Thirdly

1. What is your general timeframe from the start of a project to its conclusion? - That changes depending on the project. Even short oneshots vary. There was one I was able to crank out in a day, but another that took me months! Months! For a one-shot! OH! Did I mention how I just finished a story after 10 whole years just last week? 🤣 I didn't spend all 10 years on it; it was very much a stilted story. I had some loose notion of an ending 10 years ago, but I never went through with it. I picked it back up because I need to finish a spin-off story in that world, and then the ending turned out completely different than my first ending (and much better, in my opinion, though it's still far from perfect and is flawed up the ying-yang). Perfection is an illusion. You could have what you felt was the best-written story you've ever written before, and though you felt it was exceptional, it turns out to be a boring flop for a whole generation (or too new and riddled in modern slang to be understood by other generations, the reasons for disconnection are endless). Then, you write something you felt was "easy and quick" and that's the one that so many people love that you question why you put in so much effort in all your other stories in the first place. This happens in art, this happens in writing, this happens in music... it's all an illusion. You can't make everyone happy. Hell, you don't have to make anyone happy. Just keep making what you would want to see. (that goes for you too, @chris191070) Just keep going. Getting too wrapped up in trying to please everyone gets you stuck. And, yes, I love your side characters too much. But that doesn't mean I would rather have them be the leads. Your lead is more than fine (I'd squish him between my boobs platonically), and focusing on your lead is a great idea, though that is only my opinion and it does take two to tango, and the "two" I'm talking about don't even have to be romantically involved, it can be any and all interactions the lead has with the people around them. 2. Do you lack focus sometimes, even (or especially) when you have the time available to you? - Shiny things distract me all the time. Shiny things are distracting me this very second. You are a shiny thing. 😂 I found that when I try to create a "deadline" for myself, it sometimes helps me keep my head in the game. For example, the anthology this year is due in October, I believe. But I have surgery in October, so I knew it needed to be done before then. That helped keep me focused. But there are others that feel like deadlines are so constraining, that it'd be the opposite effect on them. 3. Do you write everything down first and then section it off into chapters, or do you build it up one chapter at a time? - I am a "hop around to different scenes" kind of writer because my memory is like Swiss cheese. If I don't jot down what comes to my head somewhere, it will be gone forever. I also have many projects and ideas, not just in the form of writing. I draw, I sew, I play music, and I game... if I don't alternate between these every now and then, I'd be filled with too much guilt when focusing on writing. Feels like I'm "turning my back" on the other parts that make me me. So, I alternate. I will never reach the highest level of any of them, but that's okay, because the more important part for me is getting it "decent/polished enough" to put it out there, any of my projects/art/videos/crafts. My biggest drive is to get things completed before I pass away and start all over again as a saxophone soloist in a Salsa band in my next life. Find what your biggest drive is. Why are you still thinking so hard about that story that you are so focused on it even when you are struggling?

This year was such a challenge to choose. Everyone came after all my feelings with their stories. Joy, fear, sadness, anger, shock, confusion- wait, that one was only of my own doing. But, they all drew something from me! I was a wreck. And, of course, amazingly done to the winners! 🏆 🥇 🥳

So true!

But, Adi, it's so much fun (even if I didn't pin you to the correct story the whole time even though it was plainly obvious I yelled at the characters in your story more than all other entries and still didn't put two and two together)!

Dagnabbit. Guess I'm Busted after all.

Yes, I had a lot of fun with this one. It's very fast-paced and a fairly quick read. First thing I ever really wrote to completion, come to think of it. I was cackling when I was re-reading it, as there were parts intended to be funny and other parts that were ironically funny, both of which I loved. So, I kept the majority of it intact, rather than altering or expanding on it. Same with its sequel.

“...and Vianis said the shadow people call themselves Shades,” Cyrus concluded, his voice filled with the glee of a child who has uncovered a long-hidden secret. “Shades! How clever is that? They are just fascinating.” The shadow people—Shades, apparently—had always been a mystery to Cyrus, despite his initial confrontation with them five years ago. I remembered a time when first impressions were set in stone in the blond’s mind. Gaining his trust had once been a grand ordeal, and I wonder

This song encapsulates what I've been feeling trying to guess all of this season's Secret Author writers:

Now I'm curious!

I watched over Talon as he placed the twelfth stone in a ring on the cavern’s unobstructed ground. He worked with careful precision, using a sky blue acrylic pen—a trick, no doubt, picked up from a particularly practical Academy instructor. The symbols came alive beneath his hand, each line deliberate, reflecting hours of study and an innate calm. As the ring took shape, I caught the faint scent of minerals and cool earth, a reminder of how deep we were below the world’s surface. In hindsig

That gif right there is a snapshot of my mind full of all the plot bunnies that keep proliferating left and right!

Real life is dystopian enough for me. Give me rainbows and ponies any day.

