Hey guys! Quick check in to give you an update on my situation. I wrote Flash Fic on Saturday and then a chapter of Fool Me Twice on Sunday, feeling good about things. Just around the time I was going to start prepping for the evening Flash Fic I was hoping to do — my principal called. One of my students tested positive for Covid, and because of the classroom we were in, I was exposed.  I’m on quarantine until next Tuesday.

I’m mostly okay — I mean, no symptoms which is good. My mental health is taking a strange turn because even though my brain is like — we were masked, so odds are in my favor and I’m fine — I also can’t quite turn off the rest of my brain that’s thinking of all the people I came into contact with (which is really just my dad and the guys at the car repair shop and people at school — so not like I was living wild). It’s just a different world than last year when we were all sent home early on and I was able to organize my life to literally stay inside until the worst of that first wave.

On the bright side, I don’t have students to worry about not being in the room with. My principal is supposed to be arranging work for me to do on my quarantine since I’m not available to do the building coverage I was supposed to be doing these next few weeks, but he’s probably a bit distracted by the world. I’m just taking it one day at a time. Tomorrow, I think my brain will be in a better place and I’ll be able to try and use this time more positively. For now, no flash fiction tonight but I will be writing tomorrow.

Take care, stay safe, and wear your masks 🙂

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Your Update Link: Not Knowing When – Part 9

Hello 🙂 Sorry for disappearing this last week. It was another tough one, to be honest. Some things happening at work — usual job stresses, end of the marking period, final projects — with the rising case numbers and more and more students on quarantine in my district — in my own classes. My county is spiking harder now than it did in April with the first wave. My nieces were almost clear of their quarantine, but my sister’s best friend tested positive and my sister was at her house for a while last weekend.  As I was typing this paragraph, I literally just got a text message from her — she’s negative. I’m so relieved, but it was weighing heavy on me.

I was lucky during the last two waves in NJ — I had already mostly finished Broken Girl by the time we closed down so I just had to edit. That was stressful with everything going on, but it got done eventually. With Mad World, that whole process was a mess, but because I wasn’t at work — I wasn’t feeling the same anxiety. I knew I was safe, I knew my family was safe. But we’re all back to work (at least my nieces and nephew are able to be back at home) and forced to be back in the world full of people who don’t wear their mask and socially distance. It’s just been harder to treat writing like an escape. I can’t really turn my brain off.

I don’t know if Fool Me Twice is going to be done by the end of the month. If I had to venture a guess — I’m likely going to miss that deadline and will need to revise my schedule. That’s okay. Every first draft is different, and it helps to know that the story itself is not the problem. It’s going well — when I can write, I do. And the story works. But I’m trying to work in the middle of a pandemic that’s affecting me. I didn’t have to work in a school in a mask the first time and actively face all the people who just aren’t doing the work of protecting themselves or others.

But — now that I know my sister is negative, it means my nieces will also soon be in the clear, and that’s everything to me. I finished up my cycle with my students and grades are done. It’s just clean up now with last minute work being turned in. For the next few weeks, I don’t have students and will be doing coverage for other teachers who are out. So my life should be less stressful. I mean — the stuff I can control and that is normal.

Anyway — I’m trying to get back on track. I’m updating Flash Fiction now, and I really would like to come back tonight with another short sprint for Signs of Life before updating the other two tomorrow with sprints.  Thanks for your understanding and patience. Stay safe, wear your mask, and take care of yourself and your families.

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Your Update Links: A King’s Command – Part 10 & Shot in the Dark – Part 10

So I technically wrote A King’s Command yesterday afternoon, but didn’t get around to updating the main blog. I think it got sent as an email anyway because I put it in the Site News category by accident. (Emails only get sent when I update the main blog to minimize how much I annoy you.) I got the results of the poll and, uh, overwhelmingly, y’all wanted to pause the story I like the most, LOL.

So I decided I needed to reassess my priorities a little bit, heh. I’m not pausing any of my flash fictions, but I am taking them off the normal schedule for a few weeks. I’ll update when I can in 20 minute sprints and I’ll pick the story that’s interesting to me. I’ll try to keep the updates even and not favor any one story, but for the month of November, we’re just gonna have to roll with the flow. I know the 20 minute sprints aren’t really as a good as my 60 minute efforts, but I think all four stories are far enough along that I feel better doing smaller bits. Shot in the Dark ended up with 30 minutes because I had the time, and I wanted to get to a specific point.

