Dreamer's Sanctuary

A lot has happened since my last update!  When I wrote my last blog, I was so sure Kevin was S’more on The Masked Singer.  The voice sounded like it could be him, and the clues fit almost perfectly! But after the second episode, I changed my mind – the clues no longer fit, and the voice didn’t sound as much like him.  So disappointing!  I haven’t watched since.

I also went to Nick’s show in Nashville two weeks ago!  It was so much fun!  I scored front row center tickets, so I had an amazing view and got some great videos.  They’re all posted on my YouTube channel if you’re interested in watching them.  Sadly, he did not sing “Don’t Wanna Lose You Now,” but he did sing “Lovesong” and some other awesome ’80s covers, including an amazing performance of “Wanted Dead or Alive” and an incredible medley of “I Need You Tonight” and “Right Here Waiting.”  That was one of my favorite parts.  I thought of Broken Nick and Claire during a lot of those because I listened to a lot of ’80s rock music and power ballads back in the Broken era.  But I also thought of Cary and Curtain Call when he sang “Just Want You to Know,” which was an unexpected treat – I hadn’t heard that song live in a long time!

Since I spent that whole weekend with friends, I didn’t have much time to write except to keep my streak alive by adding a few words to the story each day.  I’ve gotten back on track since then, but Chapter 47 of The World Will Be Waiting took me longer than expected to finish because of how long it turned out to be, over 8,000 words!  But it’s finally done and posted for your reading pleasure!

With this update, TWWBW has officially surpassed Curtain Call in length.  That’s based on total word count, not the number of chapters.  It’s now my fourth-longest story after By My Side, Song for the Undead, and Broken… and it’s only about 40k words from passing Broken, too, with no end in sight.  To be clear, I do have an ending point in mind, but I still have a lot left to write before I get there.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be my second-longest story.  I don’t think I’ll ever beat BMS, nor do I want to.  But I never set out to write super long stories; they just sort of happen.  Anyway, thanks for sticking with me and reading so many of my words!  I’m always appreciative!

It’s been an exciting week in BSB land!  Brian and AJ both have new songs out, Nick gave us a sneak peek of the setlist for his solo tour, and we may have another Backstreet Boy on The Masked Singer!  Don’t believe it?  Watch the clue package.

• “Gather round, campers.”  Kevin lived at a church camp run by his dad.  It looks a lot like the forest background at the beginning of the video.
• “I started out on a rocket to fame.”  The rocket could be a reference to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the state where Kevin launched his music career.
• “A journey from obscurity to major heartthrob status.”  Kevin was just a normal kid from Kentucky before becoming a Backstreet Boy.
• “Step by step.”  This is a New Kids on the Block song.  BSB toured with NKOTB.
• The tip jar could be a reference to Kevin’s jobs before becoming a Backstreet Boy.  He worked at Pizza Hut and as a tour guide at Disney World, which are both jobs where he may have earned tips.
• The ship could be a reference to the BSB cruises.
• “I traveled the land near and far, making headlines with fellow adventurers and idols.”  The Backstreet Boys were teen idols who have been on many world tours.
• The beach could be a reference to the upcoming Backstreet’s Back at the Beach event.
• The deep dish pizza is a reference to Chicago.  Kevin played Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago.
• “And when I finished with my travels, I hung up my cape.”  Kevin left BSB after the Never Gone tour.
• The Christmas tree could be a reference to BSB’s latest album.
• The angel on top could be the angel Nick gave Jenny McCarthy as a Secret Santa gift when he was on the show.  It could also refer to Los Angeles, where Kevin lives, or the Blue Angels, whom Kevin flew with once.
• “I thought it was the end of the road.”  BSB used to sing “End of the Road” by Boys II Men.
• “But I was still hungry for a new journey.”  Kevin came back to BSB.

There may be even more clues I didn’t catch, but there are certainly a lot of connections to Kevin there!  I can’t wait to see S’more take the stage again!

I’m also very excited to see Nick’s “Who I Am” tour next weekend in Nashville!  Looks like he’s going to sing my favorite BSB song, “Don’t Wanna Lose You Now,” and some great covers!  I had a major “aww” moment watching the clip of him singing “Lovesong” by The Cure on his Instagram live this afternoon.  That song was definitely on one of the Nick and Claire playlists I created for inspiration when I was writing By My Side.  “Whenever I’m alone with you… you make me feel like I am whole again…”  I can’t wait for this concert!

I will not be updating next Saturday because I’ll be in Nashville, but I do have an update for you today!  Chapter 46 of The World Will Be Waiting is up!  This is a cute, fluffy Halloween chapter that also gave me major BMS vibes.  I’ve talked before about how I tend to recycle ideas from old stories, and I’ve definitely found myself unintentionally doing that lately with this story.  The football scene in the last chapter, while inspired by a deleted scene from the documentary, also reminded me of a similar scene from Chapter 52 of BMS where the guys play football together.  Likewise, this chapter made me think of the two Halloween chapters I remember writing for BMS, one of which was particularly memorable.  With TWWBW on its way to becoming my second-longest novel after BMS, I guess that tracks!

The autumn equinox is upon us, bringing the official start of my favorite season, and I’m back for the third week in a row with another chapter of The World Will Be Waiting!  Chapter 45 is up. Two weeks ago, I said I wasn’t going to rehash scenes straight from the documentary, but that was before I got to this chapter, which revolves around Kevin’s hometown visit.  I couldn’t help but borrow from the documentary because there is so much good material there!  If you haven’t watched the deleted scenes, you can watch them here.  I really like this chapter and hope you will, too!

I had another good writing week and finished Chapter 46 today, so I’ll be back again next weekend with another update!

I had another great writing week!  I hit Day 600 on my writing streak, which has been going strong since January 2022!  I’m taking bets on if I can make it to 1000 days and if I’ll still be writing The World Will Be Waiting then.  If I had to make a wager today, I would put my money on yes and… yes. 😬  I usually underestimate how long my stories will be, but I already know this one is going to be long because I still have a lot more planned for it… and even more ideas I will probably save for a potential threequel to prevent TWWBW from being BMS length.  Yes, this may well become a trilogy.  My apologies to anyone who’s patiently waiting for me to write something else, but I’m really enjoying writing this one.  I wrote over 2000 words today alone and finished another chapter, so you can look forward to another update next weekend.  As for today, Chapter 44 is up as promised!  I hope you enjoy it!

And so am I!  This past week has been a pretty productive one, partially thanks to an extra day off for Labor Day.  I got a lot written last weekend but ran out of time to update, so I just decided to wait until today.  Chapter 43 of The World Will Be Waiting is up!  I actually just finished Chapter 44 this morning, which means I’ll have an update for you next weekend as well!

This stretch of chapters revolves around the hometown road trip the guys took back in the fall of 2012 for their documentary.  What an incredible gift that documentary was for us fans, especially for those of us who like to write fanfics about the guys, LOL.  I’ve done a lot of rewatching as I write this story, but I’m trying not to just take scenes straight out of the documentary and write them exactly as they happened because, let’s be honest:  it’s a lot more fun to just watch the actual documentary than read a written account of it.  What I’m striving to do instead is expand on parts that I would have liked to see more of and focus on the content that most closely relates to Kevin’s storyline and/or would play out differently in this alternate universe I’ve created as a result of his circumstances in the story.

Thanks, as always, for your patience!  I hope you enjoy these next few BSB-centered chapters!