writer

atthequillsmercy

Update: Words and Runs

Even though JustRun was supposed to be a 25-minute session, I did some more walking after it was done. I just don’t feel right doing less than 30 minutes. I also did a 40-minute Wirk session at my desk at work as I went through some books. Pretty soon, I’ll have a clearer desk.

One of the big decisions I made was to stop my weight loss medication. If you follow me on BlueSky, I’d mentioned this and as I’ve only been off it for a two days, I haven’t noticed a difference in my hunger. It takes at least 3 days for it to completely leave your system (typically). Tonight, that salad – that was sadly disappointing which is a shame because I was really looking forward to it – was too much and I handed the rest off to my kid (who also was disappointed). I am hopeful that I can be just as active and keep in control of my eating without the drugs.

Now, on to the writing stuff.

While I am technically behind, I finally finished the part of the book where I had to dig back three books to find the exact scene and get the details right. The next step is new things I’ve mentioned in previous books, but never really dug into the details. And since I was out from work for a bit, I spent a good chunk of the day catching up on whatever was waiting for me. I don’t want to think about how much more is left for me (how all these books built up without anyone asking me if they should be pulled in the first place is a mystery) but I’ll still manage to get my words in somehow. Even if I had to park it on the desk bike instead of running. Technically, my goal is to finish this book, not to hit 50k words in a month. I’m already hip deep in this book and it’s probably 30-40k words already.

Don’t be impressed. I started this story in 2018.

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Writing Update: Why do I do this to myself?

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I have to admire anyone who fills the anti-AI NaNoWriMo slot. So, here I am torturing myself for some reason. Who am I kidding? I know the reason. I don’t even remember exactly when I started writing book four in my First Brood series, and I am annoyed with myself that it’s taken this long. My goal is to finish it this month, 50k words or not. If I finish it and it’s not 50k words, I’ll move on to the next WIP: Dewey. Another story I started too long ago thinking I’d just bang it out real quick but having to switch to my other penname to make some quick pennies. Yet here it is, years later unfinished…

Ugh, that image is small… I’m a day behind. But, I managed to get through a part where I’d originally written this scene many years ago in book one of this series. It’s relevant to revisit it since this book is all about Emma and her perspective on everything that happened so far. I wanted to make sure the lore I’d established was held to while making a few little tweaks since it’s from a different writing perspective. It’s also really emotional for me. So much has changed since I wrote that… I designed that scene before I became a parent and it hits hard now that I am one.

I don’t even have to look at the Freewrite draft to know that a LOT of editing will have to take place to have this be smooth and provide a different experience for those who already read the first book.

All three of you.

I kid but seriously, I didn’t want this to be a word for word recreation of what I’ve already done. But, I only have a bit to go with this section before I can write things that I don’t have to dive this deep in to what I’ve previously written. This book is supposed to be an exploration of Emma’s character and why she’d made some interesting decisions in the previous books, not a recap. I’m flying through this but I know I’ll have to go back and make sure my goal is met. It’ll take a lot of editing… But, I’ll find a way to keep things updated and fresh here and on my Patreon with snippets of the WIP. I can already tell the published work will be a completely different animal than the Patreon posts…

And don’t count on daily writing updates.

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WIP Wednesday! Patreon Update for Emma!

I was on the fence as to not only what to post to Patreon this week, but how much of it. This chapter seemed short to me so I thought I’d double it up with the next one. The two of them together were too long, though. I just went with what I had. Remember with whatever stories I post on there, the first part is free. The rest are the $1 tier.

Other than that, I will freely admit my word counts are not the best. Not even sure they’re even worth listing but I’m sure some people will wanna know:

  • A: 20,814
  • B: 1,757 (published a different book under this pen name, then moved on to the story in this slot)
  • C: 20,238
  • Manos: 3,662
  • Antichrist BF: 4,433

See? Not all that impressive when it comes to pure words added. A lot of this was a big push for a smutty book and editing stuff for Patreon. I looked back at the exact dates I started Emma and Dewey and after a delightful existential crisis, I am going to do my level best to finish at least one of those before the end of the year. I do like to take a break from smut and work on what I really love to do: dark fantasy. There’s just an itch in my brain that’s scratched when I’m deep into those. Then I feel guilty when I look at my debt and go back to working on what will make a quick buck. I wanna indulge in my angsty vampires and werewolves, goshdernit!

Anyhooooo, I have to pretend I’m not a complete horrid slag of a human being and prepare for being in full cosplay for 4 days in a row at NYCC while attending a bunch of professional panels in heals that hate my feet. Yay for me? This is gonna be interesting since my feet hurt from trying to break these heels in. Maybe since I’m not completely repulsed by how I look in my janky closet cosplay, I’ll possibly post some pictures if there’s any good ones. My son picked Full Metal Alchemist for the theme this year. You’ll just have to guess who’s who!

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: I need some advice. What sounds better?

