That's interesting. I didn't realize that JK didn't write the Cursed Child. Isn't that play like really really long? I'm not sure I could sit through a play for more than 90 minutes. A musical, yes, but not a play. Ugh, that is annoying though when someone steals your idea, even though they didn't realize they did!

I'm having a writing fail today. I'm not really feeling the new one I'm writing just yet so haven't been able to focus on it, plus this is the first time in a while that I haven't been feeling all that great. It's probably the changing weather. It seems to really affect me. After this I'm probably going to go watch TV or something lol

I got back into writing mainly because of all the giant holes that needed filling in Succession. Not that there were major plot holes, but there were no flashback episodes or anything like that, so a lot of stuff was mentioned in passing as if we were privy to what happened and that kind of killed me, so I needed to create those stories. Plus, it was a wide-open ending, so what happens next was up for interpretation . That's what really got me back into it. The ideas were gnawing in my head for so long, that I HAD to write them to get them out.

I wish I had done that after watching the finale of Merlon a billion years ago. It never occurred to me that I could write the ending I pictured, and that people might want to actually read it. LOL

Did you not enjoy the cursed child? I never read that one. I don't think I'd ever try an Only Murders one, because of the fact that I'm not all that comfortable with that fandom, but a murder mystery might be fun. I read a novel called Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone which I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was a great murder mystery and hilarious. The author breaks the fourth wall a lot. I am thinking of trying a story like that perhaps. you should check that novel out, it was great. I just found out they're making it into a MAX series. I can totally see Kieran playing the lead.

I have mixed feelings on The Cursed Child.  It was entertaining enough, just reading to see where it went, but it was glorified fanfic.  J.K. Rowling approved it but didn't actually write it herself, and that was very apparent.  Some of the characters were written way out of character, and some of the plot points were so random and weird.  The play is coming to Chicago later this year, and I'm not sure if I want to see it or not.  But the main reason I say it "ruined" my crossover is that it included an idea I was planning for mine, and now I don't feel like writing it anymore LOL.  I dunno... it's one of those stories I haven't officially discontinued but haven't actively tried working on in years.  Maybe someday.

A murder mystery does sound like a fun challenge!  I'll have to check out that novel.

I keep saying I'm going to get back into writing and then don't do anything about it lol.  I've had ideas, I just can't seem to motivate myself to write anything.  It's been so long.

The Cancun event sounds like only the actual concert would appeal.  I wouldn't be interested in watching Howie do shots, or Kevin DJ either.  Don't even think I'd be interested in Nick playing on the beach either, I'd rather be in the shade and cool somewhere I sound old lol

I would love to write a crossover fic, or read one if it was about something I love (like Walking Dead, Supernatural).  I did my own crossover one on here years ago with Supernatural.  I quite like the idea of setting them in a historical romance, like Pride & Prejudice meets BSB.

I wish you would get back into writing, Steph!  I'm sure it's easier said than done, especially after it's been so long.  Maybe start small with a one-shot or something.  A crossover could be fun, too.  Mare, how did you get back into it?

The concerts were definitely the best part of Cancun!  Most of the other events were hot and hard to see unless you got there super early to get a good spot, which would mean being even hotter and more crowded.  I wish they would go back to cruises instead.  The cruises were better - not as big/crowded, not as hot, and the guys were more accessible.  But it was their first time doing this, so hopefully the organizers will take the feedback they got and find ways to improve it for next time, if there is a next time.

I can't believe people actually ask you to write for them, especially if it's someone who you don't know and doesn't even comment on your stories!

I keep saying I'm going to get back into writing and then don't do anything about it lol.  I've had ideas, I just can't seem to motivate myself to write anything.  It's been so long.

The Cancun event sounds like only the actual concert would appeal.  I wouldn't be interested in watching Howie do shots, or Kevin DJ either.  Don't even think I'd be interested in Nick playing on the beach either, I'd rather be in the shade and cool somewhere I sound old lol

I would love to write a crossover fic, or read one if it was about something I love (like Walking Dead, Supernatural).  I did my own crossover one on here years ago with Supernatural.  I quite like the idea of setting them in a historical romance, like Pride & Prejudice meets BSB.

