Sequels or Why My Readers Are Going to Hate Me

So I'm assuming that if you're reading this there's a pretty good chance that you're familiar with my writing.  If not: What the hell are you here for?  Anyway if you are familiar with my writing then you've probably, most likely, read Falling for Him, right?  Good because this post is going to deal with the upcoming sequel to that story.

You see when Gavin and Lex first started jabbering at me, they were already together and it was around ten years after FFH took place.  They were all a flutter over this new woman in town that they just couldn't get out of their heads.  So I started writing their story but about six chapters in Gavin started telling this new woman about how he and Lex had gotten together.  Now I'm listening and thinking hell that would be a good story to tell because it's funny and interesting and just how the hell does a straight guy end up with another man?

So I put the first story on the back burner while I delved into finding out how a straight Gavin fell in love with the very flexible bisexual Lex.  The story tuned out to be fairly engaging and I was actually surprised at the level of feelings that were involved between the two of them.  They seemed pretty well matched and they are really sweet together.

Now I know that quite a few of you that read FFH are pretty dedicated slash readers.  You like your man on man action and get either squicked out or just flat out pissed when a woman is thrown into the mix.  But you see, Lex and Gavin are both bisexual, they like women too.  Yes they are happy together and maybe they could be enough for each other but if they both want something more, where's the harm in that?

In FFH I wanted to explore the notion that the gender of a person isn't the determining factor in if you can fall in love with them.  Gavin had never had feelings for another man nor had he ever been sexually attracted to one.  I know that people throw the word bromance around a lot and I wondered what would happen if these men that had these so called bromances threw out their fear of being labeled gay or what other people would think of them and actually had a relationship with another man.  I found out and Gavin found and fell in love with Lex despite the fact that he was a man.

So that brings me to why you, my dear readers, will hate me when I start rolling out the sequel.  The title is Falling for Her.  I know it's terribly original.  The title should give you a hint as to where the story is going.  The funny thing is that this is not the original story that's sitting at chapter six on my hard drive.  This is actually another back story.  I know right?  What the heck?  But when I went back to that first story I realized that the ten year gap would leave so many holes in the story that I had to write a third story.

I want to be clear here so there are no misunderstandings.  Falling for Her is a M/M/F story (it's different from M/F/M believe me you'll see).  It means there will be a woman added to their relationship at some point in the story.  As with all my stories there will be a slow build so there will be plenty of just Gavin and Lex moments and even after She joins in they will still be together.  I hope you won't view her as an interloper because she's going to fill a hole in the guy's lives and end up giving them one of the greatest gifts one human being can give another.  Just give it a chance, who knows, you may be pleasantly surprised.

I'm sure that I will have to fend off people who get upset at this turn of events.  To those of you that just can't stomach it; my advice to you is to just not read the sequel.  Let the story end for you where it made you happy.

Thanks for reading...

CL

The End of FFH

So today I posted the last chapter of Falling for Him or FFH as it's been known to be referred to.  It's one of those bittersweet moments that also makes me anxious.  I love that I've finished something but it's sad that it's over too.  I'll miss the anticipation of knowing what comes next just like all of you will.  That also brings us to why I'm anxious.

I usually don't agonize over my chapters.  I write them, I edit them, and I post them, what happens, happens.  I don't try to bend the story to my will.  (Oh come on I know I sound crazy but it's how writing feels to me.)  The last three chapters of FFH flowed out how they normally do but I knew that something was wrong...couldn't put my finger on it but it was there.

Now, I don't usually let anyone read my chapters before they're posted.  I guess I get the idea behind a beta reader and all, but it makes me nervous to have someone else try to put ideas into my writing.  It sounds selfish maybe but its mine.  Mine. mine, mine!  Yeah, I don't have any issues with sharing.  No it's just that I feel like I know when it's not coming from my head and then the story feels off to me.

That being said, I sent my last three chapters off to one of my regular readers and she read them.  Her advice was really helpful and getting the reader's point of view as to what they wanted to see was nice.  Here's the problem though...I knew how the story was supposed to go and I had a hard time adjusting that.  I ended up going with a couple of her suggestions that just helped make it read more fluidly but in the end I had to go with what I originally wrote.  There was a scene I took out that I ended up putting back in and there was the whole epilogue debacle...but that's a whole other story.

