I have a fear of happy endings. To be more specific, happy endings attached to a series make me nervous. Very nervous. Maybe it has to do with the nature of a series, but there's always something about a happy ending that leaves me more on edge than a cliffhanger. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that whenever two characters -- particularly the ones you were hoping would get a happy ending -- finally do get that happy ending ... you know it can't last long.

Season 3 of Arrow just ended last night, and I feel ... nervous. Because heroes don't get the happy ending, or if they do, you know there's a major catastrophe on the horizon. Or, perhaps more likely, the characters you've been waiting to get together will end up breaking up off-screen before the start of the next season.

I think that this was part of the reason I was so terrified to write the third book in The Ever Series. Because it felt like no matter where I turned, it would end badly. And then, one day, I just knew how it would end.

I love how the sun is setting behind them in this last shot. On the other hand, to me, it's a big, flashing warning sign that says: We're gonna yank your happy ending right out from under you, so don't get too happy. Or is that just me?

On that note, I'm done rambling about Arrow ... until next season. For now, it's back to my latest book. Right now the first two chapters are available on Wattpad.com!

Happily Ever After ... or To Be Continued?

The first kiss is always so much fun to write! And in the book I'm working on now, the first kiss mercifully arrives less than a hundred pages in. It's just one of those moments that books let us (re)experience when we dive into their stories.

Speaking of first kisses ... 0:53 in the video below. Love how he says her name right before he kisses her. Sigh.

Okay, typically I don't note celebrities' birthdays, but I do haunt IMDB on a regular basis, and after speed-watching all three seasons of Arrow, I just saw that Stephen Amell's birthday is today ... two days before mine. So, Happy Birthday and thank you to Stephen Amell (and the rest of the Arrow cast) for hours and hours of entertainment that I could not stop watching! One more episode to go in the third season, and I'm really hoping it offers some form of closure, or the wait until Season 4 is going to be grueling. I have my own dark predictions for Season 4, but I'll bite my tongue until it actually airs.

On a similar but separate note, I was (for reasons I may be able to explain later) having a fantasy casting session in my head. That said, if Stephen Amell were to be cast in the movie adaptation of one of my books, present or future, I would scream like a girl. ... Wait, scratch that. I am a girl ... er, woman. It will probably never happen, but in any case, I would scream. ;-) Gotta love an actor who can do dark and brooding and heart-meltingly sweet and funny (see clip below for heart-meltingly sweet and funny).

There are certainly many dark and brooding moments on Arrow, and maybe that's why I appreciate the very well executed sweet/humorous ones. This one is too cute, particularly at 0:49. (Spoiler alert: The clip is from Season 3, Episode 1, so if you plan on buying and speed-watching all three seasons of Arrow like I did, don't watch!)

Now that there's going to be a several-month wait for the new season, what am I going to do with myself? Oh, yeah. Here's an idea -- maybe publish the book I just finished and finish writing the one I picked up again a few days ago!

“And I’ve already seen you shirtless … mul-tiple times. Shirtless … all the time.”
Felicity Smoak re: Oliver Queen
(Episode 1, Season 3)

I found this via Arrow, in a roundabout sort of way ... Ethereal, haunting -- Young Magic, "Holographic"

So, I'm all caught up with Arrow Season 3 ... and eagerly awaiting tonight's episode. Fortunately, my packing/moving saga has slowed down a bit lately, and yesterday I finally started to get back into the swing of writing. My completed book is going off for editing, and I'm slowly starting to get back into my latest in-progress project.

With this latest book, I'm going back to my paranormal roots. It took me a while to readjust, mostly because the book I just finished was so different than anything I've published before. (Like I said before -- it's off-the-rails crazy, so it's going under a pen name.)

The rough first chapter of my in-progress book is posted under "Extras," and here is a quick introduction to the latest blond god of hotness ...

“Welcome to Oregon, Callie McNay.”

I blink at the sound of my name on his lips, and before I can gather my wits, he’s already walking away. Turning, I study his retreating form—the athletic build and deep golden-colored hair pulled into a ponytail. I imagine he’d look like some long lost Nordic god if his hair were loose. Wow. Like wow, wow.    


Don't worry. There's also a dark horse, dark-haired hottie. ;-D

A few weeks ago, I was going to publish a very depressive, angry post about book piracy, seeing as I know for a fact that some people (the minority, I hope) land on my blog because they're trying to find my books for free when, most of the time, I barely make enough money from the books to order a few pizzas each month.

However, after one of these episodes I always come back to the same conclusion: I can't change people. All I can do is focus on what I love. Maybe one day I'll stop publishing my writing for public consumption, but I will never stop writing. Because I love creating other worlds and spending time in different characters' minds.

So ... other than my mini piracy-related meltdown, I've been in the middle of moving, so I haven't had the time to focus on writing (or even editing my latest book). What I have been doing is binge-watching Arrow, which I hadn't seen since the first episode in 2012. One of the episodes I watched recently reminded me how powerful music is.

Oh, and I've also become the biggest Olicity fan. ;-) On that note, watching the first episode of a show, skipping nearly three seasons, and then going back and watching from the beginning is beyond weird. It's like looking into the future, and then going back and watching the person you've fallen in love with date everyone else! I have a feeling the last two episodes of Season 3 are going to be painful, and the wait until Season 4 is going to be excruciating.

Back to my original point! Here's the instrumental music from Season 2 (Episode 6) that just gives me the shivers. It's available on iTunes (Own Worst Enemy), and I have a feeling I'm going to have it on repeat for a while. (I've started it at 1:45, because that was the part where I knew I needed to get the music.)

I'll post again when I have some news about the latest books I'm working on. The rough chapter of one of my in-progress books (college-age, but not as ... ahem ... adult as College Girl) is still posted under Extras. My other in-progress is the closest to being done, but that puppy is going under a pen name because it's so over-the-top crazy.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for more random rambling.

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