Krista

These be dangerous prompts for people who have limited time on their hands... I think.

Then think yourself a lucky SnowBear that I didn't start the sequel and start posting it... LOL. It has been a very long time since I read this story, I don't know what the bulk of it is about anymore. I remember the characters and the gist of the theme. As far as Jonathan's father goes, that is one of those things I can't remember. I know he had a falling out with his church?? as well as his wife? But if there is something else?

Maybe I can hit the deadline if I start now in 2022, whilst it still lingers..

Sorry, not voting. I want to be completely out of the loop and surprised at the final theme.

I can sit back and continue to struggle or I can give up and let it be what it is. I hate to leave something unfinished, especially something as long as this. Towards the home stretch of it all as well, but here we are. Know that I tried and that I do have content for this story unpublished. I have read it and reread it over and over attempting to find the motivation that would allow me to continue, but I can't find it. I am so tired of struggling. It has weighed on my mind long enough. I have Chapter 50 open right now and I'm 5300 words in and I don't even know if I like the chapter at all. I'm sorry.

Look at @wildone trying to besmirch a good man's name. 😮 Shameful. And this Ask the Author makes me want to try my hand at a shifter story... almost. @astone2292 makes it sound like a fun sort of story to write.

I am the exact opposite, if I write the scenes I can't wait to write first I lose complete interest in the story. I have to write from A to End without jumping around. Hell... if I think too much on the scene itself 'before' I start writing it, I've cheated myself. It is like sneaking a look at a present before you're supposed to unwrap it. I am very motivation starved, so if I know an exciting scene is coming up, I use that to actually get there. If I already go there, I don't like working myself backwards. But, no one person who writes are the same and that's a damn good thing. --- As for the list - as a reader #2 is the very reason why I DNF a story. I cannot handle it, even in small doses or mixed bags. It just... is worse than a fork scraping a dinner plate.. or fingernails on a blackboard. Where I do see it most in though, is television dramas - especially ones that are "good vs. evil.." type plots. A little normalcy goes a long way, do not overlook or sleep on someone just living a life of peace and small pleasures. I feel that is one of the more simpler ways to make characters relatable. I do not research or live by any writing techniques. Putting words to paper is a hobby for me first, so I can only hope I'm not just showing my sinning face all over the place.

It is a rather non-romantic way to describe a late sort of sunset to be honest. So, before y'all get fancy.. don't do it. No one wants to read, "and he took my hand just as the day began to fade to crepuscular..." Just say no.

Thank you, we cannot let him get away with such things. Keeping the little shit honest is a full time job with zero benefits.

So, I see you woke up today and chose Cheeky. I have seen snow, I hate snow. If I'm not splattering myself all over the place when I go out to my car.. I'm begging dogs to go outside and potty in the stuff, and they're looking at me like.. "Woman.... you go out there and freeze your tootsies off..." I will forever be a Spring and Summer person. I do not enjoy Autumn and Winter and definitely not snow. and the only present you're going to get is a lump of coal, because if there was a picture beside the word Naughty it would be your Santa murdering face.

Sorry, the story is completed. Elias 'crossed over,' or 'left for another place.' It did leave Asher a bit of a wreck, but he found a new purpose with helping the museum. Coming out to his parents, so he could move on and not have to hide. I felt that was the biggest reason why he grasped/held Elias so closely towards the end. Elias was something/someone that only he could have, to talk to, etc. Even though the ghost didn't understand everything he said, he still felt a bit of a connection. So Elias leaving kind of forced him to cope with that change, but he also couldn't exactly go back either. In other words, for the time he knew Elias, Elias helped Asher be more himself than he ever was. Rhett Henry is his own person, he isn't the reincarnated soul of Elias. I left the story at the beginning, with a little bit of hope the guys would make some sort of lasting connection. Me writing it on from that point - to me, wouldn't be something I would be interested in doing. My interest was in Elias and Elias' story is over. If I were to move on, I would have to either move Rhett down to Asher, or Asher up to Rhett and I didn't really think it would be realistic for either of them to do that at this stage of the story. They had only just met. As for the ring, I explained the ring. It was a present that Elias wanted to leave at his mother's grave stone. It wasn't fashioned correctly, it wasn't really technically a ring. Just a sort of token that Elias made for his mother. As for it being magically altered to fit Asher's finger, that was a last gift Elias left for him. I didn't specifically state that it was a gift specifically in the writing - but the ring was Elias' most prized possession after his death, so him doing that for Asher was significant. I hope this helps! Thank you for reading and enjoying the story. I am sorry about the ending being what it is. At this stage I 'think' the ending ended on an okay sort of idea/note.

and very much deserved. Welcome to the club.

I would have been like, bless you, you little angels. None of them would have failed or lost recess if they kept up those compliments - I very much can be bought...

Ensemble casts are the only way I write anything of length. Tons of dialog. It just eases the entire plot into a nice and natural flow. I find writing scenes with just my protagonist and his love interest alone for any significant stretch just taxing. Having to focus on the world around them in such a personal two person sort of way for pages of story just exhausts me. Although, I do have fun doing that some as well. The ensemble gets you more impact vs the effort you have to put into it. Especially if you have characters that aren't limited in areas that you have expressly limited your protagonist with. Ensembles just allows for balance. One thing that does put me off though, is introducing character after character with no real intent to invest anything into them what so ever. To the point where it feels like you're just listing a genealogy or something. I feel that is more common in world building in Fantasy and historical fictions. It is just bulky and I lose focus. If you can skip paragraphs of that nature and legitimately not 'lose' plot, then I have to argue the necessity of it. It very easily could have been spaced out a little bit more, with a little more effort.

