Arcadia: Blog

Chapters 8-10 went up this morning! I’m definitely thinking that waiting a week between posts was not a great idea, so I’m going to start doing twice a week instead, aiming for Tuesdays and Fridays. The idea is that I think this is such a niche story that it's never going to get a lot of visibility, but I think the people who like it will really like it. So I wanna try to give it enough space to breathe so maybe some more people can stumble upon it and find something they connect with.

But a week is too long! I can't take waiting that long! :P I'm still figuring this kinda stuff out as I'm still a very new author, so thanks for bearing with me as I stumble through finding the best way to share Lupine Dreams. Writing it was an absolute pleasure, but sharing it with other people who connect with the characters is really what it's all about. I look forward to sharing the experience with you all as the story picks up (:

Arcadia

Part 2 of Lupine Dreams dropped this morning, which includes chapters 5-7!

At a touch under 8,000 words, this installment I think is pretty representative of the length of most remaining parts.

I was very encouraged that the people who enjoyed the first part seemed to really connect with the characters in particular -- if you enjoyed Part 1, it will only get better from there (:

One of the most interesting experiences I had while writing this was choosing and listening to Cameron's vibe tracks. Cameron herself I know is not a character for everyone, and her musical taste I imagine is an even smaller subset haha. I definitely had to do some research myself to make sure I understood exactly what her tastes were.

This week's chapters include what I'd call by far the most mainstream vibe track in the whole story. But Cameron would probably say she can't help if other people have good taste occasionally too :P I think it’s the first of many of her vibe tracks -- especially as the story goes along -- that, when I hear it out in the wild, I will always and forever associate with Cameron's, well, vibe, in the scene.

The vibe tracks were pulled from a playlist of songs I thought Cameron might be into that I listened to while writing which really helped me to stay connected with her character, I think. But they’re really just there for flavor -- you aren’t missing out on anything if you’re not familiar with them or if you don’t listen to them.

Hopefully just knowing that they exist says something about how indelible music is to who Cameron is as a person, and of course know that they were selected with as much care and attention as every other part of who our characters are and what they do (:

I always appreciate hearing what readers connected with (or didn’t), and I hope you’ll find something in Part 2 that speaks to you.

Thanks for reading (:

Arcadia

I am so, so excited to share what I've been working feverishly on over the past two months: Lupine Dreams.

Part 1 has been posted, which includes the first 4 chapters to start things off and set things up. The story is finished and I've broken up the 40 chapters into 15 parts of 2-4 chapters each depending on natural story breaks. I plan to post weekly.

As it says in the story description, Lupine Dreams is a romance novel geared toward readers who are interested in diving deep inside the psyches of insecure, modern characters trying to become the best versions of themselves.

I totally understand that won't be a lot of people's cup of tea! It doesn't matter if the rest of it is good, if the characters don't click, the story won't work for you -- that's just kinda the way this story is. So I fully expect this will really only click with like, three people here. But for those three, it'll really click! :P

One of the things I appreciate most about SOL, though, in my very short time here, is that it’s a place where everyone can find something that speaks to them without a filter. So you three people out there, this one's for you (;

On a personal note, I’ve never written anything nearly as long or with as many moving parts, and the final product far, far exceeds my wildest expectations. I never knew if I had what it takes to write a story like this, and now I do. Regardless of anything else, it’s been a really rewarding experience to write.

I say this in a blog here on SOL because although I want to share my hard work with the people in my life...I don't think it would be a good idea to share this particular hobby, unfortunately. You kind folks here who have been so welcoming, including those who didn’t dig my first story but had something constructive or encouraging to say anyway, are the only people I can tell that I actually accomplished what I set out to do.

So thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy reading (:

Arcadia

Even as I was finishing The Missing Piece, I had a larger story that was really just bursting to get out of me -- and it finally has! But, I've never written something so long and unwieldy and with as many moving parts. So I'm really hoping to find a kind SOLer or two with an affinity for long, slow-burn romance stories who could give me some high-level feedback.

If you like to carefully examine character motivations, root for a misfit pairing, and to tear up with a smile, then I'd really, really appreciate your help! I'd really love to talk with someone with some experience in reading or writing romance in particular, because it's not really a genre I've spent a lot of time doing either of.

It's definitely "minimal sex," and is very character-driven in a grounded, modern setting. The writing style is similar to my first story, but the subject matter is different. Content tags would just be M/F I think. I know all of that's probably a pretty narrow niche...but basically my goal is to continue to write stories that appeal to fewer and fewer people until finally it's just me :P

The story is about 130k words and is completed. Doesn't need any editing, just looking for some general feedback and maybe some more specific questions if you keep reading about things like pacing, certain emotional beats, character development, etc. to see if everything is landing the way it's intended.

I figure I could send the first four chapters (about 19k words) if you're interested and then if it turns out not to be your cup of tea, no big deal, that's still helpful feedback too.

As currently structured, I think it will probably be released as a roughly 15-week weekly serial, but all of this is new to me, so I'm not certain about that yet. In any case, I'm extremely excited to finally get to share the characters I've been hanging out with every day since the end of February. I hope you'll have as good a time getting to know them as I have (:

If you'd be interested in giving me a hand, I'd be extremely grateful! Please shoot me a message if so and we can link up (:

Arcadia

The feedback on my first story, The Missing Piece, was extremely encouraging, and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who read it and especially those who let me know what they thought! I was nervous that there might not be many other people who would be interested in the kinds of stories I have to tell, but it's very gratifying to find out that there are dozens of us! :P The reception, comments, and messages have been so positive, including ones that had critical things to say. I think that was the most encouraging part -- all the feedback has been overwhelmingly constructive, and it's really encouraged me to keep writing.

One of the other great things I've noticed is that even readers who liked the story seemed to have interpreted it in different ways. That's terrific! One of the hardest things about writing the story was trying to make sure that readers could experience it just as Daniel did, without looking deeper into what was going on (especially because I was too afraid to have someone read it beforehand to give me feedback!).

At the same time, I also wanted readers to be able to see that Daniel wasn't seeing the complete picture. It was challenging to find the right balance between leaving some subtle clues about what Charlie was going through without hammering readers over the head with it. My goal was to make it so that that's there if you want it, but it's not completely necessary to enjoy the story. Personally, I see it as Charlie's story told through Daniel's eyes. But Daniel might disagree!

Thanks again to everyone who read The Missing Piece, and I look forward to sharing more stories in the future. If you like an even slower burn, romance, and music, you might like what I'm working on next (;

Arcadia