Just so anybody reading chapter 20 of Mercy and worried that it says "The end ... for now", dont worry just yet.

I plan to bring Mercy, Brand, and company back for a Book 2, with a focus on the idea of self-forgiveness.

I mean, its great to forgive others, but what if you cant forgive yourself?

I have no timeline for when I'll actually be able to have something to share, but I promise that as soon as I do, I will post it for everybody who still likes these characters to enjoy.

I dont know how others write, but I tend to write in sequence - that is, I write the first part of a chapter first, then each event as it occurs.

Once in a great while after I have finished a part of a chapter, I realize something would actually work better earlier, and switch it around, but generally the story unfolds as I write it.

But I think I need to do something different for the next chapter of Mercy.

Well, despite a long time delay that made me wonder if my muse was no longer interested in Mercy, she gave me enough to finish chapter 19.

I hope the long delay hasn't scared away all my readers ...

Well, I had a very bad day today. First, I tried to get my pink slip from my old work only to be told its up to my local guy - a guy I cant even get a hold of - to get that done.

Then, I went out and found that someone had gotten into my car - again - and threw everything in my glove compartment around. At least this time, my battery wasn't dead ...

a story of mine has been published.

Here is the link:

http://www.createdgay.com/files/magazineapril2017a.pdf

If you havent read it yet, Bailey Summers' latest piece, Touch Starved so hits it on the head it hurts.

I often feel like I am starving to be touched, but thankfully I do have my mom so the occasional hug can happen for me.

So thank you Bailey, for saying what so many of us feel ...

Well, I ran into a brick wall with my Mercy story.

I was gonna have Faith meet with a suicidal student, but since Vantier just did that in her latest chapter, and I don't think I could top it, I need to go in another direction.

If only I knew what that direction was ...

I'm trying to bribe my muse with chocolate but no luck so far ...

I have been noodling the idea of a group of explorers who are taking clues which lead to different parts of North America and a hidden puzzle piece that only when all are found and everyone cooperates will lead to the ultimate treasure.

What I'm hoping for is a group of authors, each one following one of the teams looking for the answers through them finding a puzzle piece, and then one large story that would be about all the teams working together to get the treasure.

Would you want to be involved?

Well, it was a mixed bag of emotions at my daughter's birthday last night. I was very happy to have some time with her, of course, and the food was good, but the conversation ?

Well, not so much.

See, my mom started talking about my brother going to college, and my sister in law going to university, and how successful they were and are, but when it came to mentioning me ... well, let's just say I have had less success in my life.

I was reading the other day that a lot of places including the U.K. and Canada are looking into dress codes that force women to wear heels at work, as well as overly sexual outfits like short skirts. While this is a good thing, it sucks for those of us who are used to trans stories that feature a guy following the girl's dress code ...

I just wanted to publicly thank Crazy Pagan Gurl for her help in editing my short story collection.

If I can, this weekend I'm going to try and submit it to Kindle, and I'll let everybody know when it's up.

Of course, doing this also means 26 of my shorts will be taken down from this site, but don't think I don't appreciate all the comments and kudos those stories have received here.

No matter how successful this little experiment is, I will always be grateful for this place, and I'm not done contributing just yet.

I was having a conversation with Efdumb the other day, and he suggested I might want to put some of my stories into a collection for sale on Kindle.

Its a good idea, but I am stuck on what stories I would pick. I mean, it would probably take 10 stories to make up a decent sized book, and my stories don't tend to be connected to each other directly, so how would I select the stories?

Any ideas, anybody?

Bailey Summers' newest chapter of Jem got me thinking of a moment when I was a teenager.

A couple of girls who had become part of an unofficial D & D group with me were at one of their houses and we were just goofing around, and then the girls decided it was too hot and since they didn't have bathing suits handy, they simply stripped to their underwear. Despite feeling a touch self-conscious about my body, somehow I got talked into doing the same.

You guys may recall a while ago I challenged our authors to come up with a story starring a "mature" trans person.

Well, I decided to take myself up on my challenge, and I'm working on the story right now.

No idea when it will be done, as I am splitting my writing time between this story, Mercy, and another new piece called "Help! My girlfriend is a unicorn!"

So all I can say for now is, stay tuned ...

Well, I got some adulting done. I filed the paperwork for my name change, and I took Sharon out and got her some groceries. All in all, not a bad day.