Menu

Subscribe

PLN

A 845-post collection

Sneezin' and Wheezin' Season already?

I'm going through the tissues like they're going out of style, right now. It could be my hardy perennial self-neglect at at work, because I've not been taking my supplements... or it could be Sneezin' and Wheezin' Season.

Allergies are such fun.

I have a whole lot of sniffling and snorting and coughing and horking up linings of my bronchial tubes to look forwards to. For extremely limited definitions of "look forwards". Sneezin' and Wheezin' Season is hell. And I have one more payday before I can stock up on the juice and ginger ale.

Sigh.

On the plus side, 2015's Year of Instants has been cleared for general audiences. Anyone who's been holding off on paying me money for easy access to 365 stories in one handy volume can now rest easy that shoulder-surfers can also enjoy the content without thinking that you're some kind of perv. Do try and encourage them towards buying their own copy. Thanks in advance.

Fanfic gets the audiences in, but pro fic pays the bills. Le sigh. My current only hope is that my existing fans reel in more fans through word of mouth. Because lord knows that I can't frelling afford even Facebook advertising right now.

UGH.

I have to start hunting agents real soon now. Inertia is a terrible overlord, with its cronies: stress, anxiety, and doubt. But I can't sit here and whinge about my life. I have to at least try to get out there and climb the long ladder of success.

That way I can moan and whine about any failures along the way. YEARS OF MATERIAL! Thumb's up. Huzzah.

And, in the unlikely event that I become remotely successful, I can moan and whine about how I hardly have time for myself any more. It's win-win.

Kidding, of course. I will love having an income from something I really can't stop doing. It's what going on tours will probably do for my spoons that might be a problem.

And the inevitable "Who the fuck is this noob" author experiences where I go to read to an empty room or to two or five people who are just waiting for the next panel. Or where my merch table is treated like it has the Plague. I have a plan though. Get a shirt printed up that reads: "FREE CANDY! Ask me about my books." And wear it. And actually have a wide selection of Australian lollies to share.

It's amazing how Minties can break the ice.

And if EGDB takes off, I may also have shiny things at my table. Lure them in with promises of jewellery, sell them a book on the side.

I have a plan. Whether or not it's all gas depends entirely on my ability to combat inertia in the first place. But I really want to have a polished novel ready to go. Even if it's just going to go to Amazon or Smashwords in the end.

Gotta keep on trying. Fail faster. Eventually that wall will get tired of my concussion and fall over.

Firkin sleep issues

I woke up at 3AM again.

This time, I'm keeping a journal of my wakings and potential causes. See if there's a pattern. Confirm or deny what I already suspect.

And what I suspect is - my brain is its own worst enemy.

When I woke this morning, a weird dream turned into a real logistics battle in my head and then my thoughts wouldn't shut the fuck up. So I got up and worked on some fanfic because trying to go

Read more »

Ah, Monday.

One more day of relative peace and quiet and I didn't get anything that I was gassing about doing... done.

Oh well.

We have plentiful amounts of foodstuffs, thanks to a trip down to Golden Circle and Dicksons' [and more money was spent on Unsuitable Food than what you might call the genuine article]. I do have a bargain tray of Chook Thighs, so that and some simmer sauce is doubtless going to come to a pleasant arrangement in the not-too-distant future.

Read more »

Inertia is fun

It's almost 9 and I still haven't done anything productive. I have plans to see Deadpool and plans to see The Wonder Woman Movie er... Quasi-Homo-Erotic Posturing no. Wait. I got this. Batman vs Superman.

There we go.

Anyways, I have something of a personal mission to see all the grimdark and potentially nasty stuff I want to see but usually can't, before the kids come back from Scenic Coominya. And only so much money to see us through until next payday.

Read more »

Quietly dribbling

Beloved has shown me a lovely site called Ali Express which also comes with an app to shop with. I am under oath not to buy anything until we have money to spare again.

And in a total fit of insanity, I'm plotting to do some pride-flag clip-ons, so I've been looking up the assortments of seed beads.

Let me tell you about seed beads. They are tiny. They are most often glass. They are an absolute pain in the canker to

Read more »

Figuring things out

After some consideration, I have decided that my time and effort is best spent using my admittedly limited skills to help other folks by making things.

