Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash

The image above has absolutely nothing to do with the new year or my general inability to stay focused and get things done. I just thought it was cute. And it’s not like the internet can ever have enough cat pictures.

November came. November went. Lee pulled out her hair in frustration over not managing to get anywhere near her NanoWriMo goal. That isn’t to say progress was not made. No, I wrote about 20,000 words. That’s something, just not the something I aimed for. I did get a few particularly difficult scenes written. They were scenes which could have fallen into the area of overly sappy. I don’t care for that sort of thing. I had to rewrite one of the scenes four times. I don’t demand perfection in a rough draft, but I do wish to avoid leaving something for the editing process which is so cringe worthy that its very existence causes me to lose sleep. I always have this fear that if left to lurk, the vileness of the scene will spread, corrupting everything around it.

I know, irrational. So is my fear of flying or of allowing other people to drive. At this point, I don’t think that’s going to change.

I managed to get a tree up this year. Even decorated it. Wrapped some presents. Worried about the ability to pay for said presents. Vowed to spend much much less in 2020. I believe that will be my main resolution for the new year. My health insurance premium is almost tripling in cost come January, so cutting back on spending is absolutely imperative. I cancelled my KU subscription. I figure if I really want to borrow a book, I can use my father’s account for that. I just set up the last payment for the mattress I bought him two years ago, so that monthly bill will be gone as well. After we finish watching the latest season of The Crown and Lost in Space, I may cancel my Netflix subscription. Between the three, that’s fifty dollars a month savings. I’m on a roll.

My other resolution will be to get this fourth book finished, edited, formatted and out the door to take its place alongside the other three on Amazon’s virtual shelves. I had hoped for a January release, but that’s not going to happen. Going for the first quarter of 2020. After that, I have an idea for a LitRPG story. Of course, being me, it can’t just be someone playing a game. I’ll shed more light on the matter once the current work is finished.

My short story is still awaiting editing. I haven’t looked at it since I wrote it. Handed it off to someone to look over, but they’ve had a rough few months and haven’t had the chance to futz with it. I may just have to go through it and do my best to clean it up on my own. I want to give it out to everyone as a freebie, but I can’t do that if it’s languishing on a hard drive unloved. It’s just a fun little story focused on the twins and a much older Jaki (takes place ten years after the events of the main series). Nothing deep or thought provoking—just entertaining. At least I hope!

Okay, I’ve rattled on plenty. I just wanted to let everyone know I’m still alive and chugging along on writing as best I can. Gonna finish up another scene tonight and then start on a new one tomorrow. Time to kick some slaver butt.

Warm fuzzies, folks! Here’s to a fresh start on a new year.