Cold...But Getting Warmer

I'm not sitting around doing nothing. I really am working on an update. I think I've finished both lots I need, and I'm moving on to the third step in my process. Mapping out all the poses.

I have to do that before I start taking the shots. Every paragraph must have explicit instructions on the pose, the pose box required, what it looks like in case I don't think I can easily find it, etc etc. This is why it takes me forever to do an update.

Anyway, here's a shot from the second lot. Beautiful bridge is by Criquette. No people in there yet, I had to be sure I had the line of sight I wanted before I start working with actual people on the lot. It's supposed to look like it's way out the hell in the middle of nowhere and COLD. More bridges, but it's a series of islands so there have to be bridges unless they take ferries back and forth, and ferries just don't look as good. And I don't Photoshop anything, so I have to get it right.

Hope those pose boxes work for teens. Some don't seem to.

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Still Proscrastinating - ISO Terrain Paint

I'm kind of stalled in writing, unable to clearly see where I want to go.

I know I need a a particular kind of lot, though, so I've been working on one, off and on, for the past three or four days. Still not entirely happy with it but here are some preview shots. Thank you Xtina for giving me the links to the worn out brick! I did not use the weather thingy here since it cuts off the objects in the distance even with the Very Large View selected.


In case anyone is interested, this started life as the Corner Shoppes, a lot that comes with the game (here's a shot of it). I wanted an actual beach front set, but by combining that lot with Criquette's marina, I was able to come pretty close without putting it right on a beach. I had a couple of alleys and some trees in that location, as a placeholder, because I knew I wanted to eventually use it, but I could not have put a beachfront lot there.

I really want some terrain paint that looks like worn out boards, the kind of boards you find around the beach. I'd like to combine it with sand terrain paint instead of using wood floors. If anyone knows where I can find something like that, please let me know.





EDIT (an hour later): Success! Found what I wanted. It really makes a huge difference, at least to me. Maybe nobody else in the world notices. Maybe I should go do something useful LOL.

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Housekeeping

Gayl and I have been updating our blogs, replacing old bio shots with new ones (like this one of Cooper, which she took and I can't resist putting up here, although it's not the one we finally selected), cleaning up the header shots, trying to make everything look better. The header shot on my main blog is actually a shot of our world, which I like.

Our body of work is so large, and obviously so difficult to navigate, we've been discussing ways to make it easier for readers to start with Sessions. I know if I came into it cold I probably wouldn't continue because it feels like it begins in the middle of something. And it is intimidatingly huge.

I moved the link to the story summaries up further to the top of the sidebar where it's more visible. In response to a reader request (thanks xtina), I wrote a more detailed summary/recap and posted that too. Any recap will contain spoilers, and it does, but it's there in case anyone wants to read it. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

What works better? The story summary format by stories? The recap format by characters? Something different?

EDIT: The recap with shots is up. I hope it makes sense. The story line does not progress smoothly because it isn't about only character. I took down the link to the story summaries since it was redundant. And I couldn't follow it myself.

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Chameleon Update

Ryan. Melinda. Stunning shots and powerful writing. Gayl is on fire with this.

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Parking Lot Wars - Passages Update

This didn't turn out the way I wanted or expected, but I'm tired of fighting with it. Too many members of that family in one parking lot is trouble LOL.

anyway, very VERY minor piece I really hesitate to even announce.

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Missing Parts

I'm going to try to work on a Passages update I put aside because I couldn't come up with a way to make it sufficiently dramatic. Gave myself a long stern talk - not every single chapter is going to be stunning. Anyway, I have exactly one shot, but the text is almost completely done.

As usual for me, I leave the beginning until I do the end. Is this normal? I've been struggling with the 'no beginning' problem for over a year now. It drives me crazy to work like that but I can't seem to get around it.

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Drawing Blood - Sessions 18

I'd like to claim more than just a bloodthirsty interest in this update, but this is Gayl's work. All I did was stand around and howl. And insert evil bits when I had the chance...I think I shoved a few sharp objects in there.

We hope it works.

Sessions 18 - Hangnail

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Family Trees

Yeah I'm procrastinating, but I did get something up that we've needed for a long time.

