It’s very human of us to prefer to stick with what makes us comfortable. Even those of us who really enjoy novel and unusual things enjoy them because we have a “normal” to go back home to. We all slip into patterns, and we all hate having to keep too much in mind. I know I’m that kind of person.

It’s funny to think about how much I try to stretch my sphere of awareness outwards, given this attempt at a constant normality. My writing isn’t just fun stories at this point; it’s very consciously a shared universe that alludes to itself. Oftentimes when I’m writing a chapter, it’ll have at bare minimum one reference to works past. So far I think Worlds Apart is the only story I’ve written that is completely separated from the rest of my writing, with the reason why being fairly obvious. This definitely creates more work for myself, as I now don’t just have stories to keep in mind; I have a whole canon, and it’s entirely my fault. I ended up having to reread a previous story while writing the latest chapter of Dinner Break to ensure that I was following my own plotlines. After all, I may have an idea in my head as to how the stories play out, but on the other hand, there’s quite literally a full decade between the writing of this story and that one. I’m going to forget things along the way.

Interestingly, Dinner Break is one of those stories I had in my head for a long while now. I planned out this latest chapter before I planned out anything in Consequences. I did change a lot about the story in the moment of writing it, and I was glad to have. Planning is great because it’s easier to bring things together and make it look more purposeful, but I’ll tell you this right now: the original plan for both of these chapters of Dinner Break were, frankly, hilariously shallow compared to what ended up getting written. To divulge too much would feel too vulnerable and plans end up getting scrapped for a reason, but I’ll just say that both chapters would have felt like their sex scenes were random and unrelated to the events of the chapters themselves if I stuck with the plan.

And that’s awful. I’d like to think the whole reason you’re here is because you like when sex isn’t just tacked on and has to do with the story. I know that a few of you feel that way about Follow the Leader, and that’s fine. FtL is one of those stories that is created more to be a whole story and is less designed to be rewarding chapter-to-chapter. I’m not discouraged that people don’t like it yet. If the whole story is dismissed once it’s finished, maybe I’ll feel discouraged, but I’ll also have the ability to move on to a new story so, either way I’ll do alright.

FtL is definitely one of those stories that has a positive aspect of planning, for that reason. Plus, I’ve accepted long ago that people won’t like every story I write. It was a matter of time before people weren’t fully interested in a longer-form story I’m writing, and I’m very okay with this. I’m very interested in FtL because it’s a puzzle I have to lay out and then solve very carefully, and I can only really know if I did it right after it’s done. That’s contrasted with a Being More Social, or a Mutual Benefits, or even a Final Answer, where the drama of the characters is the meat of the story and continuously rewards the reader even as a self-contained chapter. Maybe my fate is sealed and I’m better off making serialized stories instead of one that only works as a finished product. After all, I treat them all as serials and release them a chapter at a time anyways, but then again, I have two thoughts there. The first is simple: if I didn’t release Follow the Leader a chapter at a time and only released it when I finished it, many would lose interest and my Patreon, as little as it currently funds my endeavors, would be dead in the water.

The second is—and many people forget this—many works of fiction throughout history were released as serialized works. Frankenstein, Dracula, The Green Mile, basically everything by both Dickens and Dostoevsky… Sometimes, very kind yet misguided readers will send me kind messages or emails telling me that I should become a “real author” and release a full book on Amazon or something. I don’t know what about me right now doesn’t make me a real author. Maybe it’s because my works are unedited or because contemporary readers aren’t used to serialized works, though I think the reasons why I’m not seen as a real author are a lot more invisible and silly: it’s because my books contain sex and because they’re available for free. As long as those two traits remain present, I think a good chunk of my readers will consider my works a fun internet pastime, but not literature.

I’ve considered writing additional works and releasing them online. I’ve floated the idea of writing stories without sex, and as one reader pointed out, if I did, there’s no more reason not to publish them on legitimate storefronts. My readers have offered lukewarm support to the idea of me branching out in that way. My only pause is, I’m already not fantastic at updating this website. I wouldn’t want to reach a slump in my writing and have readers blame me for focusing too much on my other writing, especially if I start to enjoy writing that other book more and their accusations are just true. I’m still considering it, but… only considering. I’m sure the future will make things more clear.

Alongside my written projects, I’m putting effort into tackling the behemoth of editing Consequences. Once I finish, it will be put on my Patreon, in both .ePub and .pdf format. I don’t often directly ask this (as long as you don’t count the images I post at the end of stories “directly asking”), but now that I’m putting more effort into the weekly blogs again, I’ll be more direct. If you enjoy the stories I publish on here, it would mean the world to me if I could become more financially secure through these stories, and that begins with support from my readers through Patreon. If you pledge to the $5 tier, you’ll have access soon to your own downloadable edited copy of Consequences, as well as the other stories I’ve already published. That said, even $1 a month genuinely helps a lot, both financially and just in terms of motivation. If you’re just here to read, no worries, it is free and will remain free, but if you can support me, it truly does mean a lot. I’ll talk to you all next week.