VampireMystic

Given the blurry lines surrounding the genre fantasy, gone from daylight would qualify as urban fantasy. Therefore you are awesome at fantasy. Mwahahahaha!

The typos, my god the typos, where's my red pen?

Greetings acolytes! Sorry, sorry. I was rereading a Mercedes Lackey book and saw the add for her fan club. And yeah, excuse the brief moment of imagining I have one of those and needed something to call my fans. I blanked on how to start this post after I wrote the title. Mid-afternoon caffeine on an empty stomach. Ahem. Since March, I've been striving to post chapters monthly for my story Predators: 2-14-9X March saw chapter 1 (Imagine Magazine March 2018) GA thereafter) April 2 , May 3, June 4, and then, well... Life. We've all got one, and I don't think I need go on. If that sounds like an excuse, (it does), let it slide, please. Things will go better for everybody. Hehe. Believe me, I know the feeling upon reachING the end of a chapter or book. That craving for more. The almost frustration that there's not more, NOW. Sure, nobody is posting comments on my work about it, nobody is emailing me about it. Doesn't matter. I am more bothered than anyone that I'm behind schedule. Nobody wants the rest of the story posted more than I do. Which is exactly why the aberration. Back in one of the original binge writing sessions I was blazing a trail through the jungle of creativity through chapter 4 with chapter 5 in sight. Everything was going so well a problem was inevitable. And the final scene of chapter 4 proved it be it. I knew exactly what would happen. I had the vivid anime in my head. But it's one thing to watch an anime of TV. You're on the outside looking in. Suddenly zooming in on a character and hearing an f internal monologue isn't jarring. But suddenly trying that after 3 4/5 chapters of filtering everything from Aiden's point of view? *Buzzer* No. Fail. You shall not pass. *Stadium crowd boo* And yet, without the author's benefit of seeing Peter's train of thought as the game goes on how was it to make sense? How do I smoothly relate something to the reader that the actual narrator in doesn't notice? How does Peter's behavior look specifically through the lens of Aiden? How does the carnival game? The lessons? The practice? If you have read through Chapter 4.5, you know that I figured something out. But back in the beginning, I was totally lost. Rather than kill all my momentum and become bogged down in the puzzle I simply roughed out a bullet list of what would happen with no point of view or context to it. I moved on. Chapter after chapter the story moved forward. I remembered the problem, came back to it. But I stayed stuck. Life happened and writing slowed down. Time marched on and suddenly it was coming up on the deadline for chapter 4. I looked hard at pacing and word count. I missed my deadline, but I was making progress. I decided that Chapter 4 could end on a good place without the final scene. Polished it Posted it. Escaped the pressure (of my own making) and got back to work. Hard work, no small inspiration, and even one writing session at work on a slow day, and I finished the missing piece. Yay! Awesome! *stadium crowd cheer* When the typeface settled, it was long enough, good enough, to be a chapter by itself. But I wasn't willing to give up on the chapter number road map in my head or gloss over what happened. And so, Chapter 4.5. And now you know the .5 of it all. (Incidentally, any editors like the story and willing to help out? My listed editor is on hiatus. And the more I try to balance moving forward and cleaning up behind me with life, the further I'm falling behind.) Thank you for reading.

I'm really glad to see you're still reading. If you had all of the answers from the beginning, wouldn't it be boring? ;) Although, I'm overdue to explain the 4.5 bit. That would be fair. Expect a blog update. Ahem. Let's see... "Have patience, this confusion shall pass. Like winter... answers are coming!"

Forgot to mention: Getting ideas in the middle of carrying out other ideas. I only stopped by the club to get the URL of my ISO editor advert for a status. Which I thought to write on my way to smashing typos in my recently posted chapter.

