Hi. I didn’t realize it had been so long since I’d said something here. It’s April now and I still haven’t been able to send out AGR 002. That makes me so frustrated. At this point I really can’t tell you when I’m going to be able to get it out. I suck.

The best I can do for now is show you the cover:

So this issue is called Tainted Fate. I think it is really suiting (and maybe even important) because in this issue Lana meets the rest of the boys. Including everyone’s favorite, Adam. If you know what happens in the chapter that the name of the issue comes from I think you know that it’s really significant to the rest of the story.

When I wrote the very first version of VB/Connection I had no idea how Adam, Seth, and Devin would become characters with come to matter, specifically to Lana’s life and decisions. Adam’s role is obviously much more significant since he really becomes an important character in Part Two, but hey, Devin and Seth matter too. Devin is one of my favorite scenes that I’ve ever written in Part Three

I’ll have more to say soon.

So here’s the thing. AGR Issue 002? It is done. It is ready.

But my schedule sucks.

Too many midterms. Not enough hours in a day. I wish there were 30 hours in a day.

I really really wanted to have the issue out by the end of this month. But the whole week I had no time to get everything together. I had no time to cut the paper. I told myself that I would just work on putting everything together yesterday and today. But on Saturdays the post office closes at what, like 3 PM? And I’m much more meticulous than that. This project is actually something that I enjoy doing. If I decided to just work through the night to get it done and sent out, I don’t think it would be very self satisfying. I’d probably be miserable. This is not something I ever want to be miserable doing.

It took me a couple of months between the first test press of AGR 001 to get to the finished issues that were sent out. This isn’t going to take a couple of months, because it’s ready, I just need a moment when academia is not trying to swallow me whole. I see that moment in two weeks. Between now and then I’ll be (slowly) cutting paper every night!

Busy weekend. I’d say I actually got a lot done. My test presses are printed! No covers or staples yet, but hey, everything is laid out.

Right now AGR 002 is 28 pages but there are only two lines on the last page. It may get reduced down to 27 after some more scrutinizing copy editing. Or it might end up with an entire paragraph on the last page. We’ll see what happens this week.

I’ll be cutting paper during the wee hours of the morning until the end of the month. You know how I am about my goals. I said in the AGR 001 thank you note that the next issue would be out this month and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure everything is mailed out. Even if that’s on the very last day of the month ten minutes before the post office closes! I can’t wait to send this to you girls. I’m getting excited again.

Hello everyone. I know I’ve been quiet since the new year started. Apparently I didn’t even realize how many classes I’d signed up for! But I am still aiming to get AGR 002 to you by the end of this month.

Half the reason I’ve been quiet is because of real life being busy and important, but the other half is because I really wanted there to be a surprise when you got the next issue. I’ve realized though that I just don’t have the time to commit to it so I’ll forget about it for now. And since I’m forgetting about it I guess I can tell you what it was supposed to be! I wanted you to be amused when you got your next envelope in the mail to find that you received not just AGR 002 but AGR 003 as well. Maybe if I didn’t agonize over final copy editing for so long and maybe if it didn’t take so long to cut paper I could do it, but all that is very time consuming. It’s probably for the better that instead of having to worry about six chapters all at once I can just focus on three.

I think AGR 002 is actually going to be one of my favorites. It has (and will probably be named after) one of my favorite chapters in Connection. There are also some minor detail changes that I’ve made, which I think are for the better, that are reflective of what I’ve learned and loved since the last time I worked on this story. I was 14 or 15 then…and now I’m almost not a teenager anymore! Anyway, I will talk more about the changes once the issue is done and sent out.

I should have some images of the test press to show you soon. Next weekend, I hope.

The writers for Greek totally and completely know exactly what they’re doing. Especially when it comes to these two.

I was skeptical about this show at first, and not just because it airs on ABC Family. It follows (as the show title suggests) college life as part of the Greek system. You know, I have absolutely no interest in sororities or fraternities—I would never, ever, join a sorority—but I love this show. And I have seen every episode that’s aired. It’s not your average run-of-the-mill The CW crap teen drama show. The dialogue is actually very witty. I also think that it has the perfect balance of being realistic and imaginative. It’s not overly ambitious with the drama—there is “real life” kind of rationale behind the decisions that the characters make.

What I’ve always loved about the relationship between Cappie and Casey (and the show in general) is that is shows how everything is not just black and white. The chemistry between the two of them is so perfect and obvious. All of their scenes together seem to highlight that they’re supposed to be with each other. But everything is not that easy. So many times when it seems like something is about to happen between them or they are going to get back together, it fails for reasons that are…practical. Little things happen along the way. Other people come into their lives that they love. They have trouble being friends. It gets complicated.

Perhaps I was so happy to see this relationship portrayed the way it was/has been because it reminds me of Lana and Kieran, especially during RIMM. Just like Lana and Kieran, Cappie and Casey’s relationship is far from easy. At one point Cappie talks to one of his “brothers” and says about soul mates, referring to Casey without saying her name specifically, that “You can always go back to your soul mate, that’s what makes them a soul mate.” So, eventually, that’s exactly what happens. It doesn’t matter if they’ve loved other people along the way and they’ve hurt each other and sometimes the tension made it unbearable to be around each other. It was a learning experience. All they went through wasn’t for no reason. Those things happened to show the two of them that they need each other. They’re supposed to be together.

…and the moment:

Cappie: I really wish things worked out with us.
Casey: That was my wish too.
Cappie: So your wish, was that what you wished for on your wish pretzel?
Casey: You know, I’m sorry, I’ve been drinking—let’s just talk tomorrow, okay?
Cappie: No, no, let’s talk now.
Casey: Capp, I poured my heart out to you at the ‘End of the World’ party and you didn’t come after me. You should’ve come after me.
Cappie: I know. And I have no excuse. But I’m here now. And I’m telling you that—
Casey: Telling me what?
Cappie: I want to try this again. I want to be with you.