Yep.

Hey y'all. :)

Hey everyone. I just wanted to check in really quickly.

I've missed you all, and I'm hoping to check out how the stories are coming along later when I have a bit more time. Things have been really difficult at my end, so I know that dropping the project was the right thing to do, but I still regret it and wish I would have been able to stick things out.

Hope everyone has a great holiday. Miss you.

Hey everyone. After some soul-searching, I decided that I am going to have to drop out of this project. I loved participating and I'm really disappointed to have to give it up, but I just can't meet the deadlines and in my current headspace the guilt and stress of that is getting contorted way out of proportion. It's been building to this point for a while now. I'm really really sorry everyone.

Sorry, that was a response to Aggeloi.

Well, it's a long story, but I'll give you the short version. It was incredibly random. Some guy targeted me on a cricket site, abusing me because HE THOUGHT I WAS BRITISH. I mean, wtf. And once he started, he wouldn't let up. He was trying to get me to add him on FB, making up fake profiles to try and get me to accept him. He wants at my personal info BAD. After he tried to pass himself off as an international cricket player, I had to point him out on the cricket site to warn other people, because I'd seen he was adding "fans" fast. When he saw that, he knew I was onto his game, and he sent me a threatening email -- threatening both me and my family. Fortunately some big admin/writers on the cricket site have my back and are working to get this guy banned not only on the site but off Facebook as well. It's hard to really take him seriously, as he's only slightly smarter than salt-- but I'm off of work for health reasons right now (I was diagnosed bipolar earlier this year, sorting out meds has not gone well) and it's still managed to get under my skin in a way that I'm not handling well. I have to be honest, I'm really close to bailing on the project because I can't focus on anything, let alone writing at the moment. I would hate for it to come to that, but I'm not really pulling my own weight right now and I know that's frustrating for everyone, including myself.

Thanks JD. This morning I found that I had support from an amazing source -- a cricket journalist/editor that I adore on a major cricket news site. My jaw dropped when i got the email from him this morning. That alone may have made the whole experience worth dealing with. :)

*sigh*

I'm starting to dread deadlines on this site. Bad things happen to me every time they come near. Be warned, this one is a doozy. I can't believe it myself.

I've got a stalker.

Yep, that's right. A stalker. Fortunately (somewhat) an online one, but he's making life a bit difficult right now, and I'm trying to get his **** sorted. It's been brilliant though -- as stressful as it's been, he's been the perfect stalker in the sense that he's so bloody stupid. I'm behind several days though guys... this has been going on for about a week now and my head just hasn't been into writing. I'll keep you guys abreast of the situation. It promises to be memorable. Might make a good story when it's done.

Aggeloi hon, I can't read ANY of your chapters. Is there any chance that you can email them to me? I think you already have my email addy.

Glad to see you put some meat on the detectives character, and i like how you're increasing the sinister aspect of him. To be honest, the last line was lost on me--I have to go back and reread so I can put "Lucas" in the proper context. I was a little confused by some of the flippancy -- I don't remember previous chapters being quite to that degree. The awkward dialogue in the car was really well executed and I LOVED the crotchrocket. I had thought that "crotchrocket" was a regional term just used in Michigan and i haven't heard it for years! Glad to see it's still kicking around. :)

I think it says a lot about your skills as a writer that you can take a character who is utterly boring and predictable as a person and make him a completely interesting character. It was a great idea by Al, and you keep the fascinating dullness right in line with that. I love it.