independent writer

atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: New Goals

I get way too much use outta this GIF…

I was watching this YouTube video and a lot of the complaints in it I am totally feeling: Underpaid, underappreciated, overworked… And with no end in sight. I’m sure my bestie will scold me for overworking myself, but I am upping my daily word goal from 2k to 5k. Doesn’t matter that I usually don’t make 2k, I’m doing it. I am just so sick and tired of struggling. I shouldn’t have to turn the heat off in certain rooms of the house to save money. I’m also concerned about where the government is going and if my insurance will even cover my son’s surgery anymore. I mean, they probably will, but who knows these days!? Everything is so uncertain…

I’ll still be working on the blog and needlework, but writing will be the priority. Let’s get to the numbers, as they say on Dead Meat:

  • Smut: 13,540
  • Short smut: 882
  • Dewey: 15,588

These are my starting points for the day, and I’ll try to make a habit of tallying up my words at the end of the day. I’d like to put the total words added in each WIP post to hold myself accountable. I will also give myself grace if I need to spend a day or two editing. Maybe with a higher output overall, I’ll have more stories to publish and pick up some members on my Patreon. I have a book I’ve been using for outlines to write faster. I was also talking with my bestie about some new ideas I’ve had, and I can’t get to those until I finish what I’ve got. And I gotta say, she’s my hypewoman but will absolutely tell me if one of my ideas is shit. That’s why she’s my bestie.

I guess see ya’ll in a week to see how this goes.

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WIP Wednesday: Normal. I am completely normal.

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I am being totally normal and not a nutjob at all about Hazbin Hotel starting up again. Yup. Not weird about it at all…

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I doubt I’ll ever have anything I’ve made hit it that big so, I may be living vicariously through her right now. I’m fairly certain I can count my fans and have fingers left over but it is so awesome to see Viv made it big. But enuffa that. Can’t have fans if you don’t make something to fan over. So, here’s the word counts:

  • Smut: 13,172
  • Kinktober (can I still call it that after October is over?): 4,269 (prompt 3 finshed)
  • Dewey: 14,489

There’s always a part of me that sees the success of others I admire and it makes me want to work harder. I’ve plotted out how I want Dewey and the smutty book to go so it should write up MUCH faster. I think once the smutty one is finished, I’ll get back to working on the next book in the First Brood series. Kinktober prompts will feed the erotica pen name for quite some time and I kinda feel guilty for putting it aside AGAIN in the name of making some tiny bit of royalties to help keep the lights on. If you wanna see the prologue, it’s on my Patreon for free, but you will be lost if you don’t know the first three books. Chapter one of Dewey is there, too if you wanna check out what that is. I may not win awards but, I sure hope you enjoy!

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First June Writing WIP Update and a note on AI

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June is always a crazy month. It’s the month my kid was born, so all his checkups happen around this time. Either way, I’ve been plugging away at my projects, and here are the word counts:

  • Dewey: 11,524 words
  • Other Pen Name: 1,041 words

I’ve been focusing on these two. That’s why Emma’s book is not on the list. I’m having that problem of feeling super inspired until my fingers hit the keyboard and then my brain just locks up. Not only that, but I’m trying not to go overboard on the naughty stuff. It’s supposed to be short and quick stories for like $0.99, but then it blooms up to a novella that I didn’t mean to happen. I’ve noticed people are less willing to take a chance on more expensive books, and I price my books by word count: The longer the book, the more it costs. It’s only fair. I do this in whatever spare time I have, and that time is still worthy of some sort of compensation.

Aside from that, my inspiration has seemed to strike at the oddest times. I’ve fallen asleep on Shelley (I named my Freewrite, remember) a couple of times this week or taken her out to stare at the screen. And since AI is a legit concern these days, I am taking a moment to say no AI is involved in the creation of my work save for whatever bot powers Grammarly. They didn’t used to use AI and I still use the free version. I even make sure the covers I buy aren’t AI at all. I am very against people using it in place of their human creativity. That is a shortcut I will never take and I stand on that. Authors are leaving whole ass prompts in their books! I get paranoid when I put “eye color here” because I might forget to remove that.  I can’t imagine leaving AI text in my work like that, let alone using it to copy another’s writing style. Allegedly. In Minecraft. I’m not trying to get sued, accusing people of anything, but yeah, the industry is trippy right now, and I’m just a tiny indie author. I just wanna tell fun stories, not have a robot write for me.

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Happy Pride and Cover Reveal! FotD S1E3

I’m still getting used to this new design interface and it’s a pain in the ass but I think I’m getting the hang of it. I may tweak it (if the damn website lets me) but since there’s fire involved, I wanted a flames lookin’ cover.

What does this have to do with Pride? I don’t know. I’m just gonna be working on a lot of super LGBTQ+ stuff this month and getting it out to you as fast as I can. This episode should be out before the end of the week but I’ll keep you posted!

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Off Schedule Writing Update

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Happy Mother’s Day! If you’re into that thing. If not, happy I finished a project day!

The next part of Fruit of the Dead is finished and the rough draft is 2397 words. I absolutely have a ton of editing to do on it. I gave it a quick read through and there are things I need to add, details to expand on, etc. I have a much needed day off where I can do that and read a bunch of ARCs I’ve been dying to get to. I haven’t outlined the next bit yet but I have some ideas in mind. My book cover site has completely revamped and I no longer have access to edit the cover I’ve been using for this series. I did email them and support told me they could have it moved into the new editing software but it hasn’t happened yet. I really hope I don’t have to delay publishing the story when it’s ready or buy a new cover and have to go back and change it for the first two parts. It may not matter to others but, it’s important for me to have cover continuity. I hope they’re able to help me out soon so I can give this next part to you all.

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Smashwords Read an Ebook Week!

Happy Read an Ebook Week! My books over at Smashwords are discounted from March 2, 2025 – March 8, 2025! Please check them out here and here and thank you so very much for your support!

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Patreon Update! “Dewey” Chaper 2

I’ve been hard at work on my writing and the next part of “Dewey” is ready to share! Head on over to my Patreon where it’s only 1$ to join!

atthequillsmercy

Patreon Updated! First Brood 4: Emma, Chapter 4

My Patreon is updated with my current WIP. You can join for just one dollar!

Remember this is a work in progress and things may change when the final draft is published. And the prologue is available to read for free.

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Pride Sale!

 

In honor of Pride Month and the delightful person who sent me a middle finger when I put my books on sale in June last year, I’ve put my books featuring LGBTQ+ characters on sale once again for the entire month! Click any of the links below to check them out. Make sure the sale price is there since I don’t count on a bug free experience…

I am also proud to announce that my new project “Dewey” will have a non-binary lead and I will be releasing chapters on my Patreon when I’m far enough ahead in writing.

Sorry, Middle Finger Person. We’re not going anywhere.

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Chapter Two Posted to Patreon!

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Patreon has been updated with the next chapter of book 4! You can view the story in progress for just a dollar. Just please remember; it is necessary to have read the previous three books to understand book 4. They are available here on my blog, or on your platform of choice here, here, and here. Even if you can’t read via Patreon, this book will be available like the others once it’s finished but, it will likely be different as I’ll of course be editing it before the official release.

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