UPDATE PART TWO!

Surely I would not have left it off like that without something exciting to say, right?

YOU FCKIN BETCHA!

Maybe I'm overly excited. It doesn't actually mean anything yet. BUT...

I am so excited to share that my work-place comedy pitch is officially a QUARTERFINALIST for one of the contests I entered! The semi-finalists will be announced in two weeks, then the finalist in September, and a winner will be chosen in October.

So, woo, only quarterfinalist. So what?

This is actually HUGE as this has essentially fast-tracked any potential career in writing. Becoming a quarterfinalist has done a few things for me in this program: 1) it gave me a special 'accolade' on my profile which makes me show up in search results and overall gives me more of a chance to be found by industry execs. 2) It put me on what they call a Red List, which, again, increases my 'value' so to speak and makes me stand out among the many other members. 3) Not only did it give me/my profile a boost in exposure, my pitch is now in the top 20 pitches for the month of August. 4) Not only that, it is in the top 24% of ALL PITCHES on the website, thus enhancing my value and place on the Red List.

Now, there's probably 100 other quarterfinalists, and the list will continue to get narrowed down, but the further I get, obviously, the better for me, even if I don't end up as a finalist!

This accomplishment is just. Overwhelming. I'm literally exhausted just from the sheer... whirlwind of feelings I've been feeling in the last 8 hours since I found out. I absolutely realize it could go nowhere, and of course I'll be disappointed. But I've spent a lot of time submitting to these contests, and this is nothing but a huge win that I absolutely plan to enjoy for as long as I can! 

I'm going to continue to polish my pitch, expand and polish the scripts, and submit to everything I can submit to. And I absolutely recognize that that's going to take a lot out of me on top of everything else that seems to suck away my energy these days. So I may be quiet on here for a while more. But the stories I've created are still in my heart and are still projects I intend on finishing. It just may take me more time than I'd like to admit. And right now, I just need to find a balance and some peace in my life before I can make it all happen.

So, anyway, that's it for now! I will definitely update you all if I get any further in the contest! And if I have any other writing news to share <3

Hey everyone! I'm way overdue for an update, so let's get to it!

First and foremost, I must apologize for my absolute silence these last few months! Spring and summer have been... well, A LOT. In many different ways, both good and bad. I've spent a lot of that time contemplating my writing journey. 

You see - around a year ago, maybe (possibly around the time I found and joined Ritoria) - I made a LARGE declaration to myself and my little corner of followers that I would start taking my writing seriously again. I knew I needed to move on from Calliope (the journey in which I believe I've explained here as well), so I dove into some new projects that excited me for a while, and then, alas, the writing ceased. I don't necessarily have a reason for it - excuses, maybe. In truth, the last year or two have been some of the most difficult times in my life, in too many ways to count. Personally, professionally, mentally, emotionally, just all of it. And I'm feeling old and useless and like I have no purpose or accomplishments, nothing to show for all the hard years of work. Blah, blah, blah. Trying to avoid the depressing topics.

But TLDR, I think my declaration just ended up putting more stresses on me. I'm still feeling a 2+ year writing burnout. I could probably try to analyze it all - I won't. And I won't drone on about it, either. What I do want to say is that, despite all this, I have been trying. I have done some writing - albeit not as much as I once wrote. But it was something. And for some reason, I decided to change gears a little bit. I started script writing.

A part of me always wanted to see my writing come to life on the big screen, so I thought, why not just write for TV? This may seem like yet another declaration, but I am a member of a few groups that actually help up and coming script writers get into the industry. So I figured, what the hell, let's give it a try.

I think in a way, it kind of worked out in my favor, because you can submit pitches and don't necessarily have to have entire scripts written out. So, I practiced developing pitches, researched what I needed to have, how to present them, and played around with some pitch ideas, practiced script writing, reached out for feedback (and got great feedback!) and started submitting some pitches and scripts.

*cue cliff hanger ending since I'm out of characters* Stay tuned for part 2...

