syntax6

[syntax6]

Just had to say- your work is so beautiful and complex and compelling... Truly, like- keeps me up way too late on a work night type of gripping. Whether u ever return to writing fic, please know how appreciated you are for all you've given us fans!

Question- what do you like to read for fun these days?

That's so kind of you to say! Thank you! My XF stories were a joy to write and it makes me so happy that they have brought joy to others. It's my favorite part about fiction: Mulder and Scully are immortal through us and our words. As long as there are people writing and reading about them, they will live forever.

As for what I'm reading now, I read a lot in my mystery/thriller genre to stay on top of what's current. I joke frequently that if I had to kidnap one author, Misery-style, and keep them locked in my basement to write only for me, it would be Fredrik Backman.

Currently reading:

A Game of Lies, by Clare Mackintosh

On deck:

Interior Chinatown, by Charles Yu

Careless People, by Sarah Wynn-Williams

All the Colors of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker

Everyone on this Train is a Suspect, by Benjamin Stevenson

Anywhere You Run, by Wanda Morris

[syntax6]

Just reread Original Sin and it blew me away just as much as the first time. I know this is probably unlikely but do you think you’ll ever write more XF fic? Out of all the XF fic I’ve read your works are far and away some of the best, if not THE best.

Thanks so much! Glad it holds up after all this time. :)

My answer on fanfic hasn't changed much in eight years. I never say never, but I have no immediate plans to take up these characters again. I still love them. I always will! But I wrote something like 1.2 million words worth of XF fanfic. I don't really have anything left to say at the moment.

[syntax6]

Aw, thank you! I have such mixed emotions about this one, given the way it came into the world.

All of my stories start with a “what if” premise. In the case of “Original Sin,” there are three:

1. What if Scully really did leave Mulder and move to Utah after FTF?

2. What does it mean to find “the real Samantha” if there are seemingly endless clones of her?

3. What if Mulder found Samantha and, uh, kind of regretted it.

I think the Samantha story was never going to have a happy ending. But for Mulder and Scully, there’s hope. ❤️

🥏 Fic Rec #62: "Original Sin" by Syntax6

Today’s fic is another novel-length mystery by @syntax6 that showcases her well-honed craftsmanship with polish and confidence. The premise is intriguing: what if Scully really did leave and move to Utah at the end of Fight the Future? The fic picks up two years later with a casefile that unravels the mystery at the heart of the X-Files mytharc.

It never ceases to amaze me the way Syntax6 weaves the loose threads of canon into something even better—plausible, compelling, and still true to the series' classic vibe. Her original characters and her take on Diana are first-rate as always. An entertaining, powerful read!

---

🥏 on author's site 🥏 audio version on @audiofanficpod read by @red2007

length: novel, 102K / 52,000+ words season: post-FTF pairing(s): M/S UST to RST, Scully/Other, Mulder/Other tags: AU, casefile, angst, mytharc, jealousy, rift, separated/reunited, good OCs, Diana Fowley, Samantha Mulder rating: explicit/NC-17

Tagging @today-in-fic

[syntax6]

My god you are an incredible writer! I love every fic you’ve written, so much so that I want to read all of your published books! Incredible. The structure of your stories are so well shaped and creatively built; the nuances - chefs kiss. Great original characters and casefiles, they really gripped me and kept me going. Will you ever write fic again?

Aw, this is such a lovely note, anon. Thank you! I've not been feeling very incredible lately so I really appreciate your kind words.

As for more fic, I never say never, but I am trying to make a go of things with a professional career now and that doesn't leave a lot of leftover writing time. Plus, I sort of feel like after close to 2 million words of fic, I have said all I have to say about Mulder and Scully (and Hunter and McCall too). I still love them, though, and one never knows if inspiration may strike.

[syntax6]

Nine years later, I'm going back to the ball. Annalisa's latest adventure, ALL THE WAY GONE, was nominated for an Edgar Award! It's a newer category in honor of the late Sue Grafton, and as a longtime admirer of her work, I'm humbled and grateful for this honor.

