Never Too Late by northie

[northie]

There'll be no chapter this week. Sorry. Life (mostly in the form of a writing course) has got in the way of me preparing this week's chapter.  Things will resume (hopefully without interruption) thereafter.

[Parker Owens]

2 hours ago, northie said:

There'll be no chapter this week. Sorry. Life (mostly in the form of a writing course) has got in the way of me preparing this week's chapter.  Things will resume (hopefully without interruption) thereafter.

I look forward to seeing what new ideas you’ve gleaned from your course. And I envy you your writing…

[northie]

Tomorrow will see the appearance of my favourite chapter so far. Why's it my favourite? You'll see. Promise.

[Saavikam17]

On 1/27/2018 at 9:20 PM, Former Member said:

Exactly! I can see myself in a similar situation in the future. As friends have moved on or away, I haven’t made many new friends. My ties to my brothers are weakening over time and my main connection to family is my favorite Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and her family.

 

Since I am on Disability and not working, I don’t have that source of new friends like I did when I was younger.

As an older person myself, having living with disabilities for some time,  I can completely 'overstand' the experience of the Former Member quoted above here.

It is said that a human/ animal can experience loneliness even in the midst of a crowd,  whether members of the crowd are  supposed family members or anonymous individuals,

I would argue that it is entirely possible for people to have these intense and distressing feelings/ reactions to others, even for those said to possess 'inner-directed personalities' as well as those with 'other directed personality' traits. (see: David Riesman ( The Lonely Crowd, 1950)

The point being that these experiences of loneliness even in the 'alone in a crowd' context,  can exacerbate negative feelings and increase the likelihood of a person becoming habituated with the image of themselves as being alone ( and therefore unloved/ worthless) and encourages them to seek out those familiar negative emotions and  get caught up in the cyclical whirlpool of depression and anxiety behaviours >> which can lead into exhibiting antisocial behaviours and the consequent reactions of others can result in the reaffirmation of negative self image and ultimately to  crippling social isolation.

Respectfully author 'northie, I would be very interested to hear your views on this reasoning:  Do you feel this thinking resonates with the characters of Eric and Rob and their interactions?

Love Long and Prosper 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Saavikam17
grammatical edits

[northie]

A bumper chapter's coming up tomorrow. It's the housewarming party. A lot happens...  👀🤨

[northie]

OK - just a quick note to say after tomorrow's chapter, the remaining parts of Eric's story (4 🤞) will post fortnightly. Why? Simply because the previous 6 chapters or so took longer to write than I anticipated. They're bigger (sometimes a lot bigger), more complex, and explore more complicated feelings than any of the previous chapters. So, I'm running out of time. 🙄🤷‍♂️ Making the posts fortnightly will hopefully give me enough leeway to keep up a regular posting schedule.

If anything changes, I'll let you know.

[northie]

Reminder - there is a chapter tomorrow.  👍 If you're puzzled as to why the schedule is disrupted, take a look at the entry immediately above this one.

[northie]

I am currently unable to access GA from my laptop. If this continues into tomorrow, regrettably there won't be an Eric chapter. As soon as the situation changes, I let you know.

OK - latest news. Having tethered my phone to my laptop, I've got the latest chapter ready. It will post tomorrow afternoon as usual. 🤞 I may be a little slower replying to comments as I hate using my phone to type answers.

Edited April 7, 2022 by northie
Update

[northie]

OK - having got the last chapter in by the skin of my teeth, I then went on holiday. Sigh. Any plans for getting going on the next chapter didn't happen. It's now well on the way but it won't be ready for tomorrow. Next Friday - sorry. 

[northie]

There will be a chapter tomorrow. Yay. Only one more to go after that.  👀

Will that be the end for Eric? Yes and no. I have no plans to continue his story (though my editor made a wild suggestion for Tyler's to be written). What I do intend is to combine all 3 volumes and give them a thorough (possibly quite vicious) overhaul.  While the overall story arc will remain the same, the resulting novel will reflect my growth as a writer. Character development and psychology, back stories, better integration of secondary characters will help as will stronger and more complex plotting (including foreshadowing). What won't be lost is Eric. I hope to give this favourite character of mine more depth and more complexity. The same mindset applies to the other major players in his story.

What the timeline is for this is anyone's guess. While I love being in Eric's world, I have been there for quite a while and I need to spread my wings. It will happen.  I can promise that. I've put too much of myself into this story to leave it as it is.

[northie]

Yes, you read that right. Later today (probably early evening my time) the final chapter in Eric's story will post. It's going to feel very odd knowing there aren't any more chapters to write and publish. Fridays will once more be @Carlos Hazday's domain. 🤨😄

If you've already read the story, I hope you enjoyed it as much I loved writing it. If you've yet to venture into Eric's world, now's the time. 

[northie]

I always keep half an eye on my stories' reading stats. December's though, have really made me sit up. 

Never too late to believe (Eric's story part 3) has had some 6k views. That's pretty 👀 but it's put into the shade by Never too late to change (Eric's story part 1) with its 14.5k views. 

Whether you're meeting Eric for the first time or revisiting an old friend, thank you. 

[Saavikam17]

On 1/27/2018 at 9:20 PM, Former Member said:

Exactly! I can see myself in a similar situation in the future. As friends have moved on or away, I haven’t made many new friends. My ties to my brothers are weakening over time and my main connection to family is my favorite Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and her family.

 

Since I am on Disability and not working, I don’t have that source of new friends like I did when I was younger.

Same here. I might be across the oceans from you but I feel your concerns as I do my own 🙏🏽