I uploaded some minimal data and created a couple of family trees. It's pretty bare bones but it's there, all the Stanfield and Lombardo family connections, as far as we have worked them out, and a couple others - that's Amanda Alcaide's daddy and mommy, and the program showed just how much that woman got into.

Thank you Mao and Phoenix for pointing me to this website and explaining how it works! You guys rock!

Family Trees

EDIT: I've uploaded most of the major characters and built the extended family relationships. Playing around with it's been an interesting exercise.

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Candy Corn

Ok I should have put him in a costume, or brought his daddy over and put HIM in a costume (almost any costume would do for Gabe). But I didn't. Xtina built a lot for Cruz (this shot was taken in that lot), and believe me, it is a bag full of candy. Go take a look at her blog for some extraordinary downloads.



I'm working on Passages again. I was waiting for inspiration to drop in my bag. It hasn't happened, so I'm going to dress up what I have and go with it. I've also been searching for different hair for Rayne. Not sure if she got a look at something she doesn't like, or just doesn't like anything right now, but she has a permanent scowl on her face. I took the shot from that distance because I thought it was kind of interesting to see her dressed so much like her father. Except for the top...

Happy Halloween to everybody! Eat candy!!!

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Trick or Treat...

After wasting most of an entire week trying to hunt down and change the code in LJ which has been making the LJ User Name invisible, I gave up this morning.

I went back to a standard LJ template, then spent another 6 hours trying to insert a header in it, following the instructions, or trying to follow the instructions. I could never get the link to an image I'd uploaded to Photobucket to work. So I have a giant gray rectangle there instead of a header.

I'm trying to think of it as symbolic of something other than my utter inability to coax LJ into working with me. But I can't. It's the equivalent of getting a bag full of dental floss instead of candy...LJ's not so amusing trick.

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Not Entirely Unexpected Surprise...

I thought I would have another Passages update out by now, but instead, we have a new Sessions chapter which is even better! Hope you think so.

One character should be vindicated. Two others...judge for yourself.

PLUS...HOT new look for Cooper! Gayl outdid herself!

Session Chapter 17 - No Surprise

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More Weather Thingy

Success! I changed the NB view to Extra Large and the Domes of Death are no longer there! Thank you!!!

Of course, it's the middle of the night and the sky is blue...so I guess this is really only useful if it is NOT the middle of the night LOL!

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Weather Thingy

I installed the weather thingy, the blue globe light, clicked on the sky, selected a month.

Went into Buy Mode; design; hit Tab to get a shot and this is what I get.

Is it supposed to do this?

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Stars and Clouds Etc

I would really love to be able to put some stuff in the empty blue sky space in my shots but I do not know how. At one time I downloaded a weather atmosphere object from MTS, but either I didn't understand how to use it, or it wasn't what I wanted. I do NOT want to use gun mod's radiance lighting.

My Photoshop skills are notoriously poor, but I'm willing to try hard if that's what it takes to get the effect I want.

Thank you for any and all help!

And a couple of odd searches - nothing as interesting as some of you get.
- "Matt Antonelli" (??? - nobody here by that name)
- "Responsible Travel News" (how on earth blogger delivered my site up to that poor person, I simply cannot imagine)
- "purple frog catalog" (ok, I have no idea)

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The Silent Partner

I use community lots all the time. I know you can rezone to make them residential, but I need the functionality I get with the community zoning. I can't work without them, but they're a pain in the ass. Since I frequently can't get what I want in there by myself, I use a third party to do it for me. He's obliging. He's efficient. He buys and sells and brings the crap in there and he's happy when he turns a profit.

He's also kind of hot, so it's a mutual pleasure.

So while I'm studying different venues for just the right place to send everybody for my next update, I thought I'd thank Colin Westover LOL!!!

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Passages 5 - Dim Light in a Dark Corner

When I started Passages, I knew I was going to have to do it the way it felt right. Some of the chapters will be very short. One scene. One emotion. One encounter at a time. If that's how it works, then that's how I had to do it. Maybe because I feel it so clearly. That's my excuse anyway.

