Krista

It was crazy for me to write, it don't typically write fast paced, soap-opera-ish stories. I like my characters to have purer motives and not a lot of them did in this story. I'm glad you stuck with it. It was fun to write and I know not a lot of people like fast paced, motive driven, flip-floppy characters and story plots. This happens when I try to write an Anthology, this was supposed to be a short story and ended up massive.

Thank you, Scrubber. The first thought in my mind if I ever thought I saw a ghost would be... "Krista, you've finally done it, you've fallen completely off your rocker..." I may, or may not have been told to wait by @wildone, but patience isn't something that I think he would describe me being, if he were tasked with explaining me to other people. (Although if he knows what's good for him, it will be all flowers and rainbows) 😮 I think there are 5 parts, varying lengths. This was an Anthology story that went well beyond the word limit. For the most part, I saw that I hadn't posted anything since the end of May, so I wanted to get this out there. I also am rather worried about it and the reception it will receive. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone a little... not too much, but just enough to make me second guess a lot of things. But yeah, the bulk of it will be posted in October, it probably won't make it to Halloween. It isn't long enough. I'm also just going to leave you with this: for the second part of your comment, cause... I can't say much about it yet. Thank you for reading my stories and leaving comments. Thank you! I hope the rest of it doesn't disappoint. I wouldn't call it artfully; mostly because I feel like I've nose-dived into this story a bit and you've not read the rest of it. Lol. I'm glad you've enjoyed the first part of the story. The real meat and potatoes of it is coming in the next two to three parts, and those are the parts I'm most worried about. I'm glad you still like the characters though, I like writing characters first, stories second. Thank you for reading. I am a little worried that classifying it as a Mystery will cause expectations that I don't think I delivered on. lol. I'm more or less a drama/comedy/romance sort of writer. Mysteries are very different and if I were honest, I didn't know what to categorize this story as specifically.

I'm not sure, some people hold power over their children a lot longer than that. Growing up in some places, particularly the south, parents are held with high respect and such. Although mostly earned, mind you. I still do not backtalk my mother, for example, and I still find myself doing what she suggests. I mean it isn't life changing things, mostly to bring things for cookouts or dinners. But, some switches just don't automatically switch off all at once. In this part of the story, he was weak, a little bit scared. He was angry with her, but he was also well aware that he wouldn't be able to make it on his own. He had cut himself off from the world, he was mugged, and he was penniless. He had no choice, but to unwillingly do as she says. At least to find his feet. That's how I saw it anyway. This story is a bit of a soap opera, it moves fast, and has some twists and turns that may or may not be logically driven.

Yes, for better or worse 32k more. Lol. Nice emoji game you have going on too.

“Did you hear that?” Kaelie asked as her flashlight darted around rapidly before she turned and blinded me with it. “No,” I groaned, “the only thing I hear is you asking me if I’ve heard anything every five minutes.” “Well, I wasn’t the one that wanted to come out here,” she countered, and I watched the beam from her flashlight dart to the ground as she placed her hands on her hips. I couldn’t see the glare in the darkness, but I knew it was there. “It’s probably just Brady and Ca

What else is there to do when your friends are having premarital sex in your car, then to visit the gravesite of a witch in an abandoned ghost town. What if ghost town wasn't actually a cliché?

keep up the good work. It is a true achievement to have survived in a fast paced ever changing environment such as the internet. It should be a true and fulfilling thing to feel, for sure.

😮 You tease!

I aim for between 5k - 6k. if I feel something is going on too long, I split it. Although, I have written variations a lot, some of my chapters hit the 10 - 20k range, but those are far between. Word count only really bothers me if I feel the chapter I'm writing isn't flowing, and I've dived in and I've written 5k words or my typical chapter length and I'm still trying to get my point across. I usually DNF the chapter and start over, I've learned that sometimes that's the best option, you can pull from the 'good' ideas, you may just have to set up or write the scene differently. I used to stand firmly by what I put to paper originally, now I'm like... "What the hell are you doing Krista..." and cringe then create a new document. I am the type of person that cannot write an Anthology on the lower end of the word count, I have to be around the 10 - 15k+ range for me to feel comfortable with what I'm writing. eehhh it's the 19th, I don't think I can pull it off, I've not started my idea yet.

Congratulations!