Well, there ya go, Steph! If you decide to do Cancun, i'll be your hangout buddy. LOL

I even had trouble with Supernatural. I did a one-shot Supernatural story and was surprised at how hard it was for me.

I know! I'm an evil genius. I just got another new reviewer for that story, so I don't think people have caught on yet. I'm in the process of doing that with a new story I'm writing as well. This time I'm being a double evil genius because not only have I paired him with Gerri but also a male character Mencken, which you probably have never heard of because he comes later on, but he ends up being the guy the Roys get behind as the next presidential candidate. In the show, he's very much patterned after Trump except for the fact that he's played by Justin Kirk who is a hottie.
Next to Roman and Gerri, there's is the next biggest ship because of Roman's up in the air confused sexuality. I've only written two chapters of that one and posted one, because even implied slash is hard for me, so I wasn't totally sure if it was a story I was going to pursue, but like the other one, I've been able to write their encounters as an afterthought. Roman shows up at the hotel then he's back and his desk and vaguely talks about it in flashback. LOL We'll see what happens. 

That MINE one is an AU so that might be it as well, but like I said, they enjoy their crossovers over there and seem to enjoy them as AU characters. Most of the time, those crossovers have to have them not as the real authentic Roys for it to work. I don't know. I'm posting the last chapter of that MINE story today, maybe it'll be one of stories that will get discovered later on and have more success. I should have paired Gerri and Roman in that one, although he' a teenager and she's still an old lady and married. Don't think I hadn't considered 'accidentally' adding that tag though. hehehe

Did you not enjoy the cursed child? I never read that one. I don't think I'd ever try an Only Murders one, because of the fact that I'm not all that comfortable with that fandom, but a murder mystery might be fun. I read a novel called Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone which I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was a great murder mystery and hilarious. The author breaks the fourth wall a lot. I am thinking of trying a story like that perhaps. you should check that novel out, it was great. I just found out they're making it into a MAX series. I can totally see Kieran playing the lead.

I can't believe people actually ask you to write for them, especially if it's someone who you don't know and doesn't even comment on your stories!

I keep saying I'm going to get back into writing and then don't do anything about it lol.  I've had ideas, I just can't seem to motivate myself to write anything.  It's been so long.

The Cancun event sounds like only the actual concert would appeal.  I wouldn't be interested in watching Howie do shots, or Kevin DJ either.  Don't even think I'd be interested in Nick playing on the beach either, I'd rather be in the shade and cool somewhere I sound old lol

I would love to write a crossover fic, or read one if it was about something I love (like Walking Dead, Supernatural).  I did my own crossover one on here years ago with Supernatural.  I quite like the idea of setting them in a historical romance, like Pride & Prejudice meets BSB.

I got a third comment yesterday. This one is pretty successful. And yes, I think that Gerri and Roman together make a huge difference. I am pretty sure most people do searches according to pairings, so they are more apt to click on this one than they were my other one. It's kind of funny though, because Roman has been alone this entire story except for the first chapter so besides being 'together' in name, that's all there is because part of the plot behind this is the fact that Gerri doesn't want anyone to know they're a couple. So, I've managed to totally Gypsy Rose Lee their relationship. LOL Which is fine by me because even though I've grown more comfortable writing female characters, I still don't enjoy making them couples.

LOL Genius!  Great way to lure in people who ship them without actually having to write much about them together.

Considering how I write, surprisingly I don't really write myself into corners all that often. Most of my ideas for the next chapter comes to me during the night as I'm failing to go to sleep. So, I might feel stuck, but then a lightbulb pops up on top of my head and I'm able to move forward. I think one of the reasons the lack of readership or whatever it is concerning the MINE story is because of how intricate the plot was. Not that anyone would get how hard that is to write a complicated suspense storyline unless you've tried it yourself, but the fact that no one is reading what I consider to be some of my best work is annoying! LOL

That's good!  Lying in bed at night is a good place to get ideas.  So is the shower.  I'll also get them driving to and from work sometimes.  I always feel so inspired on my way home, and by the time I get home, I'm too tired and hungry to write anything.  Hence why mornings work better these days.

