438 pages. 25, some rather long, chapters. The height of the series. The conclusion. That’s “The Cubicle Diaries: Anything to Be on Top.” My God! I seriously thought this day would never come. This is literally something I’ve dreamt of & pushed so hard to make happen. I put A LOT of pressure on myself, & one of the few of my many flaws is, I’m tooooo hard on myself. So, imagine that. I just kept thinking, I must produce this, I must get to the finish line. & here I am! Out of breath, sweaty like the pig I am, or rhino I should say, & thirsty like a mo’fo! Hydrate me! Pop the mother fucking champeeeezy! This makes 3!

I’ll be honest, I was REALLY pushing for the book to go live in 2018, the way latter of 2018, but that thing called ‘life’ tended to get in the way of things, as it does, especially if you’re living a good one. Anyhow, while I was editing volume III, which took all of 2018, I then started to tell myself, don’t rush. I mean, good art should NOT be rushed, that’s a fact & I can definitely speak from experience. 😉 I was torn because there was a piece of me that kept telling myself, get it done, get it done! That’s the on occasion impatient part of me, but I just call that my drive. 😉 & then there was the piece of me that was like, don’t burn yourself out! Don’t half-ass it. I didn’t want my passion for my project to die out. I still wanted it more than ever, yeah! But I didn’t want the “I’m over it!” feeling & have it be like it was something I was obligated to do & not be able to enjoy. Because I knew one day, I would reflect & miss it & then have remorse over those emotions, especially if I truly love my work. It’s kind of like having braces, going to college –college work wise— or doing a TV show. You live and love it at first, it’s exciting, then you get over it, then you want out & years down the line, you’re like, that was a great time of my life! I wanted to take it all in. Blowing off social events because I had to edit, not calling such & such to have a 2-hour convo about nothing, not going to that free museum, not sleeping, being somewhat anti-social, writing/ editing on the way to work, on my lunch, on the way home, stopping myself from avoiding the author representatives on their follow-ups for the finished product: all things I loved doing for the sake of my book series, my project, my life! I did have self-discipline, obviously, but they, “the company” helped me, too, a lot, & I encouraged them to.

I took my time with the cover art. I thought, how can I make this one different from the others? We see the black rose –multiple times. We see people gossiping, watching each other, & “working” together. Let’s see where the “magic” happens, lets go to where it all started: the cubicle. This cover art is very different, it’s in color! As for the back-cover art, I thought, do I stick to what I’ve done to make it a whole, or do I really switch gears? The front’s getting a makeover. I saw the inner MEs -LOL- battling with each other in another form. Decisions, decisions… In the meantime, all I did was continue to work on the editing & let time make the decision making over my uncertainty. Then I was re-re-reminded, never give up!

I also had to think, this is the conclusion, how am I going to make this all work? Make it different? I have a good product, that’s not played out –which is in my favor, & my take is a fresh take. I’ve focused on making my product unique & fresh with a take that hasn’t been done before. I like turning, thickening plots, no dragging the foot, a little on the faster movement, a hint of old school –just a hint! Traditional and classy elements where they should be. If something is boring to you, it’s going to be boring to your readers. You must keep them wanting more —literally!

Then, there was “Holiday Madness.” All I’ve ever done is talk about “Holiday Madness.” It’s the height of the story, the near climax –pun intended. 😉 It’s the longest chapter of the series! I had to divide it into 2 & even those individually are long! It’s thematic. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a 7 deadly sins theme to the now chapters. The chapters, at the time they were 1, took me 3 weeks to edit, & I was consistent. “Holiday Madness” is a story of its own; a story within a story! A true teleplay. 😉 I LOVE “Holiday Madness,” but I think “Skeletons in My Cubicle Drawer” is probably my more favourite chapter. It shares soooo much! Hell, it’s just as long! & besides, “Holiday Madness” is something of its own.

One of my other major accomplishments for volume III is the crossover between “The Cubicle Diaries” & “Midwest’s Best.” This crossover is the start of something new, new & great! I’ve given away a lot in this entry, but I won’t give away everything! One of our beloved villains makes a major move from the west coast to the Midwest. That individual will relocate to Chicago & have interactions with & become a recurring figure on the fictional hit Hulu TV show, “Midwest’s Best.” This individual will cross paths with “JC” & “Charlie” & start anew in the white city, & this person is ready to paint red all over it.

This volume, I feel, truly is scandalous. Yes, the others are, too, but this one… my God! There’s a particular plotline where you’re just like, damn! That’s super shady & fucked up & this person works with that person! I wasn’t joking when I decided to have Trust No One as 1 of the 2 main taglines. The other being, Know Your Coworkers, which is also very true, in reality & in the book. & Yes, there are a lot of OMG! moments. The sexxx scenes are graphic. You’re welcome. 😀 I hope as a reader you get aroused. You’re welcome. 😉 Volume III has a few different backstories going on. The cast of characters is reduced, somewhat. I swear, when I think of some of the chapters & plotlines & interactions among the characters, I hear a score of violins going on in the back of my mind. “The Cubicle Diaries” is very episodic, very TV show, or soap opera, -like. I want to say “Agnes” is more evil than comedic? I’ll let you be the judge of it. The narrator has not lost its sense of sarcasm & is on the way of being one of the best storytellers, to-date. Everyone gets their last hoorah. Even people we haven’t heard of since volume I. It’s very full circle like. Everyone wants to be on top –pun intended & some do. Volume III is more cutthroat & grander than ever.

It’s funny, because people who have read the first volume tell me that it’s scandalous & what the characters do to each other is brutal. & then, they learn it’s just the beginning of a series & they’re shocked even more! My usual answer, there’s A LOT more & it gets better! & that’s the thing about “The Cubicle Diaries,” it gets better & better. I didn’t want everything paraded out in the first volume. I planted the seeds, watered it, & have watched it blossom. I love every volume, but this may be my favourite. Don’t quote me. I also recently had someone share with me, no matter how subtle I tried to be about “closing” everything up, LOL, that he thought I could go for a fourth if I wanted to. It had me thinking…