It's been 260,000 words and about a year since I put it aside.
I realized as I was crafting what may be my longest and most epic story that I was truly telling the story of several main characters and not doing that well.
Kim (the original main character) had been the center of the family and she remained the storyteller.
However, her daughters each had their personal journey of discovery. Her husband was experiencing friction from his 'real life' and his fetish life overlapping and the structure that comforted him was eroding and evaporating before his eyes.
Her son most of all was going to go down a rabbit hole of self-discovery and coming of age that involved truly growing up in the course of the story.
It was either write several branching storylines that themselves were epic or simply not do justice to any of them. I chose instead to put the story away and let it percolate.
I completed the prequel "Keeping the Menfolk in Line" which takes place 8 months before the events in Keeping the Entire Family in Line yesterday. It sets the tone for her husband's interest in dominance and submission.
Last night, I sat down to write what I hope is a satisfying epilogue style chapter to the conclusion of Keeping the Entire Family in Line. I could never truly do justice to it if I continued it in the 'day to day' style of telling the story as well because I had developed so many interesting side-characters and after putting it aside for a year - that was challenging.
In many ways, I just felt I needed to bring conclusion to this family that I breathed life into. I had seen things change through their eyes and felt I owed them as much. This chapter won't continue their journey as much as leave it in a place that is well concluded. It is my hope that as you imagine those side-stories and their continuing exploration of kink that you one day write stories like this - as I'd love to read them.
I'll continue concluding Keeping the Babysitter in line (only a few chapters left!) and roll out the Tig Ol Bitties story.
I do have one other to preview. It's a departure for me because I've tried to make it about the 'mundane' ness of a fairly normal family and a fairly mundane girl going on vacation. Since I wrote a story about girls with big boobs (Tig Ol Bitties), I thought it only fair I call this one "Itty Bitty Titty Committee" to give you some idea of who is in it.