Ahh the e-fiction days. Where the bulk of my writing took place. Makes me eternally grateful for the system we have now, mind you. We've come a long way and I do remember the struggle.

Okay, I broke from tradition of multi-quoting y'all. I hope the notifications didn't bother you too much. That's part of the reason why I hadn't responded individually, the other more important part is that I'm lazy. Also, I always felt it bloated the comment numbers with my responses and I kind of don't think they should count towards the total... but, that's just my hangups. I didn't realize that it wasn't that popular of a tool until I saw some commenting on it during discussions and then a loud assed Canadian told me he detested them too, so I'm starting to think it isn't a popular tool?!? So sorry for that throughout all of my years of comment quoting and responding. I broke from my original ending, it was supposed to end after Part 5. The end was supposed to be Elias leaving and the aftermath the suddenness that would have caused. So Rhett was bonus along with the actual unveiling of the Witch's story in full. I felt the story needed to be told, it helped tie up holes in the part before it, when all the information was coming out in strings of thought and dialog. It was actually @wildone that told me the retelling was necessary too, for me to change my mind and write it. If I'm remembering correctly anyway. After Elias left, I wrapped up the major plot points as well. Asher was no longer in the closet, he came out to his parents. He didn't have to hide himself and he could go forward and find somebody to be with, without fear. In hindsight that would have been the driving plot for me to continue the story, if I wanted to. Because that would be how Asher would need to grow as a character and that is how I would completely flesh him out. I already covered that though and he was already growing from both experiences - drunk tank and gravestone cursing aside - so I really don't have much of a story to write. There is no conflict and no plot left. Even when Rhett was introduced, he was introduced as a character that didn't bring any conflict to the story. He was just 'there,' and I'm glad you liked him and thought the characters hit it off. I thought they did as well. The back stories of both of them being connected throughout history though, was just flavoring. It isn't something a person could build a meal on. Personally, I don't see a story after Rhett. Unless I manipulate the timing of two lives in such a way that wouldn't feel realistic to me. Rhett lives out of town, he was there coincidentally as it was - to do research. He has a life outside of that research that he has to get back to. Asher doesn't have the means or the invitation to follow him along. Something would have to happen for them to be 'forced' together and to be honest, it would also have to create the entire plot for me to continue. Otherwise, it would feel very cliche' romance novel, where all they have is romantic banter, smiles, chemistry, but not much else. I don't know how long I could drag that along, or if I would even want to... and if by the end of it, you all would even want me to. I do realize the ending was abrupt along those lines. Maybe they should have parted ways after the show with an exchange of numbers and a smile instead of getting pizza, but it was Rhett that invited Asher out for pizza when he didn't have to as well. So there's not much of a difference between the two endings. At the end of the day, I just hope the ending had enough that it didn't feel like I threw the story away, that is definitely not a good feeling to leave anyone with.

Yes, this was an anthology. I started it I think - within the same week of the Anniversary anthology deadline. I think I ended up writing almost 30k words in a span of three days. I was actually amazed with myself for doing something like that.

I must say, this is a compelling argument. With the catchy title. I am glad that you liked my little not-so-ghosty-ghost-story and the not-so-mysterious-mystery. Also thank you for the cute lil .gif.

Thank you for reading DaddyDave and leaving a comment/reaction.

Thank you for reading and leaving a comment, they are always appreciated.

Thank you for enjoying the not so mysterious ghost story, story. I feel that most of you were polite in actually calling it a mystery.. lol. I was a little wiggly when most of you guessed the plot after the first two or so parts and in true mysteries, that can't really happen. 😮

Well Marilou did kind of clutch her pearls. If she was wearing them, that's how I imagined her reaction. And, in the south when-st a woman clutches her pearls, you know she is surprised. Those pearls are the only thing keeping her from hitting the floor. Also, I guess she had the wits about her to not bring attention to someone that wasn't looking for it, and to focus on the rest of the evening that a lot was riding on. If it were a more casual setting, I would have written the scene more akin to a clucky hen coming out of the coop in the morning. (I hope you enjoyed how southern I went with this comment, if not, I fear I have failed) Thank you for reading!

To be fair, like the doggo said, unless Rhett brought attention to himself, like maybe taking a selfie with he portraits, or having a larger reaction, people would have taken more notice. Also, during all of the unveiling and story telling, Rhett was on the floor in the front row, all people saw were the back of his head and that's only if they looked down. and I agree, there is nice chemistry between them. Thank you for reading and leaving a comment.

“The witch under the stone,” Marilou started after taking another quick drink as the crowd swelled and settled. “Her name is Margret Appleby, a young widow, her maiden name being Young. She and her husband moved east of here from a little town named Lawrenceville, to settle on fertile ground and start a family. The winter that year was harsh though and while working the land her husband Michael Appleby died, his records indicate that it was likely from frostbite and pneumonia. He left behind a y

Congratulations! Time to parrrrrty!