By Hey everyone. I know it’s been a few days since you’ve seen any posts from me, but I’m here to bring you up to speed on my life and what’s been going on–and I want to preface this news by saying no, I will not be taking another break or hiatus. Not really.
For starters, my “temporary” IRL job became permanent, and my schedule changed from the much preferable 4 days of 10 hour evening and overnight shifts, to the typical 5 day shifts each week. I prefer the former; for one, less calls to deal with. Also, having a three day weekend in the middle of the week rocked–it meant I could schedule doctor’s appointments and plan lunch dates with people, and if I needed to pick up my kid from the bus then I had that option. Now, I’m more reliant on my family for childcare, and I can’t see my doctors without calling off of work, which makes saving up difficult…
And then last week, our family dog died. I know, it’s not like the death of a parent or other human relative… But I still remember being fourteen years old and meeting the little runt for the first time. He was the ugliest, cutest lil fuzzball who loved snuggling up inside my shirt. When he was a year or so old, he started stealing plush toys from the bottom of my bookcase and hiding them in his bed to chew on (among other things).
He was tiny and feisty… And towards the end there, he was a husk of his former self. His back hunched, his legs barely bent, his teeth fallen out so he couldn’t eat solid food. He couldn’t see or hear well, and he had regular seizures. Myself and several other relatives were begging my parents to take him to a vet and have him put down. He was fifteen years old and suffering from all these conditions–hell, my dad resuscitated him twice. But my parents couldn’t bare to be without him… Those fucking assholes.
I’m sorry, I know losing a pet is like losing a child and all that, but in putting off the inevitable they forced their “child” to suffer. And I’m supposed to be okay with that? I’m supposed to shrug it off because they put themselves before their own precious baby boy?
… Sorry. The point is that that’s what’s been going on in my life. My job has changed (but not enough to where I get paid more or flexible hours) and my dog died. There have been a couple of other things, but I’d rather not turn this into a Ravings post. This was only meant to give you an idea as to why I’ve decided to do what I’m about to do.
Effective immediately, there will be no more schedules. Nothing planned out, not rhyme or reason. I’ve found that I work more effectively when I’m not under pressure–or rather, when the pressure isn’t so bad. I was putting a lot of expectations on myself and forgot the most important part of creating, which was to create simply for the love of doing so. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of my stories and have no intentions of stopping any of them. I’ll just be doing things a little bit differently.
I have eight posts scheduled, all Weird character biographies, so you’ll still see an update every Wednesday evening. Beyond that, nothing will be scheduled. I’ll create as I go and update when I can. I’m hoping this will (1) give me a chance to breathe, (2) let me catch up on Vocal, and (3) focus on Saturn Rising, Book Two: Taurus and a Weird side project which I’ll post about soon.
I’ve also been asked if I’ll open commissions up again this November… I don’t know. I don’t think I can handle more than what I’m doing at this time. I don’t have the energy for anything else, sadly. Not to mention my migraines have increased in frequency and are beginning to interfere with my IRL job and writing projects.
So, to sum it all up: other than your regularly scheduled Weird character bios, there will be no planned updates! No more schedule, no more “updated every such-and-such day.” No more specific times and feeling guilty for missing self-imposed deadlines. I’ll create without constraints and post as I go… And I hope that’s okay with you reading this. I hope you’ll continue to support me, to read my work and share it with your friends.
What’s this mean for my stories? Well, I think Lizzie’s Diary has hit the point where it deserves a short break… Before things really go down, you know? I just want you all to gear up before the finale. Don’t worry, no more crazy fights and deaths. Probably.
As for Weird: Book of Secrets, that last chapter was quite the cliffhanger, huh? Well, you’ll have to wait until it returns to find out. And don’t worry, the break won’t be long and the party won’t end there. We still need to see what’s going on with some of our other characters, as well as allude to some unlikely pairings 😏
Monty’s Memories can’t have it’s finale (or I guess it’s more of an afterword) until LD ends, and I downright refuse to update Scarlett Moon or start Daring Melody until I feel the time is right.
As for The Arcane Citizen… I don’t know. That was a fun little side project to see what I was capable of, as well as drop lore hints for the series. I want to keep it going, but I also don’t see the point in creating for an audience that only seems to care when I post health tips, ya know? Which, by the way, are some of my most time-consuming posts. Those and the sports ones–I’m not exactly well-versed on either of those subjects, so they both require a lot of research so that Melusine, Feliks, and Helena actually sound like they know what they’re talking about. Axel’s poetry section is also a bit hard… Poetry never came easy for me, and it was only within the past couple of years that I actually tried it seriously. I feel I’ve grown a little as a poet, but it doesn’t flow from me like stories and character bios. Cari’s educational magick articles and Angel’s drama blogs aren’t so bad–they just require some planning.
I think the easiest one is Aerwyna’s tarot reading; after all, I’ve been throwing cards and telling fortunes since I was a teenager. Granted, I wasn’t raised to believe in the Celtic-based Wicca most are familiar with, but in Santeria, which tends to draw from several other influences. Hell, just the idea of creating another tarot post as her is getting me excited, especially since I had so many plans for her… So I may just transform Wyn’s Weekly Insight into something new.
I guess we’ll see.
Well, I need to hop off my PC now. I got on with the intention of writing, and ended up ranting on here… And now I’ve wasted my time. I can feel the migraine coming, and it’ll be the third one this week. I need to go rest and hope this won’t ruin my plans tonight.
Thanks for sticking around. Stay safe. Please don’t give up on me.
Natty P. 🖤
Sisters of the Shadows 