If you didn't know, I am a part of a book collaboration. It's a lot of fun and a lot of work. This post is a call to all writers who are interested in helping, whether that be as a writer, editor, or just a reader. We would love your help and feedback. We have 12 chapters put together but we are currently working on reviewing and editing. It's not a rewrite but it is the next step and we need a new set of eyes. We meet every Saturday at 2:00 EST over zoom but you don't have to come on if you would rather be an editor and reader but regardless of what you are helping with, you are more than welcome to come on. If you are interested, just leave a comment or PM me for more information.

A bit of background for the book: it would most likely be categorized as mystery and drama. It's about a young girl's disappearance and death and how her family deal with the loss.

Note: We each are assigned a character to write and there is one character in need of a writer and two whose writers are unresponsive. If you would like to write and then one of them decide to come back on or we have more than enough writers, we will just have multiple people writing for a character but I'm not sure how many people are going to want to write so please don't hesitate if you are interested.

Here is a catch-up. Sorry for the late post. A lot of you are probably confused and wondering what is happening. I am sorry if you are but this will catch all of you up.

As you all know, Zoom meetings are Fridays and Saturdays. There is no longer a Thursday meeting.

All chapters will be created on a google doc. Once you finish your chapter, you will share it with everyone's email. If I don't have your email then please PM it to me. If you don't want to give your email then you can create a new one. If you don't know how to do that or how to use google docs then ask.

There will be a google doc that will be a catch-up list of all the things we went over in zooms, in case you can't make one. As a reminder, there is a zoom meeting tomorrow.

Here are some things we went over in zoom.

Caleb now writes the eldest son with Chacko, and Roses writes the father with Rob

There will be no divorce in the family but they do struggle.

Reina may be a brat but she grows more mature as the book progresses and her character develops.

There might be a possibility the mom sells Nixie's stuff to cope.

The father or son should cope by trying to find the killer.

There will be a killer's point of view written by Roses.

The order of the characters will have a flexible order. So even though there will be a cycle, the character that goes next can still be based on what character we all think is best for the story. We don't have an order yet though. We will discuss who goes next in each next zoom meeting. As for now, Imogine was first and then Reina. Once I get those emails you will be shared both chapters.

Thank you LiannaC for these notes.

Hope to see you all in the zoom tomorrow. If you have any questions or concerns please PM me or comment.

Uh, don't think? Why? You think I can do that. I always prepare my work. I even rehearse it in my head a thousand times as I'm writing the word that comes right before it. You think that my fingers are as fast as my head? My mind? I just realized that I didnt add question marks at the end of my questions. Maybe I will leave it, because this would make no sense if I went back and edited. Hmm okay don't think Verity. Meh he he. Do Not think. Why? That wasn't apart of the rules. It said to write. To write. You are writing aren't you? Yes Prosers, listen to my conversation with myself. I am just ranting on. Maybe I will win. That would be fun. I expect that I did this all wrong. I should not have written about writing becuase you don't do that and if you do, you role with it, and you don't call yourself out. Yeah. I didn't set a timer. It's been three minute, right? I think this was supposed to be a story. Hey, story of three minutes of my life.

Eric Mat Townsend Age: 42 Written by Rob_Lee and CalebPinnow

Hazel Lee Townsend Age: 42 Written by MeeJong

Adam Daniel Townsend Age: 18 Written by Chacko_Stephen

Reina Lyne Townsend Age: 16 Written by WhiteWolfe32 and LiannaC

Imogen Ruth Townsend Age: 14 Written by VerityMonet

Jeremiah Peter Townsend Age: 12 Written by Carissa

New character created by GLD Written by GLD (No kidding)

Nixie is reported dead, two days after she was kidnapped rather than two years.

Zoom meetings will take place Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays.

GMT: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

WET: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

EST: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

MST: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

IST: 11:30 PM - 12:30 AM

If your time zone is not listed up there please PM me. You do not have to stay the whole hour or attend all these meetings. I encourage you all to attend at least one, once a week. if you do not then I will PM you the details.

This book will be slow to make. One chapter per week. Have your chapter before the Thursday zoom meeting. The writer of the chapter will PM the chapter to one of our editors and they will revise it and then pass it onto the next editor and so on. This shall get it back to the writer Before the Thursday meeting. We will go over the chapter during the zoom meeting. We will say what we like and the ideas we have. We will decide what character’s chapter will go next. There is no set order. We will also discuss what events we think should happen and ideas and plot twists for the book. At the last zoom meeting of the three, the chapter will be finished and they will post it on the project’s account. The account’s login information will be PMed to you shortly. It probably won’t be given until our first zoom meeting.

If you are not attending a zoom meeting and it’s your chapter then one of our editors will provide it. You will still be a part of the decision-making. Before the Thursday meeting, PM me all of your thoughts and ideas. I promise to share them all, and for better accountability PM them to someone else as well. Your opinions matter and they will be heard and discussed.

The first meeting starts on the 12th of August or the 13th, depending on your time zone.

I will start the first chapter.

