Code Names

Codename Novellas
So, in a total Shawna is Unoriginal™ move I've decided to give you some updates on my novellas using code names like Lile did. These codenames  aren't going to be obvious at all, but relate to the stories. I'm going to talk about them in the order I'd like to share them *fingers crosses*.

Pink Frosting
This one is either going to be one or two parts. I don't want to say which serial it's part of yet. It was only one part, but then I added more during NaNoWriMo. I have this one mostly outlined and the first half is completely written. I think I've been working on this one the longest

Meanwhile / Blob thing ?
This is a novella I've been thinking about writing forever and have finally decided to do.When I finished Vice I wrote about wanting to write something I called blob thing and I think this is the novella I was thinking of. It will likely be 5,000 words and I have about 1,000 drafted.

Haley/Maxwell
This is obviously the Haley/Maxwell novella I'm working on. I have a general outline for the story and some words written but I can't figure out what order to put everything in.

Silent Girls
This is my current favorite novella to work on. I have about 4,000 words down and I'll maybe add another 2,000. I wish I could expand this story and I'm not super ready to talk about which serial this is apart of.

Silly Meta Thing
I also have an idea for a silly meta thing. I was looking up something in a blog post for one of the novellas and one of you pitched a great scenario for a meta thing in the comments.

Speaking of Comments : Comment Corner
This comment exchange happened when I posted Chapter 4 and 5 of Compulsion and  for a while I had NO idea what the context was. I even re-read the chapters...

 Anyway it turns out it was a reference to an author's note where I  mentioned mistaking the words canning and caning.

Chapter 21
I'm honestly not sure where Chapter 21 came from because it was never apart of my original story idea. There was no Whitlow and there was no heroin and there was no Amber wedding in my original outlines but they all worked together to create this growing tension between Rhett and Juliana that I wanted

As I write more and more I've been exploring ideas about (here we go) intertextuality between UL and UL3 as well as ideas of  femininity and womanhood. In UL, Juliana is in a place where her body is a thing she uses to get what she wants from men and sexuality is a commodity. UL3 takes place in a small town where her sexuality is still seen as valuable to a certain extent but that fact is extremely taboo.

Also, that thing that Juliana says about men addressing Rhett over her happens in Chapter 19. I'm surprised none of you called it out. When Juliana gets hit on by a stranger the man apologizes to Rhett not her.

“I’m sorry, man” the stranger says to Rhett.“Didn’t realize this was you—hey, you a Navy guy or--,”

 
“Don’t apologize to me,” Rhett says dryly but instead of apologizing to me the man just walks off to his friends.

Chapter 22
Alright, this is a long one and so is the next one.

Recap
With Rhett still suspended and Juliana adjusting to being back in town things have been dark for the Clark family. Juliana is secretly buying heroin from one of Jocelyn's neighbors, Marty Enlign and she has coerced Rhett into injecting her.

But Juliana gets some much needed girl time and heads off to Hilton Head, SC for Amber's bachelorette party.  She meet with Rocket Olsen who tells her she wants to write a book about United Light and she comforts Savannah after she finds out her boyfriend dumped her.

Rhett confides in Bethany Whitlow about the reason for his suspension and then does some pretty heavy drinking to cope

Also, just for context, this chapter picks up about a month after the last chapter.

Chapter 22
Playlist
-1- Stand by You by - Alex Goot
-2- Stand by Me by Ben E King
-3- I Kissed A Girl and I Liked It by Katy Perry
-4- Live Forever by  Drew Holcomb
-5- Made to Love You by Dan Owen
-6- I Won't Give Up by Lennon &Maisy

Research Fact Tim McGraw

Ya'll
So, I went down a country music rabbit hole when writing that one sentence about Amber going to a country music show with her mom

CPShawna: This is why it takes you so long to write a chapter

Me: *closes Google tab* *closes Google tab* *closes Google tab* *closes Google tab* *closes Google tab* *closes Google tab* *closes Google tab* *closes Google tab* *closes Google tab*
 
I grew up in NoCal so I know a lot about grunge, rock and alternative music but country music wasn't on my radar so I knew very little about Tim McGraw.

As I wrote that throwaway line I wasn't even sure about what Tim McGraw looked like so I looked it up. Apparently during the time the serial takes place he looked like this:

 

And he was also in the Blindside where he looked like this:

But apparently he went on this diet and now looks like this (this man is 54):

 





And is making some interesting shirt choice:

 And I'm kind of obsessed with he and Faith Hill's country music power marriage:

 The Faith Hill/ Tim McGraw tour Amber references is the Soul2Soul tour in 2000 and I was momentarily mesmorized by all the eye tricks in the tour poster

And they are actually going back on tour together  in 2017 and I just think Faith Hill looks gorgeous in the new poster.

