I recently commissioned some art: Anime style Alex and Val! This happened after mentioning on my Twitter how I’d prefer an anime rather than a live-action version of my stories.
This is for a few reasons, but mostly due to the bigger audience and wider appeal an anime around my story would have (as compared to a live-action show, which are almost never successful unless they pander to a mostly mainstream (straight).
Meanwhile, anime has an entire, popular genre (Yuri) that both men and women watch.
So that’s how this happened. It was fun! I’ll be commissioning more artists, so drop your favorites in the comments below and I’ll see what I can do!
Again, thanks to everyone for being so patient. I had a loooot going on the past few months and it made it really difficult to stick to my update-a-month schedule that I was trying so hard to stick to. Writing is hard, guys.
I’d read the latest chapter first before reading this blog post any further (not that there’s anything particularly spoilery, but just in case.)
Ahem.
This chapter, which is 52 pages long in Microsoft Word, is 100% Val-centric. It’s basically a ‘day-in-the-life-of-our-favorite-mob-boss’ chapter, which I think is good because everyone has been asking to be in her head, and frankly I missed being in there anyway. It’s a good glimpse into what Val has going on, since the story has been very Alex-focused up until this point. Alex does show up eventually, though, so I’m sure that was a big relief to those of you that have been Sterling’d, which is probably 99% of you.
I’m excited about writing the next chapter because I get to have the two of them in the same room again, for longer than ten minutes, for the first time in forever. Writing them separately is a huge pain. I’m so used to them occupying the same space a la Alex’s Girl.
I’d love to know what you guys think of the chapter (as per usual) so feel free to leave comments here or on Wattpad.
Here’s the chapter song! Castle by Halsey (who, by the way, I will be going to see at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. If I can get Halsey to make out with me I will of course let you all know so I can brag about it.)
Sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise Tired of all these cameras flashing, sick of being poised Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it Already choking on my pride, so there’s no use crying about it
(Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei)
I’m headed straight for the castle They wanna make me their queen And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s saying that I probably shouldn’t be so mean I’m headed straight for the castle They’ve got the kingdom locked up And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut
Straight for the castle
Oh, all of these minutes passing, sick of feeling used If you wanna break these walls down, you’re gonna get bruised Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it Already choking on my pride, so there’s no use crying about it
(Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei)
I’m headed straight for the castle They wanna make me their queen And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s saying that I probably shouldn’t be so mean I’m headed straight for the castle They’ve got the kingdom locked up And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut
Straight for the castle
In other news, the Skype Group Chat is still going on! We’re a bunch of fun chicks that you should come hang out with. To join just add me on Skype (by searching for me via my Email, Taleth.Phaulkon@gmail.com) and after I’ve accepted your add request PLEASE send me a message letting me know you’d like to be added to the group. It’s really that easy, I promise.
ALSO I’m very active on Twitter now, so that’s the best place to go if you’re looking for more consistent, frequent updates on my writing progress. My most recent writing-progress related tweet will always be pinned to the top of my Twitter profile.
Not that I don’t love hearing from you guys but before messaging me or commenting to ask when the next update is, make sure you’ve checked one of my SEVERAL social media sites to see if I’ve answered your question there.
Oh and if you’ve recently messaged me or sent me an Email I promise I will respond the second I have a free moment!
I’m no longer going to promise to update monthly, but I will try my hardest to anyway.
I’ll post the Chapter Six Preview in a few weeks or so, so be sure to check back (or, if you follow me here too, you’ll get Email alerts when I post anything.)
OH and before I forget, I’ve entered Lost Then Found into The Wattys 2016, which is probably a longshot but hey I’m down for the challenge. I’ll be honest–I don’t fully understand how The Wattys work. BUT if you do, then feel free to do your thang and show your support for LtF because winning things sounds cool. Honestly it sounds like they choose winners based on votes, shares, engagement/comments (aka Data analyzed by their ‘data scientists’) so if you do any of those three things you’re helping Alex and Val out, and that’s rad.
Thanks to my lovely betas for reading 52 long pages and correcting my dumb mistakes despite having busy lives (and dumb mistakes) of your own.
I know this is a little late but pretty girls distract me on the daily. Chapter Four will be posted early April! Fair warning, it’s a doozy. That’s right, a doozy.
Here’s the preview of Chapter Four:
“It was a long time ago, for about two months give or take,” Val said, waving her hand in the air as if to shoo the label of ‘ex’ away. “Totally not a big deal.”
Laura was now staring at Val as if through new eyes. Alex wasn’t sure which was more obvious, the intense jealousy or the admiration.
“How did you get her to commit?” Laura asked, leaning back against the bar. She shot Alex a sidelong glance. “I thought Alex committing to a relationship was the stuff of legends.”
The Greco woman spun the straw around her drink then took a sip. She let out a humorless laugh. “It was pretty short-lived,” Val said, lifting her eyes to Alex’s again. “It probably didn’t even really count.”
