--- In madmarthafics@..., "bethann3000"
<bethann3000@y...> wrote:
> I'm glad you've made your mind up on this difficult decision -
> hopefully you feel relieved now it's all done and dusted. As you
> say, fanfic is for fun, and (much as it pains me to admit it!) you
> are under no obligation to write ANYTHING for us rabid fans. I for
> one am just grateful for all the wonderful stories you've shared
> already.
>
> "The lodger" is dead. Long live Mad Martha! (Resounding cheers)
>
> Beth Ann

Thank you for that :-)

You've been one of my sounding boards over the last couple of months
(longer than that, in fact) so I think you know what a relief it is
to have finally made a decision. It's not a conclusion I wanted to
draw but, as you know, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the
story wasn't working and sticking my head in the sand wasn't going to
achieve anything.

It's surprising to realise how much this story has been on my mind
lately, to be honest. Everything else I've done over the last few
months has been done with a constant awareness that the Lodger sequel
was there and needing attention. Having made the decision to stop, I
feel I can look at the other stories I've been working on with a
fresher eye. I can also look at the Lodger series and consider where
to go next. The first step will be deciding which parts of the
sequel will make good cookies - and I already have plenty of ideas on
that - and then it would be good to look at it overall and see if
there is potential for anymore short stories.

I feel much more positive about it now than I have in a long time.