Anyway, the reason I was so anxious about posting the last chapters is simple.  Everyone hated how I ended Loving Sarajevo, the first time.  I ended up going back and adding chapters.  Of course after I did, I realized that the story was much more complete with the additions.  I really didn't want there to be disappointment over the ending of FFH since it is so far my most read and liked story.

The struggle for me is how to stay true to the characters and where the story is going without disappointing the bulk of my readers.  I guess it's probably a struggle a lot of writers go through so I'll just have to deal.  I just hope that the ending to FFH isn't so terrible that it leaves it's readers feeling dissatisfied.  I can only hope that the ending will hold up when all is said and done.

I loved writing Lex and Gavin's story and like I said before, there is a sequel.  FFH actually came about because Lex and Gavin were character's in another story and I just really liked their back story.  I decided to write it and I'm glad I did.  So I hope that you all enjoyed the journey and that you come away feeling like the story was complete.  Thanks for reading and thanks to those of you that shared your opinions with me.

I hope to have the sequel ready to post in a couple of weeks.

Okay, then, that's all for now.  So until next time...see ya.

CL

There's No Controlling the People in My Head

Okay, so I know that I shouldn't just write blog posts when I'm pissy but whatever, I need somewhere to rant.  So since I can't seem to actually blog about anything important, I figured why not just complain about what's bugging me?  So here it goes.

I've recently gotten some feedback from people that read one or more of the stories I have posted.  Like I mentioned last post, I love to hear from my readers but seriously telling me that I should be writing one story instead of another is not the type of thing I want to hear.  It is in no way constructive to tell me that one of my stories is far better than another of them and that I should spend less time on one or the other.  Let me explain to you why this doesn't motivate me.

I'm going to explain how my writing process works so bear with me here.  I write whatever pops into my head.  There that's it in a nutshell.  I have no control over what will come out most days and I've found that if I try to force myself to write a certain thing, it comes out bad.  Not just bad but like train wreck, rubber necking highway accident, Bush era natural disaster, where the hell's FEMA bad.  I'm not kidding.

This is because I have no control over the people in my head.  They are there doing what they want with no regard to anyone else.  I don't plan out my stories.  I have no idea where they're going most of the time.  I sit down and start typing, always in a new doc because I have no idea which story may pop up.  I'm not sure if that's how it's supposed to work or not but that's how it works for me.  So when I really want to update say Falling for Him and I sit down with the hopes of getting a chapter finished and my MC from Strip me Bare starts talking...what am I supposed to do?

Usually if I let one of them get it out of their systems, I can move on to something else but with no guarantee that it's going to be what I want.  Just a quick note, don't despair those of you hoping for Falling for Him updates, the story is complete and I'm just being mean by making you wait.  Cuz I'm evil like that.  Anyway you see my problem here then right?

So I get a couple of these types of messages every few days.  A sample of one verbatim if you will indulge me:  I just saw that you updated Strip Me Bare but Falling for Him hasn't been updated for over a week.  You used to update FFH more often but since you added a couple of other stories it's been less and less.  I think that you should concentrate on FFH because it is the best story you have and the others aren't as good.  I've been reading it from the beginning and I really like it so could you update it soon.

Now, just let me say that I'm glad that this reader has been reading and obviously enjoying what I've come to realize is my most popular story by far.  That being said, are you freaking kidding me!  This person never left me a review, ever.  I got this in a PM and after insulting me (yeah, I'm touchy what of it?) asked me to update soon with no please even!  That's just rude, sorry but it is and I'll call a spade a spade with no qualms about it.

So I get that people like to have quick updates and that they like to have a particular story updated more than another but come on, these are free stories that I spend time posting so they can read them at their leisure without getting anything in return.  Excuse me if I get a bit upset when people start PMing me this kind of bullcrap.  I'm not a machine, there's a person sitting here typing this and all those not so good stories that you still take the time to read, be nice.

If you don't like what I write, don't read it or feel free to tell me in a review that you don't like it.  I have no problem taking criticism or with people thinking my writing sucks even.  The problem I have is with people who think they are entitled to tell me how I should provide them with the fruits of my labor.  I will continue to post my stories because there are a few people out there that do like them and do show me that they appreciate what I do by leaving me nice reviews or PMing me to let me know they like what they read.

In the end, well just if you feel the need to send me a PM in the future like the one above, just know that I will block your ass, after I send you a few of my most choice thoughts on the matter.

Once again, thanks for checking out my blog and I have no idea what I'll rant about next time or when the next time will be so anyway, yeah, that's it.

CL