And Arc 8 comes to a close

As this arc is now completed I realize that it's kind of a mess that goes all over the place and I know it is my fault for letting it be that way.  It pulled in at over 51k words, nearly 15k words longer than Arc 1. 

A lot of the flow of Arc 8 stems from Arc 7.  Before my writing break I had originally intended this arc to just be the ski trip.  The party was going to go on for a few more chapters with a couple of flashback chapters similar to the Christmas Past bonus chapter.  The party was supposed to include two suggestions from readers, the first being an anal hook and the second being a sleigh ride pulled by fs.

Unfortunately I had a mania set in during the later part of August that led to a pretty hard depression crash late September and carried on with no end in sight.  When I returned and finished it I just didn't have the heart to write all the way through it.

Introducing Brittany into the present was originally my way of bypassing any potential conflicts with character age.  I had a reader tell me I would be arrested and he would refuse to ever read my blog again if I wrote a chapter from the 16-year old fs's point of view.  I catered to their desires and limited the flashback to 18+, and the adult character recounting earlier experiences.  I didn't originally anticipate her becoming a central figure to the story but as I wrote Barb out at the end of Arc 7, something that I had planned to do from the start, there was an opening.

With every other Arc I had a plan. 
Arc 1 was fantasy-based, putting fs through some highly dramatic situations en route to a deeper loving bond with Cassandra. 
Arc 2 was Cass's accident and fs trying to manage in her absence. 
Arc 3 was messy but covered trust and sub vulnerability. 
Arc 4 dealt with neglect. 
Arc 5 was the slave weekend.
Arc 6 was the prison experiment.
Arc 7 was the ski trip/birthday party.

I started Arc 8 because I wanted to write.  And yeah... "More backstory."  "Develop Cassandra and Brittany."  My apologies to those who felt it lacked focus and story progression. 

Every time Lady Grey mentioned she wondered where things were going between Cassandra and Brittany, I too asked myself that same question in hope of an answer :)
Thankfully, over the past few days I was able to try to delve more deeply into her character in my head and I think I found an outcome that made sense and seemed reasonable given the circumstances.

Just to give a heads up... I do have my theme/idea for Arc 9 and I plan on starting it soon.  I also plan on it being the final Arc.  Nothing is ever set in stone and it may not be, but I'm feeling dry on inspiration and unless something strikes me, I do not wish to drag things on longer than they should go.