wip Wednesday

atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: Healing Time

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My son’s surgery was on Monday. We were there about 10am and didn’t get home till 7:30. He did amazing. I am handling taking care of the drains and making sure the pain is at a manageable level. I can’t believe how brave this kid is. I dunno if I could have done all this…

Needless to say, I have not been writing much. I am working through some ARCs, but I don’t think I’ve stopped being scared for him since Monday morning. If he doesn’t text me back, my brain spins with the worst-case scenarios, and I have to lay eyes on him and hear his voice to make sure he’s ok. I don’t even want to go on the treadmill or leave the house for more than 10 minutes.

It’s only been a couple of days, and he’s already moving around better and eating more than broth and crackers. I still might take another week off work to make sure he’s able to get around and do things on his own if I’m gone all day.

As he gets more mobile, I’ll be able to get lost in the worlds I’ve created again.

 

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It’s happening!

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No WIP Wednesday today. My son has his top surgery next week and we are running around getting things ready!

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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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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WIP Wednesday: One down!

I can overthink things, but I am rolling right along with these! Well, two of these because I’m a little stuck with Dewey. Usually, reading it through shakes something loose. I’ll get there. I’m busy with other things (work stuff, life stuff, being the only one who does the chores in the house… I’m not bitter about that at all, no sir). One of the big things I did was move some heavy stuff around again, and that’s put a crimp in my running. Hey, that’s what the desk bike is for! I can burn calories and word counts at the same time, baby!

Omg, I can’t pretend I have energy. I’m exhausted.

  • Dewey: 14,092
  • Smut: 12,255
  • Kinktober: 1,001 (Prompt 1 complete)

I am not sure if every Kinktober prompt will be released separately. I’m just going with the flow on these and not sticking to a word count. It’s all just a wild and fun experiment to see what I can come up with based on the prompts. The smutty one has been fun to work on because the characters are genuinely enjoyable, but I can tell I need to flesh it out. I’ve been committing the cardinal sin of reading reviews on the work under that pen name, but hey, one reader legit had some constructive criticism that I’ll take into account. Just because I write these to make money doesn’t mean I can completely slack off on quality. I can tell when something isn’t my best work, and I just stopped fussing with it because I needed to get that project off my shoulders and move on to the next thing. Unlike the nasty review I got, I appreciate it, and I’m gonna make sure the next few stories are better crafted.

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WIP Wednesday: Prepping and Progress

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Things have been going really well! I’ve been flying through the prompts I have stored up and working on my two big projects. Here are the word counts:

  • Smut: 10,855
  • Dewey: 14,092
  • Kinktober: 222

You do NOT want to know how much I overthought whether or not to keep the word count for Kinktober cumulative.

(It’s not even that serious…)

I decided to do so because then I can just keep writing and not be tempted to jump around between prompts. Once I start one, I have to finish writing it before I can start the next one. I’m gonna do my damndest to keep them to 5k words or less but, much like with the smutty one I’m working now, sometimes the story gets away from me. I didn’t intend to break 10k words with that one at all.

And yes, I am still keeping mum on that pen name. My kid is an adult now, and it probably wouldn’t affect him much if that name got out, but… People are WEIRD. And people are SCARY. Especially these days. It only takes one nutjob to make my life hell, and I’d just assume avoid that. I’m sure if someone gave enough of a shit, they could track that pen name down, but for now, I’m not telling it.

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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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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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