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Well, things seem to be on an upswing for me lately, most of the time. I'm hoping that applies to my writing as well. While I've had some health issues, they seem to be getting under control. I've had a lot on my mind lately as well, but those things finally seem to be getting worked out, and in some ways, I'm happier than I have been in a long time. That's not to say I don't still have some issues. While I have been mostly happy, my anxiety occasionally rears it's ugly head, and there are times that I can go from being happy to extremely depressed and questioning everything. These times are extremely hard to deal with, as they make me wonder if it would be better to just fade into the background and whether anyone would even care or notice. The answer to that when I'm in the midst of a depression episode is no, but that's okay. Everyone has their own lives and things to worry about and they don't need to be worried about me. But I hope, in time, that will get better as well and that these moments will lessen. So now let's get to the writing news. I have decided to finish Forging Trust. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I started posting a story all the way back in 2012. I was posting as I wrote it, which I usually do, but then I hit a snag. Or a "trap" as you will. It's a trap I've seen others fall into before and to be honest, I thought I would be able to avoid it. I didn't. I quit writing on Forging Trust, put it as On Hold, and started something new. That worked, but knowing it was just sitting there drove me completely nuts. When I first started writing Forging Trust, I had a plan. I knew exactly what was going to happen from beginning to end. I had just broken the 35,000 word mark and then it happened. The trap was sprung. I love my readers. I love hearing what they think about a story. But there is a specific trap that can be sprung when you're posting as you're writing. That happened to me. Since the story wasn't complete yet, I let my readers influence where the story was going. By doing that, i lost my momentum. I no longer had a clear path to follow. There were suddenly all these twists and turns that I never expected and had no idea how to deal with. I wasn't happy with these twists and turns. They weren't the story that I wanted to write. So rather than write a story that I knew I wouldn't be happy with in the end, I quit writing on it period. I did manage another chapter almost two years later, but that was it. So, what does this mean for Forging Trust? As of today, it is unpublished, but don't worry. It WILL be back. I am currently working on it, cleaning up and tweaking things here and there. But it will not be reposted until it is complete. This way, I can ensure that the story I post, is the story that I originally planned to write. After so long, I'm working through the current chapters to get a feel for the characters again. I'm tweaking things based on new things that I've learned. Hopefully, when it's finished, it will be a story that was worth waiting for. I hope when Forging Trust makes it's reappearance, that you'll all join in and read. I will still want to hear your thoughts, what you liked and didn't, but since the story will be complete, I won't be influenced to change it to something that wasn't what it was supposed to be. And to authors... don't fall into the trap I did. Write your story the way YOU want to write it. Yes, your readers might be angry at you from time to time. You might get those "how could you" messages. But in the end, you must be happy with the story that you're posting.