aroslav: Blog

I have one more doctor's appointment tomorrow and expect to be cleared for travel. Woohoozah! So, of course, I'm running around like crazy to get things done so I can hit the road Friday. I can hardly wait to get my wheels under me. My daughter will travel with me on Friday because she is not yet convinced that I should be allowed to drive six hours by myself. She'll fly back from Spokane if I pass her test. Then I plan to start my journey south on Sunday.

I had two great SOL lunches this week. The first with GMbusman and his wife. I got a chance to renew my acquaintance with the Washington State Ferry system and had a great adventure. I took him his copy of the limited edition print version of Double Tears. Good food, good friends, good conversation. The next day, I had lunch with Pixel the Cat. Our conversation focused on my new work in progress, American Royalty 1: Coming of Age. He's now completed the first edit of the first four chapters. Of course, those on my Patreon at the $10 tier are reading weekly installments as I get them written and before my editors even get them.

I'm having a huge amount of fun working on American Royalty. This will be a story set in an alternate universe where an active class structure underpins American society. As a result, it's development is a bit different than what we remember. I'm exploring both the relationship of the royal and his servant tutor and the relationship between the classes in general. As the blurb says: In an American society based on class distinctions, someone still needs to teach the heir apparent how to behave like royalty.

I expect American Royalty to be a three book series, including Coming of Age, Coming to Power, and Coming to Grips. It will probably be released as a Wayzgoose story with very little sex. Not none, but very little. If the length holds at around 110-120,000 words as I hope it will, it would be targeted for release in about June but would begin posting here on SOL by the first of May. Now, we'll see how well my predictions hold!

I've begun the final pass and formatting of Wayzgoose's Stocks & Blondes. I expect it to hit prerelease for my Patreon members next Sunday and have targeted release here on SOL in two weeks--or three at the most. This is another Deb Riley mystery and, of course, she finds herself in hot water almost immediately.

It will be difficult to maintain my usual rate of writing when I hit the road again. I will be traveling pretty much every day for nearly three weeks in order to make the journey I intend. The big mountain passes in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado are already snowed and at risk of closure at any time. So, I plan to cut southwest, avoiding the biggest passes by traveling along the Columbia River, to Portland and then head south on I-5. That will bring me right down through the middle of California where there is more risk of fire than snow. I'll cut back east on either I-40 or I-10. depends on how good my timing is. I'd like to be at my sister's house south of Amarillo for Thanksgiving. Obviously, I-10 has lower passes across the continental divide than I-40 but is a good bit longer way around.

Finally, I plan to cut northeast toward Tulsa, Oklahoma to spend a month or two camped near my girlfriend and exhibit at a book fair in Tulsa on December 7. If it gets too cold there, I'll turn south again for the worst part of winter. There is, I'm told, a lovely nudist park just east of Austin.

So, by that time I hope to have Book 1 of American Royalty in the editing and rewriting cycle and be well on the way to Book 2. This could be a very good year!

Double Tears is getting the expected reads and some good comments. You can always read and participate in the comment section found at the end of the current last chapter of the story. I'm really enjoying the initial reactions people are expressing. Voting for the story will open on Wednesday with the posting of Chapter 103. I love seeing how people guess at the conditions of the society, suggest things they want to see, and talk about their hopes and fears of where the story might go. The story is all written and preloaded for posting on SOL every three days. So, I join the rest of you in reading each chapter on the day it is posted so it is fresh in mind as I read your comments.

I think I've hit the end of my spiel for this week. You might be able to tell I'm feeling better (fantastic!) and am getting more focused again. I hope to be bringing you new stories for many years to come.

Well, I'm off anyway. An old adage my mother would quote whenever I started another project was "He mounted his horse and rode off in all directions." Gee thanks, Mom. So good for my childhood self-esteem.

