Fakeminsk TG Fiction: Constant in All Other Things

Constant Book 5, Chapter 14: I Tried My Best, v2

With this chapter growing a little too long, I

Constant Book 5, Chapter 13: Forcefem, v2

I don't often go back and rewrite quite this extensively, but I really wasn't satisfied with the way this chapter turned out. I'm still not entirely pleased with it, but at some point, I guess I've got to draw a line under it and move on. In any case, there's are substantial changes throughout, although the overall shape of the chapter is unchanged. I've added a bit to the fight at the start, cleaned up the dialogue with Quinn, added in a few flashbacks, shifted the mood in the secon...

Writing Update: 31-10-25

Change: +2,614

Year to date: 177,431

Gosh, editing is hard. Clearly, I'm over-thinking things. As is often the case, word count for the week does't reflect the actual quantity written as I've trimmed and chopped a lot of stuff away. The rewrite of chapter 13 is nearly done and should be up this weekend, then I'll return to polishing off the end of chapter 14. After that, I'll be turning my attention back to Who Made the Lamb, I think, for another chapter or two.

Rec...

Writing Update: 24-10-25

Change: +7,266

Year to date: 174,817

I spent last weekend at my (now annual?) mini-break, my so-called "writer's retreat" in a cheap AirBnB down on the Sussex coast, in this case quite literally somebody's posh shed in their back garden.

As before, I really enjoyed the get-away. I treated myself to one nice birthday meal, and the rest of the time ate 2-for-£8 Wasabi ready meal...

Constant 5, Chapter 14: I Did My Best, part 1 (draft)

Chapter fourteen, the conclusion to book 5, has grown a little beyond expectations so for now I'm splitting it in two. I should have part two ready for you by the end of the week. Enjoy! As always, feedback and comments appreciated. At the moment, Book 5 is looking to come in at just a touch over 120k words.

Fourteen: I Did My Best

The fevered chanting of her name subsided at the sound of a single chord, struck from the darkness of an empty stage. She emerged to rapturous silenc...

Writing Update: 17-10-25

Change: +3,177

Year to Date: 167,551

Real-life work continues to rather selfishlessly intrude on my dreams of writing super-stardom, but at least after much consternation and writing-blockage, I managed to push through into the far side of the final chapter. I think. Hopefully, it'll be ready to publish by early next week.

Last year at around this time, I gifted myself a little "writing retreat". I saved up the proceeds from the patreon for a couple of months and then rented...

Writing Update: 12-10-25

Change (since last update): +6,760

Year to date: 164,374

Oof, what a week! 14-hour day at work, and other distractions - specifically, rats crawling up the drain and chewing their way into the bathroom! - haven't made for the best writing. Still, some progress made and I'm a good way into what should be the final chapter of Book 5. The overall shape of the chapter's slowly emerging, and I'm probably trying to squeeze too much into it, but I'm hoping to have it done, or at least cl...

Constant 5, Chapter 13: Forcefem (draft)

I really struggled with this chapter. The initial pass went very well, the first half emerging in a single sitting. Then I decided to insert the dialogue with Quinn, and that took a lot longer than expected. A lot of moving bits around, deleting and rewriting, and it's still not where I want it to be. I may end up cutting the whole, though I'm hoping not to. The same with Anna's musings at the end of chapter, which I wanted as a sort of meta-commentary on the genre but which currently feels a...

Art by Fraylim: Wedding Night

I love this one (but then again, I love all of Fraylim's work.) Not every piece Fraylim's done corresponds directly to a written scene--though it's very easy to imagine this particular bridal outfit in Cindy's near future. Ivory basque, stockings, pink nails and smoky eyes: is this her husband's fantasy, or David's own?

With chapter thirteen coming out later this week, Book 5 is nearly done. Then it's just a matter of revisiting the end of Book 6, before moving on to the finale. Those w...

