How the Best family reacts to the death of their patriarch. How Laura and Joey react to the death of their father. Just a small step into the Best world before we move on with the main story. As always, let me know how I'm doing.
2024-08-04 15:18:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe tale of the trip to New Zealand and some tension that is starting to develop among some of the characters. Let me know what you think.
2024-07-28 09:13:48 +0000 UTC View PostA chapter about traveling a long distance. Hopefully anyone who has been on a long, overnight flight can relate. As always, let me know how I'm doing. I'm on track to return to work mid-August, so I'll be able to keep this writing pace up until then.
2024-07-20 15:07:17 +0000 UTC View PostMy medical leave has been extended until mid-August. I'm actually doing well. The original problem that put me in the hospital has resolved. I just need to work on recovering the stamina to go back to working 12 hour shifts with 8-10 thousand steps per shift. PT is helping with that. In any case, my writing pace of late continues. This chapter answers a few questions brought up by some of you in the last chapter and has a healthy dose of Matt in it. Let me know what you think, keep those error reports coming in (they are very helpful) and I will keep editing, writing, and healing here in the sweltering heat of the Sacramento Valley.
2024-07-16 03:32:22 +0000 UTC View PostMoving toward the end of 2003 in this chapter. Some significant changes take place with the Kingsley household, Helen takes a little flight with Jake, and Matt has some concerns. Keep the comments coming so I know how I'm doing.
2024-07-10 00:35:15 +0000 UTC View PostAnother chapter that moves the story a little bit further along and ties up some loose threads started in the previous few chapters. A little longer of a chapter than most, but I had a lot to say in this one. I'm sure nobody will mind that part. I hope you enjoy it and, as always, let me know how I am doing. When posting errors for me to fix, please include enough of the sentence in question that I can use the 'Find' feature on MS Word to quickly track it down. Most of you already do this, but there are few who simply send me one or two words and I cannot tell from context or from searching exactly where the error is.
2024-07-06 05:18:39 +0000 UTC View PostI'm sure everyone has noticed my production is way up this month. Hopefully no one minds four chapters this month. There is a story behind it. I came down with a fairly serious gastrointestinal issue and got to spend 8 days in the hospital earlier this month. I was discharged almost three weeks ago but remain on a medical leave of absence from work and I can't really leave the house. Don't worry, I'm on the mend and should be back to work by the middle of July, good as new hopefully. In any case, this has left me at home with Mrs. Steiner taking care of me (she is on family medical leave to do this) and leaving me with nothing else to do but write. This chapter, despite requiring a considerable amount of research for the first and last scenes, I pounded out in four days. As always, let me know how I'm doing. This chapter is a good example of how a reader suggestion shaped the story considerably. Those with more religious upbringing than myself (I was raised like Jake, religion-wise), please go easy on me. I researched and wrote the scene the best I could.
2024-07-01 05:01:43 +0000 UTC View PostI've been off work for a bit, so I've been able to do a lot of writing, thus the early next chapter. This one continues to build characters and move the story along down its path and introduces a few new dilemmas that will need to be dealt with. Keep those suggestions flowing and keep letting me know how I'm doing.
2024-06-28 01:41:33 +0000 UTC View PostThis was a fun chapter for me to write even though it starts off with some sadness. It covers Caydee's first day of kindergarten and goes into more detail and character building of the two new characters introduced in the last chapter. As always, let me know how I'm doing and keep the suggestions flowing. I don't always use them, but many times I do and you, my patrons, help shape the story.
2024-06-24 00:18:02 +0000 UTC View PostNo charge for this post as it is not a story chapter. A few people have expressed interest in how I keep track of all the characters in the Intemperance story. The answer is the character sheet that contains the names, birth years, and basic background of all characters that require a backstory of some kind. For those that are interested, I post it here. There are a few in there from Book VIII, but nothing that will be a spoiler. Not all characters were worked up and some details were changed from my original vision of them.
2024-06-21 05:28:37 +0000 UTC View PostA transitional chapter and one that moves things a little further down the road and introduces some new characters. A possible squick for a some readers in this one but what I'm talking will become clear quickly so just skip forward a bit if you're not into that sort of thing. As always, let me know how I'm doing.
2024-06-09 06:00:57 +0000 UTC View PostNo charge for this post as it is not a story chapter but a plea for a little help. Okay, loyal patrons who know more about the details of this story than I do. I know that some people in their lives have been informed of the real situation between Jake, Laura, and Celia. Is Steph from Brainwash one of them, or is she just one of the ones who has been told they are simply divorces and living together. If you find a passage either way, please respond with the chapter and a sentence I can use in the find box.
2024-06-06 15:02:51 +0000 UTC View PostHaving a new one in the house while relatives visit. Always fun. The stories of the little balls and the pee in the face are from my own experience with having a boy after girls. Totally true stories. As always, let me know how I'm doing.
2024-06-01 04:37:30 +0000 UTC View PostA very important chapter in the tale. After a long wait, things have moved along. Let me know how I did. Hopefully I resolved the Celia and her parents' situation to everyone's satisfaction. if not, I did the best I could. This was pretty much what i was planning all along.
2024-05-27 01:31:30 +0000 UTC View PostThe next chapter moves things down the road a bit. C's pregnancy is getting more advanced and other characters are starting to come into their own. As always, let me know what you think. Remember, your comments help me shape the narrative. I might not always follow them, but I'm always happy to read them.
2024-05-17 03:16:43 +0000 UTC View PostThis one goes into politics a little more than I usually do, but I'm not really looking for debates. I would just like to say that I am not writing this with the 20/20 hindsight of having already lived through it. The way Jake feels is pretty much how I felt back in those days, as they were occurring, including the frustration at others. In any case, I'm not going full on political here, just describing a moment in history that shapes someone's views. I will not be dwelling on this subject or preaching and the entire second half of the chapter is all band stuff and KVA business, and shit like that. And, of course, Celia's boobs feature prominently. Let me know how I'm doing.