But November 1, 2019 was a big day. The first chapter of "The Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins" book 3, Double Tears, was posted. I spent a good share of the following hours uploading the other 50 chapters of the story to the posting queue so the entire book is at SOL and ready to post a chapter every three days. I really hate the yellow bars that show up over some stories that say "Inactive and Incomplete" when an author loses interest or just dries up or dies. So, the book is finished.

Early comments express some trepidation about the title Double Tears. There is one event in one chapter of the 51 chapter book that will jerk at your tear ducts. More importantly, it will show to Jacob and his pod how truly insignificant their pissing and moaning has been over imagined ills. The rest of the book is filled with fun and frolic. If you are really impatient, instructions for getting the eBook are in the end note.

November 1 was also the first day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I went to the Seattle Region kickoff party at midnight on Halloween and joined many other writers in getting my first 2,000 words written. Then I got up in the morning and wrote another 4,000. At the end of day two, I was up to 12,000. I have a new story and it has me motivated.

American Royalty 1: Coming of Age is the title of this one. Currently I anticipate three books in this series. I have not decided yet if this is an aroslav story or if it is a Wayzgoose story. There is room for it to go either way. Right now, I'm thinking of it as character-driven literary fiction with a touch of romance and class conflict. I see it as a "Minimal Sex" story, but not "No Sex." After all, it is a coming of age story. Duh!

My Sausage Grinder tier patrons ($10.00/month) already have access to all my development notes and the first draft of the first two chapters. It's not too late to join and you'll find instructions in the end note for my stories. I won't put it here. If you can't find the link, "Send up a signal and I'll throw you a line."

And… I have started receiving edited chapters back for Wayzgoose's Stocks & Blondes, the next Deb Riley mystery. Chapters in this story are a little shorter, so it will start posting two chapters every three days as soon as I have the rest of the edits back. So, with three projects underway, I guess Mom was right and I'm riding off in all directions.

Just a quick note regarding my health. I'm slated into the hospital for a heart ablation tomorrow, November 4. My cardiologist has done hundreds of these with a good success rate and both he and I expect this will solidify my heart rate and prevent me from going into A-fib again. I'll be staying in the hospital Monday night and released on Tuesday. Pending the doctor's okay, I plan to head back to my trailer and go south for the winter. Not that my daughter, ex-wife, and step-husband haven't been more than gracious hosts, caring and concerned nurses, and willing shuttle drivers, but I've been here for six weeks and it will be good for all of us when I leave.

I appreciate all the good wishes I've received from fans. You've made my recovery assured.

I get more excited at this time of year than a kid at Christmas. It's only four days until the start of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). And I'm feeling well and healthy enough to be able to focus on a new project. I can hardly wait to be writing daily again.

The new project will be called American Royalty 1: Coming of Age. It's an alternate reality story in which American society has a well-defined class structure, not based on wealth or occupation, but based on the character of the individual. Education is a process of discovering and revealing a person's character and class. They are told the structure of society and their place in it on or near their sixteenth birthdays. Here's the logline:

In an American society based on class distinctions, someone still needs to teach the heir apparent how to behave like royalty.

If this goes like previous NaNoWriMo projects, we'll be looking at a release on SOL between April and June. I don't know what the sex content of this story will be. I foresee that as in any coming of age story, it is likely to play a role, but how detailed I make it is still up for grabs. I don't know yet if I will post the story as aroslav or as Wayzgoose. Currently, I'm calling it literary fiction. Characters will drive the action and expose both the benefits and cruelty of their society.

I expect that I'll complete the 50,000 NaNoWriMo words easily in the month of November, but writing may continue through December and very likely longer when I add in the two sequels, Coming to Power and Coming to Grips. Sounds like a lot of coming. My Sausage Grinder patrons ($10/month) will have access to the unedited story as I write it with weekly posts on Sundays. Check out patreon/aroslav for details on how you can get access.