What it Takes, indeed! I'm still reeling.

when he broke up with his girlfriend of the week - how many girlfriends has this guy had? He resembled Oliver quite a bit, which made me want to like him. - Is this a good thing or a bad thing? It dawned on me, for the first time, that Oliver might have clued in to how I felt for him. Shit. - Double shit! Following him was an older man clad in a tight black V-neck and too much gold jewelry, holding hands with one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Tia. - That hussy. Alex walked by, deftly plucking the now-empty Solo cup from my hand and replacing it with another one, giving me a wink. - I've a godbrother that does this kind of thing during family gatherings all the time. Sneaking the liquor around, making sure everyone was having a good time... Alex turned to me. "Can I touch your hair? It looks soft." - Sure it's just his hair you wanna touch, buddy? 👀 "Want to sit in my lap?" he asked, his voice soft in my ear. I grinned at him. "Maybe later." - Is it getting hot in here? I pushed Ricky aside and called her name, trying to get her to respond. Nothing. - I mean, as a Vet-in-training, you're the closest thing to a doc there. Also, the empty syringe that I had slipped into Ricky’s coat pocket had already drawn suspicion away from Oliver to the more likely suspect—the current boyfriend. - The syringe you WHAT!!??? 😱 But the truth was, I never intended to kill Tia at Alex's party. - Are you sure about that!? I went into her room and smothered her elderly cat, which should have been put down six weeks prior. When my sister returned home and found him, it made her cry too. - 😨! Sir, you have crossed the line. And that's the truth. - SIR!

Nope. I've got nothing. Burned up my last brain cells catching up with all entries, and this last one's got me stumped. All I can guess is one of the writers in the Notrth/South American side of the planet. I can be tall. I can be thin. I can be good-looking. I can be rich. -

Green Lightning? More like "Escape Room From Hell." I yell at fictional characters all the time, but I don't think I've yelled at any SA entry characters as much as I have at the ones in THIS one.

“What do you expect? It’s probably been ages since he washed it.” - I dunno, rot and death are very distinct smells that are unmistakable. I found an article reporting that two people have gone missing from here. - Yeah, see? Fishy fishy fishy. Get out of there. She said, ‘When in doubt, switch off the lights. - I wouldn't be switching any lights off! NO lights off. I get a decided sense of Narnia, here. - That's funny, cause I get a decided sense of GET THE HECK OUTTA THERE. These are brand new. Do you think I want them ruined by sand?- PFFT! It's your life or your shoes. Pick now. This place gives me the creeps. Let’s return. - THIS. This feels like shed snake skin. - Someone get bitten? The people who disappeared? Why are there so many flies? - That's not a good sign. I think it’s blood. - And you're not hauling ass immediately? Look at the head. Part of the hair is missing. Oh God. Do you think they took it and put it on the skeleton’s head? - Y'all are gonna be the prop skeletons in the next room if you don't get the heck outta there. Jovan shoved the door open, pulled Arden with him, and slammed it closed again. A loud wailing sounded. - Did you just survive by the skin of your teeth??? Nothing good! Out! - Freaking finally! And tell them what? We found a dead body on a holodeck of an escape room business? - Of course not! You found a dead body in a hidden AREA of an escape room. Jovan on his bare feet and Arden wearing only one shoe. - I love this detail. Do you think that body was real? And it belonged to one of them? - WHY are you still questioning this?? How about we give them the address of the house and send their phones to the police anonymously? Maybe they can find something. - Or you could have, you know, dialed 911 on one of those dead phones with gloves on and left the phones ringing near the escape room. Extraterrestrial beings — like aliens? We’re not alone, and I’m holding the evidence in my hand? - Or demons. Too soon to tell.

This... this was a joy to read for me. I ate every bit of it up.

Oh, good God, this is going to drive me nuts. I've read this person's writing style before, but I can't pin down the who. It's just such delicious drama, like a Latin American soap opera (drama is serious business in telenovelas, I assure you). My guesses are so off 99% of the time (except that one percent I guessed by luck). But I might actually have to do some digging now, too.

Ok, hear me out... I love all kinds of comedy, even the dark kind. There is only one thing I wanted: more. Was more necessary? Not really. This felt complete to me. It's just that I love the writing style that much.

This is another one that's absolutely worth reading.

I think I was about eight years old when I first encountered him. The flu had hit me hard, and I woke out of a deep sleep to see the man standing in my room, looking at me with a half-smile on his face. He appeared hazy and looked almost angelic to me. I felt a profound sense of peace, and I wasn’t afraid. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes, and he was gone. The whole encounter lasted all of one second. - You seeing ghosts, buddy? I couldn’t explain it, but something or someone had been looking out for me. It wasn’t until many years later that I connected this experience with the blond man with the blue eyes. While I hadn’t seen him, I firmly believed it was his voice warning me of the danger I would have faced had I taken the job. - Dude! Anger consumed me at their carelessness, then wonder at the fact that I hadn’t followed the car ahead of me. I looked to the sky and said, “Thank you, Uncle Phineas.” - Dude!!! “It was an accident, of course. The boys were target shooting and little Phineas idolized his older brothers, so he was hanging around them. They didn’t notice when he wandered close to the targets, and Harold fired.” - Oh, shit! My mom stirred in the chair on the opposite side of the bed. I stood and moved to Harold’s bed, taking his hand. His breath was ragged and shallow, but his eyes were open and bright. I turned to look where his gaze was focused. Phineas stood at the end of the bed, smiling. - *motioning frantically towards the ghost* He's. Right. There! “It was an accident. There’s nothing to forgive,” I said. “He loves you.” Uncle Harold visibly relaxed, closed his eyes, and took his last breath. When I looked toward Phineas, he was gone. - 😭😭😭

I usually root for humanity, but in this case, way to go cyborgs? Of course the child who had a beautiful rose hybrid named after her is the one that took everything for granted.

Is there some competition I'm unaware of about the second half of SA entries with the first half? Why are y'all going for my heartstrings so dang hard?

Right after a chicken tender sub - Why are you making me so hungry at this hour of the night (at least in my time zone)? I felt more wrecked than Jamie post-accident, that's how I felt. 😭Trapped in his own head for what felt like six months.