2024-05-01 21:53:46 +0000 UTC View PostThis is a mostly lighthearted chapter but it brings us to the beginning of a significant period of American history, a period that affected me personally and changed many of my views. It will likely do the same for Jake. As always, let me know how I'm doing here.
2024-04-27 09:17:59 +0000 UTC View PostSorry it took so long to get this one out. In addition to dealing with some personal issues of real life, I just found this chapter a hard one to get started, a bit of writer's block cramping my brain. Finally, I got my shit in gear and got to work. And then I found it required a lot of pouring through early editions of the story to make sure I had details right. Anyway, here it is. As always, let me know how I'm doing. This episode could have been called "Closure" but I went with the title above in relation to a conversation involved within.
2024-04-20 02:29:15 +0000 UTC View PostHere is Chapter 4. I am back to work now, Achilles all healed (or so it seems) after six weeks off of sitting on my ass and keeping weight off the foot as much as possible. Two twelve hour shifts done with a total of more than sixteen thousand steps combined and still no pain. Anyway, moving along with the media shitshow and Celia's little passenger. Let me know how I'm doing, as always.
2024-03-04 00:28:12 +0000 UTC View PostI have been more productive this month thanks to having torn my Achilles tendon which has left me unable to work or do much of anything but keep weight off my foot as much as possible. Fortunately, one thing I can do is write, and I have been. We're a little further down the road with this chapter, which is mostly transitional but does contain what I believe to be some good Caydee and Kelvin dialogue. Let me know how I'm doing, like always.
2024-02-19 18:48:38 +0000 UTC View PostThe tour goes on and so do the lives of Jake, Celia, Laura, and Caydee. Did Celia's baby make it through the fallopian tube to its destination? Is she really pregnant at all? These questions are answered in this chapter. As always, let me know how I'm doing. And don't forget what is going on in the world at this point in history. That will come into play soon as well.
2024-02-13 05:55:37 +0000 UTC View PostHere is the first chapter of Book 8 of the Intemperance series. I hope you like it. And, again, please don't read too much into cameo appearances by past characters. The one in this chapter is meant to convey nothing more sinister than Jake's character. As always, give me feedback and let me know how I'm doing.
2024-02-05 20:31:20 +0000 UTC View PostNo charge as this is not a story chapter. Intemperance VII is now available in final edit form on both Amazon and Bookapy.
2024-01-21 06:52:14 +0000 UTC View PostAnd so the final chapter of Book VII is posted. Not much of a cliffhanger this time, only a little one. Book VIII will begin shortly, so please stay with me. As always, let me know how I did and how I'm doing. I know I say this after every book, but I really think that VIII will be the final novel in the main story.
2024-01-18 04:03:30 +0000 UTC View PostThis was supposed to be the last chapter of the book, but, as things work out, I will need at least one more to wrap it up. This one turned out to be more than I was expecting. Please... please do not read too much into this chapter. I'm merely catching up with some old characters from the past and where they are now. As always, let me know how I'm doing as your feedback helps drive the plot.
2023-12-24 04:34:39 +0000 UTC View PostAnother transitional chapter that is bringing us toward the end of this volume. Once again, I've underestimated how much story I would tell in this volume of the series. I am nearing the end of the average book wordcount but nowhere near where I envision the story ultimately heading. It now seems likely there will be a Book 8 in the near future. I hope nobody thinks I'm just dragging this out because I am not. There is just so much to tell in this saga. As always, let me know how I'm doing and how I'm getting there. Your input continues to guide the story in so many ways.
2023-11-27 03:24:16 +0000 UTC View PostMoving things along in the Celia, Jake, and Laura relationship. As always, let me know how I'm doing. Your input really does help shape the story and I value it, even if I don't always follow it. The plan continues to play out in this chapter. Are there pitfalls though? Perhaps.
2023-11-09 05:10:20 +0000 UTC View PostI had a couple days off from work and was able to finish the next chapter for you all. This one is particularly pivotal to the tale and covers a considerable length of months in universe, but it moves the story on down the line to where it is heading. Lots of stuff going on here and I hope I didn't slap it down too fast, but this one came totally from the heart and hopefully answers many of the questions regarding the Celia, Laura, Jake plotline that have been posed. Let me know, as always, how I'm doing, and please, for the love of God, understand that when Celia and her mother are speaking to each other, they are speaking Spanish but it is presented in English so that most of you (including me) know what they are saying. Actual Spanish words in the dialogue (not the narration) are in italics for effect.
2023-10-26 04:00:25 +0000 UTC View PostMostly a lighthearted chapter with some seriousness at the end, it's purpose to show how life for the characters is moving on after the events of 9/11. Everything about Wonder Woman that was written was discovered by me when I was merely trying to research what her costume looked like and happened across a very intriguing paragraph in the article. This led me down an hours long fascinating rabbit hole that has startling parallels to the story of Jake, Laura, and Celia. To the best of my researching ability, the tale Kim tells about Wonder Woman is true and I will stand by it happily. It's also pretty hot. In any case, I hope you like this one. As always, let me know how I'm doing.
2023-10-20 23:58:13 +0000 UTC View PostHere is the latest. I'm trying my best to move us on from one of the most significant events in recent history. Also, the story of Matt getting caught with marijuana at the airport checkpoint is a true one, told to me by one of my former coworkers in the month post-9/11 as described (the story of Laura tripping over the sea lion in Book 3 is another story told to me by a coworker, only without the lesbianism). It has always been one of my favorite stories to share. Let me know how I'm doing, as always.
2023-10-11 14:23:58 +0000 UTC View Post