But that's not all! I feel like I should be broadcasting on whatever that television channel is that has "As Seen on TV." This past week, I finished the writing of Wayzgoose's sequel to Municipal Blondes titled Stocks & Blondes. The story is in the hands of my incredible editors, Old Rotorhead and Pixel the Cat. Barring the two of them sending it back and telling me it sucks, I expect I'll be able to start serializing it here on SOL by the end of November or early in December. Here's hoping!

And if that wasn't enough… There is only one chapter remaining of Double Time, Book 2 in "The Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins" series. It will post Tuesday this week. And without skipping a beat, on Friday November 1, I'll begin posting Book 3, Double Tears starting with chapter 99.

Unlike previous stories in which I released the eBook eventually during the posting, the Double Tears eBook will be available for purchase on the same day the story starts here. Details on purchasing it will be in the end note. I've finished writing all five books in this series and don't see a reason to hold them back to match the posting schedule on SOL. Binge readers will be able to acquire the eBooks on an accelerated schedule. Those who need the time will continue to have the chapters presented for free here on SOL every three days.

And that's the story for this week. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please drop me a line. I received so many responses to my question "How much sex is enough?" that I was unable to respond to everyone who commented. The overwhelming majority of the responses stated I had a good mix and appropriately labeled most of my stories "Some Sex." A handful want more and a handful wouldn't mind if I cut it entirely. Can't please everyone, so they stay as I've labeled them.

I have one more procedure to undergo and it will be Monday November 4 when I have an ablation to stabilize my heart rate. With luck, I'll be able to hit the road headed south again in the middle of November. I'm glad my family loves me and has tolerated me freeloading here in the Seattle area for a month now and a couple three weeks to go. I know they'll all breathe a sigh of relief, though, when I'm able to travel again.

See you with a new story on Friday!

There's been a bit of discussion in the comments on my story Double Time (Book 2 in The Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins) regarding the lack of detail in some of my sex scenes that apparently leaves some readers frustrated. Others have come to the defense of the story, indicating that it has plenty of sex. It isn't the first time one of my stories has been criticized for lack of sex or lack of 'real sex.'

I don't usually engage in the comments unless asked a specific question because I prefer to think of them as a place for readers to express their thoughts, not for me to justify mine. But since this issue has come up before, I find it somewhat compelling to open a broader discussion on the subject. You can respond to me either through email or in the comments section of Double Time. I'll do a recap here next week.

So, I thought I'd start this discussion, or fuel the other one, with my thoughts about sex in a story. First, let's review the codes here on SOL. According to the definitions made available for authors on SOL, the following five 'Sex Contents Definitions' are offered.

1. Stroke Story: Story is mostly sex.
2. Much Sex: Story contains plenty of sex.
3. Some Sex: Story contains Some sex.
4. Minimal Sex: Story contains just a bit of sex.
5. No Sex: Don't expect any sex.

My stories are coded "Some Sex." To me, that means that the story is about the characters and sex is a part of what makes that work as opposed to "Much Sex" in which the story is about the sex and the characters sort of hold it together. I don't consider the definition to mean that there is some sex in every chapter, though sometimes I think I've really gone overboard with it. I often think of the sex as being just ancillary to the story and only go into detail when it feels like the story just demands more explicit detail.

Apparently, that's where I disagree with many readers who felt the story demanded more detail than I gave a particular instance. Well, for that, we just have to figure out a way to coexist and hope they can enjoy the story with both hands instead of just one.

I think there is a fundamental problem with writing detailed sex scenes every time they come up. I'm reminded of one popular writer on SOL in which every sex scene sounds the same. Each couple-and there are several-makes love in the same progression and often with the same phrases, endearments, and sequence. The scenes are nearly copied and pasted. Even I get bored with copy and paste sex scenes. I could go back a chapter and just reread the last one.

The Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins is five books and 237 chapters long. On average-and the average always has exceptions-there is a sexual situation in most chapters. There is a sexual tease in about one out of three chapters. There is an explicit description of the sex in about one out of seven chapters. Like I said, those are averages. I could go ten or twelve chapters without getting into explicit detail. Then when I spend a chapter (yes, an entire chapter) on a sex scene, I get email that says, "I kind of skimmed over this chapter because it was all sex."

