self published writer

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

Smashwords Read and Ebook Week!

It’s Smashwords Read and Ebook week and my books are on sale! Please click the link and check them out. Some are even free! Sale Dates: March 1 – March 7, 2026

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: At least its fixable?

This is all the stuff that’s been going on at home. All the moldy gross stuff is out and as soon as the old pipes are replaced, the contractors will come in and fix everything up. I am absolutely of the mindset of “God is testing me and I did NOT study.” I am consoling myself with the fact that once this stuff is fixed, I won’t have a ticking timebomb in my basement. But, enough complaining. Here are the numbers:

  1. Longer Smut: 14,118
  2. Short Smut Prompts: 406 (5 prompts complete, 4 published)
  3. Dewey: 15,699

I took time out for editing to release the short smut as often as I can (no more than once a week). I can’t write and edit at the same time, sadly. I’ve taken advantage of a sale at bookcovers.com for these to save some money since that’s my biggest expense when it comes to self-publishing. I self edit, so any mistakes you see are totally on me. I try not to drive myself crazy editing those since they’re not my passion projects. I also try not to take any low reviews on that stuff to heart, either. 

I have another long day of repairs coming up and hopefully things will be back to normal for a bit. It’s hard to be creative when you’re in constant fight or flight mode.

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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: 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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It’s on!! 9th Annual Smashwords End of Year Sale!

Starting today!! I’m super excited to announce my books are on sale from Dec. 8th till Jan. 1st. Some titles are 50% off and others are even free! You can find them here and here! Thank you for taking a look and I hope you enjoy and leave a review!

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atthequillsmercy

“WIP” Wednesday. Kinda…

I don’t really have any updated word counts because I ran through the completed stories for editing and one was complete enough for me to finally release it! The others need more work. I have high hopes they’ll be done over the next week or so.

In other life news, I haven’t been working out like I should be. I come home, jump in the shower, and get right to work writing. I will try to get back to it but hey, here’s some random photos of the stuff I’ve been cooking!

I dunno. I took the pictures and uploaded them. I might as well post them. Out of all these, the fish and pork belly ramen were my favorites. And if anyone wants to give me shit about eating fish at work, the only comments I’ve ever gotten were either “Wow, that smells good,” “Did you bring enough for everyone,” or “How did you make that?” Things are going to be switched up a bit since I’m trying to get more iron in my diet to help my nails grow back attached. Is that relevant to writing? I guess. I have to look at my hands a lot while I’m working and it annoys me to look at the ones that haven’t quite come back yet.

Next week, I hope to have more in terms of new words! 

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WIP Wednesday! A lot to cover… Maybe not a LOT.

It’s been a while but I’ve been a busy bee. Let’s not waste any time and here are the word counts:

  • Smut: 13,290
  • Kinktober: 37
  • Dewey: 14,909

“Gosh what happened to Kinktober?” (which I will give a different name at some point) Whelp, I finished the first 4 prompts I chose, and it topped 10k words. I separated them into the individual stories to start editing to make my life easier. This means the word count resets to zero for the time being. The editing process is about halfway done, and I should be able to get one out before the end of the month. I cleared out that part of Shelley (the Frewrite Traveler) to start fresh with the 5th prompt. My goal is to keep writing prompts and release the finished ones at least once a month while I work on the longer stuff here and there.

You’ve also probably noticed I’m posting reviews again. I have 60 or so finished reviews ready to go. I just have to type them up and keep up with my ARCs. I keep putting them off to write and end up having to read 10 or more in one day. I also have library books to return and other physical books that have been orbiting my life to either gift, donate, or sell. They’re not all graphic novels, so they’re taking longer to get through. I’d also LOVE to review some of the books I’ve backed on Kickstarter. I’m pushing to release more content in general and be more active. Time to get back to it!

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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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WIP Wednesday: Another one done.

I have not been focused, to be honest. I’ve been flitting between my three WIPs. I’ll start work on one for the day, write a couple sentences, switch to a different one, then do the same. I seem to be stuck on the smuttier one but the other two are chugging along.

  • Smut: 13,172
  • Kinktober: 3,480 (2 prompts done)
  • Dewey: 14,325

Not much. October is always wild and I have been FLYING through my ARCs. I had a goal of reading 150 books this year and I’m at 184. I have almost 60 reviews written for me to type up. I’ve also been knitting to try and get rid of more yarn and decluttering my room. Resume appointments are kicking up at work (yeeaaaahh, that’s not a good sign… I hope I’m helping) and I’m still after my now adult child to get his ass moving to get his surgery.

I am happy to see that a couple of books sold. And print copies at that! I never think those are gonna sell since the ebooks are cheaper, but yay for me! I certainly hope they enjoy it and leave a nice review. I hope this means things are turning around. Fingers crossed.

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