Pookie: Blog

Well, it's been a busy few months. But, I believe I'll be ready to post the next chapter this coming Monday, June 30.

Actually, I'll be posting two chapters that day:

Chapter 54 - The Other Box of Books - Sunday, August 6 (119k)
Chapter 55 - The After Party - Sunday, August 6 (97k)

These chapters will cover the entire day for a change. Chapter 54 will reveal what is in the box that Melissa took by mistake. The item Melissa and Sarah find will start the two of them on a quest that will bring them much closer together than they've been over the past year. How can they find the proof they need to completely unravel the huge secret they discover in that box? Will they stumble upon even more things in the process?

I believe you will also enjoy chapter 55 as well. The Livingstons' house becomes quite a busy place!

Have a fun weekend!

Pookie
6/26/14

Chapter 54 is coming along fine. It's going to be another very large chapter. It will cover the entire day of Sunday, which will include a major discovery by Melissa.

I'm taking my time with this chapter to make sure I get everything right the first time. My editor, Nick, has been a big help in doing that.

I know I owe a number of people email replies. I hope to have some time this weekend to spend replying to them. I don't want to just only say "thanks" after the time you took in preparing your feedback.

Hang in there! Hopefully it won't be very much longer!

Pookie
5/24/14

"Chapter 53 - The Old Munson House" has been posted. This is a very long chapter, my longest to date. However, it does cover the rest of the day.

Quite a bit goes on in this chapter. Melissa learns quite a bit about her mother's parents that she never knew, as well as some new things about her mother's youth.

There are some very key moments in this chapter. A few of them are very subtle. I wonder if you'll pick up on them.

I also reposted a few other chapters:

Chapter 30 - the word "heroin" was misspelled.
Chapter 47 - additional dialogue added between Melissa and Sarah to deal with a continuity issue. Several typos were also fixed.
Chapter 50 - a typo was fixed.
Chapter 51 - fixed several grammatical issues.
Chapter 52 - additional dialogue added between Melissa and Maggie before leaving for Long Cane. Several slight wording changes also.

Have a fun weekend!

Pookie
4/12/14

I had hoped to have chapter 53 ready to post long before now. But, things have certainly not gone as planned. First, the weather threw a monkey wrench into my plans. Then, about a week ago, the monkey wrench killed my laptop. Fortunately I had everything saved and backed up! Now I'm trying to decide what to replace the laptop with - another laptop or something else, like a chromebook. I hope to have that taken care of soon.

It could take a few more weeks to post chapter 53. It is huge in size, so there will be a lot to read when you get it. It will cover the entire Saturday in Long Cane. I've resisted breaking the chapter in half. It seems to frustrate readers more than satisfying them.

So, hang in there!

Pookie
3/21/14

I've pretty much recovered from the ice storm we had in the Southeast USA last week. We were without electricity for several days and had a lot of cleaning up to do. I'm now back into a writing groove. At this point, I'm hoping to post chapter 53 in a few weeks.

This will be a relatively important chapter because of the introduction of the Jeffcoats and Thompsons directly into the story. Melissa is introduced to and discovers a number of new things, just as she was in the last chapter.

I had hoped to pick up the pace for posting chapters this year. Two winter storms over the past month have really put a damper on my plans though. Hopefully that can change now. But please remember, this is just a hobby for me. Life and family will always come first.

Also, I want to thank my editor, Nick, for hanging in there with me. He's been very loyal and I very much appreciate his time and expertise. I wish all of you could see the magic he does in cleaning up my drafts. He has certainly made "Melissa's Secrets" a better story with his help and suggestions. I can't thank him enough.

Enjoy your weekend!

Pookie
2/22/14

A reminder - If you do not have the "Access Level" on the Preferences section of "My Account" set to "Full Access", you won't see all of my stories, specifically "Melissa's Secrets".