In my highest rated story series, Living Next Door to Heaven, we get to nearly the end of Book 4 before anyone has penetration sex. "Real sex" as one reader suggested. Yet there are scenes of great descriptive teases that end in orgasms-for the characters as well as some readers.

I appreciate your response to the issue regarding how much sex is enough sex in a "Some Sex" story. It's always possible that I should recode the stories. And believe me when I say I would recode the stories and not rewrite them.

Opinions please?

Wanted to get an update out to everyone who has been so kind and concerned about my condition this summer/fall. Let me start by saying I'm much better today, thank you! I genuinely appreciate all the good wishes I've received from folks here at SOL.

I returned to the Seattle area on Saturday 9/28 to await my cardioversion on 10/9. First, thank you to my neighbors for coming over Friday night and packing up my patio and all my food for transport to Seattle. A big thank you to my friend for driving my truck for me! My ex-wife, her boyfriend, and my daughter were incredibly kind in opening their home to me during a time when it was difficult for me to even eat. And thank you for friends for stopping by my trailer over the weekend to make sure it was buttoned up securely and ready for the cold snap.

My sister came to visit Sunday afternoon and found me drifting in and out of sleep in the recliner. And not only was I feeling sick, my ex had gotten food poisoning a couple days early and was completely out of it for several days, including her own trip by ambulance to the emergency room!

Unfortunately, I couldn't wait ten days for the appointment. I was suffering by Monday 9/30 to such an extent that my daughter called my doctor and took me to the emergency room. After they got me settled enough to breathe more easily for the night, they admitted me and performed the Transesophageal Echocardiogram Monday morning and proceeded directly to the cardioversion. I was sent home that afternoon. The next few days were filled with appointments with various doctors to check my progress and all get in sync on my treatment.

They were also days of uncertainty. Sometimes I felt fine and at other times it was as if nothing had improved. The worst was Sunday but there was a marked improvement on Monday.

Tuesday, my ex drove me to an appointment for a pulmonary function test and consultation. The doctor was very attentive and said that even though my lungs were showing only 37% of capacity, she felt getting the water out of my tissues and drying up my sinuses would reveal that in two weeks I was breathing normally. However, I'll need to be back in two weeks for a CT scan and evaluation. As she said, "I hope it's only your heart." I also managed to eat an actual meal at the hospital, the first I've had an appetite for food in a long time. BLT and a chopped salad. Delicious. I had already had a strip of bacon and a scrambled egg for breakfast, compliments of my step-husband. I had another meal of leftover Chinese food when we finally got home, and a few bites of dinner.

Wednesday, at what my ex called "The butt crack of dawn," my daughter took me back in for my follow-up consultation with two cardiologists. Both concurred with everyone else that I need to shed the water weight I gained. I've lost 8 pounds in the past three days and will probably lose at least that in the next week. Wednesday is the first day I've felt completely clear-headed and had a good appetite, as well.

What I didn't know, however, was that I need an ablation now to stabilize the heart in its rhythm. The alternative to that is long-term drugs which can be as harmful as the a-fib in the first place. Scheduling has said I need to stick around until November 4 to have that procedure. Then probably a two-week check-up after to make sure everything is ticking correctly and steadily.

So, I'm here in Lynnwood WA for another month before I can consider moving my trailer and going south. At that time, it will all depend on how the weather is and how safe it is to travel. I'll just have to wait and see. Sadly, that is delaying me from being reunited with my girlfriend.

That brings me up to date. Since I'll be in the Seattle area now for at least another month, I'm hoping to see some of my friends here. If you're in the area and want to get together, let me know. If I continue to improve as I have the past three days, I'll need to get out of the house occasionally. And figure out how I am ever going to repay my ex, her boyfriend, and my daughter for having abused their welcome and hospitality so thoroughly.