June Update
Free Story of the Month - Shelly's Fate Pt. 2
The last day of June! I bet you thought I forgot that I promised a newsletter for this month. No, I didn’t forget, just a busy week that kept me putting it off until now, but I’m excited to provide you with today’s updates.
New Author Page on Amazon
Amazon has finally relented and provided us with the opportunity to have an author page for Vella stories. I would have soon claimed the Hunter Chadwick page with the upcoming release of two books in the Fall, but I’m excited to be able to get a jump on setting things up ahead of that. You can check out the new page here. Author pages are a great place for the author to post updates and link to all of the books that are available on Amazon. Currently, you’ll see my two Vellas, but we will have pre-orders up for After It’s Over coming sometime in August.
Fun Writing Moment of the Month
As you know, I have two stories on Kindle Vella. After It’s Over was started in November 2021 and the Force of Magic was started at the end of January of this year. They are both on pace to finish around the same time and running neck and neck as far as word count and completion date. For the record, as of today, the Force of Magic is ahead with 50 episodes scheduled and 70,963 words written. After It’s Over has 46 episodes scheduled and 63,769 words written.
This time last year, I had no intention of launching a fiction writing initiative and if you had told me I would write over 134,000 words over the course of the next year, I would never have believed you. Earlier this month, I just happened to catch a fun moment when both of my stories were tied for episode likes at 2130. They continue in this race with each other and it’s wonderful to see that they both have found avid readers.
June Stats Update
As of today, 6/30/2022, here are stats for my two Vella stories:
After It’s Over
187 people following this story
2678 episodes read
#1 Post-apocalyptic story
#2 Alternate History story
#1 Pandemic story
#7 Survival story
#10 Dystopian story
#24 Action story
#44 Adventure story
#37 Thriller story
The Force of Magic
175 People following this story
2460 Episodes read
#2 Super Powers story
#5 Epic Fantasy story
#27 Coming of Age story
#20 Young Adult story
#12 Female Protagonist story
#41 Magic story
#53 Adventure story
Art of the Month
I’ve been using different pieces of art-altered photos to promote my episodes on social media. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram @HunterCAuthor, you’ve probably already seen most of them, but for those of you who don’t, here are two of my favorites from the last month.
Free Story of the Month - Shelly’s Fate Pt. 2 - After It’s Over
Note: This story occurs after Episode 7 of After It’s Over. If you haven’t read that far, catch up before reading this free bonus story "You need a fill up, lady?" The man asked Shelly. She still couldn't see his face clearly with the sun behind his back.
"Yes, I'm headed west to see my parents. They need my help and I'm just trying to get there," Shelly said.
"That's real admirable. Of course you know, gasoline is getting pretty hard to come by, pretty valuable. No telling when we'll be able to get anymore," the man said. Shelly watched as he drew ever closer. He was less than 10 feet away now. She could finally see his face, which seemed almost as dirty as his overalls. He was far larger than her, easily three times her size.
"Yes, that makes sense. I'm prepared to pay for it. I've probably got a little less than half a tank left. How much would that cost for say eight gallons?" Shelly asked.
Shelly was grateful that the man stopped moving towards her and instead walked by her to the pump. He seemed to look at something on the back of the pump before turning to face her, leaning up against it. The way he looked at her spread a feeling anxiety over her from her head to her toes.
"Not much need for money these days. Nothing much left to buy anyway," the man said.
"I'm sorry, I don't have much other than money, just a few clothes and personal items. Not even much food. Like I said, I'm on my way to help my parents. I'll probably just stay with them once I get there. My name is Shelly. I didn't get your name?"
"I never gave it, but my name's Adam. The owner of this place died and left me in charge, so I guess it's mine now. Not a lot of cars come through here, not a lot of people around. A guy gets really lonely."
Shelly did not like the implications of that comment. She slowly took a step back towards the car door.
"That's okay, if you don't have enough gas to spare, I can go ahead to the next town. I still have a ways to travel today. I'm sure I'll find something."
Adam came around to the front of the car, drawing closer. "I didn't say we didn't have gas to spare, just that money wouldn't buy it."
Shelly put her hand on the handle of the car door, "Well, all I have to trade is money, so I guess I'll be on my way." She opened the car door and he stepped forward, slamming it closed. Shelly stepped back away from him and the car.
