Update Link: Not Knowing When – Part 12

Happy Sunday! I’m happy to be bringing back Not Knowing When, which actually only has five parts left. I didn’t know that back in January, LOL, or I probably would have been updating this instead of A King’s Command. I’m not sure whether I’ll be doing Flash Fiction twice a week or once a week right now. I wanted to write yesterday, but I didn’t get around to it. I’m hoping to get it in on Saturday & Sunday mornings, but my schedule is kind of all over the place so a second update will be optional and will probably float around based on the day.

Smoke & Mirrors is going really well. I’ve been trying to listen to my own process and writing as much as I want when I want, and stopping. I’m setting my timer for 25 minutes to set a minimum amount of writing time, and then if I want to go for another round or write for another ten minutes, I do. Yesterday, I ended up writing an entire chapter which is great. I’m happy with how it’s going, but I don’t know much yet about how long it will be or when you can expect a release date.

Just a reminder: I’ll be posting Ricochet on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday this week and then taking a hiatus until April 26. When Ricochet returns, we’re dropping to two chapters a week on Tuesdays & Thursdays. The Saturday one was great, but I’m not sure I can edit as fast as I need to maintain that pace without driving myself crazy. If I get a lot edited over the next few weeks, I might change my mind on that.

Happy Easter!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Seventeen

Happy Saturday! You probably noticed that I didn’t update Flash Fiction last night. It was the first day of spring break and I really just wanted to lay back and relax. I thought I might get to it in the morning, but I ended not being able to. I’m definitely keeping the Sunday morning Flash Fiction, but that second one might move around a bit until I find a good spot for it.

I got my new iPad with all the extra disk space. I’ve been saving up for it for months, so I’m really excited to finally have it. I haven’t been able to make anything for the channel on the old iPad because I was so out of space I couldn’t even film 2-3 minutes and upload it to the computer. I’ll be working on a few things this week.

Camp NaNoWriMo has kicked off and I started writing Smoke & Mirrors, the new AU. I’m really excited about how it’s going so far. I’ve finished the first chapter, and I’m taking the first draft slow to kind of get back into writing again. I’ll keep you guys in the loop on how that’s going. See you tomorrow for Flash Fiction and the return of Not Knowing When!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Sixteen

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Fifteen

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a good week! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the end of A King’s Command. I had a lot of fun writing that story, and I’m glad I spent some time this last year working on alternate universes.

I wanted to let you guys know that I’ll be taking a break from posting Fool Me Twice after Chapter 20. That’s going up on April 10, and then we’re taking a two week break until April 24. New chapters will return Tuesday, April 27. I’m running a little behind on editing chapters, and I don’t want to feel rushed. I’m going to use my spring break this weekend to get a few chapters put away, but I’ll feel better if we take a break. Also, I know some of you might be a bit behind or were holding off on reading so this would be a great chance catch up.

I’m trying not to feel too guilty about taking this break. I used to run out of chapters all the time, but they were written chapters. I’m okay with running out of edited chapters because it feels like a lot less pressure and I think you guys are more reassured the story is still on track since you know I’ve written an entire first draft.

I’ll see you guys on Thursday!

 

Update Link: A King’s Command, Part 27

Happy Sunday! As always, I’m writing this update post before I actually start writing for the day, so I think I’ll be finishing up King’s Command, but you never know. I think honestly, the only thing I might not get to is like a wrap-up, epilogue situation, you know? So maybe I’ll just tack that on in a 20 minute session later this week. We’ll see.

ETA: Checking in after writing. I was able to finish it, so yay! Not Knowing When will be back next week!

My original plan with Flash Fiction was to use these as first drafts and then rework the content at some point. I still have that vision, and I think King’s Command will definitely benefit from that. I didn’t do enough research when I started it, and so you can kind of see my thoughts and plans changing as we went through it. I don’t know when I’d get to it, but it’s something I might revisit this summer.

I don’t have a lot to say other than that. I’ll see you guys on Tuesday!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Fourteen

Update Link: A King’s Command, Part 26

Not a lot to babble about since I just updated yesterday, but I will say my car is testing my patience, LOL. I typed Thursday’s update blog on Wednesday — and then Thursday morning, I went out to start my car and it was completely dead. It was raining the day before, and I left my lights on. It was so annoying, LOL. Luckily, my VP was super awesome and let me hold my meetings from home so I could still work and not take a day. My dad came up and took care of it, so I’m just relieved it wasn’t a more annoying situation.