That is so frustrating when you put all that effort into writing a complicated plot, and it turns out well but gets little to no response from readers.  I've been there before, and it sucks.  But so much is dependent on readers' preferences.  For example, AU stories rarely do as well as canon stories, and gen fics are not as popular as romance.

Okay, interesting. I think writing them became increasingly difficult for me as they got older. At first people really enjoyed reading the bromances, but then I feel like as they settled, everyone became more about romance. It's weird you don't really hear Romance as a genre anymore. It seems like it's all about 'shipping' more so than calling it a romance.

Yes, we probably sound old-fashioned calling it "romance," but that's what it is.  In the BSB fandom on AO3, there seem to be more slash stories shipping the Boys together than platonic bromances.  Romance with original female characters is still pretty prevalent there too.  But slash has made a big comeback.  I don't mind slash as much as I used to because at least it's still centered on the guys, but I still prefer bromance.  It is definitely harder to come up with those bromantic storylines now that they're middle-aged men who don't really hang out with each other much outside of work.  That's where a little creative license and occasional killing of wives comes in handy LOL.

I had forgotten you wrote and ER crossover. I was going to ask as a question, do you find people are asking for crossovers more? It might just be because this is a show, but I find that so many people are just taking shows or movies that already exist and plopping the Succession people in them.  Like Bridgerton, or The Bear, stuff like that. I don't think I'd ever really be successful at anything like that because unless I really knew the show, I would feel lost. I know you're a huge ER fan so I'm sure it was easy for you, but I had toyed with the idea to do a BSB Supernatural crossover back in the day, but I couldn't handle it.

I do think an Only Murders in the Building crossover might be fun, but again, not that comfortable with that show, but that might be a fun one to play around with. LOL

Considering it took me like 8 years to write the ten-chapter ER crossover, I'm not surprised you forgot about it LOL.  I talked about it here way back when I was first planning the idea, but it was always a side project, so I didn't devote much time to it until 2020.  I had fun writing it, though, and I think it turned out pretty good.

No, I don't think anyone has ever asked me to do a crossover LOL.  It may just be due to differences in fandoms.  Most of the BSB crossovers are with other musicians.  I still see NSYNC and Eminem being paired with BSB in the tags.  I have mixed feelings on crossovers because they only really appeal to people who are familiar with both fandoms, but they are fun to write.  They're also a challenge, though, because you do have to be really familiar with both.  The ER one was a natural fit for me because I love ER, and so was the Harry Potter one I was writing until The Cursed Child ruined it for me.  But I'm not sure what other fandoms I could write that knowledgably.  Maybe The Walking Dead?  But I don't think I have another zombie apocalypse story in me LOL.  Only Murders in the Building would be fun and a great opportunity to write a mystery!  But that does sound like a challenge.

It's nice you've gotten into a daily writing routine!  That has definitely helped me be more consistent.  I'm the same way as you; I usually shower first, then make a cup of coffee and write before I get too distracted by anything else.  If I wait until later in the day, it's usually harder to get started.

I agree. If I wait until later, there's less incentive to write.

It's nice that you're more willing to write female characters now!  That makes sense with the change in fandom, though.  The BSB fandom doesn't have any female "characters" except for the guys' wives, and it feels weird to write about them in anything other than minor roles because they're not celebrities.  I like creating original characters, but like you said, not everyone wants to read or write about them.  I'm glad you have some good female characters to work with!

It is easier to write the females in this fandom because they are already established characters and with designated parts to already play. It's been a nice change writing a strong female lead all by herself though. I didn't think I'd enjoy that as much as I did. Not sure how people felt about her, but they did continue reading and no one said anything bad about it, so I take that as a good sign.