Writing Update: 26-09-25

Change: +2,876

Year to date: 157,614

A weekend of editing chapters 11 and 12 led into a tumultuous week of real-world stresses, and consequently a lackluster week of writing, with the exception of a singular rally on Thursday in which I hit that golden 2,000 word mark for the day. Once again, the change hides the actual quantity written, once you account for the words trimmed and tossed away. In fact, the next chapter's coming along nicely and I a...

Book 5, Chapter 12: This Girl, Myself

Well, Patreon apparently didn't like chapter 12, and took it down and hid it.

I've gone back and made some edits, and here it is once again - now in .pdf and .epub formats. Enjoy!

Writing Update: 19-09-25

Change: +3,792

Year to Date: 154, 738

Listening to: Tron: Ares

One of the best live shows I've seen was back in 2018: Nine Inch Nails at the South Bank Centre as part of the Meltdown series, curated that year by Robert Smith (The Cure). I say 'best' but to be honest, this is more an impression than vivid memory. I drank way too much and the second half of the show's a bit of a blur, but what I reme...

Constant Book 5, Chapter 11: This Is What You Want

.epub and .pdf versions attached below.

2025-09-12 11:07:37 +0000 UTC View Post

Writing Update: 12-09-25

Change: +4,616

Year to Date: 150,946

Hit the 150k words for the year mark, which feels significant, though also a little disappointing, in that I hit it in July last year. Objectively, 150k strikes me as a pretty big number, and a solid landmark, one to celebrate rather than bemoan. So I'm going to do that. Meanwhile, day-to-day writing is nearly back to it's pre-summer levels, and I would've hit my 5k for the week had I not edited a bunch of text...

Writing Update: 05-09-25

Change: +4,005

Year to Date: 146,330

There's something perverse in the fact that since returning to work on Tuesday and resuming a ten-hour work day that I've consistently hit my thousand word target.

In any case, as much as I really, really miss the holidays, it also feels good to be making progress. With this week's writing, the current chapter is now approaching 7k in length, and feels about halfway done; I may have to split it in two to...

Writing Update: 01-09-25

(Written on the 1st, posted on the 2nd.)

Apologies for the overdue update.

Every summer, I travel home to catch up with family and a few friends. Canadian by birth, I now live in the UK. Returning home is always a complex time for me. On the one hand, it makes me very happy. Of course it does: I'm on holiday. There's family and old friends and August in Canada is always gorgeous (albeit getting a little too hot these days). The skies always seem brighter than back in England, the ...

Art by Fraylim: Cindy On the Hunt

After a short break, I'm back writing. The next chapter takes its inspiration from two sources: first, this fantastic piece Fraylim did recently; and two, Chapter 16 of Stephen King's novel Billy Summers. If you've read that novel, you've got an idea of where this might be going (and if you haven't, I highly recommend it. I wasn't much of a fan of King's writing, and this one convinced me I was wrong.) I read it a little over two years ago (I think), and I've been sitting on this chapter ever...

Writing Update: 02-08-25

Apologies, again, for the delayed or missed update.

So, the summer tends to be a tricky time for me and writing. In the past, I've just written it off: last year, I shuttered the Patreon for a month. I'm loath to do that again. First, because it hurts the Patreon. But also, because my writing conditions have changed.

Throughout Constant's history, I've written it in the shadows, so to speak, it's been a secret project of mine hidden from friends and family. This made it very di...

Constant 5, Chapter 10 (Draft)

Apologies for the missing update last Friday - an intense cold floored me for a few days (and seems to be returning), and then I went camping for a few days.

Chapter 10 took a lot longer than expected. I found the scene between Mel and Cindy surprisingly challenging. In any case, enjoy! And as always, feedback and comments always appreciated.

Currently posting directly to Patreon; pdf/epubs to follow later today.

***

Ten: For What Remains

Mel moved around her b...

Writing Update: 18-07-25

Change: +679

Year-to-date: 134,552

Obviously, those numbers aren't quite accurate. I wrote a solid 4k words last week, but with publishing the latest chapter, I also deleted all the edits and fragments of old text from my working document - those were repackaged yesterday for the Cutting Room Floor.