I’ve edited two chapters this week, and I’ll be working on a third tomorrow so I’m meeting my goals in that respect. I also finished the large scale outline on Smoke & Mirrors. I’m waiting on my iPad to start filming videos for the channel. My old iPad is completely out of space, so I can’t even film in segments. I’ve been saving up for six months for this thing, so I’m just hoping Apple ships it soon. I’m enjoying working on AU — I don’t write them a lot because I usually feel more inspired by GH canon and there’s also other challenges I really want to dig into. I don’t know yet how long the project will be and I’m not setting a deadline for writing it. I think I’ll have a better sense of all of that after I get into it.

And in preparation to work on Smoke & Mirrors, I worked on the template for the Alternate Universe page. Like Alternate History, I’m working on streamlining how my stories are listed. Right now, they’re kind of scattered across a few pages. I want you to be able to go to one or two places and find everything. The AU page will be divided into genres and is in the early stage.s

See you tomorrow for another update of Ricochet!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Thirteen

Happy Thursday! I’m having myself a pretty decent week for a change. I’ve finally managed to do a few chores around the house I’ve been putting off, and I always feel better when my space feels more organized.  There’s still a lot I need to get done, but I’m finally chipping away at the big to-do list.

I went to my first physical therapy appointment for my TMJ, and my therapist told me my neck muscles are messed up which might explain the whooshing in my ear. The TMJ is a factor as well because it’s like all my muscles in my head, neck, and shoulders are completely out of whack and so my body is just rebelling. She gave me a deep tissue massage and it hurt like a son of bitch today. I’m going to need to go there twice a week, so that should be interesting for my schedule. We’ll see how it goes.

I honestly haven’t had a chance to start editing yet this week, but I’m typing this on Wednesday night, and I have a few scenes in Chapter 20 left to edit that I’m going to try to finish tonight, so I can work on writing a brand-new Chapter 21 Thursday-Sat. That would take care of the three chapters a week goal I set myself.

I should see you guys tomorrow for Flash Fiction Friday!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Twelve

ICYMI: A King’s Command, Part 25

I managed to get a morning Flash Fiction done on Sunday, so if you missed it, I’m linking to it now.

So far, the whooshing is actually improving thanks to the cycle of Prednisone. Unfortunately, the doctor put me on a cycle where I gradually reduce my dosage and honestly — I don’t want to, LOL, because every day I’m on this dosage, it gets better. Today was the first day I was able to teach without constantly feeling like I needed an earbud with white noise to block. Yesterday, I not only write the flash fiction, but I did everything I normally want to do a Sunday and STILL had time to read, relax, and take a bubble bath. I even edited a chapter of FMT!

Today, I stopped by Starbucks for a drink because there’s an outlet really close to my work. I’m really starting to feel better, and I’m hoping it’ll get just keep going up. I’m almost done with my remote cycles, we’re on spring break next week, and it’s looking more and more likely that I’m being asked back next year. I don’t have a contract yet, but hopefully by the end of next month, it’ll be a done deal.

I’m writing this update on a Monday afternoon, so I have a few things I need to do for class, then I’m going to finish editing FMT 20, and then relax for the evening. Thanks for all your support and patience 🙂

Update Link: A King’s Command – Part 25

Finally getting back here on a Sunday morning! There are three more parts, I think, after this, but I’m hoping to wrap it up next weekend. We’re probably going to have another Flash Fiction schedule change in April. The only reason I’ve been able to manage Friday night updates is because my district has us at home on remote half-days. Starting April 16, we’re back five full days a week. I’m not sure I’ll be up to Friday night updates at that point. I think we’ll be doing Saturday & Sunday morning updates for Flash Fiction, but we’ll see how it shakes out once I get back to work. It also depends on how the edit for Fool Me Twice goes. I’m hoping to have that first book entirely edited by that point.

I’m also working on an easier schedule for myself. Each book takes about six months, so I should probably be shooting for two books a year, not three. That’s probably where I went wrong last year. So I’ll be writing Smoke & Mirrors and then probably Mad World Book 4 for this year. We’ll see how it goes. It’s hard to measure anything by this year, you know? So many things are just not the way they normally would be. Schedules constantly changing, back to school, then remote, then on quarantine–the head space really isn’t there. So, I guess, in retrospect, the amount I was able to do isn’t that bad at all.

I played a lot with Smoke & Mirrors yesterday, so I’m really excited to start it it soon. It’s fun playing in an alternate universe and this is the first full-length AU novel I’ve attempted since Daughters back in 2006-2014.