This is one of those pieces.

Passages 5

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Passages Update - Down the Rabbit Hole

I apologize for not editing these shots. They would complement the piece much better if I knew how to blur them, etc. But I don't.

Thank you everyone who has supported me so graciously. I really appreciate it.

and special thanks to Gayl for not letting me quit, and to Phoenix for sharing how to insert the 'read more' code using the updated editor. Thank you both!

I also want to thank goodbye_sun for her incredible facial animation overlays and the catalog of child animation poses. You are truly a treasure. I could not possibly create without what you have so freely offered.

Passages 4

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Rising Above Update

After a long break, Wyatt is back! Gayl just posted an update to Rising Above, Fall to Pieces.

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Nightmares

Or dreams...

I had what I thought was a crazy OMG I want to do this idea about something. For about the length of a dream I actually thought I could do it. Yeah that is so wild I really want to do that!

Ummm...no. Instead I was left with that bad feeling you get when you've had a dream that is not quite a nightmare but it's pretty damned close to one.

The really sick thing is that I spent about three days chasing that stupid idea all over the place, looking for ways to do it, scheming, making clones and moving stuff around until finally...SHRIEK. What are you doing girl? This is one big stupid horrible MESS!

Now I'm not sure why I ever thought it was even an idea, much less a GOOD idea, or why I ran after it so hard. And that, friends and neighbors, is a nightmare.

Not sure what I'm going to do instead. Wait until I see it I suppose.

Why is this guy up here? Because he was part of it. He usually is. I blame it on him. My bete noire. Hi Gabe.

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Red on Red - Passages Update

I used a ton of red in this piece - red trees, red walls, red NB objects I pulled right into the lots. It's short. I hope it works. Ryan and Rayne.

Passages 3

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Falling Bridges - Sessions Update

No bridges actually fall, not the kind that are made out of steel!

Our collaborative effort, mostly Gayl's, but I did get sort of carried away with the bridges...

As far as timelines go, I put this chapter prior to Passages. We got some great feedback about filling in the gap. We hope this helps.

Sessions 16 - By the Way

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Toys

I've been playing with some fantastic NB objects, embankments and bridges (MTS2 Criquette). Yeah they're hard to work with. But if you get the right angle and don't mind fussing a bit with them, wow....Of course this is my own take on them, and probably not how they were meant to be used.

If anyone knows where these have been used for storytelling (well except for me because I'm using them), I'd love to take a look. I'm always, always ISO NB decor.

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Chameleon - A New Companion Story

Gayl has just posted a new Sessions companion storyline under the general heading Chameleon. It is fantastic (of course)! Please take a look!

Chameleon

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Beautiful Things - Passages Update

I wanted to showcase Gayl's gorgeous work, talk about beautiful things! She helped me make plain shots beautiful. Thank you so much!

And I want to tell everyone who has kindly supported me as I begin this. The comments mean a great deal to me, and I appreciate the feedback. It has been extremely helpful in planning our next Sessions update. THANK YOU!!!

Chapter 2 of Passages is posted.

Passages 2

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Passages - First Chapter

First I want to say thank you to everyone who has given me so much support.

S@ndy for helping me with the header colors
Phoenix for helping me make the header the right size

And last, but of course not least, Gayl. For using both broken arms to keep me from running for the exit, more than once; for fixing my shots; for patiently explaining why the first ten versions did NOT work.

The writing is...well it's like words hung on a coathanger. That's what it is.

The timeframe - sometime after the Sessions Chapter 15. I deliberately didn't get into that.

The focus - Rayne and other second and third generation people from our collaboration. But the focus will be on Rayne.

I hope you enjoy - it was EVENTUALLY fun to do!

Passages Chapter 1

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Still Not There and Rant about Pose Boxes

I think I've made peace with the lot - I can work around the problems.

Because I have so many distractions, and my quiet time is so limited, I decided to plan every single pose ahead of time. Write them all down, make sure the box was there, etc etc. (Some of you are probably thinking, doesn't she do that routinely? hahaha...NO) I was feeling pretty smug.

