'Blade Runner' - Chapter 1

So, I usually don't write 'author's notes' for my stories, but I feel it's necessary for this one.

The main character in this story, Jason Ridley, is loosely based on Oscar Pistorius. I started writing this story shortly after reading Oscar's biography 'Blade Runner' in late 2012.  I was a huge fan of his; I think he did an incredible job of changing many people's perception of disabled people. And damn; he's hot!! 

The Oscar Pistorius referred to in this story is the man I admired before February 14th 2013.

I had the first three chapters written and the outline for the rest of the story pretty much done when the news of Oscar shooting Reeva Steenkamp came out on Valentine's Day last year.  It felt like I'd been punched in the gut and the disappointment and shock took away all inspiration to move forward.

A year later the shock has subsided and new ideas for the story has started coming to me. After I mentioned that I had been working on this story about a year ago in my previous post and I've received a few emails from people that have expressed that they are interested in reading it.

I will start with posting the first chapter and see what kind of feedback it gets. If there is interest I will post the next two chapters as well as start working on the rest of the story.

I'm not interested in starting a discussion about the Pistorius trial on the blog, so any comments regarding Oscar's guilt/innocence etc. will be deleted. If you have views/thoughts you wish to share with me, please contact me in private via email: devoteestoriesbymille@gmail.com. 

A few words to my followers...

First of all; I'm thrilled that so many people seem to enjoy my stories - it's truly humbling. Lately I've received both comments and a few emails from people that are wondering when I'll update my stories.  Thank you!! :)

Lately I've been immensely busy. I'm working 10-12 hour days Monday-Friday and I work at least two, often three, Saturdays a month.  When I finally have downtime I usually feel absolutely exhausted and just feel like veg'ing on the couch. I have ideas for several of my stories and I try to write them as they come to me, but I just haven't had the energy to really sit down to write.

This is the current status for my writing:

"Jenna & Luke" - Chapter 11: 265 words - slowly progressing, have chapter outlined
"The Store Manager" - Chapter 5: 234 words - slowly progressing, struggling
"Finding Unexpected Love" - Chapter 9: 400 words - written in 1st person from Bryan's POV. Not sure if it works for me, so considering re-writing it in 3rd person.

"Unexpected" - Chapter 12: 900 words  NOTE: This is the story I've got up on Paradevo - it's the first version of 'Finding Unexpected Love'.  I plan on wrapping it up pretty soon, so I can focus on my other stories. Have a much longer storyline planned for the 2.0 version.

Unpublished story:
I've also got some new ideas for a story about a double below the knee amputee I started a couple of years ago, a few months after the London 2012 Olympics/Paralympics.  The main male character, Jason, was inspired by reading Oscar Pistorius' biography; "Blade Runner".

Jason is not a professional athlete, but some of his background/personality is based on Oscar (born w.o. fibulas, lower legs amputated before his first birthday, supportive family, lost mother at a young age, doesn't see himself as disabled).

I had written the first couple of chapters and was in the process of outlining the rest of the story when Oscar shot Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year and the shock and disappointment I felt when the news came out made me lose all inspiration to write that story.

For some reason some ideas for the story have come to me recently. I have jotted them down in a notebook and am considering trying to write it out, if it's something people are interested in reading - let me know if you are.


-Mille

"Jenna & Luke" - Chapter 10

Jenna got through the weekend and Labor Day, but Wednesday morning she decided that she needed a break from Maryanne Stevenson. Although her attitude had mellowed a bit, but it was still clear that she didn’t trust Jenna and her intentions and Jenna was getting tired of her snarky comments and sideways glances.  She figured she’d go back to Luke’s house.  That would give her a couple of days to relax and she figured it would be good for Luke to spend some alone time with his parents as well.  She just hoped he wouldn’t be too upset with her.

She looked toward the bathroom door; the shower had just been shut off, so Luke and Kevin would be out in about 10 minutes. With a sigh she picked out an outfit for the day; a pair of dark skinny jeans and a white linen tunic and laid it on the bed with a set of clean underwear. Then she grabbed her well-worn Louis Vuitton duffle bag, a high school graduation gift from her grandparents, and stuffed her dirty clothes into it. She left the clean clothes in Luke’s closet since she planned on coming back to spend the weekend.