Whee!

[syntax6]

Today's the 7th anniversary of my first published novel! It was so exciting and wonderful, a literal dream come true. It's bittersweet to look back on the photos of this night now, though, because I thought it was the beginning of things, but it was in some ways also an ending. I was naive about how things worked back then, and while I am glad I understand the business more now, I miss the sweet hopefulness of that moment.

I remain grateful for the opportunity. I cherish the friends I've made in publishing. I'm so touched by the readers who have given my books a home in their hearts.

[syntax6]

can you recommend any good case file fic with established msr relationship???? your archive is a gift to this fandom btw THANK YOU

Mulder, Scully, and Case File RST

Eyyyyyy, here you go, anon!

@debbierhea/theexfilesbabe/iamalittleonedge’s october - full series

He’s shivering as she approaches, the blanket curled around his snoozing fox form, hair sticking out like a tail. She pushes his hair back and whispers his name, tells him to go get in her bed where it’s warm. She watches him, sleepy-eyed and vulnerable, as he makes his way to where her bed is an oasis of warmed goose feathers.

Post S5 Mulder and Scully spend an October, week-by-week, on the road and in each other's company. (While not strictly RST, it's a gentle, autumnal slow burn that, I think, counts.)

sarah_segretti/Sarah Segretti's The Current Temperature in Downtown Washington (Ao3, Xanadu)

The informant, a slightly paunchy middle-aged man with a rich Blue Ridge accent, a true local, droned on. Scully appeared to be listening raptly, but Mulder knew the look - he'd been on the receiving end more than once, and with him, it usually meant she was about to shred another one of his theories.

He knew what was wrong. They were too close to FEMA headquarters, and that made him think of Dallas, and Antarctica - and he hadn't expected to feel this way. His nightmares on that particular topic had stopped weeks ago.

Post Fight the Future Scully is determined to pick up Mulder's mood... although the "case", its unpleasant associations, and their meal afterward underscores the wounds both of them are still licking clean. (Though not strictly RST, the underlying understanding between them is undeniably bent in that direction.)

@lotsoforangesoutside/@lotzzoforangezoutside‘s (Ao3) Detoured: Arcadia (Tumblr)

Scully looks at him expectantly, and he kind of likes it a little. She never looks at him like that, like he’ll MacGyver them out of this sticky mess.

It is a sticky mess. A very sticky mess.

Arcadia Mulder is torn over the fake (and real) relationship he must project with Scully.

@aloysiavirgata's (Ao3, WBM, Gossamer, LJ, Alt. LJ) The Waters of Babylon, Petrichor, and Singing of Mount Abora

Beside him comes a rustle of paper. Scully’s printed out directions from MapQuest, checking off turns like a shopping list. “Still another three miles before the access road,” she says, not looking up from her trim navy-blue lap. She takes a sip of coffee.

Mulder coughs, says nothing. Things aren’t strained exactly, it’s not that. It’s more a liminal space. Everything’s fine, he tells himself. Everything’s fine.

He  checks his hair again.

Mulder and Scully's relationship slowly melds together, from reflective, post-Arcadia memories to tentative, post-Amor Fati consummation to stinging, miraculous post-IVF hope.

Obfusc8er's Deus ex Machina

The black, writhing shade shot out fingers of darkness, exploding into thousands of swirling entities. The light from the window was doused by the mass of evil in the room. Scully gasped, nearly dropping the phone from her hand. She stood transfixed, paralyzed by shock and fear. The volume of the chorus in her ear grew louder, and the obscure shapes grew more frantic, circling with tremendous speed.

Scully is awash with horror while on a routine Kersh detail.

Jo-Ann Lassiter's The Death of Me Yet

It was a bull moose, and it was big. And it was standing about ten feet away, smack in the middle of the trail. Even if Scully hadn't read the literature on vehicle/moose collisions and the ensuing human fatalities, she would have chosen to avoid something twice her height and weight--jeep and Mulder included.

She slammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel sharply to the right, in the only direction that wouldn't get them killed outright. The change in terrain was drastic.

Kersh forces Mulder on a case, despite his ill health. With Scully as her partner's shadow, the two try to escape the woods, their safety and the approaching dark (and its monster) driving them further and further down a mountain.

TessMooreXF's Armadillo Season

She mused that it must be armadillo season, for all the hardened little corpses that had dotted the sides of the highway on her journey from Dallas. 

Post The Rain King Kersh assigns the duo to an unexpectedly twisted case.

Wylfcynne's Imagine

"You aren't getting free until we have a clear MRI," she said calmly.

Mulder exploded in rage, screaming, cursing, struggling violently. On the status monitor, everything began to escalate. Three Project doctors came running in, alerted by the system alarms, and stopped, awed at the violence they were witnessing.

Post S.R. 819 Mulder and Scully are intercepted, kidnapped, and tortured while on a cult assignment. She helps to rescue her partner, but not before he is infected with black oil.

@danascullysjournal/Paper_hearts_and_homemade_arts's If You Will Let Me (Tumblr)

Padgett’s face faded to the pale, chilled skin of the corpse she had inspected three days ago.  He grinned at her with lifeless eyes.  His fingers pressed deeper inside her chest, and red spattered his sunken face.

“I am… in you…”  The lips of the cadaver did not move.  She sensed his voice ringing inside her head.

Post Milagro Mulder and Scully slowly begin to recover... but are then thrust into more disastrous supernatural circumstances. (While not strictly post-RST, this fits along those lines.)

cropcircle's Secrets in Seattle

“This must be terrible for you just laying here, Mulder,” Scully said.

“I can’t wait until this is over. If only to get this wretched cast off my arm.” ‘And to pick up where we left off when Skinner interrupted us,’ Mulder thought to himself. “I wish I could help you more.”

Post Millennium Mulder is kidnapped while Scully investigates a hospital case. (While this isn't strictly post-RST, it does end along those lines.)

Beshter's Seasons: Seventh

"Fear doesn't have to be complicated." Mulder was already into the bag of cashews, clearly pleased with what he found.

"I know that, but it did make me think about the things we fear. What sort of fears do the average people have? Would it be enough to terrify me to death?"

"Would they?" Mulder asked around a mouthful of nuts.

Post Millennium Mulder and Scully spend the rest of Season 7 figuring out the new parameters of their new relationship.

@slippinmickeys/SlippinMickeys/Slippin' Mickeys's The Unseelie Court

It hadn’t been fair of her to seduce him, though it had been a glacial, intellectual courtship, inevitable, really, in every sense of the word. Mulder was tender-hearted and obsessive and after their second time together, she should have known that no amount of her stoicism or sense of workplace propriety would keep them from wanting to be together all the time. Last night, she’d had a foot out the door and was pushing him away with one hand and pulling him back with the other, his fingers tangled in her hair in rapacious bliss. 

They still weren’t sure how to be with each other, and that morning they’d walked down to Mulder’s car in a loaded, restless silence. 

In this on-going chapter fic, Mulder and Scully investigate a fae x-file, the first after their under-the-table consummation.

subtlealchemy/weetown's a trick of the light

She had been avoidant, too, of facing the reality of Mulder’s condition being her fault. Even though she knows deep down that it isn’t, that she had not meant for any of it to happen, it somehow still is her fault. 

She had been the one holding the gun, after all. And her unchecked and lonesome guilt had only expanded and nourished itself in the dark, sated in the span of two nights.

Two nights spent drifting in and out of sleep on rough, sun-dried dirt with her fistful of Mulder’s bloodied sleeve that said, Stay here, even though he had been mostly unconscious and all but about to get up and go somewhere.

Mulder and Scully investigate claims of woodland magic.

