Uncle.

After almost two weeks of tearing my hair out..."UNCLE!"

Nocturne, you win.

I'm stepping back, taking a break, putting it on the back burner. Something isn't working and I can't put my finger on it at the moment. Now, I'm nearly 40,000 words into it. I'm not giving up on it. I just need some time to let it percolate a bit...without the "need to hit a million" deadline breathing down my neck. The boys of Nocturne will be back...but probably after the first of the year.

But am I going to stop writing? Fuck no. What kind of loon do you take me for? (Don't answer that.)

So I IM'ed the almighty Scarlett and said, "Takin' a break...need to write sumfink else." She instantly took up her weapons and said, "Let's figure out a new project then!" Together, we settled on a couple of characters, both of whom she named with minimal argument from me. That's unusual in and of itself...names usually take quite a bit of round and round "No, no, not that one, no, no, no", but these two characters pretty much named themselves right away. In fact, one of them chose a name I'm not usually very fond of, but it fit her. So...win.

Then the male main character told me two things about himself (and no, I'm not sharing them yet), and that revealed the conflict, the inciting incident, and the title...On The Fence. (Scarlett is credited with the title, of course, and it's fucking perfect)

This is why I worship my writing partner, folks. Working together, we can bring two people into existence out of thin air, give them a reason to be together and a reason to be apart, and the story practically writes itself. On The Fence didn't exist 20 minutes ago. As of now, I have no idea what's going to happen with this story, but it rather vehemently wants to happen. So, Nocturne is on hold, and On The Fence commences...

...NOW.