Sparks

With this chapter of Say Goodbye to Sparkleland, more pieces fall into place for Mitchell.

Click here to read Chapter 8.

While this book is a little more sexually charged than my other book currently posting (A Bed, A Desk and My Unfortunate Soulmate — which Nifty annoyingly shortened to My Unfortunate Soulmate), I find this chapter to be one of Mitchell's "hottest." Personally, I care much more about the story and the development of the characters than the sex, but sometimes the more erotic scenes can be particularly arousing. This one is Mitch's.

True story. The inspiration for the "sparks" came from my own life. Many, many years ago — more than I care to admit — I experienced a special night early on in my new relationship with the man who is now my husband. I have no idea what the circumstances were in the moment, but I truly saw sparks in my orgasm. So ... from real life, I threw it in the book and made it a plot point.

Does this have something to do with the title? Yes. This chapter is the first tease explaining it.

In writing this chapter, I took an instant like to Arlo. I'm not sure why. He is nothing like me. I think his self-confidence and authenticity make him interesting.

Mitchell tells Logan he received a text from Arlo "five years ago." That could be a fun story one day. I'm not sure I could make it into anything lengthy, but something might inspire me in the months ahead.

Each of my books has its own niche with format. If It Weren’t For the Two of Us had Trent’s journal. Hi, I'm Lance had a format of AA meetings. Ascension was told in years. In Coffee at 9, each chapter was a month.  Laramie had its dual narrative throughout. The black book of Sparkleland helps define chapters — up to a point. Everyone knows we eventually get to Cooper in Chapter 19 plus the man he cheated with follows. It is the chapters beyond those that I truly look forward to. In the previous story, we've seen Mitchell return to the coffee group, and in the concurrent A Bed, A Desk and My Unfortunate Soulmate, Mitch is seen with a new partner. As my stories are not necessarily told linearly, the woven threads intertwine along the way. I'm enjoying that.

The Bet and The Wedding

 

Some of you may wonder how my books come together. My “process” is to have a vague outline of where I want the chapters to go, and I typically have an ending in mind (except for my very first story, which was kind of cliffhanger-esque, but at least Extracurricular was hopeful). For A Bed, A Desk and My Unfortunate Soulmate, I knew where I wanted to take the story and some key things that would happen along the way, but the framework was skeletal, to say the least. I had many more details thought out for Say Goodbye to Sparkleland.

When Laramie ended, Corey had grown into such a formidable character, I wasn’t ready to just let him drift off — and a “college” story challenged me. His and Aiden’s dynamic was interesting too, and I loved their friendship. I was totally ready to jump into this story right away, although Book Seven already had a few chapters written.

Click here to read Chapter 7, A Bed, A Desk and My Unfortunate Soulmate.

So … this bet. It was never in the outline. In fact, none of the supporting characters were. Once Geoff, Sam, Ace and others were introduced, more plot threads wove together. As their personalities were more fleshed out, things began to come alive. The whole bet between Ace and Sam was an idea that popped into my head. It was fun to write, but I knew it had to further the plot as well. The characters have to evolve. I just had to place a young version of me in that room and ask what impact seeing such a wacky spectacle would have on me. What would I feel? That night will still have an impact on a certain character.

Another surprise for me was the character of Slater. He was supposed to be a momentary plot device — an ass — early in the book. Making him into something more has been rewarding for me as the author too.

And then the wedding…

Before submitting Chapter 4, I had intended to place yet another apology at the top in the opening remarks. For any readers who just started with Book Eight and didn’t really know the development of Cooper’s and Laramie’s relationship, there is a whole bunch of sentimental fluff in this chapter. I am so sorry to the new readers. You may have no idea who all these people at the wedding are — and I encourage you to find out in the previous stories — but I hope you feel like a guest at the wedding of Corey’s fathers and enjoy what’s going on (like Aiden’s parents).

For those of you who have been with me since seeing Cooper introduced in Hi, I’m Lance, develop into a strong enough character to deserve his own book, Coffee at 9, and then form a new family with Laramie and Corey, you are probably saying, “FINALLY! At last!”

For the many, many people who were hoping for a wedding way back in Laramie, I hope you are pleased with how it turned out. I have to admit, even as the person who wrote it, when I went back to reread it all, my eyes would water as well. Cooper and Laramie are special to me. I love all my characters, but these guys…

Ironically, when I started Book Six, I knew it was NOT going to end in a wedding. I didn’t want all my stories to become Hallmark movies. For Laramie, it was about him becoming his whole self. That was the conclusion. I didn’t want weddings to become the default conclusion. That was too predictable. However, in the course of their relationship, it did indeed make sense for the two of them. Its impact on Corey’s life made it logical to include it in this book as Corey begins to form his own adulthood. And Aiden.

Also, once I knew Corey was going to get his own book, it was clear Cooper and Laramie weren’t being left behind. I planned for the wedding before Book Six ended, but I intended to keep my original planned ending for Laramie.

I hope how all things have turned out are fine with you. Let me know.

Gut Punch

Two chapters have been posted, one in Book Seven and one in Book Eight.

Click here to read, A Bed, A Desk and My Unfortunate Soulmate, Chapter 3

Click here to read, Say Goodbye to Sparkleland, Chapter 7

Both of these chapters are fairly powerful, and each one carries its own blow to the protagonist.

Mitchell had to live through yet another heartache, this time with Logan. As noted in a previous post, as the author, I have to determine why everything prior to Cooper (Number 19) didn't work. This discussion between Logan and Mitchell changes things somewhat, most notably for Logan. But it all helps define who Mitch is. We get to know him a little better.

We also get a more in-depth view of Logan as well. Although Dr. Horwood first appeared in Coffee at 9, his role in Book Seven makes him a principal character, and I'm enjoying developing him into someone that has a bit of a story to him.

And, well looky here, Mitchell shows up in A Bed, A Desk and My Unfortunate Soulmate as well. Granted, the college years are four years past his sessions with Logan, but ... hmm. Who is Mitchell with??

BIG APOLOGIES to those who have not read Laramie or the previous works. All of this marriage talk has been long in the making. Readers have wanted nuptials — and flat out asked me — for quite a while. I could have put this in Book Six; it could have been a final chapter. But Laramie ended exactly where I wanted it to. But when it ended, I made note that I wasn't finished with the gentlemen and that readers would see them again. Well, here you go. So, if you don't know these parental characters that well, I'm sorry that you got dragged through all the joy surrounding the "announcement."

But the real gut punch is to Aiden here. Virtually everyone on Planet Earth has said something they wish they could take back. If you haven't, then consider yourself blessed. It hurts so bad to know you have wronged someone. To verbally belittle someone — even if unintended — it will torment you forever. Although Corey is the one hurt, Aiden is in pain.

The friendship between these two is so deep, this chasm now between them is harsh. I wanted to make sure that I didn't just show how it is tormenting only the two of them; their other friends are affected too. These types of stories (as my blog says, "Love stories for the gay male") are typically centered around a couple, but this story is so different; it is centered around friends, a different type of love. Writing it challenges me. I hope you are enjoying it.

"November" will be big.