Analise's (Alt. Tumblr, Colonization HQ) Haunted House

Then a rattle. Pipes groaned and protested in rusty appeals and then a thin trickle of water burbled out of the faucet. She cupped her hands under the stream and splashed it onto her cheeks, washing the remains of her makeup off. Her hair was starting to dry in long scraggly strands around her oval face and since a shower was not an option, she ran her hairbrush through the red strands until they gleamed in the candlelight. Pulling her toothbrush out she leaned back over the sink to wet the bristles and froze.

Blood was coming out of the faucet.

Mulder and Scully find themselves in a right-from-the-movies spooky mansion, with events ramping up, not slowing down, the longer the night goes on.

@piecesofscully/PiecesOfScully's Ravenous

The scratching against the wall behind them started low, as if it was coming from under the cot they sat on, like thick nails desperately attempting to burrow through the wooden barrier. Scully’s heart beat faster, through the wood she felt the scratching gradually work its way up to her lower back, clawing up behind her spine to just above her head, then stopped. A chill ran the same path up her spine as a whisper came from just above their heads.

“Skuhhhh.”

It was only a matter of time before Mulder and Scully stumbled on another creature in the woods... but is there only one?

@syntax6's (Gossamer, FFN, omniscribe) The Man Without a Trace (omniscribe)

Mulder slackened his hold on Scully and looked at the crumpled comic book again. Sure enough, at the bottom it read, "Starring Rocky Miller and McKenzie Sally."

Post First Person Shooter Mulder and Scully find out that TLG turned them into profitable comic book characters... and stumbled on a case at Comic Con.

doctorhelena's Something In Between

Scully bit her lip and willed herself not to imagine again what would have happened if Skinner hadn't taken a leap of faith. Mulder was insistent. "What would I have mutated into if you hadn't stopped it - how many of those people are out there? People who already have identities, but who won't be reported missing by their family and friends, because they’re already dead. People who can infiltrate themselves easily into society and nobody will ever know the difference. This is huge, Scully. And I don't -" he cut off, watching her face. His eyes were alive.

"How can you-" she asked. "Mulder, how can you just - you were almost -" She couldn't talk. Her throat had closed up again. 

Post Deadalive Mulder, Scully, and Doggett begin investigating other "dead" and buried abductees.

aka Jake/aka_Jake/aka 'Jake''s Reprise

"...I’m done with all that. I no longer chase aliens.”

“This isn’t about aliens.”

“Does it matter?”

“It’s a mutant.”

She returned to sorting clothes, plucking matching socks from the pile, glad that Katie was asleep in bed and not listening in on this all-too-familiar conversation.

“A liver-eating mutant,” he added.

Post My Struggle IV Mulder and Scully tackle an old foe they thought was long dead.

AUs

aRcaDIaNFall$'s (Alt. Tumblr) Meeting This Way, These Ungodly Hours, Something Challenging, Full Circle

"So, what's the procedure for this sort of thing?"

"Procedure?" "

You know... Interviewing somebody. Getting Kayleen to agree to an examination."

"Depends on the person. Sometimes you need to tread carefully, sometimes you need to push."

She smiled. "Which category did I fall into?"

"Both. I had to make a whole new category, just for you."

AU-- Mulder becomes a reoccurring patient to ER doctor Scully. Their friendship blossoms, their relationship blooms, and she agrees to consult on a case.

CaptainLyssa's To FBI or Not To FBI

Rolling her eyes, Scully had seen the female agent leaving Mulder’s room as she exited the elevator this morning. Patrice, Mulder’s nurse assured Scully the visit had been brief and she’d gained little information about Mulder’s condition from the staff. It seemed the rumours worked in Scully’s favour in this instance.

AU-- Scully is a worn-down ER nurse that strikes up a random, fast-paced relationship with enigmatic but deeply-committed Special Agent Mulder. His sudden hospitalization, her secret pregnancy, and Diana Fowley's unwanted appearance (almost) shakes her faith in her new partner.

theramblinrose's MSR Collection

“You’re supposed to be at the hospital, Scully. I was coming as soon as…”

He broke off like he’d simply run out of words. He was coming as soon as—as soon as he could, as soon as they found Samantha, as soon as he knew what was happening.

