One More for the Road · 3:40pm May 22nd, 2014
Retirement Fact #45: When you retire from something, you instantly get teleported to the nearest beach with a margarita in your hand.
It’s true! When I retired from writing, I suddenly found myself standing on the sandy shores of a sorta trashy beach in the dead of winter, the freezing spray from the rolling waves nearby chilling me to the bone. Luckily the local hotels were fairly empty due to it being the off-season, so at least I got a good price for a room, and one rental car and several hundred miles later I safely made it back home late in the afternoon of the following day.
I guess the lesson to be learned here is to not retire in the winter. Or, if you do, at least get yourself in the proximity of a better beach.
I have to say, I was highly skeptical when readers were trying to convince me to bring my stories here after I got out of the pony fanfiction game. I was tired, had almost no free time, and honestly didn’t want to put in the effort to convert them to prose. “No one there would like them anyway,” I said, despite constantly being told I was wrong. “Everyone who wanted to read them already has,” I said, despite not really believing it myself.
But in the end they convinced me, and I spent many sleepless nights going through and cleaning these silly little stories up. (And yet there are still typos and missing words everywhere, I’m sure…) And in the end I was proven wrong, because it’s plain to see that some people have definitely enjoyed them.
It’s been really heartwarming to read the positive responses in the comments, and personally really amusing to see readers trying to guess the two longer stories’ outcomes as the chapters were posted. Based on feedback, I got a pretty clear picture of what ended up working and what didn’t, which I suppose will be helpful if I ever decide to pick up the pen again for any reason, even though it’s doubtful that’ll happen.
I just wanted to say thanks to those who’ve followed me and enjoyed my work. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be coming out of retirement, because to be honest I don’t want to have to drive back from the beach after I retire again. (Those rental cars are expensive, especially if you purchase the optional insurance that they always try to upsell you.)
However, I also want to express my gratitude to you guys in a meaningful way, so Exchange is getting one more bonus chapter. You might have seen me mention it once or twice elsewhere, but now that it’s around 80% complete, I think it’s safe to announce it here. I don’t want to give an ETA because I’m terrible at those, but it’ll get done fairly soon I’m sure.
This bonus chapter, “Five Vignettes”, is actually a series of five short stories, two of which you may have read before, that take place after the conclusion of the first bonus chapter but before the story’s epilogue. I’m hopeful that everyone who read and enjoyed Exchange will find something to like in at least one of these short stories. As always, the usual Anon & Cel shenanigans with be present, in addition to a few other things.
I know it’s not much, but it’s all I can offer. Thank you all again for the kind words of encouragement and support. You guys are awesome, and you definitely made those sleepless nights editing and rewriting these crazy horse stories worth it.
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! ONE MORE CHAPTER
Hurray for bonuses! Fair winds to you, sir!
No, please don't go....We love you and your stories
Did you at least do a polar bear plunge?
Well anything is much apreciated
Best of luck man
Exchange is one of the best stories I've read on here, and to this day the only story to make me cry from happiness. I eagerly await the new chapters... yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes
Pass along my gratitude to those who convinced you to post yoour stories here. Never would have found them otherwise.
I understand that you're done writing ponies, but I don't think you should stop writing completely. You have a talent that I wish I had
I love your story's and I'm not just saying that.
I used to rush home after work to see if you had updated anything, and when you did oh man, it made all the days stress just melt away.
I actually gave a fuck. let me repeat that.
Someone one the internet actually gave a fuck about you and your efforts.
So yeah, just know that if you ever did come out of retirement, I would be here.
btw
>riding celestia like a horse
Whenever that happened I literally laughed out loud.
Exchange had one of, if not the best characterizations of Celestia I've seen in a fic. Which is something most authors do extremely poorly. I thoroughly enjoyed Exchange, and I'm looking forward to the bonus chapter.
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Oh, I'll still be hanging around here, especially considering there are stories I want to read or am currently in the process of reading. I'll still respond to PMs and comments when I notice them, too. It's just that after this my writing days will be done, which was actually what I intended a while ago before they [Al Pacino] pulled me back in! [/Al Pacino]
Everyone else, thanks for the support. I hope you'll enjoy the new chapter when it's ready.
enjoy your retirement
i gotta say most of your stories are something else, and i would be lying if i didn't say that i would LOVE to see more but i understand. your stories were incredibly entertaining and im grateful for that.
a lake sounds like a better place to be at than the beach :P
but that's just my preference. anyways its even hot enough here for someone to enjoy a swim in the lake...
It may not be the moar I want, but maybe it's the moar I deserve. Or something.
Did I ever tell you that I love you? Well I just did.
Also, thank you for posting here, I never would have found your stories if not for that.
People be everywhere, nowadays. Good luck with your shit. I'll keep my shit on that table over yonder.
Thank you so much for sharing your writing with us. I'm glad you brought them here, because this is literally the only fanfic site I am a part of and exchange is one of my favorites and definitely my favorite Celestia romance.
Out of pure curiosity, before you posted them on FimFiction, where were your stories posted?
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They were originally on pastebin, written for /mlp/ in the >Greentext style, so they needed some work to be retooled to full prose.
The fact that we're getting anything more is just fantastic.Certainly not something Ah expected happening.
It's pretty funny too, Ah was just thinking about Exchange and I Dream of Luna and how Ah'd wish you'd pick up writing again in those worlds you created with each one but knew that you were done with writing and that was okay.
So, yeah, imagine mah surprise to see this post. Hahaha. Ah imagine mahself, like many other fans of those stories, are pretty happy to get anything extra so Ah can't wait to read them.
Much like Exchange itself, Ah'm sure they'll be quite enjoyable to read.