do Flash fiction at 7 PM to get my writing energy going in the evening — I want to do more writing at night during the school year.

Update Links: Scars – Part 16 | Mad World, Book 4 – Chapter 113

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I’m going into my final full week of summer and only two doctor’s appointments the entire week, one of which is remote, so yay for that. No MRIs or CTs or anything else that’s made this a crappy summer vacation. I’m getting the MRI results on Tuesday for my back and neck, which is the next step to finally starting treatment. Nothing like having to wait 16 months, but at least we’re on the right track.

This upcoming week, I may start experimenting with switching Flash Fiction up a bit. Instead of writing at 10 AM and posting at 11, I’ll start writing at 7 PM and posting at 8. I’ll be updating on Fridays this fall for the first time in a few years, so I want to start reworking my schedule to adjust to being back to work. Saturday & Sunday will remain at 10 AM because I do like getting it out of the way on weekends.

Only two more days of updates for Mad World! Chapter 114 goes live at 7 AM on Tuesday, Aug 23 and Chapter 115 & Epilogue, Thursday, Aug 25. Still insane to me that we’re almost done. Sorry about the cliffhanger, lol. It’s the biggest one in the entire series, and it’s on a Saturday, with two days until the next chapter. Whoops.

See you tomorrow!

Update: Counting Stars – Chapter 4 Excerpt

As I said yesterday, I really wasn’t sure what kind of headspace I’d be in today. Lauren’s service was beautiful, and her dad gave a really beautiful eulogy. He shared some really fun memories, including the night we watched the debate in his basement back in 2012 and how we stayed up until 2 AM at his house for the election. He and Lauren’s mom were always so generous with their homes and their energy, like a second set of parents.

The whole London family came, and that was really special. We’re scattered across a few states now, so unfortunately we only get together for weddings and, now, funerals. The last time we were all together was Ammar’s wedding in September 2020, and Lauren’s in 2016. We went out afterwards and told stories and shared memories most of us hadn’t thought of in years. I’m really blessed to have so many amazing friends and that we can still get together like no time has passed. As good as last night was, we keenly felt Lauren’s absence, and I know we will for years to come.

No flash fiction, but I wanted to post something today. We only have a few chapters left of Mad World, and tomorrow’s chapter has a cliffhanger that I didn’t want to stretch another day, so I’m pulling one of my favorite scenes from Counting Stars. I haven’t edited it yet (and it used to be in Chapter 3), but it’s one of my favorites in this first act. I shared a piece of this a few days ago on Twitter, so it was a good one for today.  Counting Stars will be published starting November 7, with four chapters posted on Mondays until its completion.