Chapter 22

No beating around the bush here. I am just going to present the chapter.

I did want to say I did not name Rhett after the character in Gone With The Wind but, when I realized he had the same name as a well known literary character I decided to play around with it some more.

Also a note on IVBs web serial. I have decided not to post it as I write it. In my bootleg NANOWRIMO I will write it out and give you all an update on the word count and then post it when I am done editing it in December. This will give me time to really just write and get story out which is the philosophy of Nano and then I can go back and share a finished version. So, we will see how long it takes me to get to 20,000 words which is about 5 UL chapters so, we will see.

This chapter had no real playlist to go with the sections so, I made a general one. Dreaming With A Broken Heart is not one of the songs but, I wanted to see if anyone else saw any similarties between that song and the one above it. Just in the first 10 seconds or if it was just me.

Okay now on to the chapter

Words

Chapter 21

Hi,

Alright so I am surprised by how long it took for this chapter to finally get done. I knew where I wanted this chapter to go but, getting there was hard.

I have to say I have become so excited about United Light and the new "deeper" level I want to take it to that I feel like I have neglected IVB but, I may take a sick day and work on it. I am not sure what level I want IVB at.

There are lots of little (and some irrelevant) hints and easter eggs. I didn't want to say anything about them because I didn't want readers looking to hard for them but, they are there. I don't have much else to say.

And no, JB did not write any of this chapter. He is away on tour this week and we all wish him the best !

The playlist pretty much goes that the number after 21 goes with the song. So, 21.1 is song 1. The only one that is really matched up is that last one.

Pretend

Behind The Chapter 19&20

Hello

JB

So, I have heard that me working with Joel has caused more stir than we intended so, I thought I would give you all the full story behind that. If you look through my entries you will notice how busy I have become and then I threw another challenge at myself with the IVB project but, I really wanted this next chapter told. I had an outline and all the messages and I decided to let Joel do the writing because I love his style (he devolped the line about Juliana having strings) and I know he has been itching to write something. Now, obviously he changed his style to emulate mine more but, I was more than happy to have him write some of this chapter.

I don't really see that happening again because I have never had such a clear but objective for a chapter like that before. It was nice getting to work with him. I suppose our thinking was that we would ghost write it like Tom Clancy Novels or Nancy Drew. I would personally love to have Joel's influence in my story another time because I think he could add excellent depth to some of the characters but, he is getting ready to go on tour so United Light will continue to be a solo venture !

Canon

As I hinted at during an event for JB's autobiography I did a significant change in the sequencing of the story with Caine. In the beginning I made him into his late 40's but I changed it so that Caine is actually about 36 and the age difference between Juliana and he is not so big. I know that 18 years is still a jump but it's close to TomKat's which is 17 years and not not as scary as some of Warren Jeff's wives who were 36 years younger than him.

OT, it's funny how no one made a big deal out of TomKat as they did Aston and Demi.

Anyway that is why I did that I also created a backstory for Caine--that he inherited UL from his father. In a lot of ways these changes help facilitate the story because Juliana's parents saw Caine as this great son-they-never had and that is why they are so loyal to him.

Just pick any actor in their 30's who is considered handsome (Mark Whalberg or Jude Law) and that is who Caine is based on now.

Influences

I have to thank Linda for giving me the idea to actually turn on my TV for influences ! Much of the United Light thinking and way of life is based on MSNBC's Cult Sunday documentaries, mostly on the Jonestown one. While most events I have created are fictional I have always stayed away from cult activity because I did not know how they actually acted but after learning a bit I have to say I was very surprised what people will be okay with.

I won't say too much because I may use some of it in later chapters.

I really wanted my depections of cults to be very accurate so I did research into other organizations that people may deem as cults but actually aren't like Quiverfull (which people believe the Duggars are members of o: ) , the FDLS, Scientology (no relation to the TomKat comment above) and to the more extreme the Manson Family. And one thing I have noticed between all of these are the specific gender roles more importantly between females so I did want to incorporate that into this as well. Somone made the Manson Family refernce in a comment and while that was not my intention it was pretty close.

In reality Polyandry is something that would probably never happen because it's easier to have more children with multiple wives but, that neither here nor there right now.

Easter Egg

I will now let you all in on something I was going to have happen but will not. I was originally going to make Juliana pregnant by Cortland. That's why I made refrences to birth control and Juliana forgetting to make her class assignment the right font. There is a saying that says 'if teens can't remember to bring a pencil to class how can they remember to take a pill everyday.' However when Linda made her character pregnant ,where ever she is going with that (read: update Ms. Leigh !!!) I decided I didn't want to do the same thing because there is so much overlap in our readers. Also, in a sense it would have been an easy plot point so I challenged myself and took it out. Not that I blame Linda at all but I think it would have added more to the violet story when I was ready to move on to the dark blue.


Whats Next

I have to say I tell myself to put UL on the back burner after this one last chapter and come back to it later but I always end up with another chapter so, I will most likely keep UL up for longer than I thought. I am just as addicted to it as you all are !

