Life Stuff

atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: Owwwwwwwww

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The cracked tooth has been removed from my mouth. The poor dentist really had to pry the thing out. I felt like I was a car with a particularly rusty stuck lug nut… Wrenching and pulling… The tearing sound way too loud in my ear… Even now, later in the day, that entire side of my face is so, SO fucking sore. And I’m hungry. At least I’ll lose weight on a liquid diet? Nah, liquid diets suck… I like real food.

But that’s not why we’re here. Here are the word counts:

  • Long Smut: 17,016
  • Short Smut: 3.277
  • Dewey: 15,778

It’s easy to see which one I’ve been working on the most. The first two are almost finished, actually. I bet I can get these done pretty fast if my face stops hurting. The pain is pretty distracting. I don’t want to take too many painkillers because of what happened last time. I’ll just have to muddle through.

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atthequillsmercy

Workout Roundup: My mouth hurts…

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I have been getting more steps in and walking more, but this fuckery I’ve been through about my tooth is… Fucking typical for me at this point. I had been complaining about pain, I was told the tooth was in an odd place to do anything about it, then I needed a root canal, then the endodontist told me the tooth is cracked in half, and he can’t do a root canal. It has to be extracted. I’m very lucky my job was willing to accommodate me and that I had sick time left to get that done tomorrow.

Getting back on the treadmill feels nostalgic at this point. It feels great to be moving and my knee is almost back to normal. I’d still like to keep walking for the time being. Even the weather has been good enough to walk outside if I wear a good enough hoodie. I didn’t track those… I probably should have.

I managed to snag an avocado before my kid got to it and made open BLTs with homemade fries. Yes, I made some for him, too. Very good choices. My Itaki meals have made their regular appearances, of course. Overall, the scale has been moving in the right direction again. I don’t think the food had much to do with it, it’s all about the fact that I’m moving more and burning more calories. It’d be great if I can have a run of good luck to counteract the fact the first quarter of this year has been a shitshow. I’ll take any win I can get.

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atthequillsmercy

Late WIP “Wednesday” and Other Assorted Nonsense

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Althought things have been less cursed, I still need to catch up from all the absolute fuckery I’ve had to deal with. I forgot to update yesterday, so you’re getting it today.

I am very, VERY slowly easing back into working out. The desk peddler has been doing well enough that I got on the treadmill today for a brisk 30 minute walk. Nothing too intense and my knee felt fine. At least I can be active again.

Ive been doing the most random shit with my food. It’s basically “What’s in the house and will it taste good together?” I’m spending less on food when I can. I love how I mangled the egg in one picture and nailed it in the other… Eh, it tasted good either way.

Anyways, on to writing news:

  • Long Smut: 15,597 words
  • Short Smut: 2,695 words (6 prompts published)
  • Dewey: 15,778 words

I’m not hitting my daily goals but I am making progress on publishing those short stories. I am making some sales with the Read an E-Book Week event going on. While of course it’s mostly the free ones that are selling, I am SO glad to see something other than the smutty stories actually selling. Yes, I wrote those to make money faster, but it’s nice to see my regular work getting some love. If you have picked up any of my work, I can’t tell you how grateful I am!! The sale lasts till the Saturday the 7th. There’s still time to snatch some up if you want!

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: Gettin’ Crafty!

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Since my writing progress has mostly been outlining, editing, and publishing, I don’t have much in the way of word counts. I’ve been working on another one of my goals: Stashbusting.

I’m still working on that really big blanket for my bed (which is why I don’t care if that stain is on it) and a scarf to put up in my shop. I plan to put a fluffy, gray border on that once it’s long enough. It’s easy to do while I’m waiting for Draft2Digital to finish uploading all my stuff to publish, or in between the people going in and out of my house for the repairs. The rest of this week is back to writing since I’m completely caught up with publishing the stories I have finished. It may look like I’m spreading myself thin with doing all these income-producing activities all at once: The blog, needlework, and writing… And you are correct. I am exhausted, but I am desperate. Paying for all this has drained away my savings, and I’m too proud to borrow money. So, I’m busting my ass to make the money myself. I have a bunch of overtime coming up at work, my knee is feeling better, so I can do things on the desk bike, and I outlined a bunch more prompts to work on. I can’t count on my home insurance company not to screw me over. I’ll sleep when I’m out of debt.

