SaraKel

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Saraworkout_0.jpg About me - Like most who visit this site, I have always felt out of step and finding places like BigCloset and authors like Maggie Finson, Morpheus, The Professor, 02bxx, (and many, many others) helped me work through some tough times. At some point, I started writing my own stories, first publishing on Fictionmania, eventually taking the plunge into the scarier world and the more serious authors you find on BigCloset.

My latest story is "Boys Night Out". I've wanted to try my hand at a darker story, as I tend to write sappy/happy stories. At the heart of this one is how our insecurities can affect how we treat others, and in turn, have an effect on ourselves. I decided to enter it in the 2024 New Year's contest so I only had a max of 5k words. I could have (and maybe should have) written more to flesh out motivations. I do love the story's ending, but I'm not sure other people will. It is dark so I'm anxious to see how it is received.

The story before it was "The Last Perfect Day". It's a story about a man trying to escape his past. It's a short story at 14k words and takes inspiration from movies like "The Sandlot", "Mean Girls", and "Freaky Friday". I tried to mix in funny / serious tones.

I hope you'll give my stories a read. My wish is others might find them a useful diversion or even give a sense of relief. I love comments. Criticism is always welcomed as long as it is constructive.


My stories:
(you can find more details below)

Boys Night Out Cover final.jpg Kissing Cousins.jpg A Walk in the Park Cover.jpg
smalltown cover.png mystic godfather4.jpg

More details on my stories:

I've added a little personal flavor for each instead of copying the blurb. They are listed in order of my preference.

smalltown cover.png 'Small Town Boy' will always be my favorite story. It's not because it is better than the others, but because it was where I studied transgender in all its shapes and forms. To write about Steve, I had to investigate everything TG and put myself in his shoes. It allowed me to see the world in a way I hadn't before. It could use a good edit in places but I'm not touching it. This was me at one point in my life and I don't want to change a thing.
Mystic Godfather 'Mystic Godfather' is my first story with TG aspects rather than a TG story. I wrote it as a test, using a first person focus instead of third person. I found first person to be easier at showing inner struggle, but third allows for better characterization. Most of my other stories are written in third. This story came to me in a flash of inspiration, and I wrote the whole thing in two weeks. The rush meant it could use more editing, but I've left it alone. My goal when I started was to have stories with TG elements as an aspect, not the focus. This was my first move into that realm.
Boys Night Out Cover final.jpg I've wanted to try my hand at a darker story, as I tend to write sappy/happy stories and 'Boys Night Out' is the result. At the heart of this one is how our insecurities can affect how we treat others, and in turn, have an effect on ourselves. My inspiration came from the tech bros who felt ignored/disrespected in high school and Poe's 'Cask of Amontillado'. I decided to enter it in the 2024 New Year's contest so I only had a max of 5k words. I could have (and maybe should have) written more to flesh out motivations. I do love the story's ending, but I'm not sure other people will. It is dark so I'm anxious to see how it is received.

last perfect day3.jpg 'The Last Perfect Day' is a short story which came to me as I was watching the movie 'The Sandlot'. I used that movie and "Mean Girls" for inspiration. You'll have to read it to understand. I enjoyed writing this one, and I hated letting it go of the "Bees". Once I started writing about them, I didn't want to stop.
Kissing Cousins.jpg 'Kissing Cousins' is the first story I wrote for the 2024 New Year's Contest. I started it when I realized I wasn't going to hit my goal of finishing anything by 2023. It's a personal tale, but you'll need to read it and my related blog post to understand.
no-cover-page.jpg 'A Brother's Request'" is the first story I ever published. I intended it to be similar to Maggie Finson's 'Heaven and Hell' series with a little bit of 'Spawn' and 'Dead Like Me' thrown in. I was working on "Small Town Boy" at the time, so I posted this first chapter as a standalone to see if anyone responded to my writing. I love the concept of a succubus working to right the wrongs of the world. It would have focused her family, but with the caveat they could never find out the truth. I changed my initial story to make the short story feel complete, and I'm sure anyone who reads the story would have no sense of my plans unless they read this author's blurb.
A Walk in the Park 'A Walk in the Park' is in a similar vein as "Small Town Boy". I had a lot on my mind as I wrote it and recently reread it. It's a good story, even if I listed it last. I clearly have a high opinion of my talents. :P
Secret message :)

The future:

My goal is to release four novel length stories in 2024. It's a lot and anyone who has worked on something that long knows the difficulty. The truth is I've been working on things for years. Below is a taste of stories I worked on in 2023. All of these stories would be easy to serialize. I could have started releasing them years ago but I am continually fiddling with my character's motivations and don't want to hem myself in by setting them in stone. The stories nearest the top of the list are my focus:

Upcoming Stories


Widow's Peak - (60k words - 90% complete) - It's a Halloween story I hoped to finish by the end of October. October of 2018. This start date explains why the story is a mashup of Halloween & World War One (Nov 2018 was WW1's centennial) The sensible course would be to wait until October to publish over the course of the month, but it's almost done.

Lambs of the Harvest Moon - (60k words - 90% complete) - Phi Lambda Phi sorority invites every freshman to their house on the night of the Harvest Moon. How could any red-blooded boy resist? My newest story and one I'm excited to finish.

Field Days - (120k words - 80% complete) - Inspired by the TG game - 'You Throw Like a Girl'. Boy notices changes. Tries to adapt. Hi-jinks ensue. A better story than my bland description.

Girl on Arrival - (140k words - 80% complete) - Inspired by the movie DOA. A detective finds out he has a week until he transforms into a girl. Can he find his "killer" before the end? Fun story despite some grim turns.

Spirits of the Wild - (50k words - 80% complete) - A story set in Minnesota in 1750 when a young native boy accidentally sets himself on a grand adventure in hopes of saving his tribe. I wrote it a decade ago but didn't like the ending and haven't looked at it since. I've refined my editing since, so this will be a lot of work. :(

Rapture on the Plains - (60k words- 70% complete) - A gunslinger and his sole remaining gang member take refuge in a town not listed on any map. I love this cover. I need to finish it for the cover picture alone.

Order of the Hand - (20k words - 50% complete) - I started writing this in 2016 with 'Hunger Games' meets 'Handmaid's Tale' in mind. Not sure why I decided this story was on my mind back then. :P I fear I'll need to revisit it in November 2024.

Wish Fulfillment - (40k words - 60% complete) - Your standard 'psychic gives you three wishes' story with some unexpected twists. Needs a lot of work.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~Thanks for reading~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sara ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The picture is my high school picture run through AI a couple of dozen times with a prompt it to change the image to a 35-year-old woman. The smile, nose and the eyes look surprisingly similar. Everything else is different. If it were only this easy.