Still writing, yikes! Just sent another 7K chapter of Identical romping to my trusty beta. *crossed fingers*

After three weeks of working from home, I have to go back to school on Tuesday. Both faculty and students are dropping like flies over there, and I'm not sure what the f*ck they're trying to prove, but I have to go. Fortunately, I'm pretty well protected from human contact in my office setup (in a small building with only 2 other people, and my office is at the other end of the house from them), so I'm luckier than most folks. But I'd be lying if I said I'm not nervous.

I'm up way too late, posting the first chapter of the last Identical story, because I'm on an obsessive tear. But it's up, and now I must have a cup of warm milk and sleep a little. :) *crossed fingers*

In good news, my nephew's symptoms were gone in a couple days. In bad news, he still hasn't been able to score a test, so we have no idea whether or not it was covid. No one else in the family has shown any symptoms, and it'll be two weeks come Wednesday. *crossed fingers* Hopefully we've dodged a bullet.

In less good news, omicron is having its wicked way in NJ, and my school has gone to remote classes for this week at least. We don't have enough healthy/unexposed staff to open on campus. This is new, and scary bad. *crossed toes*

In happy news, I'm about 8K words into the last Identical story, including a Sex Scene That Is Mostly Talking Because These Boys Will Not Shut Up. *g* I toyed with the idea of posting it in one go, as in the old days, but I've decided that doing it in chapters is more manageable. I like getting feedback along the way, and it reduces the anxiety, and I'm also superstitious at this point and think it's brought me luck. So chapters it is. There's a lot of ground to cover, so it'll be another long one. *crossed everything*

Wishing everybody a happy, healthy and safe new year!

I'm working on the last scene of Snips -- a story I started in 2010. It is blowing my mind ever so slightly. *g* But the chapter should be ready for the beta treatment sometime tomorrow. The last scene is always difficult -- I always have trouble sticking the landing.

I've got an appointment for my booster shot set for Wednesday. Hopefully I'll get away with the sore arm and fatigue I experienced with my second shot. *crossed fingers*

I'm on winter break until after New Years, so maybe I'll clean my house and start the next and last story while my muses are still singing to me. *knock wood* If I ever manage to actually finish it, it will be something of an event for me. Yikes. :)

Commencing out-of-order writing. ;)

Which is not nearly as bad as years past. *crossed fingers* My mood is always improved by seeing Darth Katie and Domino share the cat-tree. Katie isn't much of a climber, so she takes the lower bunk, and Domino leans over from the top to watch her, talk to her, and occasionally pretend to poke at her with a white paw. Katie demonstrates her affection by not destroying him. ;) She has also started to grok the concept of toys (jingle balls are the latest favorite) and that being picked up by two-legs does not mean instant death. I still think she'd be less stressed as someone's one and only cat, but she is making progress.

The patio rats have returned. I think only my herd of felines is preventing them from coming inside -- they take shelter in the utility shed out there and scamper out to eat seed that spills from the bird feeder. I've called the office about them -- I hate having any creature harmed, but I can't mess with wild rats. I've seen two, which probably means there are ten. Not good.

I'm working on the next bit of Snips. Wish me luck!

A bit of the new section of Snips I'm editing: ( cut out of mercy for those with no interestCollapse )

Alas, poor Karloff. Maybe I can post this section by the weekend. Wordcount of about 7K, I think. *crossed fingers*

There are 2 scenes left in this chapter of Snips. I know exactly what happens in them. I know what people do. I know what people say. But I can't stop re-writing them. Because Clark. And Bessie. And that old line from Torchwood -- "this is when everything changes." DON'T MUCK IT UP, LANNING.

Not comparing myself to Hemingway (not enough semicolons *g*), but when he told someone he'd re-written the last paragraph of A Farewell to Arms a gazillion times, he was asked if there had been a technical problem. "No, just trying to get the words right," he said.

HAH! Yes, this, exactly. I grok, Ernest.

Positive vibes would be appreciated.

I've been struggling with a particularly nasty sinus infection and an accompanying depression/anxiety spike for going on a month now. Missed a whole lot of work despite the fact that I warded off the traditional Autumn Bronchitis. When I start feeling like I did during the Ghastly Two Years, I panic. I don't ever want to get that bad again. Apart from fear of being unable to work (no safety-net -- I blew through all my savings last time and I'm still in pretty horrific credit card debt), I also know I drive my friends up the wall with my depression/anxiety shenanigans. Those who stuck with me through the Ghastly Two Years I count among my true friends, because boy howdy, it was Batshit City, people. ;)

Anyway, I'm doing better. Still on antibiotics, but I'm well enough to work, which is important. The doctor also added Abilify to my meds -- which, contrary to the advertising, does not turbo-boost your anti-depressant, but acts as a mood-stabilizer. My doc said it's usually used with bipolar patients. But we're running out of meds to try, so we're giving it a shot. I've been on it for going on two weeks now, and I have to say (knock wood) that I do feel significantly better. I've even written a bit, trying to finish the next chapter of Identical before I go back to finish Ruse. *crossed fingers*

On the kitteh front, Darth Katie continues to make progress. She's a funny little thing -- she can be so affectionate in private, and will lick my hands and the tip of my nose when I pet and kiss her, but if any other cat shows up, even Domino, she'll cease all purring and assume a dignified loaf position at a respectable distance. Screwball. *g* I made some icons for my herd:




After some disturbing news about a lunatic in the area beheading cats, I checked up on my ferals at my old apartment complex. The two younger girls (Rory and Dancer) are fine -- fat and sassy. My ex-neighbor Joe is taking good care of them. Their mother Frances, though, has gone missing. This probably has nothing to do with foul play. Frances has many territories to supervise and she frequently disappears for a couple weeks, only to show up for breakfast. But it's been almost a month now with no sign of her. Frances is an old cat for a feral, and doesn't move as fast as she used to. I'm afraid we might not see her again. Poor Frances. She has had a hard life.

I'm considering selling some stuff on ebay to get the debt under control -- I have some of my great-great grandmother's china from England that I never use and no one else in the family wants. It's evidently worth something, so I'm giving it serious thought. I also have way too much jewelry for someone not born to royalty. *g* So that's a possible plan. If I had any skills, I'd try to market them. And if I had better health, I'd get a second job. We'll see what happens.

If I actually manage to finish something writing-wise, I'll post here to celebrate. I'm feeling remarkably positive about it, so it may actually happen. Writing vibes are always appreciated!

If you've read this whole damn thing, thanks for your patience. *hugs*

The SFWA Misogynist Troll Drama continues. From Jim Hines' blog:

A week or two back, someone started a Twitter account called SFWA Fascists, dedicated to attacking the “screeching feminist witches” who are destroying the natural order — not to mention RUINING science fiction and fantasy — in the name of their twisted PC ideology.

The account itself is mostly spittle and flailing, but the creators also posted a list of the PC Monsters of SFWA (which they then renamed PC C**ts of SFWA, because I guess Monsters was too classy). These are the people deemed to be “immoral, vicious, manipulative snakes.”

(List of snakes here. Oh, the horror. I for one would like to thank the established, respected SF/F writers who created this vile Twitter account for fine-tuning my TBR list, what with eliminating themselves and spotlighting the undesirable class.)

Hines' response: The PC Monsters of Genre Cards.



There are seven monsters featured so far. Love it. Personally, I think they'd make great posters. :)