Well, let's see: Shower Commute (Bus or walking) Waiting at the laundromat ( $274 later my own machine works again, yay. And ouch) Toilet (private or public) Laying in bed headed for insomnia At work And now, this: I once had a dream that was Rome. Uh, I mean a story. I started writing it down and soon had the leads, supporting cast, world building, basic relationship mechanics, and a scene to aim the story toward. The strange thing is this was around 16 years ago and I still remember enough of the dream to know what was going on and pieces of what I wrote after. Weird especially because I have trouble remembering what I thought of at work by the time I get home. Hmm. Can't find the file. But I remember someone telling me that one lead had an especially fitting name. Maybe I sent it to my editor at the time.) I think I'm going to start over. The challenge: Focus on the source scene rather than allowing my mind to start from the "beginning" that leads there. Oops, squirrel! Basically I get ideas most often anywhere I can't start writing them down. Oh, GA forums too. Does that count?

That was just one real throw, and now we're going to spend money on this...? "Pete... Maybe we should..." Peter's hand squeezed his shoulder and drew him toward the game. "We can't make any adjustments until you've actually handled some balls." Oh my god! Snickering, Aiden said "Did you have a pair in mind?" Peter just looked at him, turning red, and started snickering too. He shook his head. Covering his mouth. Aiden giggled. It's a wild idea... but it'd be hilarious!

*cough* Hmm. I think it's time to work on my French vocabulary words with Shinichi. I'll need to buy some butterscotch syrup. Or caramel... *drool* Although, he and I, would be doing... something else *ahem* before we got through a bottle. Before a few ounces really. *blush*

The Jeweler wants the Dawn. That's not Justin, just something the Jeweler needs Justin to get. "Loss is a part of growth. It is the seed planted in the ashes and the dirt...necessary for the flowers to bloom." Loss is necessary? Well, there's a prophecy claiming that the mimic has to lose his sire to find the Dawn. If "the scriptures are never wrong," if the loss is "necessary" then it's practically patriotic to make them come true. I don't think the Jeweler is working for anyone or anything else than the Jeweler. He'll do whatever he thinks he has to to get what he wants. I haven't forgotten that the Jeweler sent a message to Justin using Taryn's extra. I don't know how he got it, but clearly Taryn didn't agree to teach him. Steal one, why not 1000? Who better to rob then, than a minic? Sigh. And once he has what he wants... He won't need Justin anymore.

Once again, my imagination has me in some generic basement full of people. Each one if them shares the same "problem" the same "struggle." Knowing that, and knowing they will understand, is what makes it easy to stand up and say "Hi, my name is Vampiremystic, and I'm a Comicality fan. It's been 5 minutes since I got to the 'end' of another series..." XD I blame the newsletter. I don't even think I'd heard about this one, ever. And now... sigh. I want more. Yet another story I'll be waiting for in the rotation. Bravo, Com. Godamnit. Hehe

Thank you! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the story, I'll see you next month!

Later they were walking their way through a whole section of carnival games and temporary rides. The fun sized traveling stuff that sets up in parking lots. Everything was decorated with pink, red, and white hearts, Cupids, and balloons, all the usual suspects. There were even stands peddling overpriced chocolates and artificial "roses for your sweetheart." The whole thing, even though he'd known about it in advance, made Aiden vaguely uneasy when they reached it. Instead of ignoring that fl

Bravo! Round 2: shower romance!

I don't need the video, your reactions already have me laughing out loud.

Hai. Nihongo desu! Yes. It's Japanese! if I used one of my computer's I wouldn't have to use Roman letters.

Thank you. It all made sense in my head but I wasn't sure it would work for anybody sane *Aiden, with a serious expression* "Yeah, there's a lot to be in awe of. Esp-" *Peter, talking over Aiden, voice mild* "Especially when you shower with this one." *tilts head at Aiden* *Aiden turns scarlet, but snorts* "Hey, no cheating!" Peter: "If you know someone well enough, you don't have to 'cheat' as you put it, to out race them to the punchline." *Peter resumes walking* *Aiden, catching up* "The expression is 'to beat someone" to the punchine." Peter: "Indeed. But I made it very clear I've left any beating done to that punchline, to you." *fades out* Thank you kindly. I do apologize for any butchery I may have inflicted on a time-honored manner of speech. Readers, please direct all comments on that matter to VampireMystic2011@Outlook.com. As for the manager he may, or may not, fall within the scope of the evening's further activities. But I don't plan on forgetting Ms. Genevieve in the long run of my time here.

