You may or may not remember that book TWELVE (12) started this way, in January 2018, with a claim that it would be the last: 

As I've said time and time again, I can never seem to estimate properly how long any section of DGC would be. I was always wrong by a factor of two, and this turned out to be true again! Book 12, and what I called "the final year," actually took two books and two years, so at least in that way I was consistent...?

Maybe the reason things always take twice as long in DGC as I think they will is because both Daron and I have to have our say. (There's a good one for some psychoanalyst/literature major to pick apart some day...)

Anyway, here we are, at the end of book 13, and Daron has told me–like he told Ziggy–he needs some real, quality downtime.

It's not a stretch to realize that MIGHT be my subconscious trying to tell me that I need some rest, as well. And no wonder: 

It's taken over ten years of posting to get to over 1.5 million words. Over 1,111 posts (including liner notes, side stories, bonus scenes, etc..). And I'm so, so gratified and grateful that you've all taken this journey with me and Daron, whether you are reading this on the day it posts, or if you're landing here years later.

I learned something about healing from you all, and from Daron.

I was talking with a friend recently who fell off the wagon reading DGC somewhere in book 7 — right after the "Jonathan section." She said it wasn't that she didn't love Daron (and Ziggy) but that she realized she didn't need him anymore. The healing part of the story for her, the part she needed in order to heal herself, was Daron taking those steps to not only reach the knowledge of himself and his sexuality to get into a relationship, but to get out of it again. Although she'd figured out her sexuality much younger than Daron, she said, it still took her years to figure out how those needs intersected relationships, and seeing him grow up before her eyes, and get out before it was "too late," patched over a hole in her heart she hadn't even realized was there.

My reply: "Yep. Same."

Every section in Daron's story patches up some hole in my heart, even ones I don't realize are there. But I always felt it was too much to hope that it might heal other people, too. To hear that it has... well, that heals my heart, too.

Some people discover Daron at just the right time, when they need him most. Different parts of his story heal different wounds. I think maybe this is why some arcs of Daron's story are "for" some folks, and some are for others. And that's cool.

This is, and always has been, a Gen X story.

It was a little jarring to realize earlier this week that Michael Stipe just turned 60, and Matthew Lillard just turned 50.

Most of us Gen-Xers are in our fifties now, and a whole lot of us are going through the loss of parents, so I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that I went there. As some of you know from watching the DGC 10th anniversary chat, I'm going through the very slow loss of my Dad to Alzheimer disease, and there is zero doubt in my mind that my current anxieties about the aging of both my parents fueled the Claire saga.

The thing is... Daron's story has always been about me processing things that already happened to me. This is the first time that Daron has "caught up" to my real life.

I'm also 100% sure that all his anxiety about what used to seem effortless–making music–becoming difficult both physically and emotionally is my own career anxiety coming out, too.

Which means one of the reasons Daron's story has to stop–or at least pause–here, is because he's now gotten ahead of me! Daron has lived through the loss of his mother (and in some ways his father, too, since don't you think Digger was using the lawsuits as a way to hang onto controlling him? of course he was...). I haven't. Daron has conquered his writers block. I haven't. (tl;dr — my Tor urban fantasy series is still not done.)

But Daron has a realization in these last few chapters that healed a hole in my heart that has been there since 2012, when my lover and friend Brian died (in a motorcycle accident). I kind of knew, the moment I heard he was gone, that someone was going to die in one of my books, but I didn't know who. I knew who it would be in 2015, in chapter 602, "Deeper Shade of Soul." 

Daron knew it was coming, too. 

Brian was a fan of DGC, by the way. I think he would have appreciated that ~200,000 words were written over the past 2 years to bring Daron to the point where he could realize what it is that I've needed to realize for the past seven years: that I don't "get over" people dying. I don't "let go" of them at all. I hang onto them and that's OKAY. It's actually really truly okay.

Huh. Therapy might have been a somewhat faster route to this realization, but then I wouldn't have made this art, and maybe helped heal some other folks along the way.

