Author's note

I want to thank the readers who have made it this far with me, and especially those who commented and liked as I was writing. I didn't always take your feedback exactly, but I promise you guided the story as it was being created.

On the other hand, I'm glad I stayed true to the "gently mind controlling teens" theme. I know some of you would have liked the story to go in other directions, but this story was just fuckin' and I stand by that.

I didn't really have any goals when I started writing this story, but if I had thought about it, your response would have exceeded all of them. The story sits around 65,000 words which is well into the "novel" size range and (as I write this) it's around 800,000 views, 6700 likes, and 1100 favorites. That would have been more than any stretch-goal I could have imagined, and thanks to all of you who got the story there.

I will admit I didn't exactly have a plan when I started writing. I had the initial long-weekend story with Emma and Lily in mind, but after that I was kind of following my nose (but I knew Isabella had to exist, so I had to get there somehow). I hope readers will forgive whatever inconsistencies crept in because of my lack of planning.

There was always going to be an "end" to the story (three-act structure and all that). I guess this is it, at least for now. I'm not saying I won't ever write anything else in this story, but my "generic seaside town" arc is definitely done. Astute readers will note that the Madison, Abby, and Isabella have left the story, but I didn't kill them off in a fiery explosion or anything. They're still out there somewhere.

If I start a "book 2" on this story, I'll probably re-root a branch back up toward the intro. The story map has gotten out of control.

For the moment life is going to take me away from writing anything here, so it will be at least a little bit before I can come back to it. If you liked this story, star it in case I get to come back to it and/or follow me and find me if I end up writing else around the site.

Update May 2023: I'm currently serializing my Survivor's Benefits story, and it's coming to its dramatic conclusion soon. My premise in this story was something like "what's the worst superpower I can give the main character, but still make it hot?" It became a harem story by accident. In that story, I started with "what's the most stupidly easy I can make things, but still make a decent story out of it?"

Update November 2023: "Survivor's Benefits" is now a fully-complete story, and I'm back here. The epilogue chapters after the previous conclusion will revisit some of these characters. I always thought I knew what happened to them, and wanted to get it written.

Cheers, all.