Introducing a new editor: NicoleWatz

Ok, I got that out of the way. I sounded so formal and Direct, (Definitely didn’t get that from Grammarly) Whew. Any concerns? Comment so everyone can see.

New tag list:

@CalebPinnow @Carissa @Chacko_Stephen @GLD @LiannaC @MeeJong @NicoleWatz @Rob_Lee @Roses311Sublime @VerityMonet @WhiteWolfe32

If I missed anyone then I apologize greatly, please PM me or comment below.

I went to a camp last week. It was a place I had no desire to go to. The person in charge left my mom a voicemail inviting me to the camp. I was happy when I heard it and decided to go but there was no room left. Eventually I got over it, that was until I was told there was a spot open again. I ended up going with a full scholarship.

I felt so much anxiety when I arrived but by the last night of camp I could not hold the tears in. This was a church camp and that was the night I decided to recommit my life to Jesus. Our pastor had told us he believed God was going to do something very powerful and I believed him but I had doubt. Half way through my preacher preaching I started to cry. Then my pastor told people to stand up if they accepted Jesus for the first time to stand up. Then he told us to stand up if we were recomitting our life to Jesus and I was one out of the ten to stand. I cried so hard.

God is more powerful than I realized. He is so powerful that I couldn't hold back my tears.

Tall, bright, tall and rude

rude, tall clean and nude

loud noise

I ignore

up, down, in and out

up, down, in and out

over and over, it all happens again

Tall and loud I see my pattern

Tall and loud my home is done

Home sweet home, tall and loud

a shadow blinks over me,

It comes to a tear

they didn’t tear

my home sweet home

you're no longer near

Hi, everyone. I’m back. I had a great trip and am feeling extremely refreshed so I am just going to jump right into the plan.

I read everyone’s comments and I want to thank you all for your patience and open minds. I want to especially thank Chacko. You stood up for me so kindly and bravely and I thank you for that. You said you had some disagreements and that’s great. I would love to see what you all think and I will get to that in just one second.

First, congratulations everyone, we are going to do great. I know I dumped the first project but that was only because I guess I am more dedicated to this team and an incredible writing experience than I was to that storyline itself. Also, you all know I wasn’t a fan of how it was turning out but for those of you that are continuing it, good luck, and please turn it into something great. I am sure you all will.

Second, we will be a book of six different perspectives. We will divide the number of writers by the number of perspectives. MeeJong, you asked if you could write the first chapter because you were told to stop writing your chapter before you could publish it. I am so sorry that I cut you off from your chapter but I can’t give you your chapter back just yet. It all depends on who’s writing perspective you will be writing in and if it isn’t Imogine then your chapter will be delayed again. I know a lot of you have been waiting for your chapters and have been at the tip of reaching them. I am sorry I cut all of you off from those chapters but there are many more to come. I need to first know who is all on the team and then I will give you all characters that you will be writing. Please just Pm me and let me know what character you were thinking about writing in. I will be making the final decision on who gets what character only because I want each person to have a character that they can really write well in. Not to say you wouldn’t all do awesome at all of the characters but there might be some that you would do better with certain characters. You all know the answer to that more than I do but in case one character is overloaded with writers I will decide who would relate the best.

Third, I am really excited to share this with you guys. This idea and a great way for us to communicate. Zoom. Some of you probably saw that word when you first started reading this. We can open zooms and discuss the plan. Chacko said something about a think tank and instead of that, we will just do zoom meetings. If any of you don’t feel comfortable with that lack of privacy just turn your camera off and use the chat, or you can just skip the meeting altogether and we can fill you in. As for the time difference. We will probably have to split up into two groups. We will figure that all out.

Four, disagreements? Yes of course. As I said, I read the comments so I know a little bit about your thoughts.

Just Pm me, if you’re in, what character you want, your time zone, and any suggestions/changes you have for the plan. Let me know before Monday, and if that’s too soon then Tuesday. Love you all, talk to you soon.

I thought about it and I have decided we are going to start from scratch. We are throwing away the schedule, the chapters, the plot, the approach, and the setup. Now I know this might be a letdown for some people but for those of you that remember that raging comment war this is the best idea. One because some of those comments entailed the demand for me to make a decision so I have and two, these chapters are all over the place and we have too many elements. I have decided it might be easier to write something simple, without a lot of elements. A slow read. This book will be literary fiction. If you don’t know what that is then - ”literary fiction focuses upon style and depth, and is character driven, whereas genre fiction is plot driven, has a broader viewpoint, and focuses more upon imaginary details.”

This will also be realistic. I’ll tell you what it’s about.

- A family of seven loses their youngest in a kidnapping that results in her death two years after the event. Don’t mistake this for a mystery.

Characters:

Eric Mat Townsend Age: 42

Hazel Lee Townsend Age: 42

Adam Daniel Townsend Age: 18

Reina Lyne Townsend Age: 16 Has a whole life ahead of her

Imogen Ruth Townsend Age: 14 Middle child

Jeremiah Peter Townsend Age: 12

Nicole Gretchen Townsend Age: 10 (Nixie) dies

The first six chapters will be replaying the day she got kidnapped from each family member's perspective. First-person past tense.