IVB

As far as IVB goes, I intended to do an entire outline of the whole story but all I have is a beginning so, this one may be like UL, in that I will have no idea where it is headed!


Pictures

I don't have many pictures but I know how much you all like them so, I decided to post a few.

Despite never seeing Smallville Rosa's look is based on Kristin Kreuk because of her ethnic-blend




Here is the enitre image of the ponytail. I though Hilary Duff looked very Juliana in this picture.



I could not remember this actors name for a long time but, this was the look I base Sawyer off of, I got him confused with the actor from Terminator.



The TL uniforms are based on the Marine Service Uniform except with the longer jacket . I couldn't find a better pic.



Speaking of TL's I imagine Rhett as being based on Daniel Radcliffe. I couldn't find an image of him with shorter hair but, just that look.










I'll probably have more later.





I put a lot of thought into my chapters but it is always hard for me to pick out which parts or inspirations to share. I always get an idea when writing comments but then I forget it later. So, if you all have an specific questions about chapters or plot feel free to ask in comments.

Working Harder

I feel like I have used this title before. Anyway I revealed some of my hidden gems at an event with my new best friends Joel Baker but I will go over them again here.

I did a little theming with names as I tend to do, I always look for themes to help me come up with appropiate names. Because I intended UL to be an adventure I purposely named Sawyer after Tom Sawyer. I did later find out that Tom Sawyer had a half brother named Sid, with that information I did name Sawyer's parents after Mark and Olivia Twain.

I can finally reveal to you all that most of what happened in these chapter was originally at the end of the light blue writing. I had shuffled through so many plots at that time. First when I wanted Juliana to actually be pregnant I wrote that Sawyer goes to visit his parents instead of going back to San Costa.

Then I ditched that and decided to have Caine force Juliana to marry him but then I ditched that too. None of it fit and that was the time when I was feeling the most down but, it worked out.

As I have said previously I have been super busy. I barely had time to write chapter 20's outline (yes, I am outlining!) but I keep this story dear to me. While I have a general idea of what I want it to do I still don't know what will happen next.

I feel like I have more to say but, I will save that for future entries. Anyway here is Chapter 20


Here is the playlist, they are not as matchy as I would have liked and been able to do previously but, I like the songs !

20.1 --Somewhere in Between - Lifehouse

20.2 -- Eyes on Fire -- Blue Foundation

20.3 -- No Bravery-- James Blunt

20.4-- Hallelujah-- Imogen Heap

Ctrl + S is your friend

Hi,

Between working on Cobalt Teen, (which takes up so much of my time) working on Breast Cancer Awareness Committee, the classes I teach at the learning annex and working on my new web serial I have been very forgetful and busy lately that includes forgetting to save my work ! I had this chapter in stage 2 when I up and deleted ): It was soul crushing to have to re-write it from scratch but, I think that is a great exercise for writers (am I making lemonade out of lemons ?). If you have the time I challenge you to write something and then delete it and re-do it. It is painful and hard but, it defiantly changes how you write when you know in detail what will happen.
I have a sense where I want this Web Serial to go to but, I literally (JB would love that) have no time to work on it. But, I will get it out.



United Light

On to United Light matters,

Linda recently posted about her regrets and as I have been developing the next few chapters I have a few of my own and really it is a large portion of the purple font sections. Those chapters were created around the songs "Only Hope" and "Dare you to move" and "Fall for You". I heard those sings and suddenly the relationship between Juliana and Cortland (who was originally Patrick) was created. I wanted Juliana to experience a real heartbreak, have a human experience that was 1st my intention. However I have found a way to interweave that story into the cannon because when I wrote that I had no idea where I was going and in a way I'm not sure I could have gotten to where I am today without those violet chapters. It's a love hate relationship but, writing those few chapters was fun for me.


As I began writing about Cortland and Juliana I developed a second intention and this is so terrible but, it became my solution to Stephanie Meyer's Twilight. I wanted Juliana to come off a little bit like Bella (that's why she was always talking about how he looks and she does not compare) because I feel like the biggest issue was that Edward and Belle never had a petty fight or disagreement. I feel like that could have given those characters a 2nd dimension, when you get used to a person that you see their faults. That little line about how baby ducks imprint (which they do) was just my little inside joke.

I have lots of little things about the violet font that I will relay to you but, I will have to re-read it to catch them all.

I bring this all up because, you can say good-bye to the violet font. I am trying something new (again ) I really wanted to give my chapters names so, I am experimenting with that also.

Writing Style

For a while I have been trying to write Juliana as Juliana, in order to set up for Cortland making fun of her for not being educated, I stopped using 'big words' and words the character may not use. I have felt like this has limited me as a writer and after seeing how much the Sawyer chapters came out (which I wrote the way I usually did) I am probably going to start writing Juliana with more complex thoughts and ideas.

It is a very minor thing most people don't notice but,after all the character has changed !

More than meets the eyes
Now for all you super sleuths out there, the original banner for UL represented Juliana and Sawyer being married but, they are divorced now and have been for a few chapters. Did anyone not catch the changes in the purple banners ? Go back and look at them all.



