3 Years, 36 chapters, 340k Words...

[MelissaBaby]

The final chapter of Mary and Alvin went online this morning.

I'm sure that many of the authors here have felt the way I do this morning; an odd melancholy mixture of relief, exhilaration and sadness. For three years, I have lived every day with these characters as if they were members of my family. I'm going to miss writing about them.

Writing this story was a growth experience for me. I don't think I've stuck with anything for three years since high school.

I always thought of it as the biography of a relationship, and I covered that relationship through a narrative of six decades. I explored both the greatest joys and the deepest heartaches, often touching on very personal experiences of my own.

I received advice and support from many of you here, and I am grateful for every word, the good and the bad, even the completely out to lunch. Thank you.

I have anticipated the advice I expect most of you will offer. As soon as I submitted this final chapter, I opened the file of notes I've assembled for my next project, and I started writing.

Something not quite so long this time.

 

[lovecraft68]

Congrats, and I know the feeling

Siblings with Benefits took 2 years, it was 41 chapters originally and 800K(look, I'm wordy, okay?)

It was the first thing I wrote and became catharsis for a lot of f'd up shit from my younger years. But during the time I wrote it the characters lived in my head. Always talking always doing something always making me feel the way they felt

It became an obsession to finish, but at the same time when it was over, you feel lik a reader, who for a time wants more as well, then as time passes, they settle down and you feel like you said goodbye to a couple of good friends.

I finished it almost 9 years and still revisit chapters here and there.

I'm sure you'll do the same.

Good job sticking with it.

 

[Jada59]

Yaaay!

 

[MelissaBaby]

Congrats, and I know the feeling

Siblings with Benefits took 2 years, it was 41 chapters originally and 800K(look, I'm wordy, okay?)

It was the first thing I wrote and became catharsis for a lot of f'd up shit from my younger years. But during the time I wrote it the characters lived in my head. Always talking always doing something always making me feel the way they felt

It became an obsession to finish, but at the same time when it was over, you feel lik a reader, who for a time wants more as well, then as time passes, they settle down and you feel like you said goodbye to a couple of good friends.

I finished it almost 9 years and still revisit chapters here and there.

I'm sure you'll do the same.

Good job sticking with it.

It's really good to hear that others have had the same experience. Thank you.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Congratulations - it’s bittersweet feeling, isn’t it. A major accomplishment but I always feel like I’m a little empty when I finish a big one. But then the next starts up..

Anyhow, yaaaay! Got to go read it

 

[SimonDoom]

Congratulations. That's an awesome achievement. My only long series was nothing by comparison -- 8 chapters and 83,000 words. I felt relieved when it was done. It's hard to imagine writing something as long as your story. Enjoy your next one!

 

[Brutal_One]

Congrats Melissa! I know I will face a similar point in future as in writing my own story arc I can foresee the point when the series is finished. Although I already have a few ‘one off’ stories that rely on the same idea and the one main character the stories here are probably few and far between.

I assume for you it will be onto the next writing project potentially which I am sure must be exciting . For me however it will probably be the point where I hang up my literary pen from the Lit perspective. I will probably always write but will not feel the need to share it with others as I have done with the current arc.

Good luck though with your future works and the pleasure in reading it will undoubtably bring.

Brutal One

 

[BarracudaSwordfish]

Well done, a real labour of love!

It's always a wrench to say goodbye to your characters, but then again, as with Ian Fleming and Conan Doyle, even if you kill them off, you can always bring them back!

 

[ElectricBlue]

My labour of love was a year in writing and a third the length of yours, so yes, I know the feeling. But my next piece was out within a month, so no sentimentality.

I have no idea how you managed such a steady output over that time - other than two side projects, I took the year off in terms of submitting content.

Great work!

EB tapped his fingers. "So, where's the next one?"

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Congratulations! Holy crap that's a lot of words.

My first labor of love took a year and was only 110K. Of course back then I couldn't spend as much time writing as I was employed full time. I do know how you feel though. I was so proud of myself for finishing it and my editor at the time kept pestering me for the next installment because she wanted to know what would happen.

Again Congratulations.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Congratulations! It’s a great feeling when you have such an accomplishment after being able to stick through and overcome all of the hurdles along the way. Good luck with your next endeavor.

I’ve recently completed what was originally to be the final arc of a story (29 chapters, 110k words total), but an idea for another arc turned into an outline and now I’m debating if I want to continue to give a definitive ending. There aren’t many readers in comparison to stories here, but I’ll probably continue because it’s important to me, even if no one else reads it.

 

[HectorBidon]

Congratulations! It's an awesome accomplishment.

It may interest you to know that while conducting research for another thread I couldn't help but notice that 13 of the stories in the top 1% of the Romance category are chapters from Mary and Alvin. So your work is being appreciated. Well done.

