[As usual, three weeks lag here, if you aren’t reading this on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/blazeward). If you’d like your news fresher, and the monthly Anti-Stodgy/Redneck Chef newsletter, all I ask is a buck to help keep the lights on around here.]
Spoke too soon. No sooner than I got the foot largely taken care of, something went weird.
Dunno what I caught, but last Saturday, (15th) I started to break out in a rash. By Monday, it covered my feet, ankles, and thighs. Went to urgent care. He nuked me with prednosone.
Steroid. If I’ve ever been on it before, it’s been decades, so I didn’t know what to expect. Fabulous Publisher Babe™ at least warned me. Stomach all gurgly, which means sleeping upright instead of flat. (you know those acid burbs you get? Now have one wake you up from a dead sleep. Yuck.) And not sleeping worth shit.
Been on the couch for a week. Been nuking things with the steroids. Mostly worked. Not gone, but way down and declining. Spent most of last week sitting down to write, like today. Easier on the body.
And heat activated, so I haven’t worn socks in a week. Hardly anything but shorts, with the AC set to 70F (21C). And sun sensitive, so had to stay inside. Only been out twice in a week.
Grumble.
But getting healthy. Few more days of the drugs, then a few days to recover. July 1 starting point instead of June 1, but physical. Emotional and mental were June 1. Was good. Continues to be good.
Finished Scour 2 last week. Started Red Branch 2 this week. Just hit 13k, after taking the weekend off. On top of everything else, call it a 24-hour cold. Woke up Saturday and there was nobody home. Physically fine. Utterly empty brain. Managed a few words and gave up.
Instead, I spent the weekend bucketing. That’s where I pick a topic on either wikipedia or tvtropes and follow all the rabbit holes down. Shoveling ideas into the bucket. Let them marinate around.
Sunday afternoon, I finally had brain again, because I could start seeing where some of these ideas would go to. How I could use them in various projects.
What it meant.
Got a lot of stuff I want to do over the back half of the year. Lots of Thriller work, because Thrill Ride Magazine next year. Plus the Beer Walk in Enumclaw, in June. I need to walk in there will all sorts of Action-Adventure/Thriller books, because beer drinkers are different from wine drinkers.
And this year has been a mess, so next year will be patchy in terms of output. I still have novels into 2026 or later, but not series. After Science Officer 14 in December (Exile), the second Gunderson Case Files in Jan. Was going to be this year. Didn’t happen. Glad about that. Same with Owen, Pizzafarmer, Eva & Nik, and a few others.
2025, I plan to kind of empty out the trunk entirely. Some random. Some partial series. Mostly get the shit out there and stop worrying about it. SF, Fantasy, Spandex, and Thriller. Lots of stuff. Collections of patreon shorts that many of you have read already. Things previously only seen in BSQ, BWP, or TRM.
Lots of material. Then I’ll have some epic SF stuff for everyone. Hugely epic. Fun, even. Scattered Tribes, on steroids, if you will.
But first, lots of holes to fill in. Stuff to get done and ready for next year, so that I have it in hand when I need it. And can keep various pulses alive on the Amazon bots, because they care and will keep advertising for me.
Need more money. Not everything, but enough to live comfortably. Maybe scale that up a notch to have STAFF. Let them handle crap for me. More time to write. Finish some of these damned stories that won’t leave me alone.
Meanwhile, still working on https://writtenwell.com/ for stuff. Wrote a fun article about assassins the other day. Planning something on Villains this week. Need to wrap my head around a few topics, so I figure it is useful to share my logic with other folks. Somebody will find it useful.
Past that, knocking on with things. Birthday coming up this week and got a few things planned with friends, but mostly quiet.
Head down and writing while I heal.
Catch you next week.
shade and sweet water
b
West of the Mountains, WA
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