How To Read The Virginiaverse

This document is a guide to help you read the stories in the universe I have created in the proper order. I've named this universe the 'Virginiaverse.' The 'Virginiaverse' honors the main character that all of my stories are centered around. The 'Virginiaverse' is a series of interconnected stories about two women who go through tragedy before finally finding each other and falling in love. I have written the stories in a different order than you should read them. I am writing this to 'guide' you through the stories in the proper order. Note that some of the stories are written in several parts to keep the size of each submission short enough for a comfortable read.

I will update this document as more stories are completed and added to the 'Virginiaverse.'

© 2021 - 2023 Candy_Kane54

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The story arc, when finished, will be comprised of at least the following main stories (in Alphabetical Order):

A Christmas Visit -- Lesbian Sex.

And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind -- Lesbian Sex.

Done Too Soon -- Lesbian Sex.

If I Never Knew Your Name -- Lesbian Sex.

Lady of the Lamp (5-Part Story) -- Romance (TBW).

Like Butter on a Summer Day (2-Part Story) -- Lesbian Sex.

No More Perfect Kisses -- Lesbian Sex.

Promises Made and Promises Kept (5-Part Story) -- Lesbian Sex.

Throwin' Pennies in the Bay (2-Part Story) -- Lesbian Sex.

Tomorrow Is Promised (3-Part Story) -- Lesbian Sex.

What Dreams May Come -- Non-Erotic.

Your Silver Nights and Golden Days (5-Part Story) -- Lesbian Sex.

In addition to the main stories comprising the 'Virginiaverse' arc, I have written several side stories involving ancillary characters interacting with the main characters from the series. I have written these stories from the ancillary character's point of view (PoV).

The side stories written so far are (in Alphabetical Order):

A Chance Encounter -- Lesbian Sex.

A Lovely Day -- Lesbian Sex.

Because I Wanted To Love You (2-Part Story) -- Lesbian Sex (TBW).

Glory Road (2-Part Story) -- Lesbian Sex (TBW).

My Chevy Van -- Lesbian Sex.

Receiving Grace (3-Part Story) -- Lesbian Sex.

Saving Grace -- Lesbian Sex.

The Gift -- Lesbian Sex.

The Ring -- Lesbian Sex.

I plan to write several more side stories in the future. I may even write other stories for the 'Virginiaverse' arc since the entire arc covers 47+ years. This period leaves opportunities to revisit some events that still need expanding in the 'Virginiaverse.' There may be opportunities to redo certain circumstances and expand on them (including writing about an event already written from the other character's PoV).

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Recommended order of reading (main story arc):

No More Perfect Kisses

Lady of the Lamp (TBW)

Throwin' Pennies in the Bay

Your Silver Nights and Golden Days

Note: I have grouped the following three stories into the series titled "Until It's Time For Me To Go."
If I Never Knew Your Name
And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind
Done Too Soon

Tomorrow Is Promised

A Christmas Visit

Promises Made and Promises Kept

Like Butter on a Summer Day

What Dreams May Come

Where to read side stories:

Side stories are stand-alone but interact with the arc's main stories. They can give away the plot elements of the story arc if you read them in the wrong order.

A Chance Encounter -- after 'Your Silver Nights and Golden Days Pt. 03' and 'The Gift.' NOTE: I have added a vignette that occurs after the events in 'Promises Made and Promises Kept Pt. 05' at the end of this story.

A Lovely Day -- after 'My Chevy Van' and 'Your Silver Nights and Golden Days Pt. 03.'

Because I wanted To Love You (TBW) -- after 'A Lovely Day' and 'Your Silver Nights and Golden Days Pt. 03.'

Glory Road (TBW) -- after 'Because I Wanted To Love You.'

My Chevy Van -- after 'No More Perfect Kisses.'

Receiving Grace -- after 'Your Silver Nights and Golden Days Pt. 04' and 'Saving Grace.'

Saving Grace -- after 'Your Silver Nights and Golden Days Pt. 03.'

The Gift -- after 'Your Silver Nights and Golden Days Pt. 02.'

The Ring -- after 'Your Silver Nights and Golden Days Pt. 03.'