So, having just finished six chapters in a row of Constant (roughly 56k words) I may need to take a little break, or at least try my hand at something different...

Cutting Room Floor: Book 5

During the writing of a chapter, there's all sorts of text that ultimately gets cut and discarded. Sometimes just a line here or there, occasional paragraphs, sometimes much longer passages as I head in the wrong direction before correcting and rewriting. These usually build up at the end of the working document. Sometimes, I like the idea and I'm reluctant to throw it away. Other times, I'm hoping to salvage the time and effort and find a way to reuse the content. They often indicate directi...

Trouble with posting Chapter 9

Patreon's automated checking service has twice now taken down and hidden the recently posted chapter 9. It's been flagged for "teen safety" which is baffling, as there aren't any teenaged characters in the chapter. I thought maybe Willow's reference to magical schoolgirls triggered it and cleaned that up, but--nope, it got taken down again.

It's the first time Patreon's censored my work like this. There are unpleasant scenes elsewhere in the novel, but I'm struggling to see what is trig...

Writing Update: 11-07-25

Change: +6,750

Year to Date: 133,873

The week started terribly, with a bout of low mood and mild writer's block. Last Friday through to Monday I barely wrote anything. There's usually a bit of a hump when starting a new chapter, but I really struggled to find my way into this one. By Tuesday, it started to get better and then Wednesday--no idea what happened--it just sort of poured out and I wrote over three thousand for the day, which never reall...

Art by Fraylim: A Girl's Night In

Cindy's looking a little anxious there, don't you think? It might be the strain of fitting in with "the girls" on a Friday night. Another lovely piece of art by Fraylim, accompanying the next chapter, dropping early next week:

"Returning with drinks precariously balanced on a tray, I walked with the practiced rolling gait of a careful maid, the one I’d learned at Julia’s last weekend. End credits scrolled in silence as Emma and Mel faced off:

     &nbs...

Happy Fourth of July!

Truly, Cindy is a girl of many nations, but I choose to believe that in her heart-of-hearts she yearns for the maple syrup and poutine of Canada. It may be July 4th but Fraylim just crafted this fine piece of patriotic pulchritude, and how could I not share?

You can check out a few more patriotic images on Fraylim's DA page, which I really recommend you do! And while you're there, why not leave a kind comment?

2025-07-04 07:12:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Writing Update: 04-07-25

Change: 7,261

Year-to-date: 127, 123

A good week for writing! I hadn't anticipated on finishing chapter 8 this week, but the writing went well and I hope you've enjoyed it. I've already started on 9 and hopefully that one will be ready by next week, too.

I'm often influenced by whatever I'm reading at the moment. Some of the more recent chapters were written under the shadow of Sally Rooney's Intermezzo, for instance, which remains ...

Constant, Book 5: Chapter 8 (Draft)

Feels like I'm on a bit of a roll this month, pushing out nearly a chapter a week. This one completes the 'Jonas' arc. Book 5 currently sits at 71k words. I've got a few more chapters planned for this book, and reckon it'll finish at just around the 100k word mark. At which point it'll be time to turn to book 7, and bringing Constant to its conclusion.

In the meantime, however, here's the current chapter! As always, feedback and comments always apprecaited. Enjoy!

***

2025-07-03 10:38:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Happy (Belated) Canada Day!

Yes, I'm a day late. Apologies - very busy day yesterday. Still, seems the perfect opportunity to repost this picture by Fraylim from last year. I hope your day was full of maple syrup, those funny square-shaped vinegar bottles, twist-top beer bottles, poutine, something vaguely hockey-related, and a touque.

Writing Update: 28-06-25

Change: +4,105

Year-to-date: 119,862

Apologies for the day-late update; I blame the heat. Also, I was kicking myself for the drop in output. After dropping the new chapter, I really struggled to get going on the new one and the writing languished. It was a struggle to get anything down. Fortunately, I eventually got over myself. Four thousand ain't bad, even if it falls below my weekly target. And finding the right tone for the next chapter took s...

Constant, Book 5: Chapter 7 (Draft)

Here's the first draft of the next chapter,