First, I’m going to announce that War of Nytefall: Eradication is live tomorrow. I’ll be honest. It’s already live, but I’m doing the big proclamation tomorrow. So, that’s something to look forward to. On to the past and future . . . Wow, I’m not liking either of those options.
To say that the solo part of my break didn’t go as planned is an understatement. Keep in mind that I had 4 days when my son was with his mother, which one would assume is perfect for writing time. Even going out with friends one evening and movies during one of the days meant I could get 4 chapters done. What was the final tally of chapters that I completed during this time?
.5 chapters . . . HALF A CHAPTER!
I really didn’t expect things to go that badly, but they did and I was very vocal about the situation. I was miserable. For those who forgot or didn’t know, the carpeting was torn out of the upstairs of the house and replaced with wood flooring. This would be where my room and my son’s room are, so I was evicted from my private space. I slept on a bed where a bar went across where my shoulders were and another was around my lower back. My clothes were in a drawer that sat in the corner of the living room. My laptop was set up on a corner of the dining room table with my hat rack to one side, more drawers behind me, and the mattresses stacked to the other side. I wasn’t alone in the house either, so even headphones didn’t really help me out. Then there was when they put stain down on the stairs during two of those 4 days . . . The fumes! I vacated the house the first time, but I had nowhere to go and it was cold during the second. Just found a ventilated corner with that GRE math review book and muttered about how my 2020 plan had been destroyed. Now, everything was finished on Monday, which is when I spent the entire day moving everything back upstairs. That’s all furniture up one flight of stairs and all of the books, dvds, and toys from the basement (2 flights). One would think this would open up Tuesday to writing . . . Except my body ached so much that I just went to see ‘Birds of Prey’ and left it at that. Not a stellar author period.
Once my son was home, I settled into parenting time, which was fun. We mostly relaxed since he had some appointments. Yesterday was the big event with friends. We went to see ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ and then went to a retro arcade game exhibit at a nearby museum. All of that was a lot of fun. We’re going to spend the weekend do the same since we have to get back onto a school schedule for Monday. Going to be 6 weeks before we get a break, which means it’s a long haul. I get three weekends in March, so I may be able to finish War of Nytefall: Ravenous by then. Spring Break can be used to set up for War of Nytefall: Savagery and maybe finish the notes for So, You Want to be a Fantasy Author? (Still not sure about that title.)
I have to do a lot of studying for the GRE, which I’m taking near the end of March too. Far too much on my plate that I don’t even know what task to tackle. My puzzles might have to wait, which is good because I have the pile of completed ones on the work table and I need to give them backings. Finding large rolls of double-sided tape is tough. By the way, using rubber cement is effective, but there’s a problem, especially in the winter when you can’t open windows. That would be the fumes, which I forgot about when I glued one down right next to my bed. Oops.
In other news, I got a foldable exercise bike that I’m going to be testing out soon after this post goes live. Not that hard to put together. The small test I did was really good since it moves really smoothly. Uses magnetic resistance and the handlebars have a pulse sensors on it. Not that I know what’s a good one or not. My hope is to get up to doing 30 minutes on Saturday and another 30 on Sunday then free weights during the weekday mornings. It’s the best I can do with my schedule.
Is it wrong that I feel like I’m getting bogged down with everything? I mean, I have the Nytefall books, fantasy tip book, blog posts, and a possible Ichabod Brooks collection on top of GRE studying, parenting, working, exercising, and hunting down a college program. I’ve been told that this is what adulthood is and everybody has it this bad. If that’s the case then I can see why depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses are on the rise. One could give up the dreams and focus on the ‘practical’ stuff, but that leads many to bitterness and a feeling that they have no true purpose other than survival. You can continue balancing it, but outside forces always judge that tactic. It’s like we’ve developed a society that is fueled by eroding psyches and spiritual suffering. We can never take time to relax without guilt or falling behind in things because everything goes on without us even if we’re a main part of events. Eh, this is too big of a rant for me today.
Goals for the week?
- Announce War of Nytefall: Eradication tomorrow.
- Have fun with the son.
- Get back onto using the exercise bike.
- Return to school.
- GRE studying.
- Start putting backings on puzzles, so I can start a new one.
- Seriously, I need to take time to finish those fantasy tip sections. I can use that book as a breather between Nytefall volumes. Maybe it’s getting harder because I don’t feel like I should be advising anybody on anything.
- Finish May blog scheduling.
Legends of Windemere 
Wow. So sorry about the lack of writing time in all of the upheaval.
Hope you have me on the list for those you’re sending the HTML announcement file.
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You should have gotten it last night. Hope I got the email address right.
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I didn’t get it. I emailed you.
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I’m out right now, so I’ll have to reply when I get home.
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Half a chapter may not be four chapters, but forward progress at any speed is still progress.:-)
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I’ve heard that before and I disagree in my case. This was half a chapter in about a month if you want to get technical. I have over 100 books in various states of outlining and I’m not immortal. Delays like this mean I have a higher chance of never finishing my work before death. I’m sick of being told every little step is progress when that’s all I get to take at best. Sounds like I lost all of spring break to work too. Things will get worse in the fall if I get into a masters program. None of this is good for me as an author.
