new author Oregon in the Fall

[drown]

This is a discussion topic for anyone who wants to converse, leave honest feedback, or just wonder and take part in the world of Oregon in the Fall—a story first and exclusively posted to GA starting in December 2023.

Hey everyone :3 This story has been marinating in my head, with sprinkles here and there in various forms of text documents, revisions, and dreams. It was a mess. It took over a decade to finally push myself to assemble it together, rewrite some parts (over and over again) that I was sure never worked, and edit furiously. It is the first writing I've ever shown anyone. I know the theory, but just had to put it out there.

Having said that, while many things are set it stone, I just submitted a chapter to moderation that was probably 50% new stuff. Your feedback has been so kind and generous, with every single word an absolute encouragement. I am humbled. And I thank you with all my heart. Not only is this a community of like-minded beings, kind and queer, understanding and open, you all—and no one else—are helping me hone my craft. Deep and honest feedback, as well as light-hearted banter and theories about the world I am putting out there, are the most fun I've had in a very long time.

This is about Grey and Dave, and all their family and friends past, present, and future. It is about those that we care about the most, the families we make for ourselves. A fantastic tale about nature and magic.

I am really bad at accepting a compliment bordering on self-deprecation, I now sit here, a tiny bit shaky, and saying thank you again. Excuse me while I go hyperventilate in the kitchen.

 

Edited January 1, 2024 by drown
edit to change layout on story topic/limited character view

[chris191070]

Grey is an interesting person, who I look forward to finding much more about.

[Dan South]

For thisreader this is a new story by a newly published author ringing in a new year. A brilliant read that I am confident will only get better as it grows.

[drown]

What a stressful week. Holidays ended, and back at work, I didn't seem to get the right flow going. I held myself up with some dialog in a later chapter, because ever since the bigger rewrite of chapter three, I feel like I set my bar... too high?

ANYWAY, ENOUGH EXCUSES!

I edited and rearranged until I was happy with Chapter Four: Coalesce, which now happily sits in the moderation queue and will be out very soon. AHHHHHH.

With every chapter, the stakes get higher, and this thing is finally starting to give some answers. Or rather for the first time more answers than new questions... I hope?

Thank you all for your support. It is the best feeling ever. As always, be kind, but honest.  

[drown]

Chapter Six: Trinity is now out I really can't promise that the WTF moments are over, because honestly, they aren't. Thank you for your support. All feedback is appreciated!

[drown]

Chapter Seven will start with a poem, so maybe I could drop this as a ... teaser? I will mark it as a spoiler for those who'd rather wait I'm really not a poet, but it really speaks true to the story. Thank you.

Spoiler

In twilight’s embrace, where shadows play,
Under Aten’s gaze and lunar array,
“I found you!” whispers the night to the day,
A secret dance, so far do we stray.

Wepwawet’s howl, in the moon’s soft light,
Druids’ chants, through the starry night.
In this realm, where sun and moon unite,
Mysteries unfold, in plain sight.

Hmm.

[drown]

With Chapter Nine: Mark just published, I wonder what people think about those flashbacks to the woods... :i

[drown]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

What a ride. First story. 47 days. 31,745 words. And 100 people are following the story. 😭😭😭

I can't tell you how much this means to me. You're all amazing. Thank you for being along for the ride. I will always be here to engage with you, because having a readership is more than I could have ever asked for. I have learned so much.

Always feel free to ask, comment, rant, whether it be in the story or here, through DMs or through email. All of it is appreciated!

Drown

 

Edited February 11, 2024 by drown

[drown]

I apologize for not posting yesterday. Life is being a [insert favorite swear word here] right now. I'm good, but there is so much to do that finding the time to edit is very hard. Soon™.

💚

[chris191070]

12 minutes ago, drown said:

I apologize for not posting yesterday. Life is being a [insert favorite swear word here] right now. I'm good, but there is so much to do that finding the time to edit is very hard. Soon™.

💚

Take your time, life can always f**k things up, but we will still be waiting when you post the next chapter.

[JohnnyC]

4 hours ago, drown said:

I apologize for not posting yesterday. Life is being a [insert favorite swear word here] right now. I'm good, but there is so much to do that finding the time to edit is very hard. Soon™.

💚

Take your time my friend, When life throws me a lemon I throw it right back . I’m making Veggie Sinigang Soup and Thinking of Our Thruple of Trouble 🤣

[drpaladin]

4 hours ago, drown said:

I apologize for not posting yesterday. Life is being a [insert favorite swear word here] right now. I'm good, but there is so much to do that finding the time to edit is very hard. Soon™.

💚

We appreciate the update and clarity.