AU-- Post One Breath Mulder and Scully begin a relationship; and very soon after discover (during the events of Aubrey) that she is expecting a little "alien."

LuvTheBeez's (mulderscreek) Snow (mulderscreek)

"Mulder, it never really occurred to me before, and I certainly admire the skill with which you construct that masterpiece you've got going there, but I seem to recall a bit of a phobia you used to have about fire." She placed his mug down on the mantle. "How have you gone from fear to Master Fire Builder?"

"It's all about control, Scully." Mulder paused for a moment as he twisted the life out of another geometrically perfect square of newspaper. "This is our house. This fireplace is a perfect little contained area, inside our house, where one can have a controlled fire that *stays* in control. If I build the fire, I have control over it. I am its master. I *am* Fire Boy."

"You've thought about this before."

AU-- Season 5 Mulder and Scully are married and expecting a very large baby. ...And are forced into a hostage situation.

@virtie333/Virtie333's The Letter, Eyes In the Night, Someday, Wambli

"I didn't want to believe her," Scully smiled tightly. "But she did know where the body was, and she's very convincing. It took a long time before she finally told me HOW she 'saw' him." She looked up at him, confusion in her eyes. "Mulder, she says she can see through the eyes of any living animal. That she can transport her consciousness into another living thing and to see what it sees and feel what it feels!" 

"Can she control the mind of the animal she inhabits?" Mulder had heard of people who could transfer like this. 

"No," Scully shook her head. "She says she's just 'along for the ride'. Sometimes she can tweak its curiosity a bit, but that's all."

AU-- Post Orison Scully leaves for an ASAC position when Mulder doesn't ask her to stay. But not to worry: they are reunited a year later for a case, then another, then the explosion of the mytharc.

Khyber's Reach + Sokol (Reach, Sokol 1/2, Sokol 2/2, Sokol - Dancing Skeleton Day, Sokol - Terminus Post Quem)

"Light plane crash, Washington. Less than an hour ago. Apparently we should be there. He said to do an autopsy."

"Did you recognize the voice?" "

Whoever it was knew I was here."

AU-- Mulder and Scully take the next step after a rough, disturbing case involving a fifteen-year-old. From there, their lives only get more complicated as the Consortium closes in.

@writingwell/RocketMan/Darkstryder's (Xanadu)

It's Been . . . 01, It's Been . . . 02, It's Been . . . 03

Mulder blinked and looked at her, then shook his head.

"I have a headache."

She glanced quickly into the basment, then stopped still, shocked as she watched Nick Hazel sway before an enormous fire, sweat and dirt dripping from him in a sensuous, serpentine motion. She felt herself being pulled into the hypnotic dance of the fire and closed her eyes, tight.

Then backed away, grabbing for Mulder.

AU-- A ditch-and-dash injury changes the course of Mulder's life: recovery, marriage, a Floridian honeymoon, and an arsonist case upon their return.

WrappedInTheWind, WrappedInTheWindWhirl, WrappedInTheWindIII, WrappedInTheWindIV, WrappedInTheWind_CryingStone (Xanadu)

That was the good day. The only good day. I should have paid better attention to that day because it was a long time before that day would come again, a better day, a day with hope.

AU-- Post En Ami CSM hands over a baby of mysterious origins to Mulder. Scully resists her partner's domestic inclinations at first, but caves-- although adoption and subsequent marriage don't stop on-the-job injuries and heart-wrenching biological connections.

@rationalcashew/RationalCashew's Dark is the Way; Light is the Place (Tumblr)

Scully could feel Mulder watching her from the other side of the desk. He’d been doing it for the last week. At first, she thought it was sweet. Now, it was just annoying.