Holy notifications. Sorry to have been an inactive disappointment these last few weeks. I am struggling. But I'm glad to see people are still reading, so thanks for that <3 I'll try to be more alive soon, but this be a large pit that I'm in and trying to find the strength to pull myself out has been difficult. Will try to update more soon. Thanks for sticking with me xox

Hey everyone! It's been a hot min, but happy new year! Hope 2024 has started off well for all of you! It's been quiet for me so far, but also full of excitement and p a n i c as I start to put some plans in motion for the year! I officially got myself an editor and I plan to have Gray Brushstrokes published in full before the end of 2024! With Moon/Ocean, I have some other pretty exciting plans still in the works and will continue to post each chapter as I write them right here! I don't really have much else to add on the update front but I promise I will when I have more concrete plans ready to be announced!

And just a reminder that you can get much juicier goss and never before seen content on my Patreon, including NSFW scenes for Moon/Ocean! https://www.patreon.com/kaylynx

Just gonna pop by to leave this cute lil Ronan chibi here <3

Heyo! Me here. Wanted to post a quick update for the next couple weeks. I'm going to be taking a bit of a social media break to enjoy a mini winter staycation and celebrate the holidays with family! I have a regular work schedule next week at my day job, then two weeks off! WOOT! I'm soooo looking forward to it!! There will be lots of gaming. And some writing, too! But I will not be posting anything for the remainder of the year (with the exception of some scheduled subscriber content!) Book 2 of Calliope has officially wrapped up and I've released the subscriber content for Calliope, which includes Book 3, a prequel, and a sneak peek into the rewrite of Book 1. Those are scheduled to post once a week, so feel free to subscribe and enjoy! In case you forgot (and want to treat yourself this holiday season!) chapter 5 of Moon/Ocean IS AVAILABLE for early access on my Patreon! You can subscribe for $3/month to unlock it, plus tons of other bonus content (and all the spicey NSFW scenes!), and continue to get chapters before they go live everywhere else! (and it would be a super nice holiday treat for me, too... just saying! I reeeaalllyyy want to quit my day job and actually get paid for my all the work I put into my writing!) okay, I think that's it for now! I hope you all enjoy a warm, safe, and happy holiday season! I'm so looking forward to what 2024 has in store and I hope you all are, too! Happiest wishes and the goodest of tidings to you all xox <3 <3 see you next year!!

Would anyone be interested in merch? 👀 Like, maybe a body pillow of Myles or Ronan? I'm thinking of hiring an artist to help me make some fun stuff and official art for them but want to be able to justify the cost xD

Soo, in case you missed it... Chapter 5 is live for ✨early access✨on Patreon! Subscribe to my Patreon to read it one month earlier than everyone else! (And get access to all early access chapters!) ➡️ https://bit.ly/3uyuXDn

Update Time! A few things:

1. The last chapters of Calliope Book 2 have been scheduled and will be postied daily until December 10th! Once those wrap up, I will make Book 3 and the Prequel live again. Both books will be available for Subscribers only, here or on my Patreon! Both are very early drafts and definitely NOT completed drafts, but since I plan on rewriting the whole series, I won't be 'finishing' those drafts and will be scrapping them and starting over. So, releasing them for paid subscribers will give you a glimpse into the future of Calliope along with Mido's and Scarletta's past - just a little sneak peek since they won't be released for quite a while as I work through the rewrites.

2. With Calliope more or less 'finished' (for my current purposes) I will be turning my attention back on Ocean/Moon and Grey Brushstrokes. I was going to work on both, but I think it's pretty safe to say that Ocean/Moon is the more popular of the two xD So I'll probably focus more on that. I plan to post one chapter a week with early access + bonus content for paid subscribers! That will be an option on my Patreon only, not here on Ritoria unfortunately. I'm hoping to get that started in December; I've got a good backlog going so I can start to schedule those and it should get me through the holidays. Going to take a bit of a writing break to spend time with family and whatnot but I will not leave you hanging, I promise!