Anthologies for me, are a way to experiment as well. Following a theme and interpreting it has always been fun, although I am bad with writing deadlines. It is a way for newer people to push their storytelling towards a deadline and learning how to deal with all of those nerves. My first anthology was decades ago, and I remember being nervous, it was the first standalone story I wrote that was listed as a collective with other authors. Anthologies are decent for learning and expression, if you're like me and only write one general genre or two, then participating in the anthologies gives you an excuse to branch out. Instead of committing to a larger project, they provide you with an avenue to challenge yourself without stretching yourself long-term. Also, I am not a poetry writer at all, but I participated with a few poems and that allowed me to be more comfortable writing in general, just because I got feedback on those works. Nothing can be more personal than a poem and if you want to dive headfirst and break down that door and try poetry the Anthologies themes can be helpful for that. You can also springboard ideas, even failed anthologies, into some longer commitment pieces. Some of my better ideas, fresher ideas, have come from failed anthology attempts. Some of them are short stories, some became a series or something I've written to full blown novel length. "Standing in Shadows," "Sarah's Joey," and "Force of Nature," were all failed Anthology attempts. I have some 'failed' attempts still sitting and recently I went back and reread one of them and I was like, damn that's some really good writing. I had to triple check to see if I was the original author... because I used to Beta read for a few people and I needed to make sure it wasn't one of theirs. I was that blown away by it and I had forgotten all about it, but it never would have been put to paper if I hadn't been trying to write for an anthology. People who don't get into anthologies because they're afraid they will never meet the deadline - just participate and see where it leads. It could lead to something special that will cement yourself here on GA and writing in general. Also, your story gets looked at by some damn good volunteer editors and you can use their edits as springboards in learning more about editing and story structure in general. For readers it is bonus content from some of their favorite authors, if they participate. For people looking for something new to read from someone you don't already follow, they're good to get into and get a feel for their story telling. Most of my reading on here for fun have been via anthologies.

Just to be sure I'm reaching more people, I have decided to write this story in the background. I will not post any new chapters until the story is completed. I am finding it easier to do that, it allows me to not stress out that I'm weeks between chapters and haven't been able to write. At least this allows me to have a clear mind when I am able to sit and write. Currently - I have written Chapters 45, 46, and 47. For some reason I thought I already posted Chapter 45, but... woops? A good thing, really. lol. I thought I could end the story with an even 50, but chapters 46 and 47 are rather long. I decided to split chapter 47 up and so Chapter 48 might mess that even number up a bit. It may not, we'll see. Then I am planning an Epilogue to partner with the final chapter, so that will need to be written and edited for posting as well. Then after the Epilogue, I may write a series of stand-alone short stories unless I decide to include them in the bulk of the Epilogue itself. They're not going to be massive short stories, just some slice of life things. At least I have a plan.

Thank you for liking this story and giving it a read. As far as it being an end, unfortunately it is as far as I'm going to take it for now. I haven't planned much past what I have written.

This story is very different from, Ridley. It is a bit of a soap-opera/Drama. It has a lot of fast twists and turns, it was fun to write. I'm not sure it is everyone's cup of tea though. I do hope you like the story.

It does take a different kind of person to be an editor/beta. I am not that type of person either. I have tried, but didn't manage it very well, so I will stick to writing the stories. Lol.

My mother read me a collective of fairytales and such, I can't remember the name. But I remember having to have it read to me a lot growing up. I probably still have the book somewhere at her house in storage. The first book of my own choosing that I fell in love with was, My Side of the Mountain, followed quickly with, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Thank you for reading the story and leaving comments on each chapter. You left me with a lot of food for thought as far as these characters and this story goes. I still don't have anything planned after, 'The Best Year,' and I do keep coming back to just... fun read this story every now and then. (Still no promises) The food for thought is nice and writing about a "town," instead of characters would be interesting. Setting it in the town and picking new characters while still highlighting Gabe/Ridley would be interesting as well. Or focusing on Characters of the same family, like his Father. I have a terrible time writing HEA endings, I like leaving them open-ended and on a positive note better. If I try to wrap it up in a nice little package, I think I struggle and fight against it... lol. Bittersweet is where I like to end things too. I rarely end them completely sad and devastating. There are a few of my stories that do, earlier works mostly.

I thought it was too, I thought it took a lot of bravery to ask. Especially since Ridley was being stubborn and backpedaling on his feelings pretty hard during that interaction. It very well could have ended up being answered the complete other way. That would have been just rude and mean of me to do, though. lol and the story would end shortly after, likely.

