This was one of the most joyful chapters for me to write in quite some time. I think that the fact that I recently discovered micro-dosed infused THC drinks both inspired the subject and contributed to its construction. I hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it. I even made myself laugh on several occasions. For the record, I was not stoned. The infused beverages just instill a pleasant little twist to the right part of the brain. God Bless America.
Here are some illustrations of some of the characters in Book IX and a few shots of characters that have not appeared before. There is one NSFW shot. As always, these are created using AI by a person with zero talent in the visual arts. There will not be mistakes in the photos. Every detail, even if seemingly wrong, is exactly what I intended. If there is a detail or two that appear to be mistakes they are actually well though-out bits of abstract art placed there to symbolize something about the character or the scene, or perhaps even life, the universe, and everything.
Some more character development in this one. There's a good helping of Caydee and an introduction to the new KVA Receptionist (God be with her). Keep the comments and suggestions coming.
Pace is picking up and my flow is definitely back in gear. The story moves a little further down the line and I've answered a few questions that some readers have asked me over the years. Also, Greg is very much back in action and shining in this one. Let me know what you think.
I am very happy with this chapter as the prose flew out of me quite easily in a way it has not done in a while. I think everyone will like this chapter and agree that the story is moving along. I would like to thank my anonymous friend who helped me with the Spanish parts over the last few chapters. She has been invaluable, and I think her contribution makes the dialogue sing. As always, let me know what you think. Many of the plot turns in the series have come from reader suggestions (the entire Greg arc, for instance).
Bear with me for another chapter as new characters are introduced once again (not REALLY new). This is another view of the Kingsley family from an outside perspective. This is all leading somewhere. The characters introduced in the last two chapters will be recurring in this final primary story novel and will feature in any next generation novels that may follow. As always, let me know how I'm doing.
I'm introducing a new character to the story that will be a subplot and symbolic presence involving the Kingsley children through the rest of the book and likely into any next-gen Intemp tales I compose in the future. The introduction starts of from this character's point of view for the first part of the chapter, viewing the Kingsleys as an outsider in several ways. I did this with Yami as well, but this character is very different than Yami. Bear with me as this will all make better sense in the future. Once the character is introduced, we more or less go back to the normal Kingsley points of view. I fell down a research rabbit hole composing this character and I stand by my description of him as accurate for who he is, how he thinks, and how he acts. You will see what I mean in the first paragraph of the chapter. As always, let me know how I'm doing. I hope everyone likes, or at least tolerates, my experimentation here. It does lead to a higher purpose.
As always with non-chapter posts, there is no charge for illustrations. I have the depiction of the Intemperance Never Say Never album cover that I put together with Photoshop and two AI programs. It's not as cool as what I imagined because I'm not a visual artist like Grace, but there it is. There are also shots of scenes related to Chapter 1 of Book IX, including one NSFW at the end that will only be understood if you read the scene between Meghan and Kim.
And so starts the ninth book of the series. Sorry I needed a little break between the end of Book VIII and the start of Book IX, but I really needed it. I've been almost completely immersed in Jake's world for the past seven years straight now and just needed a little breather. And now I'm back to work. I'm opening up the final book of the main series with a sort of Day in the Life montage, with the day in question the 5th of May, 2004. As always, let me know what you think and help me shape the story.
I took a little break after finishing Book 8 because I really needed one. As of today, I have started Book 9 and should be able to keep to my normal schedule (such as it is). In any case, here are a few more historical illustrations, mostly from Book 7 since I've been working on another edit of the manuscript to keep my brain plugged into the story. Again, if you don't like the illustrations, don't open the post. There are some NSFW illustrations in this post. There are also some examples of how bizarre the AI can sometimes interpret what I'm asking it to do. Hopefully after seeing them, those of you with extreme detail-oriented criticisms can get an idea what I'm working with.