3. No further updates on my potential Writer's on Writing series. I'm doing some research and outlining weekly topics and content and starting to realize this may be a much bigger project than I can handle at the moment xD But we'll see, I'm still thinking on it!

4. I'd love to know what you all would like to see from me in the future, especially subscriber only content! I'm always looking for ways to make it valuable for everyone, so please don't ever hesitate to reach out with any ideas you may have! I already have lots of content and even more scheduled on my Patreon, and like I said, I will be posting early access and bonus content for Ocean/Moon, so if you're interested in devouring all you can of our favorite merman and werewolf boys, give me a follow! https://www.patreon.com/kaylynx

That's it for now! I'll hit y'all up again soon <3

hey hey hey, happy weekend all! I've been kicking around some ideas and thought maybe I could talk about it here and see what people thought. Maybe I'll take it to the forums, too, to reach more people. But for now -- I'm always looking for ways to help support other authors and writers. I've been doing this whole writing online thing for over 10 years, so I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. What frustrates me the most is that there are supposed "professionals" who always hide behind paywalls and don't actually offer anything useful. And I get it, to a point. But there's also a point when, frankly, that shit just isn't worth paying for. And over the years, I've made a lot of friends and connections with people who offer so much to writers FOR FREE, so I want to try to add my expertise to the mix as well. BLAH BLAH BLAH okay here's my point: a few years ago, I did a small blog series called Writer's on Writing. I've been thinking about turning that into a more official, long term webseries / podcast kinda thing. The idea is to talk about anything and everything writing: from getting started, the writing process, and even the basics of sentence structure, spelling and grammar, etc, to editing, publishing, marketing, and beyond. I also plan to interview actual industry professionals and offer Q&As for anyone interested. And yes - all of this will be free, live streamed, and I will share the archive of VODs to save and watch over and over again whenever you want. SO - what do you all think? Would this be something of interest? Is there anything specific you'd like to see or learn about? Please let me know! If I go forward with this, I'd like to get it started January 2024! Would love to hear any thoughts you all have ^_^ Thanks!

I've been in a pretty crappy mood the last few days but logging in to Ritoria every day has actually been such a mood booster. Y'all are fantastic. I've never been on a publishing platform where people ACTUALLY comment on stories and walls. I love having conversations with you all <3 Particularly in a more intimate setting like on my own personal wall. I've never been very good at partaking in discussions on servers, forums, or other larger settings like those. (serious introvert here!) So idk I just wanted to pop by again and say thank you <3 Ritoria is very quickly becoming my new favorite place to be. By far, it has the best community! Happy Sunday and I hope you all have a great week! xox

Eyyy the chapter scheduler works now! But it looks like it might give followers a ton of notifications every time I schedule something, which might be annoying, so I'll try to schedule in batches so no one logs in to see 50 notifications xD

Whoops I guess I should apologize for taking over the new releases feed xD I was trying to prep some content for subscribers and didn't think any of it would go public like that.. SO I guess I'll make a quick update now in case anyone is like, wtf is this bish doin.

Per my earlier post, Book 2 of Calliope will be posted through the rest of November and into December.

You may also see that there are 3 more similar books. 1 has a different cover and is titled [rewrite] and the other 2 have different covers as well and are book 3 and a prequel. All three of these are available for paid subscribers only, either here or on my Patreon.

The rewrite is a complete overhaul of Book 1, which was written 10+ years ago. My writing, style, and voice have changed and improved drastically, so I thought it was worth rewriting the first book before continuing with the series. Naturally, a rewrite of Book 2 will eventually follow.

The prequel and book 3 are, well, obviously the prequel and book 3. Both were 'started' - I had drafted a lot of scenes and had a pretty solid outline settled for both. They each sat at around 12-14,000 words. Since I plan on rewriting the series, these will very likely change as well. So, instead of writing more, I'm going to take time to rewrite 1&2, and in the meantime, release content from the prequel and book 3 to paid subscribers only. These will give you a little sneak peek into what's in store for Calliope and Mido and will very likely never be seen in an officially published form anywhere else!

