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atthequillsmercy

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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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: Editing!

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I’m up to three finished rough drafts, as well as parts to edit to post on Patreon. That means no real word counts of note to post. The good news is (is not having word counts ” bad news?) that I am aiming to post again on my Patreon this month. I am still tweaking my page. I’d like a better description and more art, but that’s not the most important part. The most important part is getting more books out.

Also, I’d like to thank everyone once again who has purchased my work during the Smashwords Sale. I really hope you enjoy them!

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: I already know its coming…

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I have been pushing myself very hard; skipping workouts, sleeping less, and cramming in any tiny bit of writing or editing I can get. I already know I’m gonna hit a wall and burn out. Bring it on. I’ll take it if that means I don’t have any more panic attacks when I get a bill.

  • First Brood 4: 19,914
  • Smut: 56 (one draft completed last week and in the editing process)
  • Dewey: 17, 967

It’s about 8pm now and I’ll be writing for a couple more hours so those numbers aren’t final for the day. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was willing to burn and I’ll take the heat. I gotta get things done and have no one to rely on but me. It’ll be rough, but it will be worth it.

And a HUGE thank you to everyone who’s picked up my books from Smashwords during the sale. It goes till July 31st giving anyone else who would like one some time.

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atthequillsmercy

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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atthequillsmercy

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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atthequillsmercy

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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atthequillsmercy

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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atthequillsmercy

Writing Update: New Cover

The help desk didn’t get back to me about being able to edit the old cover so now the first part of Fruit of the Dead has a new cover. I was hoping that each season would have a different cover but ah well. In terms of problems, this isn’t a big deal. Now, as for the word counts:

  • FotD S1E3: 2443 but I’m not happy with how it flows so this may change
  • Dewey: 10,441 and I’m posting this in the middle of the day ,and I bet I’ll end up with more later

Also, due to a lovely surprise $4,000 bill that I didn’t think I needed to pay, I will be putting more time into my S00PER SEEKRIT smutty pen name because as much as I love to write fantasy, the smut is what makes me any money at all every month. I will do my best to ensure this does not delay my progress on my non-smut projects.

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atthequillsmercy

Last writing update for April 2025

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It’s been a nutty week and my numbers aren’t the best. I ended up down to the wire on a bunch of ARCs I’d downloaded so, reviewing those took a bunch of my free time. Expect a bunch of reviews to be posted soon. I’m also posting in the afternoon and may have som time later to keep working but I wanted to get the blog updated before I either forgot or fell asleep while writing. It’s happened before. 

  1. First Brood 4: Emma – 16823 words
  2. Dewey – 9565 words
  3. Fruit of the Dead S1E3 – 860 words

Not much in the way of work on Emma’s book but I’m pushing to get the other two done faster because FotD has been sitting without an update for years and since it’s episodic, it feels like a waste to leave it hanging. I’m hoping to balance my time better next week and have more of an output; especially since there’s no overtime for me until next month.

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atthequillsmercy

Camp NaNoWriMo Day 18 and Workouts

As you can see, I am still behind and I’m ok with that. See, over the weekend, I went to have dinner with friends and people kept asking me if I was ok. Earlier last week, I had a coworker ask me if they’d done something to make me mad since I was so quiet. When I looked at myself closely in the mirror, I looked dead on my feet; just tired and sullen.

I need to take better care of myself. I’ve been up very late and not getting enough sleep. I haven’t even been cooking much because cooking takes writing time.

I did manage to make a few things but mostly, I’ve been living on snacks and leftovers. I look angry all the time and yeeeaaahhh, that’s not good.

So, this week I’m writing at a leisurely pace and stopping at a decent hour to get some sleep. I don’t even think I’ll hit 50k words just because the story doesn’t need it. I’m gonna chill the hell out and enjoy this process.

I took a walk to get some broccoli to make a real dinner and did my desk peddler. Once I got home, I used all my workout apps; including the sleepytime stretching to wind down and sleep soundly. Today I feel more normal but breaking the grindset mode is gonna take a while.

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