Sorry for the silence, executive dysfunction + depression makes just typing hard.
A couple of people asked what I need. A short list:
- Money. I've been unable to get work because of my mental health and I'm trying to get treatment (nobody will hire me after an interview) and I'm applying a disability pension. But the system is fighting me every step of the way and I just don't have the spoons to do that fast.
Ok, it's been a long, long, long, long, long, long time and I'm sorry for that.
While I haven't managed to catch COVID, I've been busy with mental health, finances and other survival issues, including a two-week spate of homelessness last year (don't worry, it was the white version of homelessness not 'living off the street').
Thank you so much for all your support, comments and Kudos on Witch's Apprentice. I'm going to do another editing pass on it and make some corrections for future viewings but I'm also considering a slight spin-off of the series with a story focusing on Skuld and what happens next with her story from her point of view. Let me know if you'd like to see that.
Things are calming down with the move so I'm hoping that now I've got some stability I'll be able to work on things more.
Greetings all. So, wow, a lot has happened. I had to move again because my landlord sold the apartment out from under us. Good news is that my roomies and I got a much better place.
Hi everyone, quick status update. Money's been tight lately and I've been trying to deal with that, which has taken up most of my time. Dissonance Part 1, FatIT Part VI and Witch's Mirror 2 are in a holding pattern while I get stabilised. I'm also getting some therapy again now, so that's good. I'm not about to drop off the end of the earth, though I understand I haven't published anything for six months, which isn't ideal at all. I'm sorry, needs must and all that.
Thank you for your patience, I hope to get something out for you all soon.
Hello all again, it's been a busy month but things are falling into a routine and I'm writing more again.
Bad news: the Twin Tails game is ending a bit abruptly thanks to difficulties the GM is having with the campaign structure. I'll try to tie off the story to give everyone closure but that'll be it for Amaya and Akiko for a while. I'm a bit saddened I'm not going to get to play them for a while, but I'll probably re-make them for a new game later on.
March nearly over and I know I haven't written much. After getting over the flu and everything I talked about last blog, my GFs and I finally found an affordable apartment! We're moving in this weekend! All of the excite!
That being said, I've been organising all of my stuff to move and things have been hectic, hence a lack of updates and writing happening on my end. We'll be moved and settled soon and I plan to seriously hit the word processor and get movement on Twin Tails (we got another episode in the can, so I'm getting behind), Dissonance and FatIT Part VI.
Like the title says, Witch's Mirror hit 200 Kudos recently and I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. This is the highest any of my stories have ever gotten and I feel like it's a milestone that deserves some celebration. I wish I could, like, release the first part of Dissonance (new Sara story) or publish Fate and the Iron Tiger 6 or something but neither are done. I don't even have a new Twin Tails, which is an issue.
Family stuff and visiting people has taken up a lot of my time recently. Good news is, we got another session of Divine Blood in the can last night, so there should be a new Twin Tails soon. Otherwise, my new Sara story, Dissonance, and Fate and the Iron Tiger Part 6 is being worked on and moving towards inevitable, if slow, completion. Compounding that issue, I have to work on Thrythlind's new Divine Blood books and kick them out the door asap.
Happy Holidays to all, I hope this time of year has been good to you.
The muse seems to have taken hold on the new Sara story more than FatIT, I'm afraid, so I wouldn't expect part 6 this year. But it is coming, probably in January.
We got a short game in Friday and I just finished the unedited draft of Chapter 11 of Twin Tails. It's up for preview on my patreon at the moment, should be here in a day or two. Just a planning session this time, a bit of character banter and defusing an angry mob of rich people. Was still fun.
Wow, what a week. New Twin Tails is finally up, I only did one editing pass because I wanted to get it to everyone after being extra-double-special late. Feedback very appreciated if you can spare a moment. In my defence, I've had dizzy spells on Friday and yesterday plus my Dad fell out of the ceiling Sunday morning. He's fine, just a few cuts and bruises, nothing permanent and no hospital visit. He's recuperating well but it was a bit of a shock for all of us.
So, I posted a blog post yesterday to tell everyone that we got a game of Divine Blood in and I was working on the new episode of Twin Tails but it seems to have mysteriously disappeared. Word count too small, maybe? I mean, I guess I can pad these out but what I'm typing right at this moment feels a bit ridiculously wordy just to let people know I'm still around and working even though I've been a bit slow this month.
