SPOILER ALERT: If you are not up to date with chapter 60 in AA, this blog contains spoilers.
If you have read chapter 60, there are ten chapters remaining in Adventures in Anxiety. I've been waiting for this important moment in the punk timeline to share these thoughts on my story. I don't know if readers like author's notes, because no one says one way or the other.
I don't like cluttering my already 7k-long chapters with my commentary, and Wattpad does not have tools to support authors communicating with readers. So, my author notes are rare. This one had to be written.
New happenings written into the 2025 punk rewrite have a butterfly effect. Everything that comes after must be changed to fit Joe's new reality. I foreshadowed Jeanie's move to LA for 50+ chapters, with multiple scenes and conversations, her procrastination, and the drama with Jackie and Mom happening far away from Joe. He doubts that his sister will make the move. Then, it happens.
Sometimes, when we get what we want, there are unforeseen circumstances that follow. Joe has not lived with Jeanie since she was in grade school. There are things he does not know about his baby sister. Does anything ever go smoothly for Joe?
Once I dropped Jeanie into the Venice scene, Danny's fate was sealed. I did not plan on Romeo and Juliet. Back in the spring 2025 writing season, when I first used Joe's invitation to his sister to LAX as a way to get Jeanie back in LA, it just happened. While creating the scene of Joe introducing Jeanie to Danny at the LAX hangar, it hit me like a thunderbolt.
"Jeanie falls in love at first sight with Danny!"
I was so fucking happy. I did a shot of Jim and a hit of cannabis and went into a writing frenzy. The chapters you just read came flying out of my fingertips. These are the greatest moments in my writing hobby, when you're plodding along on a path that already exists in your mind. The story is there. I just haven't written it yet. Then, while putting the keystrokes down, an epiphany strikes that changes the trajectory of characters and sometimes the entire story.
Danny's role has been significantly upgraded, and now Jeanie lives in Los Angeles. Everything I have written that takes place late punks and in future punks must now reflect this new reality, the butterfly effect. That's a lot of work, because I have many chapters roughed out ahead. But... the creative opportunities of having his musical sister in his daily life are worth this new Jeanie in LA integration rewriting.
--- THE KRAUTS ---
In late AA chapters and through the next book, VIP Rewards, there's a significant amount of business writing. Joe retires from touring and asserts himself as the leader of his guerrilla operation. At the same time, Tina is selling a gallery and launching a fashion start-up. There are bi-coastal parallel business storylines.
Deiter and Klaus are two of my favorite 2025 rewrite characters. Joe hooking up with the Krauts will have far-reaching consequences. I had a few more epiphany moments in VIP writing. One of my favorites is Joe befriending a real-life media star who becomes an ally. As Joe's career evolves, he makes celebrity friends in the business. They say you should never meet your heroes. You may be disappointed.
The Krauts are big players in Joe's future, and Germany is the scene for the first military show as well as other future guerrilla adventures. In a June 20th blog post, I mentioned a moment of brilliance, a rare self-pat on the back. That epiphany moment was the Ramstein scenes and having Joe perform for the troops. It led to a weekend of manic writing. Armed Forces Entertainment is a future storyline to be exploited.
--- CHARACTER REHAB & DEHAB ---
I hope those who know the old Lit version can see how I used more scenes of Tina without Joe to give readers her New York perspective. The gallery scenes with T and Jenna, and the scenes in apartment 14F with her husband, are windows into her struggle. In this rewrite, one of my main goals, if not number one, was to elevate her to co-star status by writing more from her POV and having Tina's storylines intermingle with Joe's.
That's what's coming. I have learned that I enjoy writing from a woman's point of view. I don't know what that says about me, but I enjoy imagining how a woman might handle adversity, or how she might use her charms to get her way. Maybe I need a break from being inside Joe's man-brain. I believe it helps that I appreciate women's fashion, from the hair to the heels, and I can reasonably navigate female interests... with the help of Google.
My interest in exploring the female perspective opens doors Joe has no access to. He becomes a player in someone else's tale. Tina has secrets.
A big change from the Lit version to the 2025 tale is Jenna's breakup with Joe. This is a case of dehabilitation. Jenna Martin may be the best character in the AA chapters. In Lit Punks, there was a Jenna fan club, readers who wanted Joe to pick her over Tina. I felt I had to take the shine off Jenna just a little.
In the Lit story, she puts her dear John letter at the bottom of a box of pastry. Joe opens it on the plane. It's heartbreaking, but he's not angry in any way. By stuffing that letter into his backpack, where it goes unseen for days, I give Joe a reason to be offended. Because in his mind, he always makes things worse than they are. He connects Jenna and Cassie as bad breakups.
Don't worry about Jenna. She may have a sad outcome in the late 90s, but she'll be okay down the road. Her best friends never forget her. Jenna's story has not been told.
-- THE CHRONOLOGY TRAP ---
All 70 chapters of AA are uploaded and scheduled for publishing on Wattpad. The end comes on 9/20. So, if I croak next week, at least you'll get to the end of Anxiety. After that, the story continues on the punk timeline in VIP.
I believe one way I can break out of my recent writing slump is to break free of the chronological writing I have wedded myself to. Joe's journey is not just year to year. It is month to month, week to week, and in many cases, day to day. There are entire chapters that cover hours in his life, mere scenes, while other chapters traverse many miles and weeks.
I'm telling his tale from 1978 to 1998 chronologically. After that, I may employ the Punk Time Machine to leap forward in years to write future events that shatter the punk timeline, making anything possible. I have chapters written so far into the future, like old man Joe dealing with college-aged kids trapped at home during the pandemic, that I would never publish if I stayed with chronological writing.
After VIP Rewards and White Wedding, I will break free of the chronology trap.