My three-year-old charges were down for naps. Check! Discord time! Wooo hooo!
Friend Request: HC Merrin
WHAT??!! No, no way. That just couldn’t be! HC Merrin was big time! Like, had graphic novels I read as a teen: awesome sapphic love stories with Muriel and Harley fighting their way through death itself to get to each other.
She was HUGE! How did she find me? I accepted the request, and the next second a message popped up.
HC: I saw you like Flopper. It’s a favorite book. I followed your story today.
Wait, I had only twelve followers. I opened my book Moons Dancing. Sure enough, I had thirteen followers, and my view count passed 3,000! Oh my lord, this was crazy.
Ayela: Thx for following. That means so much. I loved your stories as a girl. Your characters were so inspiring; that’s why I wanted to be a writer. To encourage other people through my stories.
HC: I can’t wait to read more. I’m in a Discord server with a bunch of authors. Some write romance, some fantasy or other genres. It’s called Special Streaks. Wanna join?
What was this? More Discord groups?
Ayela: Which book is it for?
HC: You’re new to Discord, right? LOL. It’s not for a book, it’s just for authors to hang out, have fun, collaborate.
Oh, I thought it was just each person individually having a site to promote their own book. Damn, I already looked like an idiot.
Ayela: Okay, sounds like fun. Thx!
HC: Link to Special Streaks Invite.
I accepted, and BOOM! Once again was propelled into another session of overwhelm. Holy crap, this server had 2,057 members! Two-thousand authors at my beck and call to woo into loving my books? How was this even possible?
Ayela: Thx, HC, this is amazing! How are there so many authors on Discord?
HC: LOL, it’s where everyone hangs out. Where you been hiding?
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Ayela: Not in Wyoming’s backwoods, fo sho
HC: LOL. Go paste your book link in the #promo section and tell everyone about you.
I meant to do what HC said, but before I could do anything else, bings rang out all over the server. WTF was all of that? Okay, okay. Ah, someone called SassySword said, “Ayela, I’ve seen you in the Flopper comments. Welcome!”
Ayela: Hey Sassy! You’re a Flopper fan? So awesome! What’s your book?
SassySword posted a link, and I checked out their fiction. Oooohh, cool story: telepaths and foreseers. I read a slew of chapters, followed, and left comments a plenty. Great book, and I hoped to finish it someday.
And maybe I could get to be friends with all these writers and see all my dreams come true. Big-time career as a successful author here I come!
I made my way through all the welcome messages in Special Streaks before the kids woke up from their naps, then sent one last message to HC.
Ayela: Thx so much for reaching out. Your books meant the world to me as a girl, and I’m loving getting to know your friends.
HC: That means a lot. Message me anytime.
Ayela: ??
HC: ??
Bartt: New cover art drafts from the artist I hired
Ayela: Love this! Can they increase the contrast around the girl’s face? Might get lost on a thumbnail.
Bartt: back off with the criticism
Woah! What? Weren’t we supposed to give gentle feedback? Did I come on too strong?
Yeah, I was feeling cocky giving opinions to all these authors now that I had seventeen followers. You heard that right, SEVENTEEN! In one afternoon, I’d grown my following by joining the Special Streaks Discord server, and my views were up to 3,500.
Good thing I had plenty of chapters already written because my new hobby of hanging out with the Streaks was eating my time up fast.
I mean, I understood almost nothing of what anyone said. There was a lot of talk about feet, and male body parts were often discussed, along with gamer talk, and the occasional movie I’d heard about but not seen.
And the music? 100% metal. It’s like no one had ever heard of K-pop or classical. What was the deal with that? Obviously none of them had decent taste.
And apparently, either I was waaaaay off base with my instructions about Bartt's cover, or he was super-touchy. Alright, I’d try backing off.
Ayela: Sorry @Bartt, didn’t mean to come on so strong. Love that you have original art.
No response. Sigh. Hopefully he’d see my apology. I didn’t have time to worry about it anymore because: Ping!
HC: Got a new story idea.
Ayela: I’m listening.
Look at me, playing it so cool, hanging out with my big-time author friends and pretending like I had a clue about what was going on.
HC: The prequel to Red Phoenix. The story of how Muriel and Harley meet and fall in love, then . . .
My heart fell into my stomach. I knew the backstory of Red Phoenix, sure, but it was kinda vague. The lovers had been separated by death, but got together in the world of magic. Fantasy. Perfection.
Ayela: Wait, you mean, I get to read their love story from the very beginning, but then Muriel's gonna DIE at the end?
HC: Uhhh, is it too much? Bad idea? Should I trash it?
Wait, what?! Did HC Merrin really want my advice on what to write?
Ayela: Well, it sounds like a tragedy book, but if you want to write it, then you should go with what your gut tells you.
HC: Wanna read the first chapter?
HOLY SHIT.
Ayela: Absofuckinglutely.
HC: lol. Here you go. Link to Shapeless Poetry Ch1
Ayela: Thx for trusting me with this.
HC: I can see how much you love books. You’re a commenter, and if I put this on Purple Road, I want you on team HC.
I grinned at my screen. She was speaking my language.
Ayela: I’ll always be on team HC.
HC: ??
Ayela: ??
I clicked open the chapter and read the coziest, sweetest opening I could imagine in a book. Then wrote to HC letting her know I loved it, but found two missing commas. It was time I called it a night.
When my head hit the pillow, I saw scrolling words and names of new friends, and those precious new followers on my book. Sleep came quickly, and the next day brought a surprise I wasn’t ready for.
