The Marshmallow Ranch Gazette (Patreon)

Howdy patrons!

My apologies for being incommunicado for a couple of weeks, especially after that big cliffhanger on the end of chapter three. I'm back in the saddle and ready to make another run for weekly posts of serialized fiction!

I realize that my ability to actually DO what I say I'm going to do is a problem; it always has been, and I wanted to set up the Serial Co. in order to address that. I figured that once I had people paying me for content I would have no choice but to deliver, and that simply hasn't turned out to be the case. Again, I'm really sorry about that and I'm thinking up ways to make it up to you in the future. If you have any ideas for an appropriate jackalope apology, please let me know!

Chapter four will begin this Friday; we'll pick up with Tom as he goes for a ride in a van. How exciting! I'm really looking forward to where the story goes from here, and I hope you folks enjoy it just as much as I hope you will!

Elsewhere, I've been thinking a lot about the building blocks of storytelling -- pacing, plot, character, dialogue, description. It can be bewildering, trying to put all of this together into a coherent, exciting story that feels organic; you really don't want the seams of your story to show if you can help it, right?

And what's interesting about stretching yourself in your writing is you reveal holes in your craft that you had never noticed before. Besides the obvious inconsistency with my release schedule, I've realized that I'm not too happy with the way Tom has come off so far. In my head I had this fairly firm picture of him and I still feel like I haven't gotten that down on the page so far. When I edit the first three chapters for posting elsewhere, that will be a big focus -- really going back and nailing the characters where I can. I think that the erotic/kink content only gets better when you have an emotional connection to the people it's happening to; Tom, Jerry and Spike need to feel more like real people so the turn at the end of chapter three lands with a big punch.

Anyway, I'll be trying to bake in these lessons with future chapters so that Tom is more distinctive and proactive. And we'll be getting to know a few other characters much better as well, so there's that to look forward to!

That's it for this week -- see you on Friday partners, and I hope you're having a great summer so far!