The look of mischief was gone, and instead Val looked… honest, like her old self. It caught Alex off guard, causing her heart to thud harder against her chest.
The blonde woman was still staring at Val, seemingly speechless. She had never felt so tongue-tied. What was she supposed to say? Was she supposed to go along with this casual mood Val was setting? Why did Gabe disappear when she needed him for moral support?
“It counts,” Alex said, surprised when she heard the words force themselves from her throat. Val was clearly pretending that the encounter they had had last week hadn’t happened, so Alex decided to play along. She took another minute to look Val slowly up and down again. Her soul quaked. “You look good, Val.”
ALEX BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THE UNDERSTATEMENTS THO.
Here’s a snippet from Lost Then Found‘s Chapter Three 😉
***
“Alex.” It was Laura’s soft voice. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hand lifting and resting on Alex’s forehead. Her soft fingers felt cool against Alex’s skin, and the blonde woman let out a hum to show that she was awake.
“I feel like I got run over by a truck,” Alex mumbled, letting out a slow breath as she felt Laura run slender fingers through her blonde hair. “That feels nice,” Alex said, feeling sleep pull at her once again.
“What happened to you?” Laura asked, and Alex had never heard such a tone in the girl’s voice before. Alex opened her eyes to peer at her. Laura’s pretty copper eyes were filled with tears as she poured over Alex’s face, her other hand gingerly reaching forward to feel over the bruises on Alex’s face. “What did they do to you?” She was choked up, and Alex worried that she might start crying, really crying, at any minute.
“Laura,” Alex cooed, managing to sit up against the headboard despite it sending shockwaves through her abdomen. She winced in pain and grunted, her hand lifting to rest over her stomach. She took a few deep breaths and then put on a mask. She offered Laura a small, fake smile and reached forward to cup Laura’s face. “I don’t look that bad, do I?”
Laura smiled and let out a giggle despite the tears beginning to spill over her cheeks. She placed her own hand over Alex’s, turning her warm cheek into the woman’s palm, her eyes fluttering closed as if to relish the sensation of skin on skin.
Blue eyes were fixated on the concern etched on Laura’s pretty face. Alex hadn’t known that getting hurt would have had such an effect on her friend. “Where’s Gabe?” Alex asked, glancing around the dark room again.
***
There you have it!
Stay tuned for the actual chapter, which is set to be posted sometime in early March 😉
As promised, here is the sneak preview of Chapter Two!
Just a heads up, I couldn’t find a particular part of Chapter Two that I thought was ‘sneak preview’ worthy, or the ones that were gave the story away. So instead I’m just giving you the first few lines of the chapter.
Alex, mind racing, stared dumbfounded at Laura. She had always thought that Laura might still have a crush on her, but she did her best to ignore it. It would only cause problems, anyway, and Alex respected Laura too much to just sleep with her and cast her aside afterwards… despite that being exactly what Alex had done the first night they had met.
But details.
Both of Laura’s brows were lifted as she peered steadily at Alex. “So are you going to let me in, or continue staring at me like I just murdered your parents?”
Finally, the doctor came to her senses, and managed to reply, “A mob princess can’t joke about murdering people, it’s eerie.” Alex took a step back and gestured towards the living room. “Come on in. Gabe’s already here.”
“I don’t murder people, my henchmen murder people,” Laura said. “Plus why can’t you just say weird instead of eerie like a normal person?”
Chapter Two of Lost Then Found will be posted in February! If I had to guess I’d say probably sometime during the first week, but don’t hold me to that. Seriously, don’t. It’s a LONG chapter to make up for the fact that most of you had already read the first half of Chapter One back when it was the ‘Epilogue’ of Alex’s Girl.
Oh, in other news, I have brought on another beta to make sure I’m providing the best possible writing to you guys. Yay two betas!
There’s Res, who will be doing the first read through, and then there’s Andrea, who will be doing the second read through. They’re both awesome and well qualified (one is a lawyer and the other is a great writer with a degree in English… or maybe it was Creative Writing? Regardless, they both know their shit.) I’ve also known them both for years, and they’ve read a TON of my stuff. A ton of my really really bad stuff. They’ve seen some shit and I trust them to edit the fuck out of Lost Then Found to the best of their ability.
Also, Important Note: Some established details from Alex’s Girl / Book 1 have been changed in Lost Then Found / Book 2, and those changes will be made to Book 1 during the editing process which will NOT be updated on Wattpad. So if you notice an inconsistency between the two stories it’s probably intentional. First example that’s happened so far: In Alex’s Girl Gabe’s eyes are described as green, in Lost Then Found they’re described as hazel. When I’m editing Alex’s Girl I will be updating it to reflect the changes made in Lost Then Found. Changing a character’s eye color is a minor example, but there will be bigger changes later on and if I remember to I’ll try my best to address them in a blog post.
Okay, that’s it! Stay warm for my fellow east-coasters and see you guys in February 😉