When I reread this story, I cry every time I get to that part. I cried when I wrote it, too. I think I'll always feel something for that part. I think the Kiss, was one of my rare attempts at writing a cliffhanger. This story was also written as 'one' large document/story and then I broke it down. So since it built up to a natural cliffhanger, it was tacked on to the end of this chapter for effect. Lol. So I guess it was a surprise to me as well when it was in this part.

Thank you! I do give hints and descriptions in small doses. I hardly ever give out physical characteristics in the character's own voice. I do it in comparisons and interactions. I feel a write-up or a mock-up style physical description just feels like placing a stencil on a canvass and tracing. You get the project done, but it doesn't add to anything, but a quick gratification. To do it all in one go and so literal and thorough just, it feels like a sigh and not a conversation. lol. I don't like it, so I don't do it, I want people to get a sense of what they want in a character physically with little guides as to what I want them to look like. To set it in stone like a baseball card stat-sheet, it just doesn't work that well. So I am glad you like the little details. Gabe's question about Matt was 100% curiosity, because everyone who would know them - would probably want that question answered for themselves. A friendship like that being broken doesn't break quietly. I know that some people can see mannerisms or maybe pick up on inflections or like-mindedness and see a fellow, whatever, in another person. So Gabe may have picked up on Ridley's attitude or maybe even reactions or receptiveness to him as common ground. I don't know, I don't know that if Ridley was more determined to keep his secrets and be stubborn if Gabe would have broke out a strip-tease or something though. Lol.. although fun thought. Gabe was going to at least try to get 'the' story.

Ahh, I've read these comments backwards from Part 5 to this Part 1. Lol. I couldn't help myself, that and I hit the notification that took me to the last part and I was too lazy to do the two or three clicks to actually get to Part 1. Ridley came easy, the writing. I think that helped this story be what it was for me. It was a break from a story I've been working on for literal years. People bring up Matt a lot, Matt is the character and plot that got away, to be honest. I never really wanted to dive into that backstory, other than from Ridley's point of view. And that was, "I am not good enough to be Matt's friend..." and Matt proved that by not being his friend. There was always just 'enough' there to allow for some doubt into that logic though. Matt paid him attention and kept up with him enough to know what he was doing and that Ridley was shutting people out, maybe he cared that he was one of those people. I don't know, if I had settled into this story a bit better, Matt's story would have been told. I think the overall story would be better for it. As it would answer one of the looming larger questions, I feel. While I was writing it, I just wanted people to 'think' Matt was a bit of an ass. lol He may very well be, but it would require more words for the evidence to tell the entire story there. I am glad you picked up this story, your comments were insightful as well.

Loving the discussion! I answered below since both comments are similar. Yes, Cindy would have been one of his teachers at his old school, maybe not his grade specifically at the time the story is taking place. I have her substitute teaching for the Freshman class. I can't remember if I ever named what subject and grade level she formerly taught at her old school. -- As for Cindy knowing better, she does. There's a difference in teachers though, when it comes to their children they're going to act differently. You don't parent students at school, you parent them at home. So Cindy being a parent is different than Cindy as an instructor, she probably does stay well within her professional boundaries while in front of the class. She loses it with Welker because of outside familiarity with him, they go to the same church and have been friends since they were in that high school decades earlier. I don't want to sound like I'm defending her, but to keep her job, she would act differently. Outside of her work, in her mind - she's trying to protect Luke and she sees Jackson as someone that's going to send Luke spiraling in the wrong direction. (Down and a little hot). Luke also is acting differently than he has all of his 18 years that she's raised him and what is the factor that has changed... Jackson came unapologetically into her life with smirks, swear words, and a reputation that she has seen first hand and through retellings from Grace when they were friends. So she 'thinks' she knows both Luke and Jackson, where they are concerned she is 'right,' something will have to change her mind. I do agree she has been very cruel when it comes to Jackson, but she was willing to lose her best friends since childhood over it, so we know where her priorities are.

😮 😮 😮 Why can't you sleep after reading this? It wasn't scary or gore-y, do I need to put special warnings on it? Delete it? lol I'm confused or having a blond moment, either way I need answers. I don't want to keep people up at night. Well, a few restless nights for Steven doesn't bother me, he called me rude the other day and is giving me the silent treatment. So, he can be wide-eyed at 4am.

Yesss! Congratulations.