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Major Characters Encountered in the 'Virginiaverse:'

Virginia Hanratty - born May 1953 - Officer, United States Air Force. Married Judy Liles - 2008. 5' 2", Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes.

Bonnie Steiner - born December 1952 - Waitress. Mother of Matthew and Mark Taylor. Died May 1992 - Cancer. 5' 2", Brown Hair, Brown Eyes.

Gary Taylor - born November 1953 - Ex-husband of Bonnie Steiner. Father of Matthew and Mark Taylor. 6' 2", Blond Hair, Blue Eyes.

Matthew Taylor/Hanratty - born August 1976. Officer, United States Army. KIA July 2002. 6' 2", Blond Hair, Blue Eyes.

Mark Taylor/Hanratty - born April 1978. Lawyer and husband to Amelia "Amy" Liles. 6' 3", Brown Hair, Brown Eyes.

Grace Mae Steiner nee Jones - born February 1930. Secretary. Mother of Bonnie Steiner. Married John Steiner in April 1952. Lover of Kathy Jones. Died March 2018. 5' 2", Brown Hair, Brown Eyes.

John Steiner - born January 1930. Husband of Grace Steiner and father of Bonnie Steiner. Died April 1956 - Car crash. 5' 9", Brown Hair, Blue Eyes.

Kathleen "Kathy" Ann Jones - born February 1930. Lover of Grace Steiner. Warehouse manager. Died March 2018. 5' 10" Blonde Hair, Blue-Gray Eyes.

Alexis "Alex" Summers - born July 1955. Officer, United States Air Force. Married Megan McNeil - 2004. 5' 9", Blonde Hair, Blue-Gray Eyes.

Megan McNeil - born June 1953. Aerospace employee/teacher. Married Alex Summers - 2004. 5' 6", Auburn Hair, Hazel Eyes.

Judith "Judy" Ann Marie Liles nee Saginario - born July 1955. Aerospace employee. Wife of Jon Liles. Married December 1976. Mother of Amelia "Amy" Liles and Emily Liles. Married Virginia Hanratty - 2008. 5' 9", Brown Hair, Brown Eyes.

Amelia "Amy" Liles - Born July 1977. Lawyer and wife to Mark Taylor. 5' 9", Brown hair, Blue Eyes.

Emily Liles - Born April 1979. CPA and wife of Shari Thompson. 5' 10", Blonde hair, Brown Eyes.

Jonathan "Jon" Liles - Born January 1954. CTO Candle Corporation. Husband of Judy Liles. Married December 1976. Father of Amelia "Amy" Liles and Emily Liles. Died April 1993 - Car crash. 6' 2", Brown Hair, Brown Eyes.

Joseph "Joe" Saginario - born March 1928. IT employee with IBM. Husband of Betty Saginario. Father of Judy Liles. Married July 1950. 6' 2", Brown Hair, Brown Eyes. Died November 2019 - cardiac arrest.

Elizabeth "Betty" Saginario nee DiCaprio - born April 1928. Teacher. Wife of Joseph Saginario. Mother of Judy Liles. 5' 5", Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes.

Samantha "Sam" White - born September 1953 -- Student at Georgian Court College. 5' 10", Sandy Blonde Hair, Blue-Gray eyes.

My notes and thoughts on the writing of the 'Virginiaverse':

Spoiler Alert! Don't read on unless you've already read the 'Virginiaverse.' (Or you read the ending first to see if you want to read it from the beginning).

First, let me tell you about myself. 'Your Silver Night and Golden Days' was the first story I had written since my last college English class in 1973. That's not to say I haven't written anything in the past 50 years. I have written hundreds of technical white papers, policies, procedures, and decision trees. I've also had a hand in writing international and US software standards (notably ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207 and the US implementation of this standard J-STD-016-1995). So I'm no stranger to writing, just not writing stories (although a few of my colleagues would jape that some of my white papers were pretty good 'stories'). I have also written several hundred thousand Java, JavaScript, and HTML lines of code. This experience helped me build my stories to interact with each other.