“Mulder…” she warned, cocking an eyebrow at him from over the file in her hand.

“What?” He asked innocently.

“You’re staring.”

“We’re having a baby,” he replied simply.

“Yes, we are. But, that doesn’t mean I can work with you staring at me constantly."

AU-- Although Requiem Mulder rushes back to Scully, their combined joy over an unexpected miracle becomes intertwined with frustration over a challenging, and pointedly dangerous, serial killer case.

Lapsed_Scholar's Season 9 Rewrites and Musings

Dana sighed. “I suppose this is one of those cases in which not everything is fully, satisfactorily explained. We can only make an educated guess that matches a preponderance of the evidence. Which is a foundational principle I have to somehow instill in my intro to forensic pathology students in...about five minutes, actually.” She carefully passed William (who had apparently tired of her hair and fallen asleep) to Mulder and stood up.

His eyes were shining when he smirked up at her. “How do you plan on doing that? You just gonna write ‘Uncertainty’ on the board, Scully?”

She shot him a look that had too much underlying affection to be truly quelling. 

AU-- Season 9 Mulder never leaves; and he and Scully (and William) are pulled into the Doggett-Reyes cases, despite his reluctance.

@dreamingofscully's Surely, to the sea 

When Mulder switched off the ignition, oppressive silence weighed down upon them - no birds, no chirping insects. She hadn’t noticed under the roar of the engine and the trepidation that she fought to control. Staring ahead and swallowing thickly, she forced herself to analyze the evidence they’d acquired so far. Perhaps the same thing that interfered with their radio drove away wildlife. 

AU-- Married paranormal investigators Mulder and Scully lodge with a suspiciously odd man who is always licking his fingers.

Thanks for reading¬

Enjoy!

[syntax6]

Just wanted to jump on here and say I’ve been working my way through your catalogue of X-Files fic and having an absolute blast with them all. Was thrilled to hear you’re now a published author and am looking forward to reading some of your work once my X-Files obsession has cooled off some (if it ever does!)

As a fellow writer who one day hopes to get published, it’s really refreshing seeing authors who don’t shy away from their background in fanfiction. I was always taught fanfic was “not real fiction” and that “real” writers didn’t do it. People like you are an inspiration and prove that’s not the case! ♥️

Thanks so much! I'm glad you have enjoyed my stories.

The best part about fanfic is that it is writing for the sake of pure joy. Joy for the characters; joy for the written word. Once you have to figure out how to make money from your words, it becomes a different thing. It can still be rewarding. It can even still be fun. But it's not the same.

I've said this before but the one thing fanfic will not teach you unless you seek it out is how to be a better writer. Because of the shared joy over the original product, your fanfic will find eager readers no matter what quality it might be. I could do the writer equivalent to taking Mulder and Scully dolls and mashing them together while saying, "Now kiss" and it would still do numbers. Because people want Mulder and Scully to kiss! My writing skill doesn't have to make them want that. They already want it before they even start reading.

I have two fanfic friends who are lovely smart people. At the time I met them, several decades ago, they were both unskilled fanfic writers. They were shooting out stories with endless head hopping, poor character development, and bland dialogue. One of these writers decided she wanted to improve her craft, so she: 1) studied writers who were better than she was to figure out the difference between what she was doing and what they were doing; 2) took classes on writing; 3) asked for honest feedback from other writers. Twenty years later, this writer's work is MUCH stronger. The other writer is no better, but she's still having fun...which is kind of my point. You can be both kinds of writer in fanfic, one here to work at it and one here just to have a good time.

Thanks for the ask! Good luck with your writing journey, wherever it takes you. :)

[syntax6]

Yay, it's pub day for ALL THE WAY GONE!

Please join me at 7pm tonight 8/13 at Brookline Booksmith to celebrate the launch. I'll be doing the usual fun and games...and talking about whether it's possible to be a good sociopath. Free and open to the public!

