In the last twenty-four hours I have managed two pages of "Princess For Hire" and three pages of "Switcheroo," giving me a total of... three pages of "Princess for Hire" and three pages of "Switcheroo" ready for the next postings! Almost there!

Seriously, though. I'll try to have the next part of each story out by the middle of next week. In the words of the great Ellen Hayes, I am finally entering a period of not-suck that means my writing is progressing again.

Who'da thunk rereading your own stuff would help?

Anyhow, I'm off to write!

Melanie E.

This month's writer's challenges!

--Spies Like Us?
--The Song
--Creepshow
--Life On Stage

Month long challenge:

HOlding Out For A Hero

Sorry this isn't up to my normal par for these -- and a week late -- but with my crash and all I forgot all about it!

Melanie E.

Alright, so here's the question.

I'm working on both PFH Book 2 right now and Switcheroo heavily, with another few projects getting worked on here and there. I'm not going to make any changes to the way I'm doing PFH, since it's into the second book already, but I am thinking about making a subtle change in how I do postings of Switcheroo. Specifically, I was thinking about going from two chapters per post to one, so that I could potentially post more often.

For those still interested in participating, here's the update on what challenges are due in April for the Year of Challenges.

No, this is not more challenges to tack onto the already long list there is. Instead, this is something more.

An award.

I need the help of readers!

What do I need help with, you ask? Well, to start with, in writing the second semester of "Princess For Hire" I've decided that there's no better way to do it than to as for suggestions of what you, the readers might want. Do you like a particular secondary character and would like them to play a larger role? Or perhaps you'd like more information on a portion of the school or program that you don't think I've been forthcoming enough with? Let me know! The more suggestions, the longer the second semester will be, and the more rich for it.

Seeing the other authors who have posted their "Thanks" blogs reminded me just how much thanks I owe the community here as well.

In the past few years, I've gone through a lot of drama, most of which I've ended up posting about here. In all this time, no one has ever, EVER, been anything but supportive of me. Through all my ups and downs, Big Closet, and the many wonderful readers and writers therein, have always been there for me.

There is no way that I can thank you all enough, but I can try.

Well, the good news is that in the past week I have regained my will to write!

The bad news?

All I've managed to turn out is a potential Halloween contest story that isn't good enough to see the light of day (though I might post it anyway, who knows?) and three chapters of Princess For Hire.

The last three of Book One.

This is a followup blog to my last one, "I Dunno What I'm Gonna Do."

Well, I'm trying to get a week of vacation time organized at work near the end of October to go home for a week. While there, me and my parents will sit down and talk through the advantages and disadvantages of moving back to see what can be done, and I'll come out to my dad, since that HAS to be done -- and him if not okay with it then at least accepting of it -- before I'll really consider moving back.

Hi, it's Melanie here again with another project to dole out, but this time with a twist:

I don't want to give away this idea. I want an artist to collaborate with me on it.

And so we finally have the delayed chapter 13 of Princess For Hire! With, at its end, a mysterious pseudo-cliffhanger, WOOoooOOOOooo *ghosty sounds*

So, here comes the User Recommendation part. You, yes, YOU, have a say in what happens in the story. Does Beck's dad decide to come up and stay with Sarah's family in Persistence? Or does Beck go home with his dad, meet the mysterious voice on the other end of the phone, and have whatever adventures I can come up with there?

I realize that some people like them, and I also realize that it takes a lot of work to set one up, but I have requested this before.

I do not want an author page that has general links to my stories.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that someone would go to the trouble of working on one, but I have said that I didn't want one before, and unfortunately that still stands.

Parents' Day has been passed, and now it's time to start working on what comes next.

Which leads me to the question presented in this blog: do readers want to experience Beck's Thanksgiving break at Sarah's, including some more fun times around the town of Persistence, or would you rather me move right on to the buildup to Christmas?

Another busy week... don't they all seem to be, any more?

I'm working on the next part of PFH, hopefully I'll have it ready some time this afternoon. I've found that writing while watching Ranma 1/2 serves to both distract me and inspire me at the same time, so that's what I'm doing right now :P

Anyhow, I'll make sure to have the next part posted as soon as possible, and maybe this next week I'll be able to get more done, and faster, so I don't have to worry about delays like this again!

Melanie E.

Welcome to Volume 2 of my request for user assistance on my story Princess For Hire!

I'm working on adding in bits and bobs from Volume 1 into the story as it goes on, but while I'm doing that I had some more questions for my readers.