Sorry. Didn't mean to come off like I cared about the fics and not your well being. I was kinda in a rush and had been thinking about asking you for a while but continued to get distracted and would forget so I just went for it 😅 I know you're busy and hope your doing well and I know you have EFE on your list and I'm sure a ton of other stuff, I know you're a busy lady. Just know Case of the Honeymoons has touched me and is always on my mind. Hope you're having a good day.
I can understand the getting distracted and am glad you’re enjoying the story, Anon. Your perfunctory first message arrived so soon after I’d vented about life being crazy busy in an answer to an earlier ask that it just rubbed me the wrong way. Especially since you have to actually go to my blog to send an ask anymore and that would’ve been the first thing you saw posted after I’ve had basically a minimal presence here for weeks. Generally speaking, at least for me and I assume for most other fandom writers, that minimal presence means life’s been hectic. Tumblr and fandom are one of the first things to get cut when my free time gets short.
Also, please understand that as a fandom writer, there is a certain level of guilt in leaving unfinished projects. It’s a guilt that none of us should feel since this is basically a hobby that we’re engaging in out of love and for free. I don’t get paid to do this. None of us do. We get some self-satisfaction and joy out of it and the response of readers. I don’t want to feel this guilt in leaving stories hanging, and I know logically that it cannot be helped when I or other writers do leave them hanging. I do feel that guilt anyways and having someone ask for updates without showing care for the person behind the writing comes across as both rude and entitled, whether that was your intention or not.
All I’m asking is that when speaking to me, and to other writers, please show some courtesy. I know nothing about you or your life or how busy you are because you’ve chosen to speak to me anonymously. That’s fine. I respect that choice. Please reciprocate by showing some respect in return and taking more than five seconds to ask about updates. Because you’re right. I am busy. I don’t owe you an explanation, but here it is anyways because honestly I feel the need to vent some more.
I’ve recently signed a contract for original writing that has a deadline. I’ve promised a fanwork for charity that also has a deadline. Those two things might receive priority over the story you want me to write. Sorry not sorry about that. That’s just the way it is. I’ve committed myself to a small number of EFE prompts and oh by the way, I never finished writing one of my prompts from the 2018 round and for the 2017 round I started a multichapter WIP that I’ve been trying and unsuccessful in getting re-written. I’ve also committed to finishing several multichapter fanworks (namely the Outside Chance universe and Spellbound although there are a few others as well) that don’t have deadlines but are still subject to available time, inspiration, and energy. Those might get my attention before Honeymoons as well just because sometimes that’s how the muse works, but the only person who owns authority over whether or not they get done is me. Sorry not sorry about that either.
I just started a new job, and while I’m excited and happy about it, that is still a source of stress as I have to adjust how I manage my time and the fact that there is now less of it for fun things like fanfiction writing and reading. There’s additional stress in my family having to adjust to Mom no longer being able to drop everything for them whenever they need something. I’m dealing with a back injury caused in a wreck four years ago that’s been aggravated by the most recent car wreck I was in. I’ve got two school aged kids who still rely on me for their well being, homework help and baseball and Cub Scouts and archery half a dozen other things. I’m married and while Mr. KDNFB is usually a great and hard working partner, our relationship sometimes needs attention too or it’ll suffer, not to mention he’s often gone due to his job, basically making me single mom for short periods of time. Car wrecks and maintenance issues and me getting sick are further sources of stress not just in their essence but also because they cost us money. There goes my first paycheck, already spent on an urgent care visit or two and car parts before it’s even in the bank. So sometimes, when I want to be writing, all I have the energy for is sitting on the couch and reblogging cute otter pictures and funny memes, and I shouldn’t be made to feel guilty about that, regardless of how much one of my stories may have touched you.
But even if I didn’t have all of that going on, it’d still be rude to have someone asking for an update with no preamble or not even a nice word about the story to be found. I will post the stories when they’re ready. That’s literally all that I can promise you or anyone else who reads them, and all that you as a reader should be allowed to expect from me. None of us owe you a story or an update or even a finished fic. If one of us chooses to pull all their works today or abandon a story they just can’t finish for whatever reason, yes that freaking sucks, but there’s literally nothing wrong with that. I don’t know a single fandom writer who hoards chapters to spite you or any other reader. If it’s not getting posted, it’s because it isn’t done. Please find a better way to ask about updates. You’re on a better track with this message here, so maybe next time...lead with that.