Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Eleven

Update Link: A King’s Command – Part 24

Happy Friday! This has been a crazy week! I feel like my job both made me super happy and very frustrated all at the same time, LOL. On Tuesday, my supervisor asked if I was interested in returning next year as a French teacher. Y’all know I’m not super wild about teaching French, but I have enjoyed it more than I thought I would. So I told him yes, of course. It’s not guaranteed and I don’t have a contract yet, but knowing they want me back if it can be worked out is a huge relief for next year. And then, literally, the next day, they announced that in the fourth marking period, they’re cutting Remote Fridays and bringing us back full day instruction with alternating cohorts. They originally told us if we were coming back on Fridays, all instruction would be cut to half day one sessions, so I spent a week planning to cut my curriculum in half  — ugh. Anyway 😛

I went back to the doctor on Thursday, and he’s so incredibly lovely and supportive. He said my TMJ has been worse — he can feel my jaw out of line and that’s making the ear problem so much worse. I’m starting physical therapy on Tuesday, and he agreed to give me a cycle of Prednisone so I can try to get a break from the whooshing. I’ve taken two doses, and I’m already feeling a difference. Even if it’s not a long term fix, it gives me hope that once the TMJ is back under control, I can look forward to this problem resolving.

I’ve been working on Discovery for Smoke & Mirrors, and I’m really excited to be playing in an alternate universe. It’s so much more relaxing and I planned out the large movements. I just need to put it in order. I’ll be working on it for Camp NanoWriMo. My hope is to have a decent first draft done by the summer and it’ll be out in the fall. But I’m not making any plans. I just want to have fun and get myself back to a healthy mind set.

I’ll see you guys back here in the morning for Fool Me Twice!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Ten

Happy Thursday! I’m prepping this post on Wednesday, and looking forward to a relaxing couple of days. I have a doctor’s appointment on Thursday for my ear situation, so I’m taking the entire day off instead of rushing around, trying to get coverage, making arrangements — I have the sick time. I’m using it. Tomorrow, I’m going to work on some editing and grading in the morning before the appointment in the afternoon.

In other news, I’ve picked the project I’m going to work on next. It might not be one many of you guys are interested in because it’s Alternate Universe, but I really feel like I need a break from the show and it’s internal canon. I need something a bit — well, not lighter, but just outside of things. The project is Smoke and Mirrors, and here’s a synopsis below:

AU. Long ago, a woman scorned placed a curse on the women of the Soltini family. For generations, no woman birthed a son or lived long enough to see her daughters reach adulthood. Some have come close to breaking the curse, but all have failed.

For most of her life, Elizabeth Webber thought she and her cousins had finally escaped the family curse. Her sons were the first born to a Soltini woman in living memory. Cursed with the gift of empathy and healing, life has not been kind to Elizabeth. Devastated and heartbroken, she fled her family long ago.

She left behind cousins Robin Scorpio and Nadine Crowell, each cursed with powers of their own. Envious of Elizabeth’s gift for healing, aspiring doctor Robin could always tell the truth of the situation, but her pride and jealousy often blinded her to reality. Though she wanted peace between her cousins, Nadine’s power of reading memories too often overwhelmed her and she retreated.

The cousins have gone their separate ways until one day when the pentagram marking the curse appears on Elizabeth and Nadine’s palms. Why has the curse returned? Why has it spared Robin? Elizabeth has no choice but to return to Port Charles, to the cousins and family she fled, and the man that broke her heart.

If that sounds a bit familiar, it should. It’s a plot bunny I’ve been playing with off and on for a few years, and I’m just ready to give it a go. I’ve got some other news about how the work process is going to go but I need to work it out in my head a bit more before I finalize the plans. I’ll see you guys on Friday!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Nine

Well, I’m glad I didn’t promise the Flash Fiction on Sunday because I’m typing this post on Sunday afternoon and literally every piece of me hurts. I wanted to get this post ready for Tuesday morning because I’m not sure how I’m going to feel on Monday.  I’m probably going to take a sick day because I just feel really sore, and I don’t think I’m up to eight hours in that terrible, windowless room with the chair and being stuck on the computer. This has been a very rough start to the beginning of the year, but I have hopes it’s turning around. I only have three more weeks of remote teaching before I’m back in the classroom, I’m fully vaccinated, and I’m going to the specialist for my ear stuff again on Thursday.

Taking care of some housekeeping — I’m leaning a particular way for the next project, but I want to play with it a bit more before I commit. I’m hoping to make a final decision by the end of the week so I can play in Discovery and be ready for Camp NaNoWriMo.

The other thing I want to cover is a release schedule. I’m going to be heavily revising my Production Schedule in the next week or so and I to get some feedback on how you like the updates. Do you want them all at once like I did for Mad World, Book 3, or scatter the updates over a few weeks or months?

