Krista

So is this like a drinking game? First one to guess a person and agreed upon as correct causes everyone else to take a shot? If so, I'm not game.. because none of them are coming to mind and I cannot be this drunk on a Sunday evening.

We lost a huge spirit and personality with Carlos, one that will leave a void for a really, really long time. I am so glad he came to us, gave us his time, and his story telling in such an unapologetic and groundbreaking way. My thoughts go out to those who knew him better than I did, and to his family who are dealing with the loss of such a force of nature.

Thank you for your compliment on my sentence. The 100 is also coming. 😮 As far as visual cues in the water during the races, I have no idea how their vision works, or how they know where they are in the pool as far as placement. I guess technically it solely relies on a person's conditioning and technique. They either have it, or they don't. The only strategy going in, would be knowing your opponents, their strengths or weaknesses, but once in the water you have to pace yourself and push yourself based on what you know you can handle.. what stroke you're weaker in, and what strokes your opponents are strongest in as well. I do the vision thing to add tension mostly... it may be a bit unrealistic. Maybe he could do commentary if this is ever made into an audio book. The idea of shoving his accomplishments in Cindy's face might have turned the tide for ol' Welker. Maybe he should have started with that sales pitch... lol. I like writing the scenes out of the water with them more than I do in the water. There are characters I love in both friend groups, so I like that you like them as well. It is nice to see a character have a life outside of the romance partner, I know most Romances are all about the two characters always being face to face... --- I also would have had a chapter to post tonight, but I've hit two major snags in the writing of 52. First, I doubled his Individual Medley, I made him take two laps down and back for each stroke. Then, the Wild thing told me I did his last two strokes out of order when he did the reading/editing... so now, unfortunately, I'm going to have to do another massive edit of that entire section of the race... by the time I get this thing done, I might be old and gray, I swear. --- I do want to take the time to thank y'all for sticking with this story through the years so far. I am so sorry for the delays it hit over that span as well. It has knocked down viewership/readers/comments overall, I know I have myself solely to blame for that. So, thank you again, for being here still. This is likely my last full novel length writing project I will post here, so I'll finish it off right I hope.

ooohh.. you scared me. I thought the deadline for the Anthology was coming up when you posted the blog.. lol. October is still in my procrastination wheelhouse.

I didn’t think Regionals would come, mostly because Emily kicked my ass in the pool. She ironed my breaststroke out, there wasn’t a part of my body that didn’t ache. It only told me that I hadn’t been doing it right, that I still had a lot to learn. Now that I was in the hotel room watching Charlie trying to wrestle the television remote from Drae’s hands while Tara and Shay sat on my bed and laughed, I couldn’t help thinking that I would have liked at least one more week to prepare myself.

Nuh uh... Netflix yes, Amazon Prime, no. lol. And I was so excited about Prisma that I actually insisted that you watch it.. and they left it on a cliffhanger! It has to be renewed.. -- I can't remember the name of the show, but it was a Gay Bachelor sort of show. But half the cast were straight and the Bachelor didn't know. They were competing for the Trip and prize money if selected. I thought it was disingenuous to have a groundbreaking gay dating show, only to have half the guys to choose from, not there for the right reasons. He ended up choosing a gay man in the end, but the runner up was straight. It was crappy and when that twist was revealed I stopped watching and that has been the only dating reality show I've watched more than halfway through the season.

I like Shadow and Bone, I liked season one better. The way Netflix cancels shows, unless the numbers were better than they appeared.. Shadow and Bone may be over. I thought the second season was slow paced... very slow paced and they tried to focus on too many minor story lines instead of moving the thing forward. Next season, if Netflix doesn't knee-jerk cancel the show, we're getting more into the Six of Crows story line too, it seems. -- A show I really fell in love with was Prisma on Amazon Prime. It took me three episodes to really get into it, but Amazon better renew it for a second season... or I'll... cancel my subscription. -- As for the original topic, I don't like dating shows of any kind. I've never found them to be more than hypocritical and shallow all around.

I mean... I am sane mostly, so most of what I say has some semblance of agreeability to it. Unlike some things @wildone comes up with. Tsk tsk tsk... Me and the wild-thing did discuss a part 2. I'll attempt to convince him to go further with it next time I see him. I mean, we need to see the rinse cycle at least...

There are no granny panties to be found in my drawers, Steven. As I don't and never have owned any. But, when they find your body nestled up against a dry creekbank in the back sixty of someone's property with a pair of them around your neck... I'll try not to laugh when they're questioning me in an interrogation room. I think I'll get off free.

It didn't go past him being annoyed that his father might have gotten into trouble, with all the underage drinking and such going on. Other than that, they were both a bit overly sensitive about it. The friend group was getting along too well... so a little dusting up won't hurt them. lol.

Might want to cross your toes too, if you can.. lol. And aww, hallmark moments are so sweet and too rare. I really liked Craig and Grace's interactions in this chapter, they were fun to write.

Thank you! I'm glad you liked this chapter. And thank you for leaving a comment. Very much appreciated.

I was at work and checked in on my story comments... and I laughed. Luckily I was alone in my office and didn't have to explain myself. But thank you for this.

I had a bittersweet feeling about my high school life ending, too. Jackson has had a bit of an up and down year, but I think he'd be pretty happy over all now. Same with Luke to be honest. The only person I see kissing the ground and happily screaming for joy after the year ends right now is poor Welker. These characters are fun to write. Thank you for leaving a comment!