I uploaded all 3 as placeholders for the time being. I don't plan to release content for any of these until after book 2 finishes posting - so likely after the new year. I'll be sure to updated when I do release so if you're interested, you can subscribe to those next year!

I'm still working on nailing down a schedule for WIWTMAYTW and GB as well and using this month and December to get that backlog going. So, come 2024, there will be lots for y'all to read, paid or free! I hope you're as excited as I am!

As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love and support! I hope I can continue to provide an adventure for you all xox

Hey, it's me again... Plain to see again... High five and a yellow umbrella if anyone knows that reference.

Anywhooo. For those who have been following Calliope, if you haven't seen already, I just posted the final chapters and - DRUMROLL - started posting Book 2! Continue to follow her and Mido's adventures as they discover the mysteries of their world!

Ritoria has still yet to fix the scheduling issue, but I'm rolling with it. Book 2 is a bit smaller, so I figured if I'm good and post a chapter a day, I can get it all up here around early-mid December. That will give me a chance to get through NaNoWriMo and prep my backlog of content so that I can focus more on what I think you all really want - WIWTMAYWTO. I promise, that will be updated and on a consistent schedule soon!

For now, please enjoy Book 2 of Calliope - and don't forget to head over to my Patreon to see content you won't find anywhere else ;)

Hey all! Just wanted to pop in with an exciting announcement!

As a writer, there are TONS of different platforms to publish on, and I've been experimenting here and there to see what ones will work for me. Over the summer, I started posting on Tapas, and for three days in November, they are having their Inksgiving. Ink is a way to support authors on Tapas. It's usually reserved for people with over 250 subscribers. I have like, 10 lol. But to celebrate Inksgiving, they opened it up to EVERYONE, which means for the month of Novemeber, people can donate ink to me! Obviously this is pretty exciting, so I decided to offer a little deal for everyone who supports me on Tapas with Ink.

But since joining Ritoria, I've had a lot of views and follows and have had a chance to interact with a really amazing community. So I decided I wanted to bring over this exclusive deal to my friends and supporters on Ritoria, too!

So, for the month of November only, I am offering a free, one-month subscription to my Patreon! Since this isn't technically a feature on Patreon, I had to fudge it a bit. So, head on over to my Patreon and select the ‘Inksgiving - November Only' tier for $1. You will receive a coupon code. Please shoot me a message on my Patreon with your coupon code and tell me you came from Ritoria! And I will reimburse you the $1 via Paypal or Venmo.

https://www.patreon.com/kaylynx

Your support, whether you subscribe, like, follow, or comment, truly means the world to me and helps encourage me and my writing endeavors. Every time I get a little notification, it truly makes my day and makes me feel like a celebrity! I hope you remember that every time you do something like this for any writer - you are truly making an impact and we appreciate you more than you will ever realize. Happy Reading!

Happy Halloween! You know what that means?! The scariest thing of all - NaNoWriMo is tomorrow! XD I will be making yet another yearly attempt at it. Some years are better than others, for sure. But this year, my plan is to be a little looser in my goals. I'm going to make it my goal simply to write every day. I originally planned on focusing on one of my WIPs but thought, you know what, I'm gonna write what I write. If one day I feel like working on something different, I'm gonna let it happen. I've been honestly out of the writing habit for a long time. Definitely all of 2023. It's been a weird year and quite frankly, I'm ready to be done with it, shake it off, and start anew! Since I've been in such a slump lately (with life in general, not even just writing. It do be an effort some days) I'm going to attempt to make some kind of schedule for the next two months and stick with it. I used to stream a lot on Twitch, so I'm eager to dust that off as well. I'm hoping to have one writing/work stream and one game stream every week, so once I nail those plans down, I'll let y'all know - would love to see you there and chat with you if you have a chance to come by!