I started reading BrokenSpokes' "Hard Landing" series here on Literotica. I realized I had stories where I could describe my experiences while serving in the Air Force (and afterward) that I could write. Being a lesbian during the late '70s through the late '90s, when homosexuality was illegal in the armed forces, was not fun. So, I started with how I would present my story. I finally decided to write it as an erotic 'Love' story. This story tells how two women who had suffered similar tragedies met and fell in love. I would have to tell the stories of the events that led to the two women meeting and falling in love. One of the women would be an officer in the USAF. We would follow the trials and travails she suffered while having a lesbian relationship.

Then, I needed to determine how I would present the story. I first started blocking it out as one big story. However, I soon realized that it would become a non-starter or, more correctly, a non-finisher. I do have a bad habit of starting projects and not completing them. I would work on the projects to the point where I could see a clear path to the finish and then lose interest in finishing them. Of course, I had to complete work-related tasks to keep my job.

I decided to break the project into sub-units and go from there. In this way, I could publish the story a piece at a time and hope that my readers' encouragement would keep me going and finish it. Then, I needed to decide whether to start with the beginning and work my way to the end or mix it up. I decided to start in the middle and then work backward or forward, depending on my mood or my Muse. Thus, I began with the story of how Virginia met Bonnie.

Initially, Virginia and Bonnie's relationship would only be a paragraph-length flashback. Little did I know that this would end up being a five-part story of nearly 100K words.

When I started this project, I had yet to determine if I could write good stories, let alone love stories. However, the reception of my first submission showed me that I had some promise as a writer. So I forged ahead and finished 'Your Silver Night and Golden Days,' which told the story of Virginia's relationship with Bonnie.

Once I finished 'Your Silver Night and Golden Days,' I wrote "Throwin' Pennies in the Bay." This story would explain Virginia's rationale for risking her career to have a relationship with Bonnie. I also touched on this in my side story, "The Ring," where Virginia expressed regret that she had ended her relationship with Alex rather than taking a chance. I had written this side story for the 2020 "On the Job" writer's challenge. I used this to explain why Virginia bought the commitment rings for her and Bonnie's first Christmas together.

While writing "Throwin' Pennies in the Bay," I wrote the short side story "The Gift." This story came to me in the middle of the night, and I got up, wrote it, and submitted it all within 12 hours. This story introduces two characters that will play a role later in the arc. It would be the first story that showed Bonnie from her POV. I had felt bad that Bonnie's role was over so soon, which spurred my subconscious to develop this story.

Then I started on "Tomorrow is Promised," which details the events leading to Virginia meeting Judy. I debated whether to do this now or wait until I finished "Lady of the Lamp," which described Judy's relationship with Jon. However, I felt more comfortable continuing with the lesbian aspects of the arc. The readers also expressed an interest in what happened with Alex, so I included her story in "Tomorrow is Promised."

Initially, I only intended Alex to be a plot device to show that a connection existed between Judy and Virginia long before they met. However, as I finished "Throwin' Pennies in the Bay," I realized I was writing myself as Alex. Alex was just as real as Virginia and Judy. Thus, I decided to include Alex in "Tomorrow is Promised" and catch her story up with Virginia's and Judy's. Interestingly enough, one of the comments I got on this story predicted where the plot would later go. I was amazed at how close they were to the planned "Like Butter on a Summer Day" I hadn't written yet. It was nice to know that the readers could get into the characters enough to care where they were going in the future.

As I was writing the story "Tomorrow is Promised," I realized I needed more background on Grace and her relationship with Kathy. Thus, I wrote the side story "Saving Grace." This story gave some information on Grace's and Kathy's relationship. It also provided additional background on Bonnie. We find out how she came to embrace having a lesbian relationship with Virginia despite having been married to a man and giving birth to two boys.

"Tomorrow is Promised" was written from each woman's PoV. Thus, the three parts would be written in parallel as a literary triptych. This story again reinforced the idea that Alex connected Virginia and Judy. It also introduced Megan, who had a relationship with all three women; first with Judy (as a friend), then with Alex (as a friend and potential lover), and then with Virginia (as lovers). While all three parts are parallel, they don't all start or stop in the same time frame. The significance of this will become apparent in "Promises Made and Promises Kept."

