Wait! Don’t go anywhere because I will still be blogging and on social media. There’s also Quest of the Brokenhearted coming out in a little over 2 weeks. By the way, should I make that one start at 99 cents for the first month? I’m not sure if I should do that and bump up to $2.99 or go right for the main price. Seems risky to do a price change and I don’t know how well 99 centers are doing. Anyway, I will be resting up this summer, but I will still be around as long as the little master of the house allows me. Going to be tough since I now have two game controllers, so we can play at the same time.
Now, I’m going to do a quick run down of what I accomplished since January:
- Published War of Nytefall: Loyalty
- Wrote and edited Quest of the Brokenhearted
- Wrote and edited War of Nytefall: Lost (September release)
- Wrote War of Nytefall: Rivalry (December release)
- Plotted out The Longbow of Ichabod Brooks
- Kept up with blogging and scheduled stuff to mid-September
- Drove my son to school in the morning, martial arts in evening, and helped with homework.
- Retained some level of sanity
That’s a lot for 6 months in my opinion and it doesn’t count all the holidays, birthdays, school events, school breaks, and an anniversary. Also, it ignores the cooking, sleeping, bathing, and errands that came about. So, I’m really tired, but happy that I finished before school ends. My son has one more week, which will not be all full days. I still need to make it through the weekend too. My hope is to get out and meet with an old friend next weekend and there’s a small trip coming up too. So, it isn’t like I’ll have the chance to lounge around. It’s more that I won’t have deadlines looming over my head.
I won’t be entirely idle either. There’s Raven’s Wrath, which is the last of the Dawn Addison stories that I’ve been posting throughout October since 2015. This is 13 chapters and 31 sections (a trend I’ve been doing since #2), but I don’t edit it. I just write and go since it’s just for fun. Beyond that, I’m probably going to fiddle with a few future stories and try to figure out what I’ll tackle once school starts again. It might end up being editing of Rivalry and then taking War of Nytefall: Eradication. I might do a little of Ichabod Brooks too, but that’s a release for next summer. So they don’t feel left out, I still don’t know what to do about Lloyd and Cassidy. Their next adventure is written, but it’s impossible to do 5 releases a year on my budget when they bring in very little attention. I considered using Sundays to post their story section by section, but that feels insulting to them.
Staying on the writing topic for a bit longer, I think I came the closest to writing my first sex scene ever. Might be the only one too. The two characters aren’t really subtle in their flirting, but I stop before the main act actually happens. A lot of kissing and making it clear that both of them have lost their shirts. It was weird to write, but I felt like I couldn’t settle this scene with a simple kiss. It needed to be made clear for something that happens in Eradication. That’s all I’m going to say, which might already be too much.
Victories aside, I had a lot of anxiety problems. Sunday didn’t go as planned with me getting to write all day. People changed their schedules and emergencies turned up, which left me entertaining my son. I got enough in to counter a school event, but I spent the whole week with the fear of a distraction ruining everything. The anxiety got worse after a few stressful discussions and encounters too. By Wednesday night, I was barely sleeping and using what little strength I had to keep writing and take care of the unavoidable responsibilities. Have to admit that I was probably saved by a surge of energy when I was writing the final battle, which carried me into Friday with a little more pep. Still, there were times where I felt like my body was being physically stretched to the point where one more tap would create agony instead of discomfort. This is probably what took a lot more out of me than anything else.
I had another thought, but I was asked to have a Pokemon battle with the kid in the middle of doing this. We don’t play the video game. He has some plushies, but mostly we pick Pokemon out of his book and begin yelling attacks. It’s rare that I win. Crud, I forgot I had water on the stove. Off again.
Let’s just get to the weekly goals:
- Finish the September posts.
- Prep a few Quest of the Brokenhearted teasers.
- Look over outline for War of Nytefall: Eradication
- PIZZA!
- When school drops to half days, playtime with son.
- Starting working on characters and story for another ‘Sin’ story. Two more to go with those. Really need a series title for that one. ‘Sin’ or ‘Adventures of Sin’ doesn’t really work.