It's that time of year, I feel like everything's either winding down or winding up to Christmas. I've been a bit deflated and easily distracted lately despite feeling pretty good about thinks.
Thanks to everyone who read Witch's Mirror. It's been my most successful story posted here, eclipsing Hold the Salt from five years ago. It's been so successful that, with NaNoWriMo rolling around, I decided to try to expand it into a full-length novel over November. Unfortunately, it's not going well, I'm way behind. But I'll keep plugging away at it.
Well, Witch's Mirror is out and the outpouring of kudos certainly makes it seem I've done something right, which is gratifying. It was a joy to write and I really want to continue Ciara's adventures in the future.
We did have the last session of Airship Lost in the end, but we were down two people and the session ended on a cliffhanger. I'm a little hesitant about posting such a session but I'm working on it. If it's going to be too long between postings, I'll put it up. The spice must flow and all that.
So, while I'm editing and re-writing Hold the Salt, it struck me back when I wrote that one of my goals was to put out one Halloween-themed story or horror story a year. I never made this goal. This led me to pause my editing for three days to write a Halloween story for this year, I mentioned it in my last blog post.
Yeah, after one of my fellow players was a no-show last night and the GM was blasted from work, we took a break from the game last night. Unfortunately, this means no new Twin Tails for another two weeks. Not ideal but these things happen.
On the bright side, I'll be able to concentrate on Hold the Salt editing this week, which means I'm getting closer to finishing Fate and the Iron Tiger. I also got a start on a prequel to Twin Tails and I'm poking at a vampire story for Halloween that, knowing my luck with Halloween stories, won't come out for Halloween.
Sorry for the delay but Twin Tails C7-8 is finally out. I had to update it twice with minor tweaks after I posted it, but they're quite minor additions.
I had a depressive episode last week which delayed my projects as well as the release of Path of Fire for Guild Wars 2, which has gotten me back into the MMO for a bit. Hold the Salt is still being edited and will be re-released, I don't have a due date but it's progressing. After that, I'll be finishing Fate and the Iron Tiger. From there, I'm not sure what will be next but I'll be getting on with something.
Session 2 of Airship Lost went off without a hitch last night. Expect Chapter 5 of Amaya and Akiko's adventures soon. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed playing it. I also should be getting my artwork of Ichiro/Amaya/Akiko sometime this week from the talented Avionetca https://avionetca.deviantart.com/ , I'm really stoked with the sketch she showed me so I'm looking forward to sharing that with everyone.
This means a few things and it doesn't mean a few things. What it DOESN'T mean is that I'm about to stop posting to Big Closet, or I'm about to limit free content. What is does mean is that I can value add by doing things like offering my stories in e-reader formats, collaborate with patrons and have my own discord. It also means that I will be editing and correcting publications, which will increase the quality of my work.
I've got a new offering called Adventures of the Twin Tails posted now. It's the origin of my new character for the Divine Blood campaign plus our first session from her perspective. I've tried to be as accurate as possible but some of the events may me slightly embellished for the purposes of good storytelling when compared to the real session. Hope everyone enjoys.
Also, you can find out more about the session from another perspective by visiting my GM Thrythlind's blog here:
Right, step 1 in keeping my promise not to disappear: posting blog entries regularly.
Step 2, actually post a new story.
Step 3... er, let's take this one step at a time.
Hi all, thanks for your comments on my last entry. Sorry if I didn't get back to all of you, I'm going to try to answer some stuff here.
Over two years and all I feel I can do is apologize. I didn't mean to just disappear again, I'm not going to excuse the 6 months prior to 2016 but last year was the best and worst year of my life.
I wanted to write an apology to everyone who has been supportive of my writing for the last 11 years. Real Life for the last 2 years has been hectic. Early in 2013 I had 6 months of dealing with a chronic acute gall bladder infection caused by stones. Gall bladder had to be removed. After that, I re-wrote FatIT as Tenjin for general consumption and promptly hit a dry spell that stymied both recreational and professional writing. I'm so, so, sorry FatIT Part 6 is taking so long to produce; I am at least as frustrated as anyone that it's not out there right now being read.
It's been brought to my attention that the fact that my new book's not TG (see last blog post) might affect people's purchasing decisions. Fair enough, I didn't even think of it at the time I posted the last blog post, so I'm letting people know now.
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