Chapter one: Imogen Ruth Townsend

Chapter Two: Adam Daniel Townsend

Chapter Three: Reina Lyne Townsend

Chapter Four: Jeremia Peter Townsend

Chapter Five: Hazel Lee Townsend

Chapter Six: Eric Mat Townsend

Then it will continue in this order of characters. We will divide the number of writers by the number of family members-six discluding nixie because she died.

Each writer will be assigned a character, Note: Characters will have more than one writer.

I would like to know who is all still on board with this project. I will be away for the next week so you can take that time to decide if you want to continue a part of this project or not. I would hate to hear if anyone had decided to quit but you signed up for something entirely different than this so I understand if some of you are pulling out. So on July 25, I will make another post and you will all give me your answer. I am sorry I had to do this to you all but I think this new idea will work.

Eloise's story is a confusing one. This story doesn't belong to her though. This isn't about Eloise, nor her other personalities. It may seem as if all this talk of Eloise and her meeting with the others in her dream world is the story of this book but I assure you that isn't what it's about.

These chapters are many of confusing so let me help you see what this really is about. We must go back to the beginning. Eloise's birth.

She was born into a coma which has a very small probability of survival. Her mother's red hair burned like souce. They had not expected their child to survive. However, she did. When she awoke from her coma three days after her birth her family wanted anything from her. Some reaction to anything. But as you know, Eloise was an odd child, so she did not react, at least not in the way they had hoped. Her lack of reaction was her reaction to the world. Her pale pink lids lifted and green-yellow eyes looked around the room. She did not cry, she did not whine, she did not wiggle, and she did not move. She just looked around her new room as far as her eyes would take her.

Her brother ran over to her and hugged his sister. He called to his mom but had a bit of a speech impediment. "She is go-ing to... be okay, right, Ma-ya," At his attempt to address his mother, little Eloise smiled and the young observer was named Maya.

Maya always lurked around and stared at things for ages. She was so very easy to take care of, for she would sit for hours. One day that stopped and she laughed at a joke that Vincent had said.

"Mom," He no longer had the lack of ability to speak correctly and his mother ran into the room, "She's laughing."

And she was indeed laughing for Maya was no longer there and Mattie was born. She laughed on and on and at everything really. There were nights of course where she would stop and stare. Maya still did like to stare but then Mattie would laugh again. Eloise was still there though yet she did not speak often. She had not shown herself until she was yet nine months old and then the other two had left or so it seemed on the outside. Maya now observed from the inside while Eloise would play. Mattie did laugh at times but only when necessary. Eloise was mostly in charge and acted like any other child. She was a playful little girl.

So the little girl with split personalities was slowly forming herself. There was the Observant Maya who was not noticeable by the outside world anymore, however, The humorous Mattie who found everything funny, and the playful and energetic Eloise knew she was there. When they were three years of age Maya had left and disappeared. Eloise had cried and told her parents this.

"Maya is gone."

"What are you talking about, who's Maya," her mother asked concerned.

"Maya," her little face was a sad-looking one. Her syrup-yellow eyes were filled with tears, "Maya is dead."

"Honey you need to tell me who's Maya."

She looked around the room at her father and brother for reassurance but found concerned eyes. She ran off and went to the bathroom to cry. She would never forget those disappointed looks on her family's faces. For this was when Nia was born. She spent many days in the bathroom ready to cry however she could not. She was never sad or angry she was simply disappointed in herself. Eloise played on though. Mattie still laughed at times and her parents didn't see anything wrong with her.

Of course, they were concerned about this mention of Maya's death but when they tried asking Eloise she claimed she did not know what it was they were talking about. And that was true, Eloise did not know, however, Nia did. This was when Harley was born. All the pain of Maya's death was given to Harley. Even though she was not there when she had died she felt that pain or emptiness.

Eloise continued to play and giggle. When she went to school Jess was born. The creative and intellectual one. He wanted to learn so much about school and stopped the others from having a social life.

Maybe that's why Aiden was mean to them or maybe it was because Nia was easy to upset. There were times when Jess was trying to read yet did not know how to and Aiden came up and insulted them. Jess would roll his eyes but Nia stood out. You could see the redness on the girl's face when she tried to ignore him. However, Aiden pressed and continued to insult Nia until she put so much pain into Harly that she couldn't take it anymore and stood up, stuck her fingers in his mouth, and broke his jaw. Harly wasn't always violent because that was Bobby who was now born at this new opportunity. After that Aiden did not bother them again but when they moved schools Bobby did continue to get in fights and hurt many people who bothered them. Any time someone said something mean they would try to shrug it off but that did not work because every time, Nia would come to the surface and would turn their cheeks red. The more this happened the more Bobby would get into fights.

Her parents only noticed the other personalities when they would say their names out loud. They wouldn't listen unless they used their names.

So now that you have the birth of Eloise and Mattie, Nia, Maya -and the death of her- Harly, Jess, and Bobby we will begin this story again and slightly at a slower and easier to understand pace.

Let's see, ah, yes the night terrors. All these personalities were born already and were used to each other. Then one night things changed.