Hm... Keep reading. Your questions are answered in later chapters. I could tell you which ones but... *Mwahahaha!* Aiden makes me laugh too. I'm not just saying that because I wrote it. Even months later, when I sit down to read from the beginning, Aiden still makes me laugh out loud from the very first page. Speaking of which, I have another round of reading to do.

Quote me as saying I forgot to quote to you. copying and pasting was the only way to fix it

I was hoping you'd say that. I'm glad. I'll keep putting new chapters up, you keep reading, and we'll keep the guessing game going. Chapter 4 is scheduled for release June 1st.

I'd appreciate it. In fact, after your comments on ch 2 or something of mine, I'd like to hear your thoughts on ch 3

Umm... Perhaps the only reward for commenting is the author not abandoning a story thinking it's unwanted. Or deciding to post something new on their hard drive. Or some other circumstance. Remember just having the story to READ is a gift of sorts. And putting it out is "interacting."

Free samples are ok. Excerpts are ok. ( you can download the portion of the beginning of every Kindle book as a sample. It's usually the first chapter. I think I remember one that went part way through chapter 3. Kinda funny. Kept thinking it would stop.) I would prefer to know ahead of time that I'm reading a sample. After a couple years of sorting out the artist parts of my life and finding ways to be successful at consistency... (I am sorry I disappeared as a one-chapter wonder. Some day I'll talk about why.) I want to go the "here's 3 years of work on GA with more coming, here's a complete original/free-standing novel on sale too" road and "here's a re-edit of a complete novel length serial (Looking at 2011's Predators once it's actually done. *sigh*) expanded with new research, and extra chapters told from <lesser popular character>'s pov. Or bonus short or novella. Or something. Make it worth it for the reader. I once read on Twitter Gabriel 1089 by C.C. Briggs was being made in a new edition. I own an older one. I messaged the author (cool) to ask how much was different. They (even cooler) answered. And didn't try to upsell the new version. I felt like I got an honest answer and I chose not to buy it. It's good though. The Dresden Files audiobooks have almost exclusively been read by James Marsters. (Spyke on Buffy) The one exception was Ghost Story read by John Glover (Lex's dad on Smallville. Rich guy in Gremlins 2) Names changed pronunciations, okay. But one character gained an Irish accent out of nowhere. James Marsters aside it's not in the books. Years later, when they remastered it with Marsters, I didn't even hear about it until I got an email from Audible. Jim Butcher and giving it to everyone who bought the John Glover version. I guess I'm saying there's a classy way to handle adding redos and such. When I put out something for pay I'll be doing it for the "hey! I'm published and someone bought it!" And maybe... "Sweet! 56 dollars made from my book. I can afford X hours off work to write." Or "hey! Pizza the next couple writing binges so I don't have to stop. Yay!" The thing with paid books is you pay once and know what you're getting. The thing that bugs me about Patreon is it's a commitment/investment with no guarantees. Sure, artists pledge monthly rewards but idk... That said... if there was such a thing for writing. I'd invest in someone with 20+ years of churning out content. *cough* @Comicality *cough* Once hours are up at work and credit cards and loans are down. *ahem* Which reminds me... I should put a reminder on my calendar about picking up gayauthors premium when the schedule changes. And maybe I'll order pizza tonight anyway. There's writing to do. Hmm. TMI?

Wow. I'm writing this on my calendar. *grins at visions of all the Douglas Adams jokes for next year* Mwahahahaha!

Reflecting on my take on the origin of celebrating birthdays: "happy another year not dead!" To an awesome person we're grateful to know (and especially have among the wizards) Hopefully, today the cake is NOT a lie, and good.

I agree. But, I'm not sure how to balance the wisdom of trigger warning tags against spoiling what I hope are surprises or "oh... now it makes sense" moments. Thankfully, perhaps, the impetus of my concerns still encamps itself in the valley of Rough Draft. Perhaps the question warrants a thread? In regards to this article. Dude! *SONG* "Com's shit is on FIRE... Com's shit is on FIRE..." Heh. This and Exposition have been an ever higher point on the scale of awesome!