One thing which irks me intensely are authors who stop posting chapters and don't bother to communicate with their readers.

[drown]

On 2/19/2024 at 11:37 AM, chris191070 said:

Take your time, life can always f**k things up, but we will still be waiting when you post the next chapter.

Thank you, Chris. It's only been a week, but I already feel bad.

On 2/19/2024 at 3:31 PM, JohnnyC said:

Take your time my friend, When life throws me a lemon I throw it right back . I’m making Veggie Sinigang Soup and Thinking of Our Thruple of Trouble 🤣

There's so much to do in real life right now that I had hoped for a calm weekend. But nope, why would that work. Suddenly all you're doing is hustling up a new gig with the job going away, fixing a washing machine and picking up a neighbor from hospital.

On 2/19/2024 at 3:42 PM, drpaladin said:

We appreciate the update and clarity.

One thing which irks me intensely are authors who stop posting chapters and don't bother to communicate with their readers.

Thank you for understanding. I appreciate the community. 💚

Edited March 3, 2024 by drown
typo lol

[drown]

The new update is a … good one, because I finally published Chapter Thirteen.

I apologize again for the three week hiatus. I'm in a really good place now. The future is going to be good  

Thank you to everyone for being so understanding.

[drown]

Chapter Fourteen is out and I really like it 🫣

[drown]

An update from me…

I’m in a kind of a weird situation right now. I can’t seem to get the next chapters right and they have to be, so I haven’t been posting in three weeks  I’m not gone though, and believe me when I say, the suspense is killing me as well.

(It would be mean if I were to tease the fact that no one’s going to foresee the next part of the story coming… it’s such a huge deviation from what people expect. Unfortunately it’s also incredibly hard to write.)

Sending a 🐾 and a ❤️.

[chris191070]

All good things, come to those who wait patitiently.

[drown]

2 hours ago, chris191070 said:

All good things, come to those who wait patitiently.

💙

[Zuri]

Take your time, drown! We know, that, in the end, you'll deliver an awesome result. That is worth the waiting!

[Dan South]

Pleased to know you’re well just a bit stuck! 

[JohnnyC]

Take your time buddy , We have patience like no others. 

[drown]

On 5/13/2024 at 11:15 PM, Zuri said:

Take your time, drown! We know, that, in the end, you'll deliver an awesome result. That is worth the waiting!

Thank you. 💙

On 5/14/2024 at 3:11 PM, Dan South said:

Pleased to know you’re well just a bit stuck! 

I can’t control real life as much as I would like to, and it seems like my head needs to be in the right space in order to escape into my fictional world. I hope things are in order again. Thank you. 💚

On 5/14/2024 at 3:41 PM, JohnnyC said:

Take your time buddy , We have patience like no others. 

Thank you. 💜

[drown]

Wow that took a while, didn’t it? Sorry ;; Go read

[drown]

Here‘s an update from your favorite author in jeans! I just made that up…

I hope everyone‘s doing fine. All things considered, I am. Exactly one year ago I decided to dust off a story that had been brewing, mostly to see if I could. I always thought being able to write stories is an amazing feat, how great if I managed to do that too? Worst case, no one would read it. But some did, and I‘m eternally grateful for that. It did a lot for me personally. It was a great time.

By the end of January, life threw an unexpected curveball when my employer of 17 years went bankrupt. While it wasn‘t entirely surprising, it was still a signifcant shift. It was a matter of time with the end clearly in sight. Now I‘m self-employed with my own company and the best business partner I could think of.

By summer of 2024, I had decided to put publishing new chapters on hiatus and I‘m glad I did. This story certainly hasn‘t been abandoned. I have slowly written the „second half“ of Oregon in the Fall, and was able to go back and fine-tune things, something not afforded to me when publishing on the edge. I don‘t regret having done it this way for chapters 1–25, because it meant I could witness people enjoying the story. It‘s my first anyway. But I also don‘t regret the hiatus.

I am now using the holiday time to polish a few more things, and may start with a proper posting schedule for the roughly 25 more chapters to come very soon.

I have grown a lot as a person in the past year. If I knew then what I know now, OITF would be different. I hope you‘ll see certain characters grow into their full potential, beyond how they appear on the page now and being perceived as the token characters they unfortunately are at the moment. I‘m really excited to show you the rest of the story and if no one‘s going to read it, that‘s certainly fine, too. I‘m enjoying it!

You‘ve seen half of the story, and I can‘t wait to show you the other half and rest of Oregon in the Fall soon. Thank you.

[JohnnyC]

Thank you for the update Drown  , I wish you a very merry Christmas & Joyous New Years Buddy too.