Alternate Universe
The husband and I were talking about an alternate universe where the last election had gone a different way, and that made me think about my personal timeline. Specifically, where I'd be now if I hadn't stumbled onto The Mighty Boosh back in 2013. I know, it sounds ridiculous that a comedy duo could make such a difference in a person's life, but it changed who I was.
Or maybe, I just refound myself.
It's hard to explain. I've always had a tendency to obsess over things I found interesting: The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Beatles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All things that have caught my attention ever since I was a young teen. I had to know more, to dive headfirst and learn as much about them as I could. This bizarre British television show did the same thing at a time when I was floundering. And there was so much to explore.
Movies.
Other television series.
New-to-me music.
And the best thing? The active, very queer fan community. They shared their art and their fanfiction and their love for this over-the-top show and its creators. And they supported each other. I discovered new things about myself. Life was fun again, and I felt creative again. I'd lost that somehow in the shuffle of life.
A storyline popped into my head that I wanted to explore, that I wanted to put on paper. That hadn't happened in years. I pulled out a story I'd started in high school, one that had lived in my head for 30 years but never really came together. Ideas were coming fast and I wanted to see what I could do with it. And what I did was write a one year serial that I posted on Blogger. It was rough, with little editing, but it was complete. From January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2016, I never missed a day. And I proved to myself I could actually finish something. (I've always been notorious about not finishing things, everything from paintings to crafts.)
A few years later I decided to rewrite it into a book, but found it was too long, so made it into a trilogy. It's still rough and sometimes I think about doing one more rewrite. But, lets be honest–that's probably never going to happen! I see it as Friends meets Days of Our Lives since it follows a group of friends over the course of a year, relationships forming and changing soap opera-style.
I can't say it's an easy book to get into–with a dozen characters, it takes half of Book 1 to really get to know everyone. But if you make it that far...

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