Until I couldn't make a box show up. I moved the whole subfolder to the desktop, installed that ONE box, went in again, and looked for it. It's not there. Why? Who knows why? Bad pose box? I have no idea.

I started the process all over again. Pouring through the pose boxes looking for animations that would work. Writing them down. Making sure I have them.

Now every single move from one lot to another, dealing with the community lots which means someone has to buy the freaking lot and cart the pose boxes over there, get out of the lot, save, sell the lot, and on and on and on...I am wasting an incredible amount of very precious time. Shove game reload time in there and I get frustrated and pissy.

I got two shots yesterday. It took me about 8 hours. And they aint 8 hours worth of pretty.

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Broken Fingernails

After clawing my way through about ten versions, all of them way bad, I've decided that it's either put up something and go with it or stop whining about it. And I came to a dead stop and said to myself, self (got to get her attention) that is one great thing you are thinking, but why you're doing the no whining deal, where's the product? Nowhere.

It doesn't help that the lot I really really needed to work does not work. Is that an excuse? A way to avoid writing? OH NO I can't find the perfect wallpaper!!! The surf isn't there! There are lines in the wall!

Are excuses reasonable? Or are they really just excuses because you're scared to post something without any wallpaper at all?

If you haven't noticed by now, I talk to myself all the time.

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Silk Nights and Anxiety

I'm working on putting up a new blog to follow Rayne and some of the other second and third gen people. I got it up, after spending a hell of a lot of time on the colors. Silk Night looked good. I wander around this site all the time. The titles of the palettes are worth the trip....

This was a header shot I decided not to use. So I'm tossing it out here. I am continuing to work with the bios and I'm having a lot of fun with those.

When I get an actual post up is something else. A few days. Maybe less than that, maybe tomorrow. I'm going to keep them very very short. But I'm almost there. Wish me luck please. I'll need it.

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Cooper's Kids

Well so far anyway...

I'm in the process of setting up in university while I try to figure out what I'm doing in general. I'm working on a new blog to give me cover for whatever I mess up. Working title is Silk at Night...ok maybe not LOL.

I took the opportunity to get a shot of the four of them together. Why? To satisfy my own curiousity more than anything else. I'm always fascinated with the genetics. It doesn't mean anything but that.

From left to right:

Eric, Wyatt, Nate, and Rayne.

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Transitions...

Gayl and I are going to take our next update slowly. In the meantime, I've been working on some of the third generation, trying to find a place for them, understanding who they are, what they want, and where they fit in the whole scheme of things.

Rayne did not surprise me. The next one...well. Maybe a little. I was hoping Cruz wouldn't be quite so much like his father. The third one is an outcross I've kept in my back pocket and decided now might be a good time to let her out.

I'm not sure where I'm going yet, whether to do something separate for them (I'm really hesitant to attempt that) or to see if there's some good way to fit them into Sessions. I run off down all kinds of roads, and I know I do it, so I'm not getting out of second gear yet.

I want to reiterate that these are born in the game, all of them. Except the original characters of course. You can tell I'm really missing Gayl...I'm planting freaking flowers in lots....

I don't know if there's any interest in overviews of our world, or inside views of the residences. I haven't bothered to do that but I can.

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Twitter and Me

Like this has anything to do with anything.

But I did try to get a widget up here with Twitter. After trying for three days, four different user names, gawdawful huge BLUE thing I couldn't fix, and about a million password resets, I gave up.

And took care of something else. Took the dog to the vet and when he pooped on the floor I pretended I never noticed it no did NOT see that. Whose dog did that? Yanking the damned dog out the door....it doesn't make sense unless you know that the vet is part of the huge Petsmart thing so there is a whole enormous store for dogs to walk around and poop somewhere near the bird display. That's where mine unloaded.

Bad me, I know.

I wish I knew how to capture the sound outside our house. In the twilight it is just amazing. The water, always there, the trees and they have their own voice catching the air, that undercurrent of insect zong and the high rip from the birds, noise gaining altitude. Sorry, I'm no poet. Shot is basically our backyard, when the creek is really in a muddy flood after hard rain.

I am trying to write. I really am.