Here is the second half of the illustrations I did while editing and formatting Book VIII for publication. Two NSFW shots in this bunch at the end. If you have not actually read the book yet, you probably should not look at the pictures until you have done so.
For those interested, the complete and final edited Intemperance VIII, subtitled "Living in Limbo" is now available on both Amazon.com and Bookapy.com. Thank you all again for your continued support of me as I compose the story. Your suggestions and edits have been invaluable.
I am now in the editing and formatting process for Book VIII for publication. I have paused at certain points to illustrate certain scenes in the story that I thought deserved to be seen. I'm about halfway done with the edit/format process and working hard on it to get it out before the end of 2024. As always, if you do not want to see my vision of what the characters look like, do not open the post. Also, if you have not actually read Book VIII yet, wait until you have done so to look at the pictures as they contain a few spoilers. Nothing in this post should be considered NSFW. Oh, and please take note of what the world's worst gay man is wearing. I am proud of that little detail.
And this is the final chapter of Intemperance VIII. I still have not come up with a subtitle yet and I'm open to suggestions. As before, this was supposed to be the final book of the main story but, alas, there is still considerable story to tell. Let me know what you think and I'll let you all know when Book VIII is ready for publication and Book IX has begun. Thank you all for continuing to support me. Illustrations will follow.
Apparently my last post of illustrations triggered some sort of alarm over at Patreon central because of the adult illustrations. They temporarily suspended me until I verified my identity (that's been done) and said they are marking my content as "over 18 only" which I am pretty sure I had already designated my content as such. In any case, I have not received much in the way of feedback from my post "Historical Intemperance Illustrations, which I posted in the early hours of 12/13/24. Can a few of let me know that you have been notified of this post and have been able to view it for me? Or was it just not that interesting?
These, as the title implies, is mostly illustrations of past moments in the Intemperance saga. There are also a few contemporary (for the setting) illustrations and one from the future. Minor spoiler alert if you look at that photo. It does show certain undisputable suppositions about the future of two of the characters. I've left the image vague and very much open to interpretation so I'm not really giving anything away other than the fact that two characters from the story are still alive in 2019. If you don't want to know about this, or if you just don't like my visions of the characters and prefer your own, don't open the file. I've become much more adept at creating the images now (it might have been easier just to learn to draw myself) and I've added Adobe Photoshop to my arsenal of tools for more extensive editing of the shots. And, as always, no charge for illustration posts. Let me know what you think.
They're not all scenes from the latest chapter. Some are past scenes of notable circumstances and interactions. Again, no charge for illustrations and if you prefer your own imagination of what the characters look like to mine, don't open the post.
Sorry this one took a few more days than I thought. I got to experience the wonderfulness of norovirus for about forty-eight hours. Good times. In any case, here it is. Yami tries to settle into her new job and both Intemperance and Celia Valdez-Kingsley start working on their new albums while the paparazzi swarm is still in progress. We're moving toward the end of Book VIII rapidly now. Let me know how I'm doing. Illustrations about this chapter (and a few history shots) will follow.
The next chapter is almost done and should be published on Tuesday or maybe Wednesday. In the meantime, some more pictures of the Kingsley past from various scenes and the future adventures of the Kingsley children. No spoilers in the future shots, just some subtle hints of the kids' possible futures. Just for info, nobody is charged for illustration postings and my work on these illustrations is not taking time away from my writing, but enhancing the characters in my mind and making them easier to write about.
From this point onward, all photos I post of characters can be considered canon unless mentioned otherwise. I do continue to work on the actual story so have no fear about that, I just enjoy doing the illustrations when I'm done writing for the night. Here are a few of the main characters during certain scenes and secondary characters like the Brainwash bunch and the Best family nieces. There are a few R-rated shots of familiar characters at the end.
I have made lots of pictures so I will continue to share them at no additional charge for those who are interested in seeing them. This dump focuses on secondary characters in the story, including two series' of the Kingsley children that stretches into their future. The only spoiler alert needed is that it does show that these characters will live to a certain point in their lives and there are some subtle hints about their futures. There are also a few naughty pictures of some of those secondary characters at the end.
