ghostwritten: Blog

Hello readers,

Here's another week and another blog. Let's start with the week that was first.

Jane Finds Herself had another good week, thank you everyone that gave chapter 7 and 8 (so far) a read. Feedback has been positive and people seem excited to see where things are going. That is a good sign for the future of the story, which I can pretty confidently say will continue post chapter 10 which is the end of the current story arc. So yeah, unless there's a monumental collapse the next two weeks, it means there will be ten more chapters on the way in the future. Why ten and not the usual five, you ask? You'll have to read chapter 10 to find out.

What have I been working on this week? More chapters of the working titled 'Undercover' story. I've just started the final chapter and I hope it finishes well. I will give a little context to what this thing is. The concept of the story came from a post in the forums via a story called Sex Party by Jo-Anne Wiley (please check out that story and give her some love *content warning though*). The forum discussion was about an image used for the story, but the story was about a murder at a sex party. It gave me the idea of what if someone someone infiltrated a party who wasn't supposed to be there and it turned out to be a sex party. That's kind of the basic premise at least. A young reporter on assignment to get into a lavish party gets more than she bargained for and has to adapt to the situation. While there, she gets dragged into a much bigger story. I hope that sounds interesting to some of you.

I've also been working on the Trails Tales story that I think I'm calling The Great Camp. It's still earlier than I would like it to be, I focused more on 'Undercover' this week than I planned. Basics are a group of friends go on a weekend long hike in the Adirondacks and find something that shouldn't exist. The story is written from the perspective of a man recounting the events in his mind years later, as he looks at an old photograph. My goal is there's little to no dialogue between the characters, as it is just a recollection in this man's mind. I need to devote more time to it so hopefully this week will have that.

So what's will you get this week, you ask? Well, Wednesdays are back on the menu with the start of Episode 2 - Aftermath, the follow-up of Snowed In. Chapter 1 sees the first day back after the events of Snowed In, as the students and Mrs. Linda deal with the aftermath of what happened. It is a little lighter of a chapter, as it follows and weaves around to the different characters throughout their morning classes.

After that, Jane Finds Herself chapter 9 on Saturday. What will happen to Jane following the events of the end of chapter 8? How mad is Riley and what might happen at the quarry? These and other things might happen in the upcoming chapter. I don't want to say too much to not spoil the events of the recent chapter.

That's about it for this week. I hope readers are excited for what's in story this upcoming week and whatever may lay ahead. As always, feel free to reach out through the usual channels if you want to give me some feedback. Thank you for all the support and reading this and my rambling stories.
-ghostwritten

Hello readers,

Kind of a light week again, but work is being done behind the curtain. Let’s start.

So yeah, it will be another single-story week this week, unfortunately. I was hoping to have the first chapter in Episode 2 of Science Club ready for Wednesday, but I want to polish it all up. The whole 5-chapter Episode is now complete, which is great. I hope you are looking forward to jumping back into the world of Madison High and the aftermath of the events from Snowed In.

Following that, on Saturday is chapter 8 of Jane Finds Herself. I have been pleasantly surprised by how well this run of chapters has done so far, and the latest chapter seems to continue that trend. If things continue this way with chapter 8, it will likely mean I’ll write more chapters in the future; probably after the new thing I’m working on is complete.

Speaking of, that new story I’m working on under the working title ‘Undercover’ is going well. I’ve finished the second chapter this week and will be starting the third today. I hope to have all 5 chapters done in a week or two, then polish it up before sending to my editor for his buffing pass.

The goal with this story is smaller chapters, reverting to 4k to 5k words per chapter. Recent story chapters have gone a bit long (looking at you, Ashley’s Education and Jane Finds Herself). It made writing multiple chapters each week difficult, so I’m trying to reduce some of that bloat. I know some of you might like the longer chapters, and you’ll be seeing a few in the upcoming weeks, but it just becomes unsustainable for me for long periods. If a story needs it, fine, but 8k to 9k word chapters plus a separate story chapter of something else (another 4k+ words) in one week burns me out.

I’m excited for some of the stuff I have upcoming, like the new story in the Trails Tales series. I think I should have the first chapter done by late next week, if things go well. I’m not quite sure how long it will be, maybe 2 or 3 chapters. I’m taking my time and doing my research on the area like I did on Trail Head. Beyond that, who knows.

I think I’ve covered everything going on this week. Thanks for reading and all your support,
-ghostwritten

Hello readers,

Another week, another blog. This week saw the return of Jane Finds Herself, which just released on Saturday. This will be another five chapter story arc that sees Jane travel to visit Riley for a five days. I know the first chapter back was pretty slow, but I promise they steam up quite quickly. Reception for chapter 6 has been pretty good! Score is down, but I expected that, but views are pretty strong. If they hold or improve from the current levels, it could mean even more chapters in the future. I have a rough idea of where I'd like this to go up until chapter 20, so please read and support it and hopefully it can get there.