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atthequillsmercy

Happy Birthday to me!

I turned 45 today! And while I need February to enter slowly with its hands up to show me it’s not as much of a threat as January, I did treat myself to delicious food I haven’t had in a long time. After this, I’m doing a no-spend month while I recover financially from all the stuff going on with the house. If it’s not bills or groceries (or book covers, cause that’s an investment), I’m not buying it.

As for how 45 is going to go, I would like to get healthier. All the stress has been hell on my sleeping patterns, my skin, my weight… In a way, I’m almost glad I have a root canal tomorrow because I am going to make sure my body is taken care of from here on out. And it’s not to be skinny or whatever, it’s to age strong. One of my biggest fears is a lack of autonomy. Not that I want to climb Everest at 6o; I just want to be able to still be self-sufficient. Once the weather turns, I’ll be going outside more – even if fuckwits jeer at me when I run – drinking less booze, and I’m back on my Saxenda at the lowest dose. I’ll also be trying to update the blog more. It’s gonna be interesting, and I hope fulfilling over the next few months. Wish me luck!

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: Am I Cursed?

I am at that point where I would love for shit to stop going wrong, but also like “That all you got? Bring it on, bitch.”

If you’ve been keeping up with my posts on Bluesky, things are just all bullshit right now. I had a leak in the basement, and by “leak”, I mean it sounded like water was POURING out onto the floor if I ran the washing machine. I called the emergency plumbers, who not only found that the main line in the house was backed up, but my water heater also had a slow leak, was rusted out at the bottom, and the venting failed at the top. Hadda get a replacement. And since there was water, I had to have a remediation team come in, and THEY discovered not only mold but asbestos. Come Monday, I head to work and hit a massive pothole. Popped the tire, ruined the rim, and my struts. Got a tow to the repair place, which also noticed a leaking oil pan and bad brakes.

Things are fixed now, but the plumber (they were SO nice) also noticed that most of the pipes are old and will need replacing. I can’t even think about that right now. Between the house and the car, I’m 10k more in debt. Those pipes will have to wait for their turn.

One upside to this was that being trapped for 5 hours at the repair shop gave me plenty of writing time until the battery on Shelley died. I named my Freewrite Traveler “Shelley.” Because I’m a big fucking nerd. Anyway, here are the numbers.

  • Smut: 14,118 words
  • Kinktober prompts: 112 words (Finished prompt 5 and published the 3rd prompt, meaning I’ve published 3 out of the completed 5 prompts)
  • Dewey: 15,699 words

I’ve also been catching up on my ARCs and reviews. Since prompt 5 is finished, I’ll spend some time editing that. Editing doesn’t take that long. All of these prompts hover around 3-5 pages (8.5/11). It’s just a matter of making sure the details are right, and I find as many typos as possible. I’ve put needlework and running aside for a bit. I’ll have to start fresh with that once all this repair stuff is done. Wish me luck! Apparently, I need it!

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: This isn’t fair.

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When I tell you being in your 40’s is just a shitshow sometimes… Perimenopause and PMS just doesn’t feel fair. This fucking meat sack I’m in charge of needs to pick a struggle. I can’t sleep without meds, still have trouble staying asleep, then I want to sleep all day but can’t, and have to power through with espresso and Death Wish coffee. How I’ve managed to deal positively with the public at work, I will never know. It’s not fair that I can only be fully functional for 2 weeks out of the damn month.