Another dump of illustrations for the story. As usual, do not open if you do not want to see my vision of what the characters look like. The votes are all in and the polls are closed on the issue of what Matt face to use. Number 3 was the clear winner by more than a two to one margin when all the post votes and message votes were added up. As such, I have included a few shots of Matt through the years as well as shots of the younger Intemp members and shots of some of the musicians they have worked with over the years. There are also a few Rated-R shots of certain characters. I hope you enjoy these and let me know what you think.
This is a progression chapter, skipping ahead just a bit and speaking about recent events in the past tense. Yami has agreed to be the new live-in nanny for the Kingsley family. Did she just sell her soul, she is forced to wonder. Illustrations will follow shortly. Don't open the illustrations if you do not want to see them. As always, let me know how I'm doing.
No charge for this post as it is not a chapter. These are story illustrations and if you do not want to see them, do not open this posting. The next chapter is well over half written. I work the next two nights (Saturday and Sunday) and will hopefully finish it up on Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, I've finally figured out the intricacies of the Artspace.AI program, specifically how to lock onto a particular face for use in all pictures of a particular character, no matter what age. I've included some pictures that my Mrs. Steiner and I settled on for various characters and will share them with you now. We did have a little trouble settling on the photo of modern day (2004 era) Matt Tisdale. I've included three different shots of him onstage with his Strat. Give me a vote on which one you prefer if you care to participate. The program is not perfect and does not understand some things. It occasionally gives someone an extra finger or does not put enough strings on the guitar, or other such oddities. I apologize if such mistakes are distracting.
I've lost my new AI art program for another four days, so I cannot post pictures from Chapter 23 at this time. I did post some pictures of Laura from throughout the tale, including one of her encounter in Malibu with a pissed off pinniped. Let me know what you think so far. The new program is much better than the old one and can produce R-rated material, which will be appearing here from time to time, so... view discretion is advised.
Two new characters are introduced in this one. One has been mentioned before, the other has not and will hopefully fulfill a need in the Kingsley household. As always, let me know how you like it and send me comments. As for the illustrations, some of you like them and some did not. I will continue to play with the illustration program (I found one that is much better and allows you to create adult content at the Rated-R level) and I will post a few illustrations with each chapter, but I will do it as a separate, uncharged post that will have one or two illustrations from the latest chapter as well as a few classic scenes (including Laura being chased by the sea lion) for your perusal. If you want to see the illustrations, open the post and check them out. If you do not want to see the illustrations, don't open the post. Hopefully that will keep everyone happy as I play around with this new technology.
Next chapter should be out shortly. I am about 3/4 of the way done with it and it introduces two new characters. There is no charge for this post as it is not a chapter. Of late I have been playing around with an AI illustrator and have been working on making some illustrations to go along with the story. The program is imperfect but for someone who has no drawing ability whatsoever, it's pretty cool. Here's a few of the characters from the story, including the entire band Intemperance. I know there are dozens of characters I have left out so please don't hound me about who I have not featured. Also, you cannot make anything even vaguely sexual with this program, but if anyone knows of a good AI illustrator where you can... well, I would check it out for purely curious reasons. Anyway, let me know what you think and I'll have Chapter 24 out soon.
Sorry that this chapter took so long. There was a perfect shitstorm that hampered my production in September. Personal issues came and have now gone (for the most part). This is also, though it might not seem so at this time, a pivotal chapter and I struggled with some degree of writer's block in composing it. I've got my shit back together now though. I hope everyone enjoys this part of the tale as it was hard coming. There is some Matt in here and I addressed an issue that multiple people have been asking me to address. Let me know how I did.
I am back to work now and back to my normal level of writing and posting chapters. Only two this month but I'll shoot for three in September. Several plot threads are resolved in this chapter. As always, let me know how I'm doing.
