Hello, and I apologize for this not being a new chapter. Rather, it's an important update. There will be no new chapters in this story – and here's why.

When I began writing "It's My Life", I was having a rough time adjusting to a new home, school and community. I had left all my friends behind as I was finally excited to go to school and learn, and for a thirteen-year-old, that was pretty devastating. I was also having problems with members of my family, which conflicted with what I wanted for myself and what others wanted for me, creating a lot of tension and stress at home.

I type this almost six years later. I've moved (yet again) and moved out to college. I'm visiting home now for break and I'm preparing to spend six months literally on the other side of the world, studying a new language and culture while gaining work experience as an intern. I have a few good friends, supportive parents, and a different but optimistic idea of what my future holds.

The point to all this is, I'm not who I was when I started the series, and in order to remain invested in it, I need it to evolve with me. This is why I am going to start at the beginning and rewrite not just the series, but the character I used to support myself.

There are some important lessons I've learned that I need to apply to Holly Kirkland to continue connecting with her – lessons about vulnerability, resourcefulness, and people. Lessons about perfection, and how no one can be perfect (so I need to not write her as though she's my ideal self). Holly was never meant to be a younger, angrier Dr. Brennan, although comments and my own review force me to admit that sometimes that's exactly who she was. Other lessons I've learned are how to be a better writer, how to picture a world and create it more vividly, and I want to improve this cherished story of mine, not just let it lie.

I'm not just revising errors and structures in my story – I'm rewriting it, following the same path but making it better, making it fit my more complex understanding of the world as an adult. I hope that it will be received as well the second time around.

So, to everyone who has supported me, and supported Holly, whether you've started reading today or five years ago: thank you for your time, your energy, and your encouragement. You've helped me to become who I am and I hope to return a portion of my gratitude with a better story to dive into sometime soon, and hopefully we can all learn something new from the updated, rewritten "It's My Life".

What follows is a discussion on my current writing projects, including "It's My Life".

The rewriting process is both easy and difficult. I have a lot of big decisions already made because I know that I want to preserve the main issues and points of "It's My Life", but I also have to revise, rewrite, and be more creative than I was the first time around to create a wholly original character instead of one that branched off of other characters' dialogue. Time management is also a concern – most of "It's My Life" was written while I was in middle and high school, with lots of free time. I have more strenuous demands on my daily life now.

At some point, I hope to release a stand-alone story following "The Patriot in Purgatory" episode. Current politics in my country make me feel as though this is a very poignant and meaningful episode with subjects that, while difficult, deserve some discussion, even if the medium of that discussion is rooted in fiction. A reviewer requested that I do this and, after some consideration, I have decided to take it on. Because it's set so distantly from the current stage of my series, I'll be taking liberties with character relations and development in order to keep the fluid feeling of a connected story; the focus of this story won't be on Holly's future, but rather on the subject matter, so in several years, those liberties may not be kept canonical.

If "It's My Life" is my only story of interest to you, then you've read everything of relevance. Feel free to read on if you like.

Other major projects I'm working on include stories in the realms of Supernatural, Sherlock, Doctor Who, White Collar, and Chuck.

My story "Supernatural" is based on Supernatural (yes, I know, I wasn't very creative there). Like "It's My Life," I began it a long, long time ago and I regret how long it's taken me to finish. Thankfully, I'm down to the home stretch, with only a few more chapters to hammer out. Then, I'll be shelving that series as a project for a little while until inspiration (and free time) returns.

I did a better job titling my Sherlock story, "Far From Home". In it, teenager Emili is adopted into the Holmes family and finds an odd hobby in private investigations while balancing unusual parents and the normal demands of young adulthood. Several chapters of this are written, but some parts of the story are still completely blank, even to me. I'd like to have this out in a year or two but I'm unsure how likely this is to happen, yet I'm not ready to put it aside.

Doctor Who has been a longtime favorite of mine, and while I still love the show, I've grown tired of the series I had been writing, largely because my partner (it's co-written) has lost interest. I have a decently clear idea of how I would like to proceed with a fresher take, but this story won't be started for a while yet until I have other things off my work bench, so to speak.

White Collar is a more recent favorite of mine, but it's one of my current passions. "Lie a Little Better" is a series I am very proud of and will definitely continue; however, a combination of time constraints, writer's block, and too many ideas have slowed down my work in making the sequel. I'm putting it together, tiny piece by tiny piece, until I'm happy with it and won't regret the finished project.

Finally, a new fandom of mine: Chuck. Although it was discontinued by NBC in 2012, I love this show and its characters. I'm still playing with ideas for a story, but I know that I want to write one.

With these six projects on my figurative plate, I'm moving slowly forwards and trying to clear it just a bit. One of my top priorities is finishing "Supernatural" and having another completed story. Although Doctor Who and Chuck are both fandoms I am very excited to write for, unless serious inspiration strikes, I plan to focus on Bones, Sherlock, and White Collar.