A Change Would Do You Good: 4th Kasarberang Story Contest (COMPLETE: 1st Place!)

[littlebopeeper]

Definitely should be in the running for a prize.  Looking  forward to the sequel.

[blahblahwriter]

On 8/11/2024 at 10:16 AM, Babypants said:

Nice finish.  The program reminds me of what CCApril has been doing with BBs Nursery and Daycare, but it's great to have two stories that are open-ended and upbeat.  Thanks for sharing this with us. 

Thanks! It was odd for this one to have a little more of a wholesome twist as it developed. I definitely didn't start it that way and it was interesting how the characters sort of took over and directed the story in ways I hadn't anticipated. I think it was a better story for it and was a bit cathartic to write about Ella's struggles and acceptance. 

I have another open ended story that was about 60% complete when I started this story. Without a looming deadline, I'm going to take my time and slow roll that story out a few chapters each week like most of the other authors here. I haven't broken it into chapters yet, but it's about 1/3 the length of this one so far. I have 4 different spin-offs for that series planned out so far compared to the trilogy that this story will be. 

I'm also working on a series of short stories to flesh out some ideas and practice different writing styles, but I think I'm already learning that I enjoy longer character-driven pieces where I can build worlds and see what kind of shenanigans the characters get into. 

On 8/11/2024 at 10:56 AM, littlebopeeper said:

Definitely should be in the running for a prize.  Looking  forward to the sequel.

Thanks! I've got another series in the works that's almost complete and should start rolling out in the near future and then we'll get back into the Baby Bandits world!

[blahblahwriter]

Thanks again to Kasarberang and everyone who enjoyed this story! This was my first foray into writing and won't be my last. 

While the time constraints of the contest really helped this procrastinator actually finish something, it also means that I dropped a whopping 27 chapters over a ten day period. In total, it was almost 75,000 words...a full length novel. I know a lot of my favorite stories here get a little more room to breathe between chapters, so I plan on doing that going forward. 

There are two more books planned for the Baby Bandits trilogy that will be released on a more normal pace at a chapter or two a week and should start this fall. 

I'm just finishing up my second story with a completely different setting and premise that is roughly half of the length of this story. There are at least five books planned in that series. I should start dropping chapters for that story in the next week or so so stay tuned!

[littlebopeeper]

Looking forward to the next installment.

[Sephy]

Honestly a wonderful read. I'm glad Ella got her happy ending but I can't wait to see what will happen next.

[christi]

Good story, thanks for sharing.

[blahblahwriter]

On 8/30/2024 at 5:18 PM, littlebopeeper said:

Looking forward to the next installment.

 

On 9/3/2024 at 1:07 AM, Sephy said:

Honestly a wonderful read. I'm glad Ella got her happy ending but I can't wait to see what will happen next.

I outlined Books 2 and 3 of The Baby Bandits Trilogy this afternoon so I've got the full story arc and characters mapped out and really excited for where this story is going. Can't wait to share it here. 

This first story took me about a month to write, so stay tuned for this story to start dropping in the next 4-6 weeks. 

If you haven't read this one yet, here's your chance to catch up!