Christmas No. 1: Lance and Jakob

The first of two Christmas chapters has posted.

Read Hi, I'm Lance, Meeting 45 [Chap. 20] here.

One thing I like about this chapter is that it is long enough to cover several dynamics in Lance's relationships: family, adulthood and new boyfriend. A lot is covered here.

I think readers will be drawn to the holiday between Lance and Jakob, but I probably enjoyed writing the growth between siblings the most. Lance and his brother Oliver made headway, and Jakob's family has made steps, even if they are small ones.

Hollywood tends to embrace Christmas with "feel good" stories. I confess I haven't strayed much from that, but I do know that the holidays aren't always happy times (remember Richard from the previous chapter?). Families can be a mess, and the time together can be a struggle for some. Shouting and arguements are probably not that rare. [Here's a foreshadowing hint: I'm working on Cooper's book. You'll see what I mean.]

But Christmas gatherings are times to express love, so that's got to be a positive thing.

Evan

The Jackson Bend trilogy has quite a selection of secondary characters. One I haven't really discussed is Evan.

Read Hi, I'm Lance, Meeting No. 40 [Chapter 19] here.

When writing the chapter posted this week, I wanted it to play realistically, at least in my mind. Lance's fears I thought were authentic. Jakob would be one more person in the apartment. Even if staying in Lance's bedroom much of the time, there is an invasion of space to a certain degree. I could understand why Lance would feel the way he did.

I hope Evan's response came off truthful. Had I been in his shoes, when Lance was starting the conversation, I would have immediately jumped to the same conclusions.

Roommates can be tricky sometimes. People are different — whether it is cleaning habits, noise, invasion of privacy, etc. — and individuals are often placed in bad situations. We know Jakob has gone through this, although it has only been mentioned (so far).

Evan's role became necessary for the transition of Lance and Trent leaving their college lives and entering the "real world." His relevance to the storytelling remains a secondary character. Had he been gay, it might have been tempting to explore his world, but ... this is gay erotic fiction, after all. 

Before meeting the love of my life, I did have a small assortment of roommates. One was my brother, which worked well ... except. Keeping one's sexuality a secret to a rather homophobic relative does have its own challenges. Obviously, that has since been resolved. I was never out to any of my roommates. Once I accepted all that — and acted on it — it became time to decide I needed my own space. Before my partner moved to be with me, I enjoyed living on my own for a short time. While financially harder, it did have many advantages.

I'm sure readers out there have all sorts of horror stories from rooming situations.

December

After the double-dose in the last post, this chapter might feel on the shorter side. And it is.

Read If It Weren't For the Two of Us, Chapter 40 here.

I'm a big fan of December. I love decorating, but it is not so much that I miss decorations after the holidays are over, I hate taking them down and putting them away. The boxes everywhere stress me out. Usually it is only two or three days, but there is a huge sense of relief when it is all packed away. (Having three trees doesn't help the situation.) Sounds like Mike and Trent won't be too over-the-top. I didn't intend to put them in full Griswold mode.

I wrote If It Weren't For the Two of Us so long ago, I could never have imagined when chapters would be posted. When I started, I wasn't sure if I would even share my writing with anyone. Who could have foreseen how chapters and posts would land over this past year. If I had expert timing, I would have tried to align the appropriate holiday posts closer to the time they played out in real life. Alas, I was too late. It still reads the same, but much like sitcoms that try to have their seasonal episodes with close-to-the-holiday airings, it would have been nice for you to have that "feel" too.

Book Two and Book Three are tightly aligned through the "holidays." That will probably affect how they are posted. When I see Chapter 40 now online, it suprises me how close we are to finishing Trent's book. Only five chapters remain. Because Hi, I'm Lance is also posting, it will still take a few weeks for this book to wrap up, but it is on the horizon for sure.

Authors tend to get attached to the characters they create. Be assured Trent isn't completely going away after his book finishes. If It Weren't For the Two of Us is just his story. I'll keep him around.

Friendsgiving

For those readers who experience my writing as it is posted, this is the first time I've had a double-header. So far, you have seen when the two books, If It Weren't For the Two of Us and Hi, I'm Lance, have overlapped. This is the first time I wanted posts to appear simultaneously.

I will admit the continuity in this area of Trent's and Lance's lives is challenging to align with the chapters. It is not crucial by any means, but I would recommend Trent's version be read first.

