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Keith Long's avatar

Man oh man, what an incredible story. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

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Layne Mercer's avatar

Keith! I so appreciate you reading through this story. This is why I got on Substack--to find an audience. I spent a lot of hours on The Undergrave, so it is great to finally be getting some eyes on it and some feedback. Thank you so much for sharing it with your own followers. I'll be thinking about THAT for a long time.

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Oct 31
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Layne Mercer's avatar

I so appreciate that you would give it a chance! I totally get the desire for redemption, but there had to be a bloody death in there somewhere! I tried to evoke a theme of greed and its costs. Wes was guided by greed, the Staggs brothers were, the stepfather took her time and energy and self respect, even the blood of the dead was like a concentrated form of greed, hungry for souls. Juniper was the only one who didn't want to take from anybody. Btw, I'm glad you like the "monster." It's pretty challenging to come up with something original but still scary. That was my swing at it anyway.

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