AA directly follows The Venice Scene in a nearly seemless transition. There are scenes from the old Venice series that now exist in AA. Because my punk writing is mostly chronological, it's sometimes difficult to decide where to end one book and begin the next. It's rarely a clean break and is usually more of a transition.
The opening scene in Postcards is the same as the closing scene of ATYP NYC. In Venice, the last scene is the band flying to Europe. Adventures In Axiety opens with City of Angels in London. I try to find an important event in the punk timeline to end or start a book. In AA, Joe's reunions with his U.K. and New York people, and his seeing Tina for the first time in seven years, made this call easy. The next seam in the timeline is also a clear beginning of a new book.
My Mental Health Intermission blog post on 5/14 no one read has information on the upcoming chapters I will not repeat here. I have other shit to say.
I have always had a problem slashing scenes and chapters. This lack of discipline leads to my crazy, long punk tales. I write it and if I like it, that scene stays. In this book, I slashed and burned many thousands of words from the Lit version of Punks, including entire chapters.
This did not result in a shorter story, as I've replaced all that content with new writing that far exceeds the old. Also, my cutting a dozen stupidly long chapters in half resulted in more chapters. I am now working with a soft ceiling of 8000 words per chapter. I've touched that ceiling only three times. 7k is a long chapter.
This book will be in the neighborhood of sixty long chapters. I'm currently working on #45. For the first time in years, I'm publishing early chapters as I work on the later parts. For this reason, I will not publish one chapter per day. I'm thinking of going with the TITSS schedule; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday.
Adventures has entire chapters dedicated to Joe reuniting with old friends and fellow travelers from previous books. Because CoA is touring the world, I could revisit my Postcards style of writing ... Joe in a foreign land, absorbing culture. Maybe he meets someone special.
Adventures is an extension of The Venice Scene. In the 2021 Lit series; Annie, Carlo, the Venice girls, and the cranks at the Surfside were barely mentioned. Joe's sisters did not have a single scene in Punks. That story was about a twisted bi-coastal extra-marital affair. The twisted affair exists within AA, mixed with his family drama back home and his community in Venice, all brand new writing.
Punks lacked a soul. It was all salacious for Literotica purposes. Adding the many facets of Joe, his music, his friends, family, and community fixes that soulless issue.
Joe's China problem was part of the Venice story. That now extends into AA with a better outcome. Joe did not have a cat in Punks. That alone makes AA a better story. This book includes Midnight Motown, the Punk Christmas Card, and many more new adventures in romance and anxiety for Joe.
---- XXX ----
A funny thing happened during my rewrite. I went into 2025 with the notion I would scale back the erotic content. I think I once wrote; The original story was R-rated. I then made it X-rated for Literotica,. Now I'm dialing it back to R.
That did not happen.
As I moved through this project, I found some sex scenes were important to the story, like Joe's boner error with the crazy coke girl, Lisa. That gross misfortune had a major effect on Joe's psyche. Once I decided to keep that trashy episode, the rest of the adult content looked tame in comparison.
In AA, the story depends on the emotional manipulation, sexual head games, and depravity. This is not Joe and Tina's finest behavior. It was fun writing about lovers torturing one another from afar, using sex and emotions as weapons. I could not change that aspect of the story. I like it as it is. I dirty their reputations and the remove any notion that Joe Theroux and Tina Costello are normal.
So, Joe's story moving forward is no less salacious. I did, however, make XXX changes. Some of the erotic scenes were so long I cringed. How many times can you write the word cock before you think, 'This is fucking stupid?' I found that number and kept writing cock. I dramatically chopped sex scenes I found less important to the story with others remaining close to what they were with a rewrite.
Another reason I'm maintaining the X rating is where I'd like to take this story in the future. Joe and Tina, managing a bi-coastal relationship, will present challenges. I want to leave all options available. The sexual head games won't stop. Most chapters will be R-rated. Some will get naughty. That's been my M.O. for a long time.
---- WHY IS THERE A WOMAN ON THE BOOK COVER? ----
Maybe because there are far more female characters than male in Joe's life. Some of the best characters I create are his brief love interests. Joe's anxiety is centered on his relationships with women. Also, it might draw more Wattpad eyes.
Joe's happiness teeters on the edge. His sensitivity and insecurity have a direct impact on his romantic partners. He causes them anxiety, as if it's contagious. Everyone Joe befriends must someday deal with his demons. In AA, his romantic past and his present demons affect all the women in his life.
---- NO END IN SIGHT ----
Few O.G. punk readers have rejoined Joe's story on Wattpad. I get it. I've only published rewrites of the story you read on Literotica. If you're waiting for the right spot to jump back in, this is a good time to check it out. I won't mislead you. Joe ends up in the same place. The writing and new material is far better as the last four years of writing have taught me a lot.
In the opening line, I referred to this as Joe's never-ending story. I suspect I'll be writing punk tales until the day I croak. There is no end in sight. I have dozens of future chapters in the works, some complete, others half baked, that provide me with a roadmap. When I get a fresh idea for a future event, I break off what I'm doing and begin writing, so I have that idea filed away for when I need it.
If you choose to jump back into Joe's story, please give me a follow on Wattpad. I don't charge a penny for the work I do. Those follows and the star ratings are the only sign I have that anyone is reading. So far, it's not very encouraging. I could use the lift.
I write for hours upon hours. It takes a second to hit FOLLOW or the STAR. C'mon, throw me a bone.
I worked my ass off on this 2025 rewrite, but especially this book. I'm a better writer today than I was when I wrote Punks in 2021. And, having just rewritten 108 chapters before Joe and Tina reconnected, I had a wealth of call back and fresh references to work with. I did some fun, crazy shit. I hope I didn't jump the shark.