In other news, I’m back to writing Fool Me Twice. Patreons at the $7 & $10 levels are getting weekly updates of those chapters, and I’ve given them the first 11 chapters already. I’m gonna work on Chapter 12 today. My brain just wasn’t in it this last week for a lot of reasons. The election didn’t help, but there’s also Covid issues — BOTH my nieces were exposed to Covid  and are quarantined for two weeks. They’ve only been back in school for three weeks. This is the district where I was teaching last year, so I’m worried about former students. In my new district, there’s more cases every day, and my county is having the worst spikes so far. It’s a lot to deal with, and normally writing distracts me. It got me through the first six months. But there are just days when you can’t push out reality, and last week was that week.

I’m hoping that I’ll get back on track fully this week and make up for the three lost days. I’m still on track to complete by November 30, I just have to shift around a few things. I know that the pressure to meet deadlines are created by me, and for the most part, this community has been incredibly understanding. I love you all and take care!

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*waves* Hey guys! It’s been one of those weeks, huh? I’ve been struggling with my energy and focus since Election Day, but I’m getting back on track today now that we’re all feeling a bit better about the future. I’ve been thinking about my Flash Fiction schedule and honestly, I just don’t think I can manage Monday updates right now. Friday isn’t so bad since I teach remotely on that day, but Mondays are just a lot at the moment.

So I posted a poll on Twitter to see which story you’re okay with me postponing until December. Please take a vote and let me know what you think. I will be back tonight with King’s Command, though.

If I was to postpone one of my flash Fiction series until December, which one would you be okay with losing?https://t.co/gxYp84q7nx

— Melissa (LissieLove) (@crimsonglass) November 6, 2020

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Your Update Link: A Shot in the Dark, – Part 9

ICYMI: Site & Story Status Update – November 2020

I hope everyone had a good Halloween! Sorry about not posting Flash Fiction last night. In my defense, had things gone as planned, I would have been home relaxing from trick or treating by 5 so I could write by 7. We had a good time — our family pod was all masked up, and the neighborhood set up tables and kept distances with their masks. It was fun — until my cousin tripped and sprained her ankle. She was worried she’d broken it, so I took her to urgent care (as the family member without children of her own and the patience for such things) but the urgent care didn’t have X-ray techs on duty, so we spent four hours in the ER. I got home at 9:30.

ANYWAY. I’ll try to make Signs of Life this week when I’m off, but I’m not making any promises. It’s the first week of NaNoWriMo and I want to get off to a strong start with my five straight days off and two days of more low-key remote teaching. I want to write a chapter a day so I can be at Chapter 14 on November 8 and be halfway through the story. This month, the Flash Fiction schedule might get wonky on the days when I work. We’ll switch to 20-30 minute sprints or skip altogether. The alpha draft being done on November 30 takes priority.

I’ll be back tomorrow!

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Your Update Link: A King’s Command – Part 8

I made through another week! Next week, I have two remote teaching days (I report to school, the students stay at home), and then three days off. Well, one of those days is an inservice day where I’ll have stuff to do, but still — so excited to be close to November. I’ve got a Status video going up on Sunday, and I’m going to have more NaNoWriMo kick off information soon so stay tuned this weekend!

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Your Update Link: Not Knowing When – Part 8

I’m happy to say that today almost went perfectly — except when I heated up the mushroom penne I was avoiding last week and it turns out I still really hate creamy pasta, LOL. So I had to ditch that and heat up leftover pizza instead. I got a bit of a late start on Flash Fiction, but it all worked out. And this was the first weekend since I went back to work that I completed my entire week on schedule, so yay!

I’m looking forward to this week since it’s just refining content that already exists, so I feel so much more relaxed and in control. Next week will be a bit more dodgy — we’re spending two days on remote, then five off, and I still have to finish my Africa material. But making great strides forward and I’m really enjoying my students this cycle.

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Your Update Link: A Shot in the Dark – Part 8

Oof, I managed to get just about everything done today, but I am so tired, LOL. This is the worst part of adulting — everything gets shoved to the weekend when you’re supposed to be able to relax, and next weekend is Halloween, so probably not relaxing then. Anyway — wrote a chapter of Fool Me Twice today but didn’t manage one yesterday for reasons that even I don’t understand, LOL. Feeling a bit less stressed going into this week so that’s good. We’ll see how that works out once I’m in work.

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Your Update Link: Signs of Life – Part 5

Trying something different today with updating flash fiction first, then grabbing dinner, and writing FMT afterwards. I’ll let you know tomorrow how it works. I know I have to update the Recent Updates page. It’s on the list 🙂

The ending might be a bit wonky. My dad LITERALLY called me as I was writing the final kiss and broke my concentration, then I was out of time and can’t fix anything, so I didn’t reread it yet, LOL.

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