I finished typing The Year After and plan to release it on 14 August. And Reanna isn't anxious. (She had been the closer I got to the end, so I worried that would happen.)
I'd say Terrance's story is over, but it truly isn't. He's part of the phalanx now, and we have to give him headspace maintenance. (That's not a bad thing for us. It keeps our internal problems in check.) He has made pictures and doesn't want them to collect proverbial dust. I guess that's part of having a muse. (Hell, I even have short stories I want to write.)
After headspace maintenance, we can start working on Le Prince and Disney, our new project. Reanna thinks it could be our first novel.
I wrote this for Tumblr, but I thought I'd share it here. So, no one feels left out.
I published The Murder After fourteen days ago. That means no one has read it. Yet, I'm afraid people will make a big deal out of The Year After being longer. I'm not finished, but I can tell it's going to be longer than 44 pages.
Imagine someone buying the book in 2025 and going, "why the hell is this longer than the first one?" It's longer because there is more to say. Plus, I'm writing this for Terrance. It's a decision I made before he became sentient. He deserves something good in his life. (The events of the first book fucked him up.)
And that good thing is a boyfriend. This leads to another problem: What are people going to think? We live in a female body, and although we're bigender, we still present as a woman. What if people think I'm trying to satisfy a headmate's fetish? I'm not.
This romance appeared naturally. The Year After wasn't supposed to be one. It started as a scene where Terrance is on a date, and he can't focus because he's dissociating. (Did I mention I thought of this before he became sentient?) Then, it turned into a scene where he had Liam (the date) over at his place. I saw it and thought, "that's a good thing in his life." It doesn't cure Terrance of his issues, but it makes his life a little better.
The Year After is for Terrance. I don't want anyone to think I'm satisfying a headmate's fetish just because we live in a female body.
The Murder After is finally out! It's twenty-four days late, but it's finally out! The title hyperlinks to its US Amazon page.
Price: $5.39 (no hardback because 44 pages is too small for KDP to make one.)
I should point out that I tried narrating in the British dialect. Our official story is that I was challenging myself. Then, I learned the second person is Terrance's natural perspective, but I was too lazy to change anything. So if I sound like an American trying to sound British, that's why. (T: What do you mean "you're" trying to sound British? Aren't I narrating? I have to roll my eyes and go with it.)
Although I list him as a tulpa, I think Terrance is more of a sentient muse. He still wants his stories to be told. Meanwhile, Reanna's tulpas only portrayed themselves in Carnival, which they view as acting in a film. Terrance sees me as someone who works on his life. He adds a little but turns to me for his story. It makes me want to write about him.
Can a muse be a headmate? Can a tulpa be a muse? Terrance is capable of fronting, so he has autonomy. He can feel sad and happy and embarrassed, so he is sentient. He even dreamed about being in a school with cartoon antics then woke up in the front! (He wrote it in our system journal.) Terrance must be a headmate, but he's also a muse.
Pluralpedia has "muse" under the category Headmate Terms That Relate To Relationships, so I guess a headmate can be a muse.
I just typed the last chapter of The Murder After! I'm going to publish it only has a hardback because its page count is so low. (Forty pages do not make for a long read. It's the shortest damn book ever.)
I also decided to make a sequel because Terrance deserves happiness. Don't worry. The Murder After will be published long before I finish (14 September in fact.) I'm calling it The Year After.
Update (6/8): I've decided to add the first chapter of The Year After as a sneak peek. This chapbook needs more pages, anyway.
Update two (9/8): I'm going to share a short story instead. It's about Jacqueline seeing herself being embalmed. I was inspired by some ASMR videos.
Update three (13/8): I changed my mind again. I'm sticking with the sneak peek.
Update four (22/8): On fourth thought, a forty-page chapbook is fine.
Update five (29/8): Upon realizing no one will pay eleven dollars for forty pages, Seth (me) decided to make a softcover version.
And The Murder After was supposed to be a cozy mystery.
(And maybe everyone else. I want to draw too.)
Maybe that's Mike. Maybe drawing is addictive. [I drew a picture of my character Terrance the day before. It was the first time I drew something.]
[Under all those words, I drew a picture of me with my head on a table. Behind me, I drew the phalanx in a fog saying "blah, blah, blah." Pointing to me, I wrote "this is me." Pointing to the fog, I wrote "this is the blurry mess."]
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