So, I kind of made progress with Coven of the Gray.  Did I fully design any of the 13 members?  No.  I did choose their biome, role, and a few powers.  I managed to create an idea of the first 2 chapters as well.  Thought about going for 13 short stories, but I saw some of the coven members will be together.  So, I just put down 15 and will see what I can fill in.  Might end up being less or more.  In my mind, I’m seeing this being done similar to ‘Bedlam’ where I title each chapter and do 3-5 sections to tell part of the journey.  This allows me to create some events that don’t have a coven member involved.  So, I got somewhere with the project.

To be honest, it wasn’t as far as I thought I would get, but I also worked on aspects that I didn’t plan on.  The issue was that I was in so much pain last weekend that it was difficult to picture anything solid.  My ear infection got worse Saturday and I found out that the swelling had gone behind the eardrum.  So, the drops weren’t able to get out or something like that.  Couldn’t hear the doctor very well, but he gave me meds.  I was able to get some fresh air, which helped and pain meds got me through that.  Still, most of the weekend and early week was spent doing daily functions while in pain.  The ear is still a bit clogged and off now too.

There was a bunch of life stuff as well, which was mostly paperwork needing to be done for my son’s future.  I had waited for a week for certain entities to work with me, but games were being played.  So, I had to figure out how to do a bunch of this on my own and get it handed in.  Without going into details, this is something that will help him in the future and it takes about 1.5-2 years to set up.  The current stage takes 4-6 months once all of the paperwork is in, which is where things are becoming a problem.  I’ve done all I can, so now I have to wait.

Another aspect of the week is that my son takes the SAT this week, which is a big test that can help him with the college he’s looking at.  He’s been practicing and studying for it, so today is the today.  It actually started now, so I’m currently talking a walk in the park while I wait for the time to pick him up.  We’re going to see ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’ this afternoon too.  He’s never seen any of it, but this is one of the first non-educational shows I ever saw.  Was obsessed as a kid.  So, my day is booked with parenting stuff, which means writing will be tomorrow.  I’m fine with that because all of today’s events are important.  I’ll tinker with Coven of the Gray tomorrow.

I’m still trying to figure out the summer too.  I’ll be working a few hours a day at the summer program, but my son might not be a camp counselor.  He’s too old to be a camper and none of the programs around here are affordable.  I found an online ‘do at your own pace’ art program that I could buy and set up on his Chromebook, but he only spends half the week with me.  I don’t think he’d be able to do it when he’s with his mom and the Chromebook can’t travel with him.  There’s also the issue of the schedule, which could be a disaster depending on what goes on.  This means that I don’t know how much work I can do on Darwin & the Deadlands Queen.  I might only be able to do weekends or maybe evenings, but it certainly isn’t what I thought it would be.  The art program would give my son something to do while I work on my own project though, so I’m hoping that I can set it up.

Next week is going to be a wild one.  Tuesday and Wednesday are regents, which my son has to take.  It means my students will only have half-days, but I don’t go home early.  It’s going to be really hot too.  I’m not going to expect much progress because I’m going to be tiring out fairly quickly.  I’ll be happy if I can tinker my way to all of the chapter ideas tomorrow though.  That could open the door for character creation, which then will lead to a quick ‘chapter-by-chapter’ outline.  If I’ll really lucky, I can start writing Darwin & the Deadlands Queen by the end of the month and NOT have Coven of the Gray left in the wings.  Not sure what I’ll tackle after that though as the side project.

Goals of the week?

1. Support son through SAT today and Regents this week.
2. Watch ‘He-Man’ with son.
3. Work on Coven of the Gray.
4. Stay cool and hydrated.
5. Pokemon Go and biking to stay active.
6. Eat smaller portions.
7. Try to figure out a backup summer plan for my son.
8. Get a haircut.
9. Mentally prepare for the next round of the life event.  It’s a court thing.