Warning!

I wrote myself into a corner again, but I want to see if anyone can catch it. I did something that changes the cannon a little bit. One day I will rewrite the entire UL in a novel (possibly leaving out lots of chapters) and it could be really good and linear because as it stands now it is not. I realize my characters get a little double personalities (saying bi-polar is no PC) before falling into their personality.

Playlist


There is no playlist for chapter 19 because I could not find the right songs, I am experimenting with different musical genre's. But these songs always work, they are from my previous playlists. I have stopped putting sections also because there is no music.


Winter-- Josh Radin (always good)

After All- Johnathon Clay

Here is Chapter 19

The name game

I have been meaning to talk about this for a while.

I had originally wanted to shorten Juliana's name to Julie to show a growth in Sawyer and Juliana's relationship and also to help me out when typing. But then I was listening to something and I heard the name Julia and I just loved the way it sounded so, I used that as Juliana's alternate identity but more importantly it is how she ID's herself with Brad. That's why Sawyer doesn't start calling her Julia until chapter 12 when he tells her about Brad.

Now, Sawyer alternates between the three. I've been meaning to go over that for some time now.

I have a playlist with 30+ songs I use for inspiration with the exception of a few I am holding on to for future moments most of them have appeared. I am going to spend a day inventing a whole new list for my IVB web serial. I love when I hear a song that inspired me to write a scene. I'll go more into this later.

Anyway here is chapter 18


Here is the Playlist :

18. 1 -- 42 Coldplay

18.2 Come Round Soon & Bottle It Up -- Sara Bareilles (love her !)

18.3 -- Dare You To Move - Switchfoot

18.4 -- Fall for you-- Secondhand Serenade

18.5 -- Holding On -- Avril Lavigne

40th Post Woo-hoo !

Nothing to special but I am so proud of how far I have come !

Okay, I'm sure I have a lot to say about these last few chapters but they are all working towards something. This next one is really more of a series of psuedo -kind- of not r-eally vignettes but as I have said they are all leading to something (and I'm not entirely sure what it is). Anyway I have a few pictures of minor characters who I use in my head. The fact that I have pictures of them means nothing about the story because I don't know if we will see them again or not.

I have found it easier for me not to try and match a song with every chapter so, I have created sections and the songs go with them, to me the music just sets the overall tone.

It's funny through listening to music I have created a playlist of songs for events I want to happen possibly 10 chapters from now ! It's hard for me not to try and throw them in now. I have to save some for IVB too, though.

As far as this chapter and the next few these are kind of my little soapbox for a few things but, it is very faint. I doubt anyone will catch them. My characters are very motivated so, if you like to look hard into things you may find something (or nothing). I guess I'm teasing you all, lol !

Pictures

Sid




Brad



Kennedy



For those of you who don't know that is Matthew Gray Gubler, Chris Harrison (host of the Bachelor) and Sara Mason.

I haven't really though about Cortland's housemates but, I imagine they would be a cross between and A&F ad and a United Colors Of Benton Ad. Speaking of Cortland's housemates I did have a fun time using a list of preppy names to come up with the names. I tried to get ones that were both uniquely preppy but still pretty mainstream. It's from this website and I can't tell if this woman is serious or not about warnings about names becoming to trendy.

As a side note a ---- signifies either a change in person or a bigger cut in time than the *** but, it's pretty obvious. I have been doing this for a while but, in case you did not catch on.

It's so hard for me to wave goodbye to a section when I don't have another one waiting for me.


Here is chapter 17


Playlist

17.1 -- Straightjacket Feeling -- All American Rejects

17.2 -- Bubbly -- Colbie Callait & Magic Colbie Callait (there are 2 versions, I perfer the piano one)

17.3-- Toxic -- Britney Spears & One Week-- Barenaked Ladies (have no idea why I find this song so entertaining -- JB and I spent way to much time in my office dancing to it at lunch.)

17.4 -- Everything's Not Lost -- Coldplay

My Announcement

Hello all,

So, I said I had an announcement and while it's not the biggest thing in the world it may have some effect.

I am going to be taking a break from United Light in November to start working on a brand new type of fiction



:


"I never fit in anywhere for a milllion reasons. I'm too shy, too nerdy too everything. I lived in a world of avatars, PWNED and usernames until something real happened. I was told I was positive for Huntingtons. What really gets me is all the waiting and unknown and life expactancy. I've never been a talker or one to talk about how I feel but, that's changing. Even though I still LARP on the weekends."



I will be challenging myself to A Nanowrimo fiction based on the Ivy Brothers. I'm not even sure if I will make it officail but, this one will be mainly about Elias, the one who I have not written much about yet. I am going to be doing things I don't usually do like planning and outlining so that will be taking a lot of October but, I won't abandon United Light because I am working it towards something again.

On that note I have an update and a playlist. The songs are really more overarching so, there are no real sections. Although I have heard songs that will inspire many other pieces.

Here is the update

and the playlist :