Dreamer's Sanctuary

Happy New Year!

I almost posted on New Year’s Day just to say that and let you know I’m still writing, but since I basically did that a few weeks ago, it felt pointless to post another blog without a story update to go with it.  But lately I’ve been thinking maybe I should do more blogging on this site in between story updates to give people another reason to visit.  I am fully planning to get back to regular story updates when I’m ready, but the project I’ve been working on just isn’t far enough yet that I could guarantee, say, weekly updates for more than a couple of months.  I do have ten chapters finished, which is farther than I’ve gotten with any other novel since Sick as My Secrets, so that is a good sign.

As far as blogging goes, I don’t see the point in blogging about the Backstreet Boys because, quite frankly, there are already other sites that do that better and more often than I would be able to.  (Check out What Happens on the Backstreet and my affiliate The Dark Side if you haven’t already!)  I feel like I could talk about BSB fanfic all day, though, and there just aren’t that many places to do that these days.  Years ago, I was in a Yahoo Group run by Mare, one of the moderators at Absolute Chaos, that worked like a book club; each month, we would all read the same fanfic and discuss it together.  She carried the concept over to the AC message board, which was once an active place to talk about both fanfic and the Boys, but there just aren’t very many of us left there who still read and write fanfic.  It makes it hard to have a good discussion.  Anyway, I was just thinking it might be fun to resurrect the concept of reading and discussing fanfic together.  I would enjoy blogging about old stories, whether my own or favorites by other authors, but would anyone else be interested in reading/commenting/discussing along with me?  If so, leave a comment and let me know!  And if not, stay tuned for the next story update… whenever that may be!

This isn’t a story update, unfortunately, but a blog post to let you know I am still out there, writing stories, and will update again someday.  I realized it’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted anything on the site and didn’t want my readers to think I’d disappeared.  If you follow me on Twitter, you know I’ve been writing a lot recently.  Ever since I finished Sick as My Secrets, I’ve been jumping around between several different stories without making much progress on any of them, but this summer I started a new Nick novel that I’ve gotten into a groove with lately.  I won’t be posting any “sneak peeks” until I’m ready to start posting the thing for real, as I learned my lesson with My Brother’s Keeper in January.  That one’s on the back burner for now (but I do plan to keep writing it when I feel like it).  The new one is going well so far (I just hit 50 pages this weekend!), but I’m going to wait until I’m further into it to start posting it.  I just wanted you to know I’m working on something, and hopefully it will be worth the wait!

Happy holidays, and I hope to be back with actual, at least somewhat regular updates in 2019!

It’s not much, but it is a new Nick death!  I added #Death 68 to our round-robin collaboration 1000 Ways to Kill Nick Carter.  It’s called “Butterfingers,” and you can read it here or on Absolute Chaos.

It feels good to finally post something this year!  Prior to July, I’d been slacking off.  This month, I have been working some on the BSB/ER crossover story I mentioned last summer, and that is going pretty well.  It’s a project I’m probably not going to start posting until it’s finished because of how flaky I have been, but it’s going to be more of a novella than a novel, so I’m hoping to finish it this summer or fall.  Thanks for your patience!

In case you hadn’t guessed, my last post was just my annual April Fool’s prank.  If you missed it, click here to see a screenshot of what the site looked like earlier today.  All my April Fool’s jokes are also archived on the About page.  If you’d like to know my real opinion on the Melissa Schuman controversy, take everything I said in my last post and pretend it said the opposite (or just read the comment section).  I definitely won’t be writing Dream fanfic anytime soon, or ever.

I haven’t been writing much BSB fanfic lately either, but that has nothing to do with Nick.  My laptop died at the beginning of January, and I still haven’t replaced or fixed it, which has really hindered my writing.  I haven’t posted any more of My Brother’s Keeper because I’ve been stuck on Chapter 4 for the past few months; I’m going to wait until I’m back on track with that one to put a link on my stories page and start “officially” posting it.  Hopefully that will be this summer, if not before.  Thanks for bearing with me, and thanks for the comments on my April Fool’s update!

Hello, and Happy Easter! Long time no see. Sorry about that. 2018 has been a difficult year for me so far. First I lost my laptop, then my beloved cat… and if I’m being honest with myself, I also lost my love for the Backstreet Boys. One Backstreet Boy in particular.

When Melissa Schuman made her sexual assault allegations against Nick last fall, I tried to ignore them at first. I wanted to believe that Nick was innocent, that he would never rape a woman, and that, if he did, he would take responsibility for his actions and admit his mistake. When he denied the allegations, I wanted to take his side.

But I couldn’t. You see, I am a woman. That means I must automatically side with other women. I’ve never met Melissa Schuman and don’t know much about her, but she has a vagina, and I have a vagina, so I must assume she’s telling the truth. Regardless of fact or logic, I must believe her. In spite of how many years I’ve followed Nick’s career or how many times I’ve met him, I can’t ignore the allegations against him anymore. I must support his accuser. #MeToo

This makes it difficult to remain a BSB fan. How can I continue to support a group whose most popular member is an accused rapist? How can I continue to write fan fiction about said rapist? I can’t. #TimesUp

Therefore, I’ve decided to make some major changes to Dreamer’s Sanctuary. I’m not going to quit writing fanfic or take down the site, but I am going to get rid of all mentions of Melissa’s rapist and his group. From now on, to show my continued support for Melissa and all women, I will be writing fan fiction about her former girl group, Dream. My old stories are currently being revised to reflect this change, and all new stories will star Melissa and the three other strong, talented women in the group. I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know Melissa, Holly, Ashley, and Diana through my stories.

To quote one of my favorite Dream songs, “That was then; this is now.” Welcome to the new era of Dreamer’s Sanctuary!

Edit: April Fool! #IStandWithNickCarter