Dreamer's Sanctuary

The title of this post comes from the fact that today’s date is a fun palindrome!  1-23-21… 1 2 3 2 1.  Lots of palindrome dates this week, but this one is my favorite.

What a rollercoaster January has been!  Lots of high points, but also some pretty low lows.  I’m already emotionally exhausted, and the year has just begun.

On a positive note, I actually finished The Road to Bethlehem this past weekend!  I am still in the process of re-reading the story and editing the last few chapters, so I’m going to stick to my posting schedule of one chapter a week for now.  This will give me more time to hopefully get going on a new project while I continue updating the site regularly, and if I have the willpower to hold off, the last chapter of Bethlehem will be posted on Brian’s birthday.  So you can look forward to another month of weekly updates or four more chapters after the one I posted today, Chapter 18.  I could be persuaded to post the next one a couple days early in honor of Mr. Carter’s upcoming birthday. 🙂

As for what my next project will be, I haven’t decided for sure yet, but I’m leaning towards a Brian drama/horror I’ve had outlined for a few years.  Those of you who were around then might remember a poll I posted back in the summer of 2017, shortly after finishing Sick as My Secrets, asking for your opinion on several different story ideas I was considering writing at that time.  I’m proud to say I have since finished two of the four ideas I proposed:  the BSB/ER crossover (Heroic Measures) and the Nick drama/suspense (A Heart That Isn’t Mine).  The Kevin/Nick drama was My Brother’s Keeper, the story I started and posted a sneak peek of at the beginning of 2018.  I intend to keep working on that one at some point, but I don’t think that point in time is now.  After my last two stories, I need to write something different before I go back to that one.  The fourth option was the Brian story I’ve been thinking about more lately.  All this real life drama surrounding Brian actually works well with the idea, which is why it may be the perfect time to write it.  But I also have a couple of newer suspense novel ideas and an idea for short story follow-up to Sick as My Secrets.  If any of these sound interesting to you, leave a comment and let me know!  I’m taking a break from writing this weekend after spending all last weekend glued to my computer, but I am hoping to start a new story soon!

Sorry I’m so late in the day with my update, but Chapter 17 of The Road to Bethlehem is up.  Also, congratulations to Nick and Lauren, who are expecting their third baby!  What a nice little surprise to brighten an otherwise long week.  I hope everyone’s enjoying their weekend, and hopefully you’ll enjoy the new chapter as well!

Happy birthday to our favorite “bad boy,” who is anything but!

The first full week of 2021 has been a hard one for AJ and for all of us.  Many of us Brian girls are struggling right now.  I’m not going to get into that here, but if you’ve been reading The Road to Bethlehem, you probably have some idea of my political beliefs.  If you read my tweets, then you definitely know.  All I’m going to say here today is that while I’m disgusted and disappointed in Brian, I’m still a fan of the Backstreet Boys, and I’m committed to continuing to write BSB fanfic as long as it makes me happy.  The fun of fiction is that we can mold our characters to be whatever we want them to be.  If Brian can live in an alternate reality, so can we.  Fanfic has always been a form of escapism for me, and Dreamer’s Sanctuary will remain here as a sanctuary for anyone else who needs a distraction from the real life drama.

With that being said, Chapter 16 of The Road to Bethlehem is up – a nice, uplifting chapter to make us all feel better.  Or not.  Sorry… LOL.

Welcome to 2021!  My year started with an ice storm that knocked my power out for fifteen hours.  How’s your year going so far? LOL

The power’s back on now, so I’m warm again, and all is well.  If anything, being deprived of modern conveniences such as electricity, heat, warm food, and Wi-Fi has given me more of an appreciation for what the Boys are going through in my story right now.  On that note, Chapter 15 of The Road to Bethlehem has been added.  Aren’t you happy I didn’t make you wait a whole week to resolve that cliffhanger I left in the last chapter?  Or did I?  Mwahaha… I look forward to your reactions! 🙂

I’ve been sticking to Saturday updates for the past few months, but as it’s finally the last day of 2020, I thought I’d update early this week to commemorate the occasion.  Brace yourselves, because Chapter 14 of The Road to Bethlehem is up!

As “Nick” once said in Curtain Call, “I guess everyone gets a little reflective on New Year’s Eve.”  I’m definitely feeling that way today.  New Year’s is not normally one of my favorite holidays, but this year, I’m right there with everyone else who’s looking forward to celebrating a fresh start – safely, of course.  There’s no denying that 2020 has sucked.  And yet, when I look back on this year through my fanfic writer’s lens, it hasn’t been a bad one at all.

Dreamer’s Sanctuary celebrated its 20th anniversary in April.  I had fun “looking back on the things I’ve done,” rereading some of my old stories, and blogging about them at the beginning of the year.  Then COVID came, school closed, and I was given the greatest gift a writer could ask for:  the gift of time.  Although I was still working from home, I found myself with more time on my hands, less stress, and fewer obligations.  I wish I could say I learned a new language or taught myself to play another instrument (I almost ordered a ukulele from Amazon so I could be like Cary LOL), but I did finish two stories and started another, which is already close to being finished.  I also started posting my stories on Archive of Our Own, something I’d been meaning to do for years and never gotten around to.  I even revamped this site, which was long overdue.  While I wish it hadn’t been because of a global pandemic, I’m grateful for the bonus time I’ve been given to dedicate to a hobby I’m still passionate about, two decades later.

Thank you to everyone who has visited the site and read my writing this year.  I appreciate your continued support.  Your reactions are a huge part of what makes writing fanfic so rewarding for me.  I hope my stories have helped to entertain you, relieve your quarantine boredom, or take your mind off real life problems this year.  I also hope 2021 will be a whole lot better for all of us!

Happy New Year!