NaNoWriMo is a wonderful challenge. Every year, I have to really focus to meet the goal, 50,000 words and my everyday work. Unfortunately, this year was complicated with a technical issue. Right as I was writing this story, my computer crapped out. While it didn’t technically die, rather it started to run at the pace of a marching glacier. With my background in IT, I spent some time trying to figure out what was sapping the system’s power and efficiency. To make a long story short, I eventually figured out what was wrecking my system. Unfortunately, by the time I isolated the problem, I had already rebuilt the computer a few times. So, while I’m still rounding out all the software and settings, I’m able to get my work done...

Despite today being Halloween, an important day for my wife, I sat down to complete the trio of flash fiction stories for the month. In case you missed the previous tales, check out Hacks & Upgrades and Purge before delving into the latest installment of the Drifters. finished crafting the last story for my patrons. From the moment I discovered these two, I’ve been eager to flesh out their stories...

Despite trying to get back onto a good schedule, life is constantly throwing roadblock in my path. Fortunately, though some may say unfortunately, I’ve never been someone willing to give up. Despite my resolve, sometimes that terrible idea will flow through my mind. However, I’ve never given up, once I’ve set my sights on something. And for October, I was determined to write a Horror and Science Fiction story for my patrons...

After the momentary visit of the Academy, I’ve turned my attention back to my newest bunch of characters, Charles and Lucille. After receiving confirmation of his father’s fate, Charles has been forced to join the station’s population of vagrants. With each revolution around the harsh planet, Charles is forced to flee to the outskirts of the station...

With two pieces of micro-fiction done, I turned my attention to another group of characters, Ramona and Aiden. The last time I peeked into their lives, Aiden had just gotten closure from his botched duel with his classmate. Post that vindication, Aiden kept one eye on his development as a mage and the other eye on his budding relationship with Ramona. While Ko-fi’s scheduler allowed me to publish the latest piece of micro-fiction, I could not complete the publication process because of a bug that ran through my family. However, now that I’m mostly recovered, I’m getting back on track and completing the process...

Immediately upon pulling the result poll, my mind bounced between potential topics, searching for potential storylines. After a couple of days, I narrowed the fledgling thoughts to the singular seed for October’s Action/Adventure tale. This story will highlight one of Charles and Lucile’s first jobs. Unfortunately, after securing the cargo, a collection of their competitors swooped in, seeking to take over. As Charles navigated the Drifter II around an asteroid field, the engines died...

While I continue trying to regain my footing with my various projects, the discovery of Charles and Lucille in the depths of my gray matter has been a remarkable discovery. As I continue coaxing their lives from the hidden recesses of my mind, the light of my illumination bounces off the beautiful facets, revealing a vast and rich history to explore. As I mentioned last week, the collection of micro-fiction this month that center on these characters will highlight Charles’ journey into the urchin featured in Fortunes...

Despite my recent stumble with writing Micro Fiction, I’m eager to further explore the characters I created for my Patreon patrons. In Fortunes I introduced two young urchins, Charles and Lucille. However, these two are part of the larger collection of disenfranchised living aboard a space station orbiting a barren planet...

With Bantering and Frantic Search complete, and the end of the month around the corner, I buckled down and churned through the last tale for September, a Ghost Story. While I once again couldn’t pin down a storyline, this time instead of turning to NYC Midnight, I headed over to WritingExercises.org and used their first line generator to spark an idea...

Despite being pulled in just about every direction imaginable, I finished this month’s first tale, Bartering, so I turned my attention to the second genre selected for the month, a Comedy. Unfortunately, since I was on a short leash for the month, I turned to NYC Midnight’s collection of prompts and plucked a random one from their backlog...

The last two months have come down to the wire. However, I refuse to disappoint my patrons. Despite pulling the prompts earlier in the month, my day job has claimed most of my free time. Despite that challenge, I have satisfied the top choice from the genre poll, an Action-Adventure tale. Thankfully, with Fortunes fresh in my mind, I instantly had a story to build upon...

With Negotiations and Haunting Shade finished, I buckled down and churned through the last story for my patrons. While the initial seed I planted had this tale going in one direction, the two main characters refused to oblige to my whims and demands. Despite this tale picking up with the urchins Bobby briefly interacted with, I watched Charles and Lucille twist the narrative to their benefit...

With Negotiations finished, my mind instantly turned to the remaining exclusives for my patrons. Typically, when I pull the genres for the month, I’ll take the genres in alphabetic order. However, as I tinkered with the initial stories, I realized I could tell a pair of connected stories with the thriller and science fiction, provided I published the thriller first. With that connective tissue in place, the overview of the tale flowed through my fingers. Throughout the drafting process, the story I wanted to create for my patrons emerged...

Despite pulling the prompts for my patrons at the beginning of the month, other responsibilities leached my time away from my writing endeavors. Thankfully, I have a stubborn streak a mile long and I was not about to let a month go by without crafting the exclusive stories for my patrons. So early last week, I buckled down and started fleshing out the stories. Fortunately, when I pulled the poll, I planted a few seeds and so I had the skeletons of a handful of stories. Up first was the crime caper and a direct follow up from Misdirect...

With Misdirect and Drifting Earwig finished, and the month rapidly coming to a close, I turned my attention to the last piece of flash fiction for my patrons. While I’m not entirely comfortable with Romantic Comedies, I was eager to stretch my skills. Despite having watched several RomComs with friends and family over the years, it was difficult coming up with the initial storyline for my patrons. So, I rushed to my catalogue of NYC Midnight’s prompts and plucked a random one from the depths. After spending some time thinking about the elements, the seed of a storyline geminated within my mind...