Part Three of "Tomorrow is Promised" brought Judy and Virginia face-to-face for the first time (although they had seen each other in Part One in passing). There was a connection detected between the two. An interview took place for a position at Raytheon, where Judy worked. Virginia showed up as one of the applicants. Both women felt connected during the interview, although we only saw Judy's side for now.

Once I had finished "Tomorrow is Promised," I had a choice to make. I could write Judy's story in "Lady of the Lamp" or finish Virginia's story in "Promises Made and Promises Kept." I decided to finish Virginia's story before I wrote Judy's story. As I was writing "Promises Made and Promises Kept," I realized that I would need to finish Alex's story. I would cover this in "Like Butter on a Summer Day."

"Promises Made and Promises Kept" would be different because I would tell the final chapter of Virginia's and Judy's story from both women's PoV. Since I wanted to avoid breaking up each part by alternating between PoVs, I wrote each part from a different PoV. I ensured consecutive parts wouldn't repeat the same story, so I offset them. In that way, each chapter started by revisiting what had happened in the last half of the previous chapter but from the other character's PoV. Then, the second half of each chapter would cover new territory. Because of this, I wrote Virginia's PoV by picking up where "Tomorrow is Promised Pt. 01" left off. Also, I could start "Promises Made and Promises Kept Pt. 02," which was from Judy's PoV, from where "Tomorrow is Promised Pt. 03" left off.

As I was writing "Promises Made and Promises Kept Pt. 05," I realized that a promise was still not kept. This promise was the promise Bonnie made to Virginia. As I thought about that, a story idea came to me that would fill the bill nicely. Thus, "What Dreams May Come" was written. This story differed from my other stories in that it was not erotic. Still, it became apparent that the main character was a lesbian. I published this story in the 'Non-Erotic' category.

I had planned to write a side story for the 2020 Winter Holidays Contest. This would fit in nicely because I had expected to have "Promises Made and Promises Kept" done in time to write the side story and enter it into the contest. Unfortunately, "Promises Made and Promises Kept" took longer than I had planned to complete. It was challenging to write it because I was alternating between Virginia's and Judy's PoV and fighting my inclination not to finish things.

However, I persevered and finished "Promises Made and Promises Kept." Unfortunately, the story I intended to enter in the 2020 Winter Holidays contest, "A Chance Encounter," was started late and wasn't finished by the contest deadline. Once I missed the deadline, I decided to add a vignette to the story. I waffled on this because I didn't want the readers to think I thought they weren't smart enough to understand the significance of the meeting in the story. Ultimately, I went with it because the readers would want to know if Judy told Virginia about her encounter with Bonnie. The comments I received validated my decision.

Once I finished 'A Chance Encounter,' I completed Alex's story by writing 'Like Butter on a Summer Day.' I intended this story to be a one-part story, but as I got into it, there was so much story that it grew too large, so I split it into two parts. The first part of 'Like Butter on a Summer Day' caught Alex's life up to where she met with Virginia and Judy in Dayton, OH, and found out where Megan was. The second part followed Alex as she found Megan and the two falling in love and getting together. Up to this point, most of my readers were okay with the storyline. However, I added an epilogue that implied that when Alex, Megan, Judy, and Virginia got together in the cabin in Gatlinburg, they swapped partners while there. In 'Promises Made and Promises Kept Pt. 05', I wrote that they got together in the cabin every year from 1998 until now.

At no time did I intend to imply that there were orgies or group sex. I thought four beautiful, strong women in two strong, loving relationships would be amenable to swapping partners from time to time. After all, Virginia did have a sexual relationship with Alex and Megan before getting together with Judy. Alex had had a sexual relationship with both Virginia and Judy before getting together with Megan. Megan and Judy had known each other and had acknowledged that they had a sexual attraction to each other. They would have indulged in a relationship, except Judy was married to Jon and wanted to remain faithful to him. Megan wouldn't cross that line, either. It stands to reason that Alex and Virginia were confident enough in their relationships to let Judy and Megan indulge in their desire for each other.