Take care. Keep rising---keep soaring.

 

[Omenainen]

Congratulations! And as a reader, my heartfelt thanks for a completed series! I’ve read so many unfinished ones, and it’s really frustrating. A few times I’ve skipped to the comments of the last part, and if there’s folks complaining about unfinished series I’ve skipped it altogether, but that seems somehow wrong as well. Maybe I’ll dare to start yours now that I know it’s complete

 

[MelissaBaby]

Well done, a real labour of love!

It's always a wrench to say goodbye to your characters, but then again, as with Ian Fleming and Conan Doyle, even if you kill them off, you can always bring them back!

There is no reason why I can't do one offs with the characters if I decide I'd like to do so. I've been asked to do a Mary and Alvin Halloween story, for example. I won't be doing that this year, but next year? Who knows. Or, as Alvin would say, hard tellin', not knowin'.

 

[MelissaBaby]

My labour of love was a year in writing and a third the length of yours, so yes, I know the feeling. But my next piece was out within a month, so no sentimentality.

I have no idea how you managed such a steady output over that time - other than two side projects, I took the year off in terms of submitting content.

Great work!

EB tapped his fingers. "So, where's the next one?"

Well, I'm going to try to get something done for the Halloween and Christmas contests, and the Story/Song event.

I am starting now on my next "major" project, my long awaited (by a couple people at least) strip club opus, The Gold Dollar Girls. It will likely be after the first of the year before you see any of that.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Congratulations! It's an awesome accomplishment.

It may interest you to know that while conducting research for another thread I couldn't help but notice that 13 of the stories in the top 1% of the Romance category are chapters from Mary and Alvin. So your work is being appreciated. Well done.

Take care. Keep rising---keep soaring.

Wow! Thanks for telling me that.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Congratulations! And as a reader, my heartfelt thanks for a completed series! I’ve read so many unfinished ones, and it’s really frustrating. A few times I’ve skipped to the comments of the last part, and if there’s folks complaining about unfinished series I’ve skipped it altogether, but that seems somehow wrong as well. Maybe I’ll dare to start yours now that I know it’s complete

I have heard that from others, and I get it. Why get invested in a story that just cuts off before it's finished? That's why I specified in the description of the last chapter that it was the conclusion. I may also edit the first chapter with an authors note saying something like "Chapter one of a thirty six part story"

BTW, perhaps it's some verification of the tendency of readers to wait for a multi-chapter story to finish before diving in, in the ten hours or so since the final chapter has posted, there have been 65 new views on Chapter One.

 

[Brutal_One]

That sounds like 3 years of excellent work! You should be proud. Well done again.

Brutal One

Edit: in response to Hector’s post

 

[SimonDoom]

BTW, perhaps it's some verification of the tendency of readers to wait for a multi-chapter story to finish before diving in, in the ten hours or so since the final chapter has posted, there have been 65 new views on Chapter One.

That's gratifying when that happens.

I'm happy your story has done well and that you finished. I read the first few chapters and liked them. I felt immersed in the world you described and that I was reading about real people in a real setting. That's somewhat unusual in reading a Literotica story. The only reason I didn't keep reading was time -- it's just too big for me to get through and my reading list is already so long!

I do intend to get around at some point to your Fall and Rise series, which I just might be able to tackle.

 

[vanmyers86]

Congratulations, Melissa Baby! That's an amazing accomplishment and one you will look back at with pride for the rest of your days. Very few of us can say we put that amount of effort and time into any project, and I hope you continue to find it rewarding and worthwhile.

 

[KeithD]

Congrats. I've been there with a book series. Know how you feel--both having accomplished it and being sad at not having the characters and their lives to continue walking with.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Would you ever consider publishing this as a novel, I mean actually trying to monetize it? Anyway, congratulations!

 

[MelissaBaby]

That's gratifying when that happens.

I'm happy your story has done well and that you finished. I read the first few chapters and liked them. I felt immersed in the world you described and that I was reading about real people in a real setting. That's somewhat unusual in reading a Literotica story. The only reason I didn't keep reading was time -- it's just too big for me to get through and my reading list is already so long!

I do intend to get around at some point to your Fall and Rise series, which I just might be able to tackle.

If my setting and characters seemed real to you, then I succeeded in my goal, so thank you very much.

My Fall and Rise is only about 50,000 words. I'd love for you to read it some time.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Would you ever consider publishing this as a novel, I mean actually trying to monetize it? Anyway, congratulations!

I may do that at some point. Thank you.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Congratulations! No wonder you've got such a a big smile.

I've read "Fall and Rise" and your poems, but I will be reading M&A when I'm on leave and can just kick back and relax.