Read If It Weren't For the Two of Us, Chapter 39 here.

Then, the longer chapter focused on Lance and Jakob will carry the story further.

Read Hi, I'm Lance Meeting No. 35 [Chap. 18] here.

I know my previous post, "Loss," was rather hard. For those who have stuck with the story, I hope you will find these two an uplift following the sadness that was experienced prior.

Chapter 18 of Hi, I'm Lance is a favorite chapter of mine, particularly when the families become involved. I hope it comes off real and relatable to you.

Married or not, couples in relationships immediately have to figure out how to work through the holidays. Jakob didn't have to worry about this for nine years. Now it is on his plate. And I feel this is a good thing.

I've enjoyed all my holidays with "in-laws" for years and years. Hopefully, my family has provided some good memories on the flipside, but each has its own quirks, as I'm sure all couples face.

A big component of Trent's healing was the blessing of friendship. I concur. In my life, my friends are so incredibly important. I would fit right at home at his Friendsgiving.

Loss

I can hear your words now: "Why did you write this chapter!!?"

Read Hi, I'm Lance, Meeting 33 [Chap. 17] here.

This chapter was not about sexual content, it was about plot. As an author, who has come to care about these fictious characters, it is important (to me, at least) to convey a sense of realism. People who wrestle with addicitons have huge challenges. These obstacles can be serious. I didn't want to give the impression that if you join AA, life is suddenly milkshakes and blowjobs. People suffer hardships and loss. Sometimes the pain is great. In a long-runnning story, that pain is inevitable.

This chapter is not expected to be one of your favorites. But it will ripple into both books and to plotlines in the weeks ahead. It is part of the ongoing story and the relationships between characters.

The book was written months ago, but the timing of this chapter has some cruel irony behind it. Just this very week I have been faced with heartbreaking news. I am feeling this pain, this loss, even if it isn't exactly the same. Being helpless is a horrible feeling. And we all feel it. I pride myself in trying to craft stories that are relatable. When you can understand what a characcter is going through, then I feel we are connecting.

Thanksgiving is coming. This chapter leads into that. From my standpoint, it is an impossible web of chronological alignment, but you will see upcoming overlap between If It Weren't For the Two of Us and Hi, I'm Lance through Thanksgiving. I think if you get through this chapter, rewards are to follow.

Stay with me. Share in the comments below.

Extracurricular: The Bonus Content

I am pleased to say that I'm completely indebted to a loyal reader for this week's post. When Extracurricular concluded in May; the ending was rather nebulous. For those readers who might have stopped there, one could hope for the best, but ... it ended. A reader — who felt left hanging — implored me to write an epilogue or something to bring it to a more satisfying conclusion. Unknown to him, the story did continue, just through the eyes of the younger protagonist in If It Weren't For the Two of Us.

That planted a seed. At the time, I thought it might be fun once Trent graduated to look back and see how Mike dealt with "the pause," because we had only seen it from Trent's perspective. I intended to do this over the summer while the graduation was still fresh. I thought it would be like "bonus content" on DVDs, much like deleted scenes.

Well now the characters are well into autumn in If It Weren't For the Two of Us and Hi, I'm Lance, but this was something I still wanted to do. I hadn't written with Mike as the protagonist in so long, and this was quite enjoyable. It caused me to go back to the first 18 chapters of Book Two. Ages ago for us, right?

Read Extracurricular Bonus Content here.

Nothing here is really going to be too new for readers, but it works with what I've done recently where events overlap in two books. (Expect that for the holidays too.) We all saw how Trent was dealing with things while the relationship was on hold; now we can live it through Mike.

Extracurricular still officially ends with Chapter 13, but I hope you enjoy this additional material.

Popcorn and Tyler

When posting stories one chapter at a time, it allows an author to reaccess how he wants the final product to be. There is that one advantage of having a book spaced out over months.

As I revised this chapter, I inserted the paragraph about Jakob popping popcorn.

Read Meeting No. 30 [Chap. 16] here.

This simple paragraph struck me. I thought to myself what are the smallest things I take for granted. I found myself somewhat moved by what Jakob would feel in that situation. He had gone months and months in a completely different setting.

Of course, Tyler is the more pressing concern. To attempt some authenticity, I know AA meetings can't be all sunshine and roses. There are ups and downs. Some of the shares are hard. I have to accept that. It's what makes accomplishments so much more meaningful. Look how far Lance has come.

Share your thoughts below.