Chapter Sixteen, Mothers, and Amazon

(Image: Chapter 16, Pizza!)

Hello all! Chapter Sixteen is up and running! And if you missed the big news, you can now purchase Shadowchild in full on Amazon, in Kindle and Print, and on Barnes and Noble, which is not yet showing the print version, but it should soon. For all available purchase links please visit the Books tab and stay alert for more availability updates.

This chapter's a bit cool because most of it is completely new to this version of the story. The opening section where Bennie talks to Sean and Peter on the phone originally opened the next chapter, but I split it off and added this interaction with Bennie and her Mom and made it a new chapter, when I brought in the fact Perce wouldn't stand for her sneaking out. 

I was glad to get to write this because, of all the elements of these books, I like the way Bennie and Sandra's relationship grows the most. When I was fifteen, my Mum and I butted heads on just about everything, but nothing quite as much as my nerdy fixations on the big pop culture trends of the day, Harry Potter being the big name that comes to mind. In retrospect it probably was unnerving to see the way I fell headlong into the fandoms of my choosing, though it doesn't seem odd to me since I've lived in fandom culture so long. I just remember saying, so many times, "I could be into drugs or sleeping around! Why can't you leave me alone?"

But she's a Mum, and Mums worry, and Mums pester, and at some point, Mums do let you grow up, and I was blessed to grow very close to mine as I did grow up. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

And I also have to give a shout-out to my Dad, for putting up with BOTH of us that year! You rock, Pops! Pop Rocks? Mmm now I want candy...