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The Age Thing....Again

As everyone who reads our work knows, we aren't writing a legacy story. People age at totally unrealistic rates, depending on what we need and want.

Fourteen chapters back, we aged someone up and got a shocked reaction. We are considering another, similar transition. I don't want to go into some convoluted explanation, but I'm not sure if just DOING it is the right thing either.

So in between wondering if I want to try to deal with a restaurant scene (that is so hard to manage on a community lot...maybe if I don't include an actual kitchen, just tables, I can make it work), I'm staring at 'age' again.

All that said, we are working on another update. Might take us a while.

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Backlinks

I accidentally blew up my last post trying to figure out just exactly how to make those backlinks work - I'd messed up a test post before that one - sorry about that!
At least I think I finally worked out the problem, and I like the backlinks. It took me a while and some accidents before the process made sense to me though.

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Sessions Update - Sacrifice

We're doing something a little different this time. It took many, many rewrites to get it where it is - I think I was working on version 13 this morning. We wanted to try looking at the same event from three different perspectives. We hope it works.

Ok I have to add something. I've been messing around with the comments and links and I figured out why something strange was happening. I think I just fixed it. If you saw an extra post here...it's not here now. I'll repost when I don't have to link it.

Please see Gayl's blog for info on what's going on right now.
Sessions 15 - Sacrifice

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Weather Report....

We are working on our next chapter, and this shot, although it's old, does relate in a way. Ok I'm reaching for a shot LOL but it does remotely sort of relate.

Check out Gayl's blog for info on what's going on with us. Please do.

We put up a resource blog. Another work in progress. I'd like to know what you think of it. It is not a huge everything you ever wanted thing. It's what we use, when I can find the links, and I can't find a lot of them.

And I am really not comfortable with the latest Blogger edit update and would love to hear from anyone who can tell me what the difference is between LARGE and MEDIUM shots when I can't see any html detail on what that means. It looks like a way to put up snaps for the family reunion. No way to edit size once they're up there.

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Manifestations - Sessions Update

I'm going to take this opportunity to show off some of Gayl's incredible artwork. Both pieces are included in the chapter, but I'm putting them here anyway because they are just freaking beautiful. This is, of course, Camilla.

This is short on description and longer than I think either of us expected. It's a mutual effort again. Some stuff shot by me, some by Gayl, and writing the same.

The storyline is starting a new thread, or a slightly different thread, so it's going to take a while to build.

Sessions 14 - Epiphany

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Housekeeping

Long hot week, humid and thundery and miserable. One of those weeks that make me wonder why I have pets after watching the cat eat a frog.

We're making progress on our next piece. It's going a bit slower (ok a lot slower) than anticipated because some of our characters are getting makeovers (as in Cooper...). Body types. Skins. Ink. This was a project we wanted to undertake for some time. I wish I could say I'm helping. I can't even get Bodyshop to load, so about all I can do is critique from the backseat...but Gayl is a fantastic driver LOL!!

I took a look at my site on LJ and thought about it. It's pitiful. I don't have the time, energy or technical ability to set up a working site on LJ, as much as I would like to. Plus the navigation is really hard for me to understand. I've never been able to figure out how to upload shots. There's so much interesting stuff going on, too.

I still do not have TS3. I don't know when or if I'll ever get TS3. So I don't have to sweep up after that yet.

We may have an update by the end of the week...

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Question about Photoshop

We are working on our next piece, and I really want to do this fast for a change. I have a couple of problems, so I'm asking for help.

This is my big problem. If you look at these shots, you will see something at the bottom that is driving me crazy. Every time I use Photoshop and the Omni lighting, I get this THING at the bottom of the shots. It's like a transparent line that bleeds into the shot. Why is that? WHAT is that?

Thanks to everyone who has been following our work. We appreciate every single reader.

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Dreaming...Sessions Update

It took a long time to both write and shoot this chapter. An entire new NB; difficult poses and overlays (thank you Veron!); and the concept itself was a long time coming.

I'm going to admit to some significant anxiety about the concept. I hope it works.