"No need to rush off, I've got lots of food in the station and at my trailer stored up. I'm happy to share if you want to come inside." Adam continued to move forward, now completely between her and the car. I wish I had a gun.
Shelly started to look around out of the corner of her eyes, glancing from side to side, evaluating her escape options. She knew she could outrun him, but where could she go? Maybe if she played along, she could get back to the car.
"In the station you say?" Shelly asked and turned to walk in that direction, but she didn't fully turn her back on Adam. She wanted to know where he was. She saw he was watching her, but was still too close to the car. Shelly walked all the way there and Adam didn't move until he saw her hand on the door.
She opened the door as if to go inside, but stopped when it swung out to meet her. Reaching her other hand down in her pocket, she secured the car key, ready to run if she saw an opening.
"You need to let me get it out. Things are kind of a mess in there, you won't be able to find anything," Adam said, as he hurried over towards the station and her. She needed to time this well, to maximize her chance to get to the Subaru and get inside.
When Adam was within 5 feet of her, she stepped back, holding the door wide open, inviting him to enter first, "After you," she said.
At first she thought he would walk right by her, but as moved to enter the door, he made a grab for her arm. Fortunately, she was watching him carefully and his big meaty paw caught nothing but air. She took that moment to break for the car, not looking back, but sprinting with every fiber of her being.
As she opened the door, she saw he must have tried to follow her, but was now turning around and hurrying back behind the station. As she started the car and turned to get back on the road, she heard the roar of a loud engine.
By the time she pulled out onto the road, she saw a pickup with giant tires that lifted it high off of the ground coming quickly after her. She hoped he wouldn't follow her far if she could stay ahead of him. Shelly pushed the car as fast as she dared, regretting the extra gallons that would be burnt if she had to keep up this kind of pace for long.
As she turned to head towards the bridge that would take her along the route she plotted earlier, Shelly risked a glance back, only to see that the pickup was getting closer. She entered the first short bridge and raced across it, grateful that no other cars were on it.
There was a short peninsula she had to cross before she came to the longer bridge that would take her to the other side of the lake. If she could just stay ahead until then, maybe she could lose him on the wider, straighter roads on the other side. Surely the Subaru could outrun a pickup.
She saw the entrance to the next bridge ahead and looked in her rearview mirror to check on her pursuer once again. He was still close, but it didn't look like he'd grown any closer. As she turned back to look at the road ahead, she realized too late that someone had drug something into the road at the beginning of the bridge.
She was going too fast to stop and there was nowhere else to go so she hit the obstacle going over 60mph. The car hit it off center and it flew up and over the railing, rotating in the air as it sailed out into the water of the lake. It hit almost completely upside down, the heavy weight of the Subaru, pushing it quickly beneath the surface.
Shelly didn't have time to buckle her seatbelt and the impact smashed her head against the side window and threw her out of the driver's seat. She opened her eyes just in time to see the sky disappear as the windshield slipped into the water.
Disoriented and in a panic, Shelly frantically tried to reach a door handle to escape, but she was new to this car and very unfamiliar with where things were. In the darkness under the water and already laying askew in the cabin, her fear grew. The water was already pouring in from the cracked windows.
When she finally found the handle and pulled to try and open the door, she realized her mistake too late. This side of the car, rested against the bottom of the lake. That and the pressure of water made it impossible to open that door.
Shelly tried to turn around and crawl up to open the door above her, but she could get no leverage to push against the weight of the water above. Her foot slipped and she fell back to the bottom of the car. She tried again, but was less successful and now the water was up to her waist. Soon, there would be no air to breathe.
Above, Adam pulled his pickup up to the edge of the bridge and looked out into the lake. He could see a disturbance in the top of the water where bubbles escaped. He watched for the next few minutes, but eventually the bubbles ceased and no one or thing surfaced in the dark water.
Adam thought to himself, what a waste. All she had to do was be nice to me. I would have been happy to share my food and gas, I just needed someone to talk to. It's been so long.
Author's Note: Shelly's journey ends here and we won't hear from her again, but this won't be our last free supplemental story from the world of After It's Over. Thank you for being a loyal reader!