- Gradually consolidate all information on my superheroes. See what I have before I decide how to work it out.
- Pick an anime that I can watch in about 3 days. Gurren Lagann? I only have what Netflix and Amazon Prime give me. Really wish I could find Yu Yu Hakusho since I never got to finish that one.
Legends of Windemere 
You’ve achieved a lot since January. I know the reason – or part of the reason – you’re so hard on yourself is because of comments/attitude from others, but try not to be so hard on yourself. Focus on how much you’ve achieved, remember that you’ve done it while dealing with other stuff too, and be proud of yourself for it.
Good luck with your Summer plans, and your goals for this next week in particular.
“Pikachu, use quick attack. Now hit him with a thunder bolt.”
Sorry, couldn’t resist that last part. 😉
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Thanks. I’m trying to focus on the positive, but I’ll admit that it gets tough at times. Funny thing with the Pokemon fights is that since my son is getting into it with nearly 800 types, he picks from a wide variety that I don’t always know about. Kept using one called Trevenant. No idea how he found out about it either.
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Yeah, I know it’s tough at times.
I don’t know half the names of them these days either. I’m great with the old/original batch of Pokemon, but most of the new ones… No idea!
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I need to lay down after reading this recap. I’m totally exhausted. I would go out at $0.99 if you are planning a price reduction in the future. Nothing chaffs my chaps more than to support an author initially at the high price intro and then see a free or $0.99 price to reward all those who held off support. If you are not going to have a free or $0.99 deal then go out at the higher price. Have a super weekend
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Okay. So, go out on the higher price and don’t change? I’m not going to do a price reduction in the future, so there’s nothing to worry about there. Was just pondering a 99 cent opening month and then the final $2.99 price once August starts.
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That is what I’m doing.
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Seems like a smart way to do it. Especially if you make it clear that it’s an opening month price.
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We didn’t say anything. ooops
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Eh, it’ll be okay.
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We did say $0.99 for the Introduction
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That works. 😁
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Ahhhhhhh. 😀
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Charles, I need a nap after reading all you’ve accomplished. Kudos to you! On the plus side is you’re organizational skills and commitment to writing. That keeps you going. You weave in family responsibility and the unexpected quite well. Not to address the “other” side that fuels the anxiety. Really hope that levels off as you go through the summer months. 📚 Christine
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Thanks. Fingers crossed that things level off soon.
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Huh, I wrote a very similar scene today. I stopped before the actual act too, but I’m content with how it came out. Had pizza tonight too.
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Cheesecake Factory for an early Father’s Day dinner here. Truffle-honey chicken is so good. 🙂 Pizza is Tuesday as a reward for getting all of those goals done and not going entirely insane. It’s weird with those types of scenes where you have to go only as far as you’re comfortable. Otherwise, it just gets silly. I wonder if female authors are more comfortable writing sex scenes than males. Only because I’ve seen how different they come out. Men tend to write them very bluntly with a kind of restraint as if they’re trying to get it done. Women go into a lot of detail that draws out the event and makes you know exactly what’s going on. I say this as someone who doesn’t even come close to being an expert on this topic.
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You are so correct. Staci and Mae offered a lot of help on the one in Yak Guy. Men are too direct to make it interesting and enticing. We come across more like IKEA instructions.
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Probably. For myself, I keep thinking I’m going to make it too goofy. I chuckle at the euphemisms too, so it all falls apart.
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Yup.
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Wow! You really have had a busy first half of the year! You deserve pizza and a month off. I hope you at least get good pizza. Good luck with next weeks goals.
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Getting pizza from the usual place, so it’ll be really good. Might skip the pepperoni pinwheel this time because I don’t want to overeat on a day that I cook. Next week’s goals will be interesting. Mostly because I have no idea what anime I’m going to watch and that will set the mood.
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You’ve had a very productive half year. Bravo! Hope you enjoyed that pizza.
I’m sorry your Father’s Day plans were derailed.
Are you going to see The Incredibles 2?
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We’re still trying to figure out Incredibles 2. My wife wants to come, but she’s working. So, we would have to wait for her and our next couple of weekends are already booked.
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