I've written both ways, but most of my recent stories have either taken place in roughly present day with the guys as middle-aged men or specific time periods in the past where most of them were still with their current partners.  My current story takes place during the IAWLT era, so most of the guys have kids and are married, and Nick is soon to be engaged to Lauren.  The only difference is that I killed Kristin in first story in the series, so Kevin is widowed and dating an original character.  Mason exists, but Max does not.  I don't write much about the other guys' wives or kids because the focus is on Kevin, but Mason gets a fair amount of story time.  I don't usually like writing about their real kids, but I'm enjoying Kevin and Mason's father-son relationship in this story.  Mason feels almost like an original character because I don't know much about the real Mason, so I just make up most of the details.  He's only 5 in this story and was a baby in the first one, so I just try to make him act like a typical little boy that age.

That being said, I still try to find ways to avoid writing about their families as much as is possible/realistic.  In 2020, I finished my ER crossover, which took place in 1995, so there are no wives/girlfriends and kids in that one.  I also wrote a survival story that year called The Road to Bethlehem that was about the five of them quarantining in a cabin together to work on the Christmas album during the pandemic, which worked well for leaving their families out.

I still don't like denying the existence of their families or creating fictional families for them, unless it's an AU, so it's either include them as necessary, find creative ways to write around them, or set everything in the 90s.  And as much as I love 90s BSB and dynamics of their relationships in those early days, I do enjoy writing them as adults.  It's easier now than it was when I was a teenager, and they were in their twenties LOL.  I figure forties and fifties can't be that different from late thirties.

Okay, interesting. I think writing them became increasingly difficult for me as they got older. At first people really enjoyed reading the bromances, but then I feel like as they settled, everyone became more about romance. It's weird you don't really hear Romance as a genre anymore. It seems like it's all about 'shipping' more so than calling it a romance.

I had forgotten you wrote and ER crossover. I was going to ask as a question, do you find people are asking for crossovers more? It might just be because this is a show, but I find that so many people are just taking shows or movies that already exist and plopping the Succession people in them.  Like Bridgerton, or The Bear, stuff like that. I don't think I'd ever really be successful at anything like that because unless I really knew the show, I would feel lost. I know you're a huge ER fan so I'm sure it was easy for you, but I had toyed with the idea to do a BSB Supernatural crossover back in the day, but I couldn't handle it.

I do think an Only Murders in the Building crossover might be fun, but again, not that comfortable with that show, but that might be a fun one to play around with. LOL

I still skew toward the planning end of the spectrum, but I'd consider myself more of a plantser on my current novel too.  Like you, I have an idea of where it's going and some plot points planned out, but I figure out how I'm getting from point to point as I go.  I'm trying to be more character-driven and let my characters take the reins instead of forcing them to go in a certain direction.  Usually they still end up going where I want them to go, but every once in a while, they surprise me.  A few chapters ago, there was a spark of something between my main character, Kevin, and another character who was never meant to have anything more than a platonic relationship with him.  I was like, "Whoa, where did that come from?" but I was kind of intrigued by it, so I just kept writing the scene the way it wanted to play out, which was not at all the way I had planned it.  And now I find myself questioning whether it's something I want to pursue further, which would change my plan for the rest of the story, or whether I should keep the relationship purely platonic, which I respect.  I usually don't change my mind on big plot points like this so late in a story, so this is new territory for me, and it's a little bit scary... but, like you said, also kind of exciting?  Anyway, it was on my mind last night, and that's what sparked that question.

Considering how I write, surprisingly I don't really write myself into corners all that often. Most of my ideas for the next chapter comes to me during the night as I'm failing to go to sleep. So, I might feel stuck, but then a lightbulb pops up on top of my head and I'm able to move forward. I think one of the reasons the lack of readership or whatever it is concerning the MINE story is because of how intricate the plot was. Not that anyone would get how hard that is to write a complicated suspense storyline unless you've tried it yourself, but the fact that no one is reading what I consider to be some of my best work is annoying! LOL