This was a fairly short week as far as work went. That didn’t make it any less busy since I work with the testing center. It makes sense that people are scrambling to run or make up tests before a break. Thankfully, we made it through and now the break begins. Though it does feel like last weekend was a century ago. Days go so fast, but then it feels like the week is moving slow. Time really is a mental construct designed by humans to make sense of the world. That or to control the masses with a schedule.
I did have to take a day off for something with my son because it was time for a reevaluation. This is an event that all special needs children go through, but I don’t know if it’s always every 3 years like here. It can be harrowing because you see test scores and evaluations, but can’t tell if there’s more. So, you go in expecting to have to fight for accommodations and defend your child. Doesn’t help with a divorced couple since that can lead to not being on the same page. Thankfully, my son is making amazing progress and proving that he’s in the right placement. Took a lot of stress off my shoulders, which might be another reason why I practically collapsed around 10 PM Thursday. Just felt like a bunch of weights were lifted from my body and I could let myself lie down. His evaluation was certainly up there and I’m proud of all the progress he’s made.
Writing has made some progress and I might even finish Do I Need to Use a Dragon? by the end of the weekend. I have 6 sections left and the Outro isn’t going to be that big. If I can manage 3 today and 3 tomorrow then I’m done. I have Monday morning before my son comes back for the week, so I can afford to be a little lax today. Once this is done, I have to dive into outlining the next series. I keep wanting to go back to War of Nytefall: Savagery for editing and I have tried it a few times. Usually get 2 chapters in and then realize I’m making changes for the sake of changes. That’s when I know I should stop. Maybe this is what happens when I do plot synopsis, detailed outlines, edit the outlines, a slow first draft, occasional read backs, and then a meticulous editing run. I’ve become so careful during the creation stage that I can’t bring myself to go back into editing after 1-2 times. Feels like I should be scolded since authors keep saying to edit until you can’t look at it any more. Guess I’m just odd.
I have plenty of small projects to work on too. The treasure hunting thieves are becoming more interesting as the characters evolve in my head. It was going to be a single short-story collection, but I’m seeing more opportunities here. I’m questioning if I can call the group whose story takes place in a mercenary school ‘Phi Beta’. That’s the fake frat my friends and I made up in college to be silly and stupid. Since that’s the inspiration, I keep feeling like I should hold onto the name. It’s just that it’s Greek letters in a fantasy world, which might work since I’ll have introduced an island with samurai influence on it. This leads me to wondering if I should stick with the story that takes place within the Ice Crown where beings from other worlds exist thanks to the surviving angel of Windemere. She was lonely and realized she could pull beings from dimensions, so she grabbed anyone who was interesting. Then she disappeared, so the story follows a band of pirates trying to revive her because everyone is cursed by her vanishing. I should really make a post on that one.
As you can tell, I’ve got a lot bouncing around in my head. Makes me really wish I made enough money to survive and provide, so I could bring all of them to reality. This is always going to be a permanent source of disappointment in myself. I’m sure I’ll get some comments about why I shouldn’t be or something. Be aware that I’m getting the 2nd Covid vaccine shot today, so I might be a little snarly in the afternoon. This is also why I’m not 100% certain I’ll get writing done tomorrow. I’ve heard that the 2nd shot can knock you out for a day or two. Hopefully, I’m not one of the people who gets nailed, but I don’t trust my luck. That’s why I have some movies reserved for Sunday. They’re the live action Rurouni Kenshin films. Only the second and third though since I already watched the first one.
Speaking of television, I haven’t watched much this week outside of the news. I finished ‘Demon Slayer’ and then spent the ensuing nights writing and resting. I started ‘Gungrave’ on Thursday, but only made it through 2 episodes. Friday was the first day of break, so I went to hang out with a friend before I went into isolated author mode. Not really sure what I want to really watch. I’m holding back a bit since I saw ‘That Time I Was Reincarnated as a Slime’ and ‘Dr. Stone’ are getting new episodes soon. In fact, ‘Dr. Stone’ has them popping up now. I can’t touch that without my son though. He really enjoyed it, so I won’t watch it without him. Maybe I’m just tired, so nothing is striking my fancy. I need a nap already.
Goals of the week?
- Time with son.
- Finish Do I Need to Use a Dragon?
- Consider beta readers and search for an artist.