Outside of Jane, I've been working on Episode 2 of my Science Club series (AKA Snowed In), titled Aftermath. I finished chapter 4 this week and started work on chapter 5. It'll be a few weeks before my editor can clean up the first couple, but I'm hoping to have it start back on Wednesdays before the end of July. I'll talk more about it when I can confirm the release date, but I hope those of you who enjoyed the first episode follow along. That is my big concern with this concept, but I'll promise an Episode 3 regardless.

There's one other thing I've started working on. It is really early and I'm kind of uncertain on it, but there's potential there. It should take the place of Jane Finds Herself when that run ends after chapter 10. What I'll say is that it is a new genre for me, and the Codename is 'Undercover'. I'm hoping to get a couple of chapters under my belt before I say more. If it goes well and you all enjoy it, there's the potential for a series. If not, it works completely stand alone. Just thought I'd tease it just for you fine folks who read these blogs, you all get the inside scoop.

What's next week, you ask? Unfortunately, still nothing on Wednesday. That shouldn't be for too much longer, but it is what it is for now. Saturday sees Jane Finds Herself chapter 7, where Jane arrives in Riley's small charming town, and hangs out with the Sommers family around their pool.

Pretty short blog this week, but as I said, I've got a few things cooking. Have fun and keep cool. Thanks for reading.
-ghostwritten

Hello readers,

This week saw the conclusion of the two current stories (sort of). As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Snowed In is part of a series of stories following the exploits and adventures of chemistry teacher Linda and her students in Science Club. A group that deals with the after-effects of their discovery of a gas that induces a sexual frenzy. Each new story (or Episode, as I call them) will carry on from the last, that’s meant to mimic a TV show. I still don’t know if this concept will work but I still hope you come along for the journey anyway.

After that, I’ve sadly wrapped up Ashley’s Education, as it has just not performed well by any metric. There was a lot more I wanted to do but I think I just wrote something that very few people were interested in. Thank you to those of you who did check it out, I appreciate it, and to those that commented and sent me messages of support.

This is the first story I’ve abandoned without any potential for a satisfying conclusion, but it just don’t get the views to warrant any more. I am sorry to those that enjoyed it and just know that I didn’t take this decision lightly. I hope to regain your trust again in the future.

On a hopefully brighter note, next Saturday see the return of Jane Finds Herself. In this new batch of five chapters, Jane is conflicted about the events she experienced while camping. When Riley reaches out to chat, Jane confides that she slept with a married man, she just doesn’t say who. Riley suggests Jane take a break and visit her for a few days, to get away from her problems. This leads Jane right back to where she was, much to her confusion and delight.

I hope you look forward to this return. Despite it not getting a large amount of views, readers were quite vocal about wanting more. As I’ve said, it enough people champion something, it can help sway me. If it does well, I have plans to continue it further. I really hope this one does well, trust me, there’s LOT more fun to be had with this story.

Thanks for reading and all the support,
-ghostwritten

Hello readers,

I know I didn't do my usual blog this past weekend. I didn't think you needed another week of me saying 'this week has another chapter of Snowed In and Ashley's Education'. There wasn't much there to say about one until now.

Snowed In has done very well week over week and I'd like to thank everyone who's given it a read. I know it wasn't the standard character-driven linear based story that people enjoy. It had its' introduction and then split up characters into separate rooms until the final chapter. I've had a few people ask what comes next, so I just want to put it out there. Snowed In was the introduction, the starting point, for the series Science Club, which follows Mrs. Linda and the students from Snowed In as they figure out what to do with the drug/gas they created.

I'm currently writing Episode 2 - Aftermath, right now and I hope it will be ready for the end of July or early August. Each Episode should be five chapters long and might deal with a central story element or theme. I'm attempting to model this approach like a teen TV show, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Smallville. How successful will I be? Probably not very, but I'm hoping it is at least a fun disaster along the way.

For an example of what I'm thinking. Episode 2 focuses on the first week following the events of Snowed In. This one is more focused on Warren and Brittany, following a lunch meeting where everyone discusses their thoughts on the gas incident. The two get to work trying to improve the formula before the rescheduled Science Fair. We are introduced to Brittany's ex-boyfriend and Warren's current bully, Chuck. There's less sex in this one at first but other episodes might have a lot more once things are set up.

That's kind of a taste right now. There will also be other side-plots and things as the Episodes continue. Let me know your thoughts on this approach. It is a risk, but I've always been more of a TV person than a book person, so I thought I'd give this a try.

Thanks again for the support, and I hope to see you for Episode 2 - Aftermath!
-ghostwritten