In other news, Calliope will be wrapping up soon. Maybe within the next few weeks. I've been trying to keep up with posting / posting extra for the days I miss lol. We're probably about halfway through at this point. And by the time that finishes, I should be (hopefully) all caught up with my WIPs so I can get moving with those as well. The question is - what should I focus on next? When I Was the Moon... seems to be much more favorable over Gray Brushstrokes at the moment, but not gonna lie, I have been killing it writing GB lately. And there's still a third novel I need to put up here that I haven't yet. WOOPS. So needless to say, I have some things to think about over the next month, but would love your input! Tell me what you want to see more of and give me that boost of serotonin I need to get through xD

I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween! Talk soon!

Happy Tuesday, y'all! Thank you to all the recent followers, likes, and comments! Your support and kindness truly mean the world to me! I'm really having a great time here on Ritoria, it truly feels like a special place (though I really wish their post formatting was better and chapter scheduling worked! lol! But I digress!) I wanted to slide in with another quick update. I'm trying to get my Patreon up and running and want to focus more on it. Right now, I have two tiers, but hope to be able to add more once I can build up my audience. I know not everyone can support monthly, so I'm trying to keep that in mind while still offering interesting content! The two tiers are for $3 and $5. For $3 a month, you will get early access content to all my WIPs! Plus general access to patreon-only posts on writing, editing, and publishing, PLUS behind-the-scenes content, deleted scenes, Q&As, and my special supporter-only channel on discord! For an extra $2 - the $5 tier - you'll get all that, PLUS spicey NSFW content! I'm also offering an end-of-the-year limited special where you can get a signed copy of my full novel, Calliope! I know it's not a lot to start with right now, but I have lots of plans to make this my full-time job, offering more content, more tiers, and more rewards, so I hope you can follow me along on my journey! And you can always follow for free and support me that way! Any kind of support will go a long way <3 So please check out my Patreon to get the deets on all that I'm offering! https://www.patreon.com/kaylynx

Hey all! I just wanted to take a quick moment to say hello and give you an update on stuff and things! ^_^

First of all, thank you for all the reads, likes, follows, and comments so far! I'm brand spanking new here on Ritoria and having a lovely time so far! And I'm so happy to see people reading and enjoying my stories! So from the bottom of my heart, thank you, and I hope to continue to provide entertainment and adventures!

Secondly, some updates. While I have just recently uploaded a third novel, and have plans to add a fourth (yes I have a problem, I write too much lol!) I wanted to give a little update on my posting schedule. And, ironically, this has a lot to do with Ritoria's scheduling feature. It doesn't work. Every time I go to schedule something, it just posts it right away. I did some digging and saw a post from Ritoria acknowledging this issue, so until it is resolved, I have to post everything manually. It's kind of a pain in the ass, especially for someone as forgetful as me, but I think I have a good solution until it is resolved.

IMPORTANT My resolution to this hopefully temporary problem is to focus on posting chapters to Calliope FIRST. Calliope is a fully completed novel already, so my plan is to focus on that, post chapters (when I remember to) and focus on a good backlog of the other stuff I have planned. Calliope comes in at almost 60 chapters and just over 80,000 words. My plan was to schedule 1 chapter a day, but since I have to do it manually, it might end up looking more like 3-4 chapters a week. I will do my best to remember to post as I'd like to have the full novel here before the end of the year. In theory, I would think that would give Ritoria time to fix the scheduling, but we'll see!

I say this because I do not want anything to think I am dropping the other stories I have here! It's just too much to manually update each one daily. So I'm going to use this time to get Calliope up and in the meantime, I will focus on completing the other stories so that I can get those scheduled and updated regularly. The sooner Ritoria fixes the scheduling issue, the sooner I might be able to get those updated regularly again.

So don't worry! I am not dropping any of my stories! In fact, you'll likely see 1 or 2 more added over the next few months as I get them all ready for you all to enjoy! Thank you for your patience as I work through these little bugs and I hope you all enjoy an adventure with me! xox