The Long and Whiny Road to Autumn

I love autumn and tend to want to look over my year, to start preparing for the new one.

This past year has had challenges for sure. I thought I would publish a fantasy rom novella and an SFR, but, life. Which has been the story of my life for the past several years!

In February we got very bad news about our health insurance plan changes, which left expensive meds hubby and I both take off the plan. A financial crisis, there. We tried to get that fixed but finally, I was forced to look for a new job. I'm 60, with mobility issues, so needed all desk/computer. And good insurance. And a little money! So that consumed time, energy and all my focus on writing fled. 

I finally found a job the end of April. It wasn't ideal. Insurance and money were good, the boss was demanding and scolding, and it involved more walking than I would be able to do during bad times. So I was still in job hunt mode.

Did I mention I live in a small oil boom town that has hit a huge depression due to the oil crash? Yeah...

I soldiered on. Became obsessed with kidlit and Harry Potter fanfic, lol. Comfort reads, I think. Plus, free, since the medication bills set us so behind. And some are very creative in a What If sense. When not writing, I am a book a day reader.

A little writing going on. Did some fun beta reads. 

A writer friend I knew online for years passed away so suddenly of an infection. My age. She had a stomach ache one day, went to the ER, and died the next day.

Thirty fanfics later, hubby burned his delicate, diabetic neuropathy feet, 2nd degree burns over 90% on one foot, 50% on the other. He is disabled due to his feet, so this was another crisis, the type that could lead to amputations (a 365 fanfic download situation).  Six weeks of bedrest with three dressing changes a day. Happily, I have lovely, helpful daughters who leaped in to help.

Finally, some good news. Scoldy boss got fired for scolding, I left the daily hike behind, and I got a substantial raise! I quit job hunting, since they seemed to want me to stick around. Hubby got off bed rest but needed to regain strength. I cut back on the fanfic.

I got back a beta read on a short story that opened it up for me. I revised, knowing where I was going. Writing was fun, right now. Set for a Thanksgiving release, Orc in Winter is a winter holiday fantasy romance set in a high fantasy world.

I have a scifi story that is eating my brain, but it starts with a pack of kids. Set in the Diaspora Worlds, though. An adult couple is just around the corner. We'll see if I can wrestle it into a Diaspora Worlds romance, or if it will need a new setting and become YA. Hmmm. Early days, still.