Now...

This is the end of the arc, but unlike the song title, the "story" of course continues. What's going to happen when Ziggy and Daron actually get back in the studio together? What fallout will there be from the "reunion" publicity stunt? Are they going to hate whatever producer works with them next simply because he'll never live up to Jordan? What happens when they finally hit the road in Japan? When are they finally going to take Sarah to that taco stand in Silver Lake? And get that next tattoo Ziggy's been planning? (I think somewhere in the story Ziggy says he knows what he wants next, but he never tells us or Daron? For that matter... there are a couple of other things Ziggy still hasn't told Daron. Like the fact that he was the one who put Claire up to asking Daron to write a song for the funeral...)

And I'm not done. And this universe of Daron's Guitar Chronicles is also not finished. To wit:

At some point Ziggy is going to want his say, so there's probably a story or two, but maybe a book, still to come from his point of view. If you've read my Secrets of a Rockstar romance series, you know that Remo's son Ford eventually grows up and joins a band: he has a book inside him, too. We're way behind on producing the Daron books in ebook and in paperback. WAY behind. So those need to get done, which means at least one more Kickstarter coming down the road, to cover the costs of proofreading, design, etc. etc. and get the final omnibuses into the hands of those of you who have been collecting them!

My plan is to re-launch books 1-11 through Kindle Unlimited, with revamped covers, and then move forward releasing the books that haven't been out yet in ebook. Taking some time to do that will also give me a chance to fix up some stuff from books 11, 12, and 13 that are rougher than I would like.

Meanwhile, the DGC website and the Wattpad chapters remain live and free to read!

So, for the final time on these pages, I'll make these three suggestions for things you can do... as well as drop a comment below if you're moved to.

ONE:
Tell your friends, your family, your role-playing group, your crush, whoever you feel comfortable telling (of course) that this rollercoaster of an emotional reading experience/coming out story/coming of age story is here to be read and experienced. The main way we gained readers, always, over the past 10 years, has been through word of mouth. Thank you thank you thank you for spreading the word!

TWO:
If you've been meaning to throw some money in the tip jar, now would be a great time. :-) You can make a one-time donation via Paypal: or you can become a sustaining Patron of all my writing via my Patreon: (see comments section below for link)

THREE:
If you just want to get notified of anything new happening in the Daron and Ziggy universe — bonus story? new book release? kickstarter? whatever may come next? — get on the email newsletter list here: (see comments section below for link)

I should also thank some people, and I know I'm going to forget and leave some folks out, because it's been ten years and my memory is even worse than Daron's, but here's a start: Rikibeth and Brianne for jumping on early, MCA Hogarth for egging me on to do bonus "adult" chapters and brainstorming self-publishing serial ideas with me, Alan for website advice, J.B. for taking the encyclopedia/wiki by the reins, Joe for helping create the timelines, Lenalena for much help spreading the word and reviews, Chris for taking on the mammoth task of porting over a thousand posts–one every day until caught up!–to Wattpad, Sanders and Stef for fanworks-wrangling and also organizing the Louisville DGC meetup, all the creators of the incredible fanworks, Amy for art, Meg for songs, all the amazing memes... You're all amazing and fantastic and this literally wouldn't have been what it is without all of you.

Okay, I have to go dry my eyes now, and get ready to announce this everywhere else.

But truly, thank you for being here, for reading, for being a part of this journey. Many writers write in silence, in pain, totally alone. You all being along for the ride have made every twist and turn in that journey a joy. I love you lots and lots, and so does Daron. (And Ziggy, of course. Ziggy loves the attention more than all of us put together.)

*mwah*

– Cecilia Tan, January 29, 2020

P.S. One more piece of Daron art that I've been forgetting to share! By the fabulous "fairy prince of NYC" LewdAlfred  (on Twitter as  "HisMajesty")

P.P.S. There is ONE more chapter, an epilogue, after this post. Which I wrote while I was on the road in Italy, in the weeks after posting the finale.