- Start outlining Tales of the Slumberlord
- Organize ideas to see what goes into the next idea book
- Maybe finish the outlines for Ruins of the Zodiac Gods. That will complete an idea book.
- Video games
- Reading
- Shoveling snow
- Snoozing
- Pizza at some point
Legends of Windemere 
What’s an outro?
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Opposite of an intro. This is for a fantasy writing tip book. Basically, it’s the final section where I sum things up, give final pieces of advice, and say goodbye.
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Cool. Never heard of that term. Very clever. Who came up with that?
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I’ve heard it used every now and then. I don’t know the origin of it though. Best I could find is that it was popularly used in the 1970’s to define the final scene of a show/movie, the ending credits, or the last section of a musical piece.
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Wow! Very busy!
Glad you’re going to write a post on the treasure hunting pirates, because they sound interesting!
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I realized that they’re part of a joint post I set up for tomorrow. Wrote it about 2 weeks ago when it started. A bunch has changed, but I think I’m going to let it stand and revisit with another post down the road.
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You do have a lot running around in your head. The ideas all sound terrific though. Have a super week
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Thanks. Have a fun week too.
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Definitely do a web search and see if there are any existing sororities or fraternities that have Phi Beta in them. I feel like Phi Beta Kappa is a real-world organization. So make sure you don’t infringe on anything.
Or I guess you could make some sort of pun, like Pie Beta or Fie Beta or Fly Beta… I’ll stop now.
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Phi Beta Kappa is a real one. Phi Beta was what we did for shortening and why I’m staying with PB. They typically have 3 letters, so plenty have these 2 included. I might just create a mercenary group name revolving around P and B, but only if I think Greek letters are too much for Windemere.
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I’m rather late in here, so the week is almost over, but I figured I’d comment anyhow, just so you know I didn’t ignore your post. Plus, I wanted to say I’m really happy for you and your son with his progress. Anyway, hope your week went to plan.
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Thanks. Hope you had a fun week too.
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It was a mostly good week… There were a few things I could have done without though. Things like learning our suspicion our Westie’s skin irritation was bad enough to need pills again was not only correct, but it’s reached the point where she’s going to now need treatment for it for the rest of her life, and the cheaper of the two options we can try to help her is going to be costing us £64 a month (that’s around $90 by today’s conversion rate). If that doesn’t do the trick, or she has issues with the pills involved in that, she’ll have to have a monthly shot that’s expensive enough they didn’t tell me how much it costs yet (and I’m hoping I never have to learn). I don’t begrudge her a penny of it, of course, but it’s not fun for her, and we could have done without it, especially since it brings with it a reminder of why I lost my previous Westie.
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Sorry to hear about your Westie’s skin issues. I really hope the cheaper treatment works. Do they know what’s causing it?
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It’s a common thing in Westies. Something about their skin colouration making their skin sensative… Skin irritation is right there at the top of the common things to look out for in the breed. Then they scratch and bite, because they’re itchy, and end up covered in sores from it if you don’t do something in time to stop them before they get to that stage. My previous Westie, Kero, made it almost to 10 without issues, and then it came on so quickly and fiercely it couldn’t be controlled (several vets all agreed it was the worse case of it they’d ever seen). But Lilie’s had it show up a couple of times now… First time it showed up she was less than a year old (she’s four next month). Kero didn’t respond well to attempts to treat it, but Lilie has responded well to treatment in the past, it’s just it comes back after a while without treatment. Hopefully, since she’s responded well to treatment before and what she’s now being given is stronger than what she was having in the past, it will be enough to control it. However, since it’s coming back more quickly once treatment stops now, keeping it under control – AKA keeping her from being so itchy she’s tearing herself up to try and get rid of the itch – will mean keeping her on treatment for the rest of her life.
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Hope the stronger treatment helps and lasts longer. Surprised there isn’t a shampoo or something designed for the breed since this is common.
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Thanks. There is a “sensative skin” dog shampoo – our bottle even has a picture of a Westie on it – and there are medicated shampoos too. But they alone aren’t enough for a lot of Westies. For some they are, for some they will at least help enough that the dog is considered a senior dog before it needs any other treatment, but for many Westies they just aren’t enough. It’s kind of like how some people who suffer from shortness of breath can get their breathing back under control without anything more than a few breathing exercises, others might need an inhaler, but others will need oxygen: same issue, different levels of treatment required.
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That makes sense. Good luck and hope she gets better soon.
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