And again, this was a total collaboration, both the writing and the shots, and impossible to accomplish without Gayl's expertise and patience. I was never able to master one of the overlays - this beautiful shot is all hers. At least half the shots in this piece are her works of genius. Thank you...

Sessions 13 - Far Away

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Considering Perfection

Perfect shots, perfect poses, perfect combo animations, perfect characters, perfect writing. The perfect phrase. That one drop of water in a dry land. The flight of the bird across the empty sky.

What is perfect? Do you gaze into 'perfect' until you go blind, like staring into the sun? When does the pursuit of perfection become paralyzing? Why? How do you get past it?

Perfection is a bitch.

And we are still working on our next piece. We took Perfection out and got her drunk and left her on the side of the road. She was not happy. If you see her, don't give her a lift.

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Writing Right Off the Road

I'd like to say that writing is like following a huge spotlight down a highway. Ummm...no. It's not. Not for me. The road is frequently very dark and then turns hard left into a deep muddy ditch. And I just drive right off into the ditch.

I don't try to make bad stuff work. I'd rather slog back to the main road and try again, no matter how long it took me to get into the ditch. I'm sort of used to it by now. Broken navigational system, no headlights, or something. But it is sometimes disheartening to spend a lot of time getting to that ditch only to realize that it is, really and truly, a DITCH.

How do you get back on track when you wander off? Or do you never wander off? Is this just something I do that no one else struggles with?

Once I get back to the road, with Gayl's unerring sense of direction she'll point the right way (thank you always), I'll be dragging someone new along with me.

I didn't know him very well yet. (sneaking in a bio) I still don't know a lot about him except he's about 17 years old. However, it took only two shots before he showed me who he is. And it was, ultimately, no surprise. I'd like to blame him for putting me in the ditch, but he isn't driving the car. Interesting distraction though.

I really do appreciate, always have, always will, enormous thanks, for those of you who have read and stuck with me.

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Tangled Up

But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind,
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
Tangled up in blue.

Our latest Sessions update. Sometimes the blood is on the tracks. Tangled Up in You

Warning: nudity and language. If it bothers you, don't go there.

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Swimsuits on a Dark Beach

It's been almost 10 days since our last update. The next one is maybe half way done. Maybe.

Collaborating on the last few chapters has been exhilarating, challenging, and completely exhausting. I see endings splattering off in many different directions. Just when I think I see the way to move, I realize that traveling that way will open up issues I may not be prepared to deal with.

Is that sloth? Distraction? Learning my limitations? Or cowardice? Or all of the above?

When do you censor? Why? Because people are going to be offended? Because you think it violates a character? (And yes, sometimes it does.) Or because you can't go on?

Camilla is like my dark side, so she's there, urging me to pick up the rock and bash someone with it. For drama. Go for it. Cam is not a romance novel sort of girl.

This is the first time I have ever self-censored myself. I am NOT talking about sex or nudity since I have no problem with that (big surprise LOL). Nothing about any of my self censorship has anything to do with sex or nudity. It's about writing myself into a dark corner of the beach. I think I'm ready to throw some light on the beach though. Find a friend and just walk out of the dark.

The next chapter will be posted sometime soon. Reader support means a great deal to me so thank you, all of you.

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BYOB

This is one of the longest pieces we've done in a long time. It was either come up with another concept (uhhhh...) or cut it in half, which didn't work at all, or go for it. And I'm hoping somebody gets why the first shot and the last shot are both in there like that.

Gimme some of that Ryan, don't bogart the Scotch LOL!

Sessions 11 - Figured You Out

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Genres, Maps, Appreciation and a Question

I’m always surprised and delighted when someone new finds our work and leaves us a comment. Many of the links to our work appear on sites with writing in a very different genre, leading me to wonder what happens when a new reader follows that link and lands right in the middle of Sessions. Where are the vampires? Where’s the magic? Did someone make a mistake? Genre is important if you land in unfamiliar territory, find no landmarks, and wonder if the map is wrong or if the mapmaker had a really bad day.

Reality is that everyone prefers certain genres. If you don’t see vampires, for example, and the map led you to believe you were going to find vampires, do you take a look and go NO vampires I'm out of here?