 And yes, he does look weird with the hat off

Anyway all that is to say Erik and I have tickets to the 2017 Soul 2 Soul tour...you know, for research.

CHAPTER 20
So, the tagline of this chapter could really be ish gets real. This chapter and the next chapter kind of explore what happens when the honeymoon phase is over. I know it may seem a little wander-y but it's all building up to a narrative thing.

CHAPTER 21
Recap / Characters to Remember

These characters are referenced / make appearances and haven't made appearances in a while.

Savannah Clark - Rhett's sister who is 8 years younger than Rhett.

Caleb - Savannah's football player boyfriend, who Rhett begrudgingly likes.

Bethany Whitlow - the only woman in Rhett's rescue swimmer class. She can do handstand push ups.

Brooke - Amber's best friend who works at the salon that Rhett's mom owns.



Recap
Juliana is back from Connecticut and spending most of her time as part of Amber's bridal party.  She tries some of Cody's heroin (in exchange for a handjob) and she likes the way the drugs makes her feel when combined with the trial antidepressant she is on.

Mr. Reese finds a letter Rhett sent to Juliana confessing everything he did in UL. Mr. Reese sends it to the Coast Guard and Rhett is put on unpaid leave by the Coast Guard and for the first time since they were married Rhett and Juliana are spending a lot of time together and it is not going well. 

Feeling guilty, Cody tells Rhett about happened and he is not happy when he finds out.

“I don’t care about what happened,” I tell her. But I know it's a lie. Cody had told me he gave her heorin and she gave him a hand job the day it had happened. He let me get  two clean hits in and we called it even. But there was nothing I could do to her. “Just as long as you stop fucking up and promise me you'll never try heroin again--,"

“Rhett--,”

“Juliana, I’m serious--,”

“It's helping me," she says like a fucking moron. "I'm not injecting it....it helps me....okay ? If I have to stop you have to stop drinking all the time."

“It’s not the same!” I tell her, but I may have yelled because she jumps back

"You're going to  wean yourself off the shit you are on and then you're going to stop. Heroin will kill you. It's addictive as fuck and you won't see it coming." I tell her. "If I find out you're buying I will make your life a living hell, do you understand ?,"

"You can't talk to me like--,"

"I can talk to you however I want when you're being a god damn idiot,"

Chapter 21 
Playlist

-1- Ho Hey by Jon D
-2 - I hate u, I love u  by gnash and Olivia O'Brien
-3-  4:35 AM  by Gemma Hayes
-4- Otis  by Jay Z and Kanye West ( I love all versions of this song)
-5- Blossom by Noah Gunderson
 

Hold Me

UL IS ALMOST 10 YEARS OLD SOMEBODY HOLD ME !

Year of the Novellas ?
I'm not sure what 2017 will bring serial wise, but I think I'll be writing a lot more novellas that are 3-5 chapters long. As I mentioned in an earlier post I was working on some of them during NaNoWriMo and they'll be for previously done serials and I'm enjoying working on them as a UL palette cleanser.

I kind of have an idea for a super subversive and dark Maxwell/Haley novella that will make Sundays look like a Disney movie but I'm not sure if I'll ever be in a headspace to really write it.

I'm also hoping to do some more meta stuff. QC and all of Lile's vault stuff has really inspired me to push boundaries.

So Much Pink ?
Someone noted that there is a section in the outline that is mostly pink and I think that is just my color preference showing. I'll sometimes use different shades of the same color and when it's all zoomed out it looks the same.

Chapter 19
It was around this chapter that I realized I had hopped on the angst train full speed ahead. To be honest these last few chapters is where the serial could have started--the point where UL starts slowly creeping back into their life. But I really wanted to establish Rhett and Juliana as a couple and the setting of Freeport...also I needed to introduce Rocket because she comes back. There is a method to my madness...maybe.

Recap
Back from Connecticut Juliana is on a new medication and ready to get back to her life only to discover her Dad wrote a letter to the Coast Guard asking for Rhett's removal because of his involvement with UL and he is put on indefinite suspension.

Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Playlist

-1- Birdsong by George Orgivile
-2- Free Fallin by Tom Petty
-3- Southern Girl by Tim McGraw
-4- It's Your Love by Tim McGraw
-5- Out of the Woods by Bryan Adams