Seriously, I hit one button on my laptop and my cursor shot off to the right like it remembered that it left the stove on . . . for the last week.  It’s back now, but I don’t trust the little guy right now.  Almost as much as the space bar that occasionally decides that it’s on a coffee break.  To be fair, I hit that button enough that you can see discoloration on one thumb tip sized spot.  Might be me not hitting it hard enough either, which is a statement that means this goal post is starting off weird.

I keep saying ‘this has been a week’, so I’m going to try to talk a bit more.  Some things are still a secret such as a lot of work and some personal things.  One interesting thing at work is that a few students found me online.  Not that I’m hard to find since I have 20 books on Amazon, a blog, various social media accounts, and have been doing various author interviews since 2013.  I’d be more surprised if I made it to the end of the year and none of them tried to Google me.  Anyway, this has led to me being asked various questions and getting the occasional requests to put them in a book.  Ah, to be young and not realize that fiction authors are infamous for doing horrible things to their characters.  This does make me wonder if any of them are reading this post though.  Hmmmm . . . In that case:

I hope all of you finished your homework.

I am getting into the schedule and even managed to do a little notebook work during one of my breaks.  It’s not much, but it’s the most writing I’ve done in a few months.  I designed 2 heroes and 1 villain for a Sin story.  (I REALLY gotta name this series!)  My hope is to take the next step towards my creative recovery and get back to editing War of Nytefall: Rivalry.  I got through the first 4 chapters and then things got hectic, so I’m aiming to dive back in.  If I can finish it before the end of the year then I might even start writing the next one.  This is going to be slow going and it makes me feel like I’m not going to be able to do anything more than my core series.  That means Derailing Bedlam will be the end for Cassidy and Lloyd and Ichabod Brooks won’t get another collection.  Not for a long time at least.  Other pieces of my life need to fall into place before I can get the time in.  For now, I would probably be running 1-2 chapters a week at best.  All I have are nights and the occasional weekend, but that’s if I do nothing else.  Dropping from 3-4 releases a year to 1 (2 at best) is rough.

A lot of it depends on me finding a new alpha reader.  This is someone willing to read the book in a month and let me know if it makes sense.  I don’t go along with the ‘kill your babies’ line of thinking, which makes me difficult for many to work with.  Suggesting I tear out a chapter or character is typically met with scowling.  Part of this is because I go through at least 4 planning and outline stages that include the shredding of the overall story and characters.  You might not think it’s the same, but I will spend a few hours pouring over an outline and imagining the path of the story.  Again, this makes me more difficult to deal with and I have trust issues as well.  Geez, no wonder I can’t sell any books when this is how I present myself.  Does this make me a tortured artist?  *hides the medieval rack in the closet*  It was a Passover gift.

Seriously though . . . Where was I going with this?  No idea.  I’m going to finish the February blog post scheduling tonight and might jump into editing tomorrow after the little guy goes to bed.  I’m already trying to make a list of March posts that I can put together near the end of January.  Topics are always welcomed.  Could be an author subject, specific book questions, or whatever you want my opinion on.  Wait!  I remember what I was going to do!

I have a desk now!  Put it together last Saturday and I’ve got pictures that I’m putting in a slideshow.  I didn’t take as many as I planned because the instructions weren’t the easiest to follow:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Goals of the week:

1. Work and parenthood.
2. Start editing War of Nytefall: Rivalry
3. A little work on Sin story when I have breaks.
4. Winter concert for son.
5. Continue biking and trying to eat healthy.  Bought a chickpea salad and a bunch of fruit and veggies that should last the week.  Going to be doing cold cut (chicken or sausage) sandwiches too.
6. Possibly look over the next Ichabod Brooks collection to consider it as a summer project.  Not sure what that time period will look like, but I’m probably only going to do an April and December release from now on.  Depends on editing and writing ability.
7. Continue reading ‘Rave Master’ and get to ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ season 3.
8. Get my head back on straight with everything going on.
9. Finish February posts.

Hope everyone has a fun week!  Sorry if I’m not as social as I used to be.