Update - August 2025
Added 2025-08-02 09:00:11 +0000 UTCHowdy all!
So I've spent the last few months crashing out, having an identity crisis, trying to figure out the broad concept that is "life" and what I want from mine. Just imagine many weeks filled with stress, existential dread, and mental agony. Which is an overly dramatic way of me saying I've spent a whole lot of time thinking about stuff.
Stuff like this - MindSpark - and my writing in general.
I love writing. I absolutely want to keep doing it. But the dreams and goals I had when I started this Patreon thing have shifted and changed. Used to be, I wanted to write smut and naughty stories and if I could make a lil' cash doing it, awesome! And don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the naughty and kinky stuff. It's just... I want more. I want to write novels, books with mainstream appeal, depth, stories that ask big questions and try to answer them. The kinds of novels that really don't fit well with Betty Big-Tits getting porked by Dad.
The question that's been a constant in my mind the last few months - longer than that, honestly - is if I can do both. Sit down and commit to writing a novel while also maintaining MindSpark and keeping y'all happy.
It's something I've actually tried a few times.
In the past, I've sat down, opened a blank document, and tried starting a novel. And, every time I've done that, I've had this voice in the back of my head scolding me for not working on MindSpark stuff. If I'm writing, I should be writing the stories I'm being paid to write. I have obligations to fulfil, and it makes me feel like a colossal piece of shit when I underdeliver on the MindSpark side. So, I always end up closing that document, opening a new one, and trying to write a MindSpark story/series chapter instead. Only, when I do that, my mind is never really in it and I end up either not writing anything, or writing something I'll end up scrapping because it's not good enough.
I feel like I'm being pulled - torn - in two different directions, and I have to pick one. Either I continue with MindSpark and give up on my dream of writing novels, or I shut down this Patreon and leave stories unfinished and people disappointed and all the potential I have here unfulfilled.
It's that decision which has been crippling me, more than anything else.
And, after spending months agonising over it, I've come to a decision. I'm going to write a novel, chase that dream, shut down MindSpark. But not yet.
I'm not a good enough writer right now to write the stories I want to. I'm decent. I can string words together well enough. But I've still got plenty of improvement to do before I enter the big leagues. And that's what I'll be dedicating myself to here, as MindSpark, going forward. Improving and learning, preparing.
July 2017 is when I set up this Patreon. July 2027 is when I'll be closing it down.
From now until then, MindSpark and improving as a writer will be my only concerns. I'll finish every series, fulfil every commission owed, rearrange everything in my life so that writing is at the forefront. I'll challenge myself, do everything I can to get better. There'll be experimentation: stories with spooky/horror vibes, stories exploring all manner of kinks/themes/settings, chapters ranging from a few hundred words to many thousands, shifts in prose, stories that comprise of mostly dialogue, and so much more.
Basically, for the next two years, this is my path forward. I've spent so long agonising over what to do, not knowing which way to go. And now I have a solid direction.
So what can you expect in the short term?
This week, Sapphic Shorts is the focus. Two shorts will be going up alongside this, and there'll be a couple more through the week. After that, All American Queen returns and begins its final arc. Past that, I have experimental story I want to do. And the first chapter or two of a grounded Baby Steps style story later this month.
Beyond that? I don't know!
We'll see what happens, I guess.
Thank you for reading. I know how unreliable I've been, especially lately. Those days are - hopefully - over now. I'll do my best to make the next two years full of the best-written smut I'm cable of!
Comments
Hoping for a continuation of "I have no mouth" and "Shard Warriors"! Love your writing and hopefully you'll give us your new author name for your novel once you retire MindSpark! Any ideas about the genre?
Sou Nekuni
2025-08-14 10:21:03 +0000 UTCGodspeed, man. You were one of the writers I followed that got me back into writing, and got me dabbling into making my own smut. And I completely understand the desire to make something more serious. Thanks for your hard work, and when you get your project out, I hope you post it here so we can find it. Cheers! Thanks for everything, Mindspark.
Christopher Patrick Lizares
2025-08-02 11:44:14 +0000 UTC