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Charles, I think the ups & downs of raising kids is somewhat like “having them.” The labor pains excruciating, and then forgotten. After that Joy gets mixed up with Misery. Work gets thrown into the mix, and you know reactions to that flourish. So, then a glimmer of hope for a peaceful life comes when the kids grow up, leave, marry, etc. And the blessed time for retirement settles in. Funny thing, I’m there and wouldn’t have changed a thing along the way. I say a successful life is that you “wake up” every morning to face a new day. You never know what glimmer of hope you’ll find. Okay, my life through the stages is over. Have a peaceful weekend. 📚🎶 Christine
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Here’s the unfortunate thing. My generation doesn’t see retirement in our future. The system is so fucked up that most of us expect to work until death. If we do retire, our bodies and minds will be too busted to do all the things we were told we could put off for retirement. My generation has very little hope and the numbers support that.
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I totally agree. I see what my middle-aged sons, and adult grandkids are going through. They change jobs, start new businesses, buy properties, and juggle family life. Granted I worked many jobs, and had
problems along the way. But, luckily settled into retirement with a stable income in the end. That doesn’t happen today. It’s a struggle for many. 🙄😏😔
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And that’s part of the issue. That lack of retirement possibility means these tiny steps in writing aren’t good enough. I will never have a period of my life where I have enough time for this. Even after my son has moved out and started his own life, I’ll continue toiling against a ridiculous tide. Keep in mind that he isn’t even a real distraction. I work around him a lot easier than everything else. It’s actually the adults who see my breaks as times to bombard me with crap that get in the way. I had everything for this break scheduled out to allow me to finish my current project. I didn’t even get 1/4 of what I planned done. No idea what I’m going to do. I have some weekends coming up, but I’m already being told what’s going to happen around me that will prevent me from buckling down to get this done.
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You clearly have people pollution in you life. That’s a hard one. You’re caught in a bind. Yikes! That sucks! 🥺😣☹️
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Yeah. And they’re people I can’t just walk away from or cut out of my life. So, I’m angry and frustrated for good reason.
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Agree! 😣😏
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I’m always amazed by those who can blog ahead. I always go by the seat of my pants, and most of my posts come across that way. I don’t even have one in the hopper for Story Empire, but I worked on the next one a little this morning.
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Honestly, it’s the only thing I really have time for.
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I always tell myself that a person can only do so much and Life happens. These days, I just work around whatever pops up, but half a chapter in a month would drive me nuts. Good luck finding a happy balance.
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Thanks. That progress is majorly soul-crushing too. It’s had me questioning what the point of things are.
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Sometimes you just have to slug through the crap times. You’ve got so much going on, sounds like you’re at that place now, but you’ll be happy when you get through it to the other side.
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I’ve been in crap times for at least two years in terms of free time. That other side feels like a pipe dream.
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You’ll get there.
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I’m glad you got your room back and have an exercise bike. These will make life better. I hope your launch is the best.
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Thanks.
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Hi, Charles. Yes, sometimes life gets just too busy with everything that has to be done NOW. It isn’t good for all this rush. We all need to take a break every now and then to calm down and recharge.
However, when your bedrooms are finished and you’ve got everything back in place, I’m sure you’ll feel it was worth it. And you got your exercise bike! Great.
I’m going to schedule the stuff you sent me for Wednesday, if that’s OK. I could do it for tomorrow, I suppose, but not Tuesday as I have a post scheduled for then.
Good luck with the launch.
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Thanks. Wednesday is fine. As far as the rooms, they were finished on Monday. I don’t feel like the upheaval was entirely worth it because it was done with no concern for what I needed. This break was the only one I have until April and I spent the me time of it stressed out. There were better ways to do it such as in December when I had all my stuff moved out in order for the walls to get painted.
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Great post 😁
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Thanks
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Thank goodness that renovation is done! I hope the new space will work for you, and especially that you’ll get the exercise time in. Riding my exercise bike helps me spark a lot of ideas for whatever I’m working on.
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I’ve only got biking time on the weekend, so I’m not expecting much during those times. Just exercise.
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I think it’s just adulting in this modern world. We’re just expected to do it all, and make it work. The trick is to act like you’re managing it, and hope you pretend well enough to convince even yourself it’s true. Sorry and all that. If it helps, it’s not just you, or even just people who have to do full time jobs as well as try and chase the writing dream.
I get to avoid the extra job thing because of various health issues, but that just makes people think I have all this free time they can fill with tasks, or that it’s fine if they call me when it’s meant to be my writing time, because I can just write in this mythical time called, “Later,” (which, as you know, never seems to come around) and then they get annoyed if I say I’m busy, because apparently attempting to do something to show I’m not just going to sit around feeling miserable about having disabilities and health issues isn’t as important as talking about nothing in particular with them. Or they’ll have me waiting around all day for them, having said they’re coming at a spacific time, and then be all, “What? It’s not like you do anything, do you? I mean, you’re just home all day, so it doesn’t matter when we come, does it?” if I say anything about it.
So, like I said, it’s not just you. Some of us are just better at pretending we can deal with it all. In public and online anyhow.
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But doesn’t pretending to manage it while suffering in silence lead to depression and anxiety? You don’t have an outlet for these things and they become pent up emotions that erode your psyche. This is probably why mental illness is becoming a lot more common than in the past.
That isn’t nice that people assume you have a lot of free time and treat you that way.
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Yes, it does lead to issues like that. If you’re lucky, you can find a way to deal with those in private, or have a good therapist or something. If not… Yeah. Well, like you said, it’s no wonder there’s a rise in mental health issues.
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It always baffles me how we push to keep stress and mental illness a secret. Feeling alone and isolated tends to be a major factor/symptom in general, but we increase due to the stigmas.
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Yes. Then everyone wonders why the emotional spiral always goes downwards… *sigh*
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