I know for a fact that there are ladies out there who can't or won't get their ears pierced. It doesn't matter why. It doesn't matter where - unless postage comes into it.

What matters is they must be sick and tired of the two mainstream options: (a) Granny buttons, or (b) Nothing.

I remember being

Read more »

Home Again, Huzzah

By my calculations, if I do an Instant today, I should have kept up with the ebb and flow of days quite well. Then I can focus on doing enough doubles to catch up on the overlap so my Years of Instants can be more or less in sync.

After an animated discussion with Beloved, raising money against leukemia isn't quite what it was cracked up to be. I shall have to figure out some other way to be helpful whilst also

Read more »

Fun times, fun times

Alongside suffering from massive sleep dep, the after-effects of which are still plaguing me to a minor degree... I am also plotting to be active for way longer than I'm used to.

I haven't pulled stuff like this since Uni. But it's the price I have to pay to not miss an instant of Steam Powered Giraffe.

Thanks to my new friends and Chauffers, I have cheap nibbles so I don't have to spend my reduced fortunes on the highly overpriced fare

Read more »

EEEEEEEEE....

OK so just on the red line, a very nice Onigiro volunteered hir brother for carpooling. Some, if not all of my candy may already be spoken for.

And this dawn, Beloved volunteered to drive my humble self to the airport so we don't have to fret about parking fees. And I don't have to worry about my car getting stolen or "Borrowed" Ferris Beuller(?) style.

[Though what anyone would want with a joyride in my crappy little car... I have no

Read more »

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...

Tomorrow morning is a busy morning.

Tomorrow morning, I get up,do my usual morning weigh-in [I'm in the 90K zone! Yay!] brush my teeth and take my meds... and then make sure both toothbrush and inhaler are in my carry-on.

Tomorrow, I take my refrigerated meds out of the fridge and pack them in my luggage. I make sure one baggie of supplements is in my carry-on and the other's contents go down my throat.

Tomorrow, I am sad to announce

Read more »

Ugh...

Last of the last of the running around, I hope and pray. I have eyedrops, sunscreen, and a tube of the pawpaw stuff. Just in case. I plan on carrying along my little tin can of band-aids and elastoplast. Also just in case.

I've emailed the people at WWWC about transport for foreigners, without much in the way of word in return.

I've emailed the people at Hello Cosplay about Overnighting my finished dress... without much in the way of word in

Read more »

I'M GOING TO TUCSON!!!

:@ YYYEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH! :@

Be best beloved darling dearest spouse had some frequent flyer points that were about to expire and decided to cash them in on a round trip to the States so I can go to the Wild Wild West Con in Tucson, Arizona, and see [IMO] the BEST BAND IN THE WORLD.

I honestly thought I'd have to wait a decade before I saw them in person. Minimum of five years, assuming they got as insanely popular as they deserve and actually

Read more »

That wasn't too horrible...

Shoes, socks and jocks for my little darlings managed to slide barely underneath $200, this time. Which means I have roughly $200 to focus on nommables for their lunchboxes, dinners for us, and the inevitable restocking of tissues.

And thanks to the brand new freezer, we have a lot of space for all kinds of nommables. Which means we might just have a chance of getting that dead sheep that we've been gassing about since firkin NOVEMBER.

I still have to re-stock

Read more »

As Bullwinkle once said...

"This time fer sure."

Finally got to make that appointment for Chaos, which is happening today. I'm finally going to get those dang schoolbooks. I may even see to one of our bills with the money I have left. Which should still leave roughly $100 in the kitty until next Tuesday.

I still have to talk to Beloved about getting that firkin mint plant to MeMum.

But at least I have the ball rolling on Chaos and all her disparate needs.

I

Read more »

So much to do... so many nibbles

I have a bad habit of leaving things until they enrage me enough to take care of it. Sure, I can summon the energy to do it all in one fair swoop, or a decent imitation of most of it, but it costs me a lot of spoons for a majority of the following week.

What I need to do is keep nibbling at the mountain.

I can wear it down in small bites and maintain the general state of things. A

Read more »