[socialpoll id=”2733512″]

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Eight

Update Link: A King’s Command – Part 23

If you missed my note on Tuesday about Sunday flash fiction — it’s being moved to Sunday mornings. I’m trying to stay away from my office Sunday-Wednesday so I can cut down on screen time. The last two weeks, I was relaxing and really didn’t want to to stop to come upstairs and write. It’ll be easier in the morning.

I’m not updating this Sunday because I’m getting my second vaccine shot tomorrow and the side effects of this second one are supposed to be crappy so I want to make sure I’ve got food and meals prepped for the week so I can (hopefully) go back to work on Monday. I already have to take a sick day on Thursday for my ENT specialist, so I really need to do my best to get to work. My mom said she actually ran a fever and had to take off two days, so, uh, that should be fun. We’ll see.

Anyway — you’ll get Chapter Eight of Ricochet tomorrow morning, so hopefully that’ll tide you over this week. We’ll start the new Flash Fic schedule next weekend.

Happy “Franco is Still Dead” Week!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Seven

I bring you FMT on this glorious second day of freedom after the death of the third worst character in General Hospital history. (Courtney and Peter are actually worse, because at least Franco used to be a semi-entertaining villain, those bitches have never had goddamn purpose). ANYWAY. Congratulations to all of us — we survived the Elizabeth Webber Hostage Crisis. I know Roger will be back, but it’ll probably be another dumb ass character no one asked for. I’m going to wallow in this glory for a little bit longer.

I’ve stayed out of my office for the last three days which I think has been really good for my stress levels. I think, LOL. We’ll see. Tomorrow, when I get home from work, I need to get set up for remote teaching from home on Friday, so I’ll work on editing for a few days.  Next week, I’m taking a sick day for my specialist’s appointment on Thursday so I plan on doing more editing then, too. It’s coming together 🙂

Still no thoughts on what’s next. I’ve been in a bit of a holding pattern creatively while I try to get through editing and the last few weeks. It’s been a crazy year and it’s only March!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Six

Good morning! I wanted to let you guys know about a scheduling change for Flash Fiction Sundays. These last two weeks, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t updated. The first time, I legitimately forgot because I was relaxing downstairs and didn’t remember until it was time to post work for my students.

This time, I made a conscious decision to skip Sunday night. I don’t think flash fiction at 7 PM on Sundays is going to work for me. I’m trying to relax and stay away from my office and computer as often as possible to help with headaches and stress, particularly on Sundays when I’m about to go back to work and sitting in that terrible room. Thinking over my schedule on Sundays, I think the best bet is to update in the morning, between 9-11.

I don’t think we’ll be updating this Sunday because I have my second vaccine shot and I’ve heard the second one leaves you feeling really terrible the day after. If I feel up to it, I’ll do it, but I’m not making any promises.

See you Thursday!

Update Link: Ricochet, Chapter Five

So I was working on the schedule, telling myself if I edit through Chapter 20 today, then I can start posting three chapters a week. But then I realized that even if I start posting three times a week today, I have enough chapters edited right now to get me through April 1 — and I’m actually going straight from this post to the editing of 16-20. That edit would get me to April 10. Even with three chapters a week, I’m posting into May.

So I can honestly afford to start posting a bit more often and get the chapters moving! Which makes me very happy since this chapter and the next are my favorites of this early batch. Thanks for your patience as I got moving on this story and organized my editing time into something that works with my new normal.

Update Link: A King’s Command – Part 22

Sorry again for noping out of last Sunday. I really can’t believe I forgot like that! I have finally managed to get some more chapters of Fool Me Twice edited — I’m done through Chapter 15, and the plan is to finish up through Chapter 20 tomorrow so I can work on the second half the story. If I finish through Chapter 20, I’ll bump up posting. I’ll post Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays 🙂 I’ll know for sure by the time I come back on Sunday.

Still have issues with sleeping, but I have managed to sort out most of the issues I’ve having during the day. It’s so strange that if I can block the sound of the whooshing with any other sound, I don’t have as many of the side effects — except slight vertigo sometimes but that’s probably caused by the uncomfortable place where I’m doing my teaching.  I just got a mouth guard for protecting my jaw from grinding and clenching while I’m sleeping so I’m hoping that will help. We’ll see. It’s frustrating to know I “slept” for seven hours but it’s such a restless sleep and then I wake up with headaches from the TMJ.

I still haven’t picked the next project yet. Returning to work really ended up being harder on me than I thought it would be, and that sucks since my content is finally at a point where I don’t have to work an extra 20 hours on the weekend. And my district is thinking about changing our schedule AGAIN for the fourth marking period, so it’s just–you know, just trying to get through it.