I wish I was as inventive as what I make my characters out to be, and you may have gotten a few of them. But alas.. all lies... you'll have to use your imagination on what Teenagers can come up with in regards to what they'd call Cindy for storming the field again. lol. *whistles* Thank you for leaving a comment, they are very much appreciated.

It’s not just about how the people walk, talk, and dress. Always keep that in mind, and try to remember the culture and the world as it was during that time. The characters that you’re creating for your period piece are going to be more than just an existing member of your personal cast of characters...they’re going to be living, breathing, products of their environment. Not your current environment...but theirs. --- Ah, I wish todays filmmakers and writers would read this and then read it again... and get their hands swatted every time they broke from it. Period pieces are flawed and they're beautiful... keep them as such.

woops, I am so sorry for leaving this comment hanging for almost a year. And such a sweet comment at that. My dogs never have.. and never will play fetch. They look at me like an idiot when I toss them a ball or something. They'd much rather just get the zoomies and run all over the place. Well.. the did when they were younger anyway. I'm glad you enjoyed the story as a whole. It is very different than what I usually/typically write. Thank you! I really loved Adam when I wrote this story. Someone so wild, but centered and had both feet on the ground when needed. It made for a good bit of character work for me to do. Jason was just reeling through most of it, being impacted by different things throughout the story, dealing with what he was dealing with as well. I do remember most of this story, parts have faded a bit from memory, but thank you for reading and enjoying this story. Also, thank you for leaving a comment.

No.... just... no. Public or semi-public pools are not clean! He might as well just chucked his clothes into a toilet bowl... at least there he could add detergent. Thank you for adding to my squeamish vulnerabilities around public pools... and for someone to pick up a guy.. whilst wearing all his underwear AFTER admitting to using the pool to wash his clothing.. DIRTY clothing I might add... makes you wonder about both of them to be fair. And as a mother and a sister that has done most of the laundry since I was able to walk, I can tell you without a doubt... the male sex are 2x more dirty. They are more prone to the sniff and shrug technique in dressing themselves in clothes they wore weeks ago and stuffed into the far corners of their rooms. So no.. NO, just... *breathes...* no. --- With that said... and now that I'm calm. It was an interesting take on the prompt itself. One that I wouldn't have thought up at all. So you get marks for originality.

The fallout from prom was felt all over the place. After it ended and the chaperones herded the stragglers that hadn’t made it to Toby’s afterparty out of the gym, Cindy stormed the village of pop-up tents searching for Luke. Not finding him there, it didn’t stop her from calling the police, the first time in recent memory they had ever been called to break up a party. Luckily for Troy, he was away at a cattle auction. He could at least claim he had no knowledge of the party, even though the cop

PT 131 Krista creates a miniature doll in the shape of a Wildone. She chants, 'find his soul and bind him,' three times aloud. The doll bursts into flame and embers, then reforms. Smiling she shoves a crochet hook through its chest. The end. --- Honestly though.. Good luck.

Well, I see @Valkyrie and myself are going to have to have a talk with you and your heathenish ways. In the meantime your babysitter will be arriving tomorrow morning and you better be on your best behavior. I have never found a beer that I like. It all hits my stomach the same way, no matter the taste. It just is awful... and the smell of most of them are rather offensive. Give me a cocktail, margarita, or a nice red wine and I'll be happy. --- And the weather finally was nice over the weekend, so I stayed outdoors most of the time playing volleyball, did some light hiking, and played softball which is something I haven't done since High school.. and I sucked at it.

Jackson's parents were high school sweethearts that married right out of high school. That's how Jackson sort of ended up where he ended up... lol. Since they fell in love in the small town, they wanted to return to it. There are obstacles though, some that go well past the obvious, which is Cindy... Aww. Thanks for sharing this little bit of yourself. I married the... third man I was engaged to. There are a lot of stories about this sort of thing happening. High School romances turning into life-long commitments. I have decided how I want this story to end, I'm very impatient with waiting to write those closing parts, chapters + epilog. I want the story to feel real, that is a goal of mine as well. So with that, we'll have to see.

Aww, I teared up a little bit. I remember back when I started this story, these words didn't reflect Jackson at all. A lot of you wanted to sit the boy down and give him a talking to. and his friends too for that matter. lol. Which, I was living for, since that is a goal I started out with. I knew I always wanted him to be cheeky. So his growth towards the latter part of the story, it rests my nerves a little to know there has been some. It also calms me a bit to know that there are at least some evidence left of the old, true Jackson. It is always a fear of mine that the story arc takes the overall make-up of the character away from start to finish. I'm not saying it is wrong, but for the most part I want my characters to be themselves throughout within the concept of their arc itself. Not completely overtaken by it, I feel that is a more natural growth - unless something earth shattering happened, then maybe it could turn a character around completely from beginning to end. So thank you.

Thank you for reading! Jackson being vulnerable, I think I've sprinkled in a few moments within the story where he at least took some of the cocky defense mechanism away and let people see him. He typically bounces back fast though and he did this time as well. At least, after a little bit of a pep talk to himself. We'll see if this night has any lasting affects on him though, it had to touch him. The "Prom" chapters were fun for me to write. I hadn't ever covered it in my other coming of age romances. I went a bit all out, so I do hope everyone liked them for what they were.... and they didn't detract from the pacing/plot too much.

Steven, I'd hire you, just so I could fire you.