Not to make any excuses, but October is a big month in this house. Not just because I’m a Pagan Witch and come alive in spooky season, it’s also time for Samhain/Halloween activities and NYCC. I’m gonna do my best and get these stories done. Here’s the word counts so far:

  • Smut: 13,131
  • Kinktober: 1,617 (Prompt 2 50% done)
  • Dewey: 14,145

Now things are really getting to the meat and potatoes of these. I’m kinda having fun with the Kinktober stuff. I can write about things I’ve never written before and push just a bit out of my comfort zone. Dewey I’m being careful with because I don’t want it to be too preachy. It’s going to be interesting to try and get something finished and edited this month but hey, I’ve been spending WAAAAYYY too much money supporting things I’m into (Knights of Guinevere, The Moon Woke Up, Hazbin Hotel, Elvira… Not to mention way too many Kickstarter’s I’ve backed) and it’s about time I put out some content that made me some sorely needed money.

And D2D now has a minimum payout sooooo, I need to hit that to make anything to pay any bills. Yay for me…

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: Myyyy Eyyyyeezzzz

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I haven’t even watched Schitt’s Creek yet. Aside for anything Hazbin Hotel, The Good Place is what I’m fixated on right now. Honestly? I am honestly concerned about how much media input I am currently absorbing since I’ve already blown through my reading goal for the year on Goodreads and my ‘Watch Later’ playlists on multiple platforms are testing the limits of their respective sources. Did you know there are upper limits to those? I am totally the person to find those as I will add something that strikes my fancy in that moment and get back to it… Whenever. What that comes with it is what my eye doctor will fucking hate. I have clogged eye things somewhere (look, I am tired and canNOT even bother to give medical terminology) and I intermittently remember to do a hot eye mask to ease that discomfort. That means a hot compress for 20+ minutes twice daily to avoid surgery… Something I remember to do 30+ minutes a couple times a week because the thought of sharp objects near my eye are terrifying. But this isn’t a trauma dump. You’re here for the word counts.

  • Dewey: 14,079
  • Smut: 10,234

I am also 12 prompts deep into Kinktober. And while I’ve been very loosely outlining them, I will be starting the writing process for those this week. As someone trapped between Gen-X and Millennials I… Don’t like to work on 9/11. I just don’t. I like to powerfully dissociate from my trauma instead! Perfectly healthy. Not an odd coping mechanism at all… And I’m not gonna lie, I started Dewey with the best of subversive intentions but there are times it just feels too fucking real. It’s hard to work on. I’m gonna power through because it’s important.

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: I think we’re back?

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After my Saxenda break, I think my brain is firing on all cylinders again. I’ve been steadily working on both projects; including reading through them and realizing what needs to be cleaned up. And also making name charts. Because man, I can get indecisive with names or forget them outright. That’s gonna be fun to edit later… Anyways, on to the word counts:

  • Smut: 7,802
  • Dewey: 13,947

I’m writing this in the late afternoon so, those counts will change. I’m working on getting more reviews posted, running, prepping for NYCC, and also working on my yarn stash so, there’s not the most impressive increase in numbers. I’m also working on a series of prompts for “Kinktober” that are more for for artists than writers but some of the prompts were interesting enough for me to want to try them out. Maybe I’ll get inspired by one of them that will turn out not to be smut, you never know. Even the one I’m working now is turning out longer than I’d thought. I try to keep them under 3k-5k words.

Hopefully, now that I’m back in a proper flow, the next time I update will have a bigger increase.

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday!

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I know, I’m shit at regular writing updates. But now that I’ve gotten my brain back from the Saxenda (I’m back on it, but at a much lower dose), it has been so much easier for me to think. I’ve also taken on the project of cleaning out my Google Drive (it was at 79% full) by printing out the writing prompts and little bits of inspiration I’ve collected over the years and putting them in a binder. This way if I ever have a block or can’t decide what to work on next, I can flip through it or blindly pick a random page and use that for a new project.

Anyways, here are the word counts as of this morning:

  • Smut: 7,453
  • Dewey: 12,548

I’ve probably said this already, but Book 4 of First Brood is on indefinite hiatus until I’m making more money with other things. I am one unexpected expense from not being able to pay the mortgage. I gotta do what I gotta do.

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