Crossroads — 2026-03-06 (Patreon)

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Chapter 28: PARADIGM SHIFT by Meredith Sinclair

I’m heading into the weekend slightly excited. I can feel the wordsmith within me waking up from a long, long hibernation.

Last week, I met with Will Robertson and we talked about some dormant ideas I had for a new book series. He was encouraging, and we made a lot of notes. I spent a notable amount of time looking over them and thinking.

He texted me on Wednesday asking how the planning was going. One of the girls in my Calculus class saw the message notification pop up while she was at my desk having me look over her work. I’ll forgo details about her reaction, but it was sweet.

I replied to Will: “Something’s missing. There’s a good core, but it lacks something.”

“I’d be happy to be a sounding board,” he replied.

I hesitated, then replied. “Can I call tonight?”

“Absolutely. Any time after six.”

I called and shared a Google doc with him so we could see the same thing while we talked. We went through what was there, and nothing was jarringly off.

“I feel like something’s missing,” I said. “It’s too sterile. It feels like it’s all going to happen in a pristine shopping mall or something.”

“Hmm…” Will’s cursor moved around in the notes on the screen, but he didn’t say anything for a while.

“I feel like it needs something.”

Then he replied. “You said the story is about the people. You want it to be ‘when good people work together, good things happen’ right? So, that’s all lined up. Nice and tidy, and that feels sterile.”

“Exactly.”

“What if the city becomes a side character?”

“Go on…”

“Cloud city, like you have noted, but it’s old. The anti-gravity system is showing signs of age. Periodically, it misaligns… Pipes leaking, so water runs in the streets where it’s not intended. The moving sidewalks glitch. Steam escaping from boiler systems… The city groans with age, and that becomes the non-sterile backdrop for the characters.”

I typed feverishly, then stopped and just stared at the screen. “You’re going to have to help me with this.”

“Count on it.”

Patreon Exclusive!ON THE JOB by Liza McDuffy

I’m out on a work site again today, and since I was asked on Tuesday to talk about it, I suppose I should.

Today I’m out in Queens—Long Island City, specifically. The project is a mid-rise mixed-use building: retail on the ground floor and apartments above. I’ve mostly been working on the drawing sets back at the office, so seeing the actual structure coming up out of the ground is still a little surreal.

This was my fourth time going out with the new construction division. I still feel like I need to say that out loud because it doesn’t quite feel real yet. For most of my life, I’ve been the girl watching other people build things. Now I get to stand there in a hard hat and pretend I belong.

The site itself is loud in a way that feels physical. There’s a constant hum—generators, lifts backing up, steel being set, someone calling out measurements across open space. The first time I went out, I mostly stayed quiet and tried to memorize what everything was called. This time, I asked questions.

Right now they’re working on the structural frame for the second floor. Steel columns are already set, and crews are placing beams that will support the concrete deck. When you see it on paper, it’s just lines and symbols. When you stand under it, it suddenly feels enormous.

The project manager walked me through a framing issue where a subcontractor’s install didn’t match the drawings exactly. Nothing catastrophic—just one of those moments where paper meets reality. We compared the field conditions to the plans, and I got to help mark up a set with notes for revision.

That may not sound exciting, but for me it was.

I stood there looking at a partially built structure and realized that lines I’ve stared at on a screen actually become something. Someone pours concrete. Someone welds steel. Someone measures twice and cuts once. And someone like me has to make sure what’s being built matches what was designed.

I still feel like I’m borrowing someone else’s life.

There was a moment when one of the foremen asked me directly what I thought about a clearance issue between a beam and a duct run that’s supposed to come through later. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. I double-checked the dimension in my notebook and gave him the number from the drawings. He nodded and moved on like it was the most normal thing in the world.

I don’t think he realized that he’d just handed me a tiny piece of confidence.

I grew up around instability. Rent due. Lights about to be shut off. Adults arguing about money. Construction sites were something I saw from the bus window on the way to wherever we were staying that month. They looked permanent. Solid. Unshakeable.

Standing on one now feels symbolic in a way I don’t fully know how to explain.

I’m still the intern. I still go back to the office and quietly do markups and organize files. I still worry that someone will figure out I don’t quite know as much as I should.

But today I contributed.

Not in a dramatic way. Not in a “saved the project” way. Just in a steady, small, legitimate way.

For someone who spent years feeling temporary, being part of something that will stand here for decades feels like a kind of healing.

That’s my update.

And yes—I wore the hard hat correctly this time without someone adjusting it for me.

Chapter 29: SATURDAY PLAN by Chloe Hastings

Did you see the news? It’s on a lot of celebrity news sites. I noticed because my older brother, Logan, was involved.

Yesterday, according to the reports, down in Georgia, Shay Ryder and her boyfriend, Devon Collier, were picked up by Ryder family security. Their road trip was cut short and they were taken to Chicago.

My brother is… was… on her New York security team, and he and all of the others except Eric Marsten boarded a commercial flight to O’Hare. There were pictures of them going through TSA and getting on the plane.

Eric was left behind to watch over the Ryder properties in West Village.

Okay, the rest of this isn’t public knowledge. Logan and the other guys really weren’t needed in Chicago. They never left the secure part of the O’Hare terminal at all. They made their way from the arrival gate to the Blue Water Express terminal and jump-seated back to New York.

I’m pretty excited about all this. Like my little brush with fame or something.

And… I can’t wait to tell… ahem… my brand new friend, Mara Voss—who I officially met last weekend and who just happens to live in Brooklyn.

She’s going to think it’s crazy! My brother Logan… checking in at TSA security… He made it to the celebrity news websites.

Caleb and I are going back to Crossroads Apartments tomorrow just to hang out with everyone. I’ve stayed in touch with a few people this week with a couple of messages. Liza really seems pleased to hear from me.

And… I think Addison has decided I’m one of the gang. Hannah said maybe I should be afraid because of that!

Be your best you!

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