Noticing that these posts are becoming less about my goals and more about what I go through every week.  Well, there were people who wanted to know more about my life over here.  Anyway, I’m just going to barrel right into it:

The One-Armed Wife

Needless to say, this has taken up a lot of my time because she’s still in the sling.  We were expecting her to get a cast on Wednesday, but they wanted to delay it another week because things were healing well.  Guess you don’t mess with a good thing and finding a problem after the cast is on would be a pain.  She’s still going back to work on Monday and I’m driving.  My mornings and late afternoons will be spent playing chauffeur until mid-December.  I plan on being exhausted fairly quickly, especially since any doctor appointments she has will require that I head out too.  Might have to find a place to hang around on those days since it makes no sense to drive there, drive home, get an hour, and then go back.

Things will be easier if she gets the cast this Wednesday because that will give her mobility and she might be able to carry her bag to the office.  For now, I have to park and help her get up there since she has a large purse and another large bag.  Don’t ask because even I’m not sure.  Again, I sense I’ll be exhausted fairly quickly, especially since I still have the kid to prepare for school, get on the bus, and help with homework.  Martial arts will be tough, but a grandparent might be willing to do that. My biking is on hold until next Friday too because I have mid-morning appointments that I have to run to once I drop her off.  They were set up to allow me to bike first, but that’s not going to happen now.

Honestly, this whole thing leaves me wondering how people manage to survive these things without falling into a financial/vacation time abyss.  I know ‘people find a way’, but I’m seeing that most of these times it’s a way that leaves them in dire straits by the very end.

Writing

The main goal was to finish editing Legends of Windemere: Warlord of the Forgotten Age.  That was accomplished yesterday and I believe I finished the last two interviews for the promotion.  It’s a weight off my shoulders, but I’m getting really nervous about the release.  All I need is the cover now, which many will realize is the point where I feel most anxious.  Next week is the results of the character interviews, which should take some pressure of me.  I hope.  My anxiety has been stuck on high since the summer and I’m finding that I’m withdrawing a lot.  Trying my best to peek out of my shell, but the world feels like a colder place for so long.

My wife has been reading War of Nytefall: Loyalty, which has been somewhat smooth and rough.  I think she’s too used to my heroes being more noble and Clyde can be a jerk at times.  He argues with Mab a lot, which irks her since Mab was her vampire character and she’s as protective of her as she is of Nyx.  My doubt with this series is causing some trouble too because I keep fearing that the characters are inconsistent, the plot doesn’t make real sense, and that I can’t move beyond the first series.  At this point, I think I should just admit that I’m becoming a slave of doubt, but only when I’m not doing the actual writing.  In the moment, I’m confident and this goes for editing too.  I haven’t edited this yet either, which might be an issue as well as me going with vampires.  That topic always tends to bring out the pre-existing notions of readers, so you get told why something isn’t right even if you changed the mythos.

The writing for this week and the foreseeable future might be outlining.  I shouldn’t tackle editing or the stand-alone Legends of Windemere book until the wife is healed and the final book is out.  That might be January, so I’m be setting up the outline for Raven’s Wrath, which will be the end of the Dawn Addison/October story set.  I can’t figure it out though and that’s frustrating.  It’s Monster vs Monster, but I need victims to focus on because you never have one of the monsters as the focal point.  They lose their mystery and menace.  I’m thinking Dawn and Ian had their first encounter and the world has been decimated, so it follows a group of people trying to reach a rumored haven.  They’ll be taken out as they progress for some reason.  I keep looking over Freddy vs Jason, but they started as ‘allies’ and then fought over victims.  Ian is really only after Dawn and those who follow her.

I might start outlining and preparing for the next Ichabod Brooks collection too even though that’s a 2019 thing.  I have 8 stories that didn’t make the last set and 1 that will be a sequel to a previous story.  That means I need about 2-3 more, which I’ll gradually work on at times.  After that, I might spend the rest of the year outlining the Sin stuff.

Life

Belligerent and exhausting.

Goals of the week:

1. Outline Raven’s Wrath.
2. Plan a bit of The Longbow of Ichabod Brooks.  (Take off of The Sword of Conan.)
3. Tend to wife
4. Retain some sanity and energy
5. Help son with homework
6. Accept that we’ll have to wait for Justice League on DVD.  Sucks too because I really wanted to see it.
7. Watch a DVD set while outlining.  Maybe Louie the Rune Soldier or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
8. Stay warm