I do get if if you do. If you’re in the grocery store and want to buy vampires, you don’t want some woman in the aisle trying to distract you with a sample for something else. I sure don’t. Hey, I’m here to pick up a couple of vampires, I don’t want somebody giving me a little plastic cup of granola as a substitute for vampires even if it has almonds and blueberries in it.

What makes you take a second look at work outside the genre you're comfortable with? A great shot? A stunning title? The first two sentences?

And that is why I want to thank all of our readers in general. Those of you who have stuck with us since the beginning, and those of you who have only recently found our work. However you did. Wrong map. Strange sample. Whatever. You've pointed out inconsistencies; raised questions about personal interactions; and reacted to our work in totally unexpected ways. Your comments have changed my work. And given me the charge I needed to keep on going. It’s wonderful and fascinating and makes it all worthwhile.

Oh one more thing. Gayl drives the race car. I'm the pit crew. I think I'm damned good at it and I enjoy doing it. But I don't drive the car.

Thank you.

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Transitions

Transitions. How to transit (is that a real verb?) from one dramatic scene to another. Or from a cliffhanger ending to the beginning of the next piece.

No head hopping allowed. That was my first easy choice. I could do that. So I'm not doing that. If you need a stunning transition, how do you manage it? Grab someone else and go to their point of view? Try to pick up where you left off? I try to use movie transitions as a model but that doesn't always work. How do you do it? What works for you? What does not work? Would you tell me if what I did didn't work? Would you tell me if it did? Or give examples of what worked beautifully and what didn't quite make it.

The shot has nothing to do with anything except I needed one and pressed Tyler into service. It's sort of a transition. He could be transitioning out of the pool. Now I KNOW that's not a verb.

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Narrative Voice

This is a hot button topic for me.

I started writing strictly from the first person POV from the time I wrote my first pieces, maybe 7 or 8 years old, because I write what I know and that's what I do and that's what I've always done. When I finally moved past that (and I'm slow so I'm talking YEARS, at least after I got out of high school LMAO), I stuck strictly to one POV although I don't really know why. Habit I suppose. Eventually I found it annoying and limiting and quit it.

Using third person, occasionally I would switch from one person's point of view to another's in the same scene. I knew I was doing it. It didn't happen all the time. But sometimes it was necessary. And I didn't realize I was doing anything wrong.

I recently discovered that's called head-hopping, and it is a very very bad thing to do.

Am I going to go back and fix everything? No. Will I try to avoid doing that in the future? Well yeah I guess so since it's such a horrific deal.

Do I understand why it is so horrible? No. Doesn't bother me when I'm reading something. Do I understand why other people hate it so much? No.

I'll respect the rule. But if anyone can tell me why they find this so offensive, apart from the fact that it violates a rule, I'd be interested. (And a couple of people I like and respect do seem to really dislike it.) Please don't tell me to go read X by Y as an example of great literature. I don't care. I want to know why you personally hate it. Is it like someone who doesn't turn off the left turn signal for miles and miles and you want to scream and froth at the mouth? Now I can understand that....

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Fireworks

A little late for 4th of July but there's certainly some rockets red glare. This is a total collaboration with Gayl from concept to completion.

Sessions 10 - Used To

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Hanging by a Moment - Sessions update

Gayl and I have just posted another chapter. Death by tabloid I suppose. Her creativity makes all the difference but it is a lot of difficult technical work for her.

Sessions 9 - Hanging by a Moment

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Historical Revision

I went back and revised South Beach Chapters 36 through 39 and left notes warning/announcing that the changes significantly impact the storyline. I have to admit it felt right. I'm not sure I'm going further than that, although there's a hole in the storyline now. I'd rather work around it I think. Haven't made up my mind. And I'm working on the next piece and would prefer to focus on that.

Because I was using png images when I did those chapters, it's a pain to reread them. I wouldn't recommend bothering. It's not necessary since the same issue will be addressed in upcoming chapters.

Although I don't expect any comments on this, I'd welcome boos, hisses, rotten tomatoes, anything really. I'm interested in reactions.

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