Chapter 23, “‘ . . . but what we are becoming.’,” concludes The Dragon Lady of Stockbridge: A Tale of Magic in the Gilded Age. What has happened to Rebecca’s body? And what is Abigail going to do about it?

It’s been a long run, from August 31, 2012 until today, making sure a new chapter went up every week. I’m going to miss Rebecca Farnsworth Maxwell and her supporting characters. The Farnsworths have been living in my mind since April 18, 2012, when, bored and restless, I posted the first three paragraphs of what became “The Troubles of the Farnsworths” on Facebook. And yet now their story is over.

Rest in peace, Rebecca, if you can

Although I’ve mentioned a few possibilities to various people, I’m still not certain what the next story on this blog will be, only that there will be a next story. Not immediately, no. For at least a week, possibly as long as a month, the blog is going off its customary schedule. I’ll put up a few posts about how Dragon Lady came to be, but that’s all that I have planned for now.

One of the reasons for this hiatus is that I want to rethink what sort of stories can best be told on a blog such as this one. The other major reason is that I need to spend some time working on a story I can’t put on this blog. It’s already 1/7 longer than Dragon Lady, and I’m going to be expanding it. More importantly, I’m going to have to go back and forth in revisions, and it would be a mess to read if I tried to post it here. What’s it about? Well, seems everyone is writing vampire romance stories these days. “My First Paranormal Romance,” which I posted just the other day, was an abortive attempt to criticize the genre. The story I’m working on is a grittier look at just how vampire romances might play out these days. Trust me, it’s not what you think.

Oh, and another reason for the pause? I have to catch up on reading other people’s blogs!