I know this isn’t the best day to do the Goal post, but I’m strapped for time. Very tired and I’m doing a Walk for Autism tomorrow morning. Rain or shine and it’s certainly looking like the first option. So here we go:
What Caused the Monday Poem?
This was about the rug being ripped out from under you and I got permission to explain what happened. It might be better or worse than you think, but here we go:
The wife lost her job on Monday.
Yup. Nobody was happy about it, but she got some references and I think she said something about a list of other law firms for her to check out. Most likely there wasn’t enough work for her. Either way, one can only move on. A few more contacts appeared, but this week was her getting LinkedIn and her resume updated while coming to terms with things. Not easy to do in this house.
I’ve actually rewritten this part a few times, but I don’t want to rant. It happened and we’re putting pieces back together. We got lucky that our old benefits plan was acting as our secondary and now it’s our primary with no trouble. It’s still rough because you have that sense of ‘what now?’ and ‘why me?’ Now comes the game of conserving money and the gauntlet of interviews. Not fun.
Crossing Bedlam
I finally finished the post-apocalyptic action comedy thing on Thursday and sent it to a pair of alpha readers and my editor. I’ll be doing my own editing run eventually and then I have to figure out what to do. It’s a little under 250 pages, so it won’t be like one of the novellas. I’m also really proud of it and had fun, so it won’t be a blog only like Raven’s Hold. This will end up being a big release and get similar treatment to Legends of Windemere and maybe even a pre-order thing. For that I would need to get cover art done and I’m trying to figure out what to do about that. Maybe 99designs again and see what turns up. We’ll see what happens since the next Windemere book MIGHT be out in December and that means this one could end up being a January/February pre-order thing. Again, I’m at the ‘what to do about cover art’ stage since I want this to be really good.
Other Victories
I did the blurbs for Legends of Windemere: The Mercenary Prince and made a few future story lists. I have about 7-9 future adventures for Cassidy and Lloyd if people enjoy them. All tentative of course since this won’t be a deep a series as Windemere. Each book is self-contained with only the mains and a few recurring characters turning up. I also made a simple plan for Ichabod Brooks’s next adventure as well as a list of potential stories for him. A question here is if I do the single 99 cent summer story again or make it a collection of 3. Having it be one story is good because it makes the cover art and title easy to choose. Yet it means it’ll be short. Then again, that’s an ‘in’ thing now.
Another Headache
Sort of. I’m tackling the superhero ideas and combining them. It’s still following the one hero named Savior from the beginning, end, and beyond of his career. Got as far as listing them into categories such as ‘Street’, ‘Assassin’, ‘Mastermind’, and ‘Mylrixian’. A few challenges turned up because these characters still have superhero names while being in a fantasy setting now. Some don’t even make sense like Fragger and E-Drain. Others are rather awkward or kind of wrong like Carbomb (worked when she was only in a role-playing game and not getting published) or Tyler (I know he’d confuse readers thanks to the other one). So I had to rename a bunch of characters and then place them into groups like the gangs, assassin teams, and partners.
The confusion that is turning up now is that I have to come up with the series division and then place characters in the corresponding volume. This means having a plot idea too. Some may even get a spin-off like Kate Reever the Gearhead Princess. I’ve considered having the Mylrixians (resurrected superheroes) call Savior back in one book to help them against their revived villains. This will lead into the finale, which I’m still not sure what to do about. The big lingering problem is that the superhero stories always ended with a plot where the villains won and now a final hero appears to overthrow the baddies. Savior got involved as one of the supporting characters while the main one was a character named Serum. Not sure how I can still do it this way if the series has been focusing on Savior for so long. Unless this turns into its own standalone or trilogy. Basically, I give Savior an ending and then something happens between that and when Serum is called into action. Another option is to have it start with Serum and another character finds the suit to become the new Savior, so it goes from a single hero to a duo.
Such a headache.
Goals
- Stay positive and keep wife hopeful.
- Autism walk.
- Do more for the Savior/Superhero stories.
- Work a bit on the Sin outlines.
- Prep November blog posts since this is the only week I have to do it.
- Keep an eye on the Raven’s Hold posts.
- Figure out the cover art situation for Crossing Bedlam.
That’s really it. Later, everyone.
Legends of Windemere 
Hope things improve for you and your family quickly Charles…
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Thanks. One of the unexpected rough patches is this has thrown my son off his schedule. He has a lot of trouble with transitions and changes to his routine. This has caused him to throw a lot of tantrums, which has drained us even more.
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hopefully he’ll settle into a new routine soon…
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With any luck she gets a job quick enough that he doesn’t half to. Fingers crossed.
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And toes…
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I’ll do that after the Autism Walk tomorrow. 😉
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😄😄😄
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Oh no! So sorry about your wife’s job, Charles! I know what being without a job is like. Here’s hoping she gets one soon.
Wow. You’ve got so much going on. I hope you’re keeping hydrated. I know that seems out of left field. But it helps!
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I hope she gets one too. Getting back on the job saddle is always tough. As far as hydration, I tend to forget about that when I get involved in stuff. Mostly because I work on the other side of the house from the kitchen, so when my first drink runs out, I don’t refill.
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Fingers crossed for you and your wife, and admiration for the strenght you have to pull through with everything.
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Thanks. It’s rough having a full house every day now. Different schedules just colliding instead of running in sync.