Buy it via your favorite source here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250904140/allthewaygone

[syntax6]

Hello! I was so delighted when I found you on Tumblr (your old fanfiction features prominently on a CD I burned in college and semi-recently rediscovered/obsessively devoured. Heh.) I downloaded the first Annalisa Vega novel after scrolling through your feed and I am SO enjoying it! It feels like catching up with an old friend. Looking forward to reading more in the series!

Aw, thank you so much! This made my day. :)

[syntax6]

Tuesday night! Come join me at Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, MA on August 13th at 7pm to celebrate the launch of ALL THE WAY GONE. I will be doing my usual brand of murder stand-up comedy. Free and open to the public, so please come say hiiiii!

[syntax6]

What a delightful surprise! ALL THE WAY GONE is an Amazon editors' pick for best books of the month. Yay!

A reader had to tell me this, lol. I had no idea...

[syntax6]

Whew

We've finished watching "The X-Files" and I'm ranking all the episodes just for fun. My husband asked about my top few and I was explaining how hard it can be to stack rank, especially comedic versus serious episodes. I said "Bad Blood" is epic and hilarious but if you don't know the serious stuff it's poking fun at, you won't get all the jokes. He was like, "Which one is that?"

Me: The vampire one? Rashoman-style? It's widely regarded as one of the best episodes of the series.

Him, shrugging: I didn't really like it.

Me: Um, okay...

*goes upstairs, contemplates divorce*

Husband, looking up episodes on Wikipedia, calls out a correction: Oh! I meant "3" is the terrible vampire one that I didn't care for. "Bad Blood" is great!

So I can stay married now.

[syntax6]

Your Ex Best Friend

I am working on a thriller based around the idea of ex-best-friends and it's bringing up all the feels. Since it's a mystery and fiction, though, there has to be an ANSWER as to why the friends fell out, but I think having your best friend drop you for seemingly no reason is more bewildering.

I have one friend who ceased contact and I can't even say it's surprising because I watched her do this to our mutual friends one by one. I can't claim shock when she did it to me. She seems to have a rule that if you go some length of time without talking (weeks, months, whatever) it's simply over. She's done. No fight. No incompatibility. It's just over. She said she finds the reinitiation of contact too unbearably awkward and it's easier for her simply to move on. After a decade or more of friendship.

We didn't talk as much because I moved from the East Coast to California and thus were in different time zones. With most EC friends, we would simply catch up once I was back in town. Not her. I wrote letters. I left phone messages. None were returned. When I did move back to the area, I would run into her occasionally in a book store or the grocery. We would have a spontaneous catch-up session in the frozen food aisle and it was great. Then I would follow-up with a text and she'd ignore me again. I've accepted she doesn't want to be friends anymore, even if I remain baffled as to why.

Anyway, I'm writing a thriller but ex-best-friends belong more in ghost stories for the way they haunt us.

[syntax6]

Now to the end of the month! You can get an ebook of GONE FOR GOOD for just $2.99.

Grab yours before it’s...gone. 😉

Link: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250264619/goneforgood

[syntax6]

Sale alert! You can pre-order ALL THE WAY GONE in any format at Barnes & Noble from 4/17-4/19 and get 25% off with code PREORDER25. Note, this discount is only available to B&N members but free memberships are available—learn more & sign up here: barnesandnoble.com/membership/

Already a member? Order your copy at: https://bit.ly/3Q9ARCT

[syntax6]

Can confirm this with the caveat that I LOST MY ENTIRE COMPUTER about three weeks ago. Ten years of my life...poof! I am pretty sure I can still track down "Scavenger," though. It may be in the cloud?

Hi! Syntax6's fic 'Scavenger' is no longer on her website. Do you know if there's a copy saved somewhere? I'd really love to read it. Thanks!

Syntax6 took down "Scavenger" when she turned it into her non-X-Files novel The Vanishing Season (which is very good - buy it, or get it at the library!). But she has offered to send it to anyone who asks. See her tumblr post here. @syntax6