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I’ve been flying through my ARCs and working out longer these days, and that may have impacted my numbers a bit. There’s also the fact that I’ve split myself into two additional projects. However, I am LOVING working on those projects. I take that as a win! Plus, I have some time off coming up where I can take a whole day to just work on one project and make some real progress. I’ll be trying for more blog posts, too. I have a nice pile of reviews all finished and plenty of books that need reading. Writing will come first, of course. But I guess it’s the numbers for today that matter, right? And these are in progress numbers. I have more writing to do tonight:

  • A: 20,814 (to be honest, I’m stuck with this one)
  • B: 1,944
  • C: 19,921 (kinda stuck on this one, too. This always happens when I hit a big action set piece)
  • Manos: 1,956
  • Antichrist BF: 4,433

Since I’ve been so inspired with the Manos “fix,” I have wondered how I should go about posting it. It will be kinda long for one Patreon post. I’m trying to hit most of the beats for the movie so, I was thinking maybe posting it in parts on Patreon, then posting it in my ebook shop here for free if someone wants the whole chunk at once. Which one would you be more likely to read? I’m guessing it’ll be easier on the eyes to break it up into parts… We’ll see. I have to get more words in before I get some sleep. I have a long run in the morning.

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WIP Wednesday: And then there were four

I almost forgot I needed to do an update today. I was able to post another part of Dewey on Patreon and since I’ve joined Koala Quill, I’ve earned two badges:

It’s actually a good motivator and Philip was SUPER helpful getting the browser extension to work with Postbox. If I have Postbox open while I type on my Freewrite, it fills up the progress bar just like with Google Docs. Speaking of which, that brings us to the subject line. See, I usually only have three projects in development at a time since only three fit on the Freewrite:

I’m sure someone out there has found ways to hack their way into fitting more but I don’t want to. But, since I have three non smut projects going right now, I saved the B slot for the short smut and moved Antichrist Boyfriend to Google Docs. For now, the breakdown is as such:

  • A: (Emma) 20,814
  • B: (smut) 513
  • C: (Dewey) 19,645
  • Google: 4,042

Google Docs is probably where I’ll be writing the “There, I Fixed It” stories which I will just leave on Patreon for free. Maybe if I write enough of them, I’ll make them a free ebook or something. We’ll see I end up hating this little side quest or not. I’m really hoping I can get some material that will entice someone to my Patreon and finally get some members. I was able to get three stories done last month and I’m hoping to either match that or exceed it.

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Whelp, it was a good run but…

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Due to facing more and more financial pressure. I had to put a chunk of my books back on Amazon. I’d taken them down because they suck, but I legit cannot afford to have any sales channel blocked to me. You can see them all here. If you see any missing, they’ll be up eventually. I can understand if others don’t want to support them, and in that case, all my books are on Apple, Kobo, B&N, and my own store here on the blog.

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WIP Wednesday: I don’t do April Fools

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I’ve been editing the completed manuscripts over the last week, but I’ve also resumed working on First Brood 4: Emma. Shelley (my Freewrite Traveler) has three spots. I’m using one for Emma, one for short smut, and the last for Dewey. Sure, I’ll crank out the short erotica to make some extra cash (I need it, I have no Patrons, and there won’t be any OT in the summer), but I need to work on things that make me happy for a while. 

  • Emma: 17,515
  • Smut: 161
  • Dewey: 15,778

I went back and forth between editing and writing today. That’s why the numbers aren’t that impressive. I’d like to finish both those big novels this year since I have book 5 in the First Brood series cooking in the back of my head already. Not that this series is super popular, but I love working on it. I started that back when I was a teenager, and somehow, it’s been a constant in my brain ever since. I did post the chapters of Emma I have so far on Patreon if anyone would like to see what it’s all about.

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WIP Wednesday: I cannot EVEN

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Since nothing in my life can just happen without a meandering, dramatic plot full of twists and turns that nobody fucking asked for, the infection that my cracked tooth had seemed to have migrated to the bottom tooth. I called the dentist and told him that I had an abscess and he said to just rinse with salt water and if it’s still there, call him tomorrow. Even though I said it’d been there since Monday… That it went back and forth between hard and soft and was leaking puss at various times.

Not the best flavor, I can tell you.

I was so fucking annoyed that I immediately looked up the nearest urgent care and the doctor there? She was so nice. She did warn me that my blood pressure was high (I am stressed the fuck out) but gave me the antibiotics to kill whatever the fuck is going on in my mouth. She took a look at the bump and said “Yeah, that’s infected.”

Ya know… What the dentist probably should have done? Even if he thinks I’m being paranoid, what if I’m not and there’s a real problem?

At least the doctor said that the actual extraction site is healing well. Just in time for there to be a recall on my car!

I’m gonna need life to stop life-ing for like… Six months. Give me six months of some fucking peace.

Whatever. Here’s the counts:

  • Long Smut: 19,579 (completed, may add more in the editing process)
  • Short Smut: 4,135 (completed, may add more in the editing process)
  • Dewey: 15,779 (still untouched) 

I’ll be editing while I wait for the car to eat my tax return (if I even get it in time to pay for that) and from now on, I won’t be working on more than one smutty project at a time. Yes. I am aware those are my money makers but I still would like to continue my dark fantasy/dystopian projects.

Since I’m a week out from the actual extraction, I can get back to any sort of activity like biking or walking. I’m working my way back up to running but hey, I can write with lower intensity workouts! I’ll get more words in that way. And it being so late in the day for me, just one dose of antibiotics helped that disgusting postule go down. Almost like the dentist should have listened to me…

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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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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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