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I know exactly what you mean. My father was sent to forced retirement last year, and it was exactly as you describe it, although he still hasn’t gotten out of the shock I think. I’m really keeping my fingers crossed for your wife, do tell her in my name to hang in there and that I am sure she will find a new job soon, that will be more fullfilling and value her more.
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You got it. Think we all just need the weekend to recuperate.
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Sorry to hear about your wife’s job. Everything happens for a reason, so I hope it will all work out for the better.
Have a good time at the Autism walk!
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Thanks. Hoping something good comes along that lasts a while.
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I hope so, too.
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Sorry about the job. As a wise man once said “one door closes and another opens.” Best to you both.
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True, but could some of these doors stay open for a while? Some days I’m surprised anybody can get a job today and hold onto it until retirement.
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It is a fact of life these days unfortunately.
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I heard a report on the radio that even though the economy is better by the numbers, people are still terrified that they’ll lose their job without warning. Mostly that they’ll be replaced by somebody cheaper.
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They should be afraid cause it will happen
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If not cheaper then a machine.
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True
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My hopes for a quick and painless resolution is added to all the others.
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Thanks. Really do hope it’s painless.
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So sorry for the rough patch, Charles. You’ll make it through. People are hiring in the right places. Son just got a new job that pays more than his old job and doesn’t have the five hour commute two days a week or take him out of town for the entire week…better even that his new employer just got a major contract that used to be his old employer’s….and they recommended him to the new company. Three weeks ago he was all down and bitter because he had applied for a supervisory position and got the position, only to be told by his boss that they couldn’t afford to take him out of the field….that’s not a problem anymore. See how things can quickly turn around and work out 🙂
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Hope we can find te right places. My wife’s experience is mostly in the legal field, which seems very shaky. Though not having the commute into NYC and handling the Long Island Railroad (must be said with a laugh) is a silver lining.
Congrats to your son. What field is that since you mentioning contracts?
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Fiber optic cable. He’s been doing it for more than twenty years. Just bought his first house this year. We’re so excited for them.
Your wife should try on with some of those firms representing the Ashley Maddison clients. I hear they’re doing a lot of business these days. 😉
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She’s only a legal assistant, but now I wonder how many people around here are involved in that mess.
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Be careful how you say “only”, they do the bulk of the work that can make or break a law firm. I know having people say, “She’s just a nurse,” used to annoy the hell out of me. 🙂
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I meant the ‘only’ as in to make it clear that she isn’t a lawyer or para-legal, which has been a repeated level of confusion for her. People take the titles very seriously.
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Sounds like you are going to be BUSY!
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Yes and things are not running smoothly already.
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Oh no! Sorry to hear that. But maybe it will work out better in the long run. I’m hoping so.
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Me too. Just have to make it in the long run. 🙂
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You can do it!!!
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Sorry to hear about your awful new regarding your wife. It’s really getting tough out there. I have a very good friend who has also lost his job, but thankfully, his severance package is pulling him through for a long time while he looks for work. I hope your wife doesn’t have to wait long. The interviews, the waiting, the phone calls, the networking–all a pain to go through. Stay strong.
As for your superhero book, good luck. I wish you all the best with all your ideas. I’m sure you’ll do just fine. You’re a good writer. I don’t think you’ll have a problem coming up with some other awesome stories.
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Thanks. She got a small severance package and we’re hoping something shows up quickly. The last four years have been a lot of temp jobs, suddenly ending jobs, and things that never got beyond part-time. It really wears you down because you start wondering if anything will change.
I’ve been staring at the superhero stuff for 2 days and nothing has clicked. I might have to accept that some characters will have to be cut and other ideas should be put into a separate series.
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I’m just so sorry, Charles 😦 I hope you’ll give us updates on her progress and how all is working out on the home front. In the midst of it all – while the kid’s in school – I vote for a romantic lunch picnic. P&J sammiches even 🙂 That would life her spirits – and yours.
I’m going to read Raven’s Hold during the week – maybe a segment a day.
PS…Are there any universities near there? Your wife could look on their HR pages for openings. Or send in her resume. There are usually at least some short term positions available and many turn full time. When I retired I was a secretary at Stanford Law School – and Stanford was always looking for secretaries. Luckily, I was a legal secretary just before I moved to California. Just an idea.
Hugs around to all three of you ~
Ellespeth
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I probably won’t be doing updates because one never knows the fallout from posting job stuff on the Internet. Probably won’t do the romantic away thing because we need to keep things moving. Last week was resting and moping, but that can’t last for long and this whole thing has thrown my stuff completely out of whack.
There are a few universities and she’s tried it before. Nothing panned out, but she could always take another look. Thanks.
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So sorry to hear about the job situation and the wee one’s tantrums. I hope things turn around real fast 😦
Sounds to me like you need to do some pruning with your superheros. Kill your darlings and all that 🙂
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I never liked the term ‘kill your darlings’. It sounds so brutal and people always seem to mistake it for gutting the entire thing. Kind of like ‘show don’t tell’ where it has a different definition for everyone, so you never know how far the speaker is recommending you go. Though I probably will have to toss some of them out. It’s getting weird too because I’m only looking at how the first book is crowded and not at how I’ll have a few other books that need villains and heroes. So maybe I just need to work on the spread.
As for the home thing, I need a day to sleep in and that might not happen until next Monday.
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So sorry to hear about your wife’s job situation. I hope she finds something soon–I hope it’s a job she likes more than the one she just lost! Hope the Autism Walk went well, too. Good luck with it all.
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The walk was fun, but there was a playground on the route. That was where the kid ended the walk for us. 🙂
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