Mewsyngs of an Upstart Feline Miscreant

September! Back to school--wait, I don't do that anymore.

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So what's next? Finishing writing Shakedown Cruise, figuring out what to do with the Rose's Crime Spree (currently being read by a friend who's providing great proofreading notes and comments), planning out next book after Shakedown Cruise, continuing Godot game development...

Winter is coming. Aiee! I should start thinking about flu and Covid vaccines. Likely in October.

We are now officially past the halfway mark for 2026!

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So what's coming next?

July 16 will mark the end of Timecrossed Engineer: Back to School's exclusive period in the Kindle Unlimited store so I will be bringing it onto Kobo and whatever else is reasonably doable without a lot of fussing.

I have some editing to do on the Rose's Crime Spree, and then I need to decide if I want to commit to publishing it for free on Royal Road. I don't really see too many options here; it's a choice between selling in the low tens (spare change basically) or trying to grow an audience for what is probably a relatively fringe subgenre (furry science fiction heist novels).

After that, I should get back to Shakedown Cruise, either edit what I have already or push on.

I've been thinking about what could be 'next' after that. Starting to think about a more typical LitRPG story for Royal Road. Maybe a space trader in an EVE-alike game?

Hope you all are doing well out there!

Hope you all made it into May successfully!

( Cut for length. )So what's up this month? Well, I'm basically hip deep in writing Shakedown Cruise, which is at about 50k written. I'd like to get the Rose's Crime Spree into the hands of first readers, the main obstacle is me being shy. I am an introvert, darn it. x.x But time's burning, if I want to get a new book out in July, I need to get moving, get a cover done, do edits, etc.

I need to actually get through my physical, which will in all likelihood include a fasting blood test, and hopefully get a passing grade.

Memorial Day later in the month. I'll make a bacon cheeseburger around then with onion rings to celebrate. Given I cook all my own meals, yes, I schedule my hedonistic extravagances and dietary splurging.

Hello everyone, welcome to March!

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What's next? Taxes, probably. I hope to get some feedback on my outline for Shakedown Cruise, so I can start writing. I'd like to finish up the cover for the Rose's Crime Spree and maybe see it published in the coming months. Though I have been considering whether I want to try flogging it on one of the web serial publishing sites like Royal Road.

I'm also considering further marketing for Timecrossed Engineer: Back to School. That is, I need to do something, but what? o.o

Darn it, what twisted universe is this where introverts have to market their own books?!

Behold, my first book! (said Tufty nervously)

A Star Trek-inspired novel featuring an engineer reliving her Academy days in an effort to escape a future life that is overworked and underappreciated… Too bad her captain is here to drag her back kicking and screaming.

Link here!

Now I am an actual author! Well, I had one publication credit before this, "Best in Show" actually had a short story of mine in it, but this is my first novel... And the first time I've managed to get a book all the way from outline to completed story, though I have a decent-sized number of novel-shaped objects I committed on the way to this point.

I owe rowyn much gratitude for helping me refine the outline and doing first reading services! Plus much encouragement and advice about writing and self-publishing.

I had no idea that writing the book would be the comparatively easy part... compared to launching the book and then making announcements about it. ^.^;; Help, I am an introvert! Why do I have to address the public?

Well, days in the life of a fledgling writer!

That's November in the bag!

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So plan for December... Finish editing the Rose in Nova Paree novel and then start looking for first readers. Try and make the ebook for Timecrossed Engineer so I can give it a last read-through in "finished form." There may be a family Christmas get-together or not, I don't really know.

Maybe I'll start on a new novel... either late December or early in 2026.

Another month has gone by...

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The end is in sight for the novel I've been working on... After that, I think I'll try to finish up that illo for Archangel Beth, edit the Star Trek-like novel I finished last year, finish up the cover picture for it, release it for cheap and maybe serialize it somewhere for free. Then I'll edit the SF heist novel and release that as well.

Then I'll want to start thinking about the next book I'll be working on...

Some candidates: a sequel to the Star Trek-like novel, trying once again to make an Alien Tastes standalone novel, doing something with superheroes, doing something else entirely...

Well, July has been a month! Let's see... ( What happened in July? )

In sad news, Tugrik, a friend of mine, passed away. Watts Martin wrote a short note on the subject.

This does cause certain complications because he was the DNS provider for some domains I own, so I'm going to have to figure out who's taking over that role.

August, I need to start looking at health care insurance to replace COBRA which I've been on for the last 18-ish months. "Whee," says Tufty.

I am approximately 2/3rd the way through the novel I've been working on, and I hope to have it done by the end of the year.

Re: my last report, I wound up with Trader Joe's chicken enchiladas for Cinco de Mayo, but made myself a BBQ cheeseburger for Memorial Day which was good, though I should perhaps have gotten some french fries or onion rings from TJ's as well. I'll have to keep that in mind for July 4th and Labor Day. For June, it's the usual home cooking; I'll be doing a Korean-themed menu for the first two weeks, then my usual Chinese-themed menu for the second two weeks, in preparation for an American themed menu in the first two weeks of July.

Physical exam went fine. My cholesterol is a bit high but less high than it was the previous year, so that is a positive trend.

HVAC checkup. I've agreed to have them replace the filters and add a purifier to the heat pump itself, which sounds like a boost for overall house air quality.

I wound up writing a 9k word "heistcute" to test out my ideas for the Scofflaw Villainess. The couple of first readers who have peered at it seemed to enjoy it, so on we go! I wrote 22,429 words in the novel itself, tentatively titled "The Chameleon Rose Takes Nova Paree."

I did some further inking on the Treasure Island picture. Maybe I'll get it done sometimes in June? We'll see. I've been focusing on the writing.

I reread Timecrossed Engineer to make sure it's still holding up, then sent it off to archangelbeth to be another first reader.

I also poked at my website a bit to try and get things in order so I can put shorter stories that I've decided to make free there. You can see that here. There are a couple of short stories in the writing section now if you're interested!

The newer short stories (Last of Her Kind, Two Bucks and a Soul, the Chameleon Rose and the Firebrand) I might try and shop around to magazines, we'll see how it goes.

March was kind of a distracted month. So many crazy things happening in the real world.

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I should try and schedule a physical checkup soon!

Still have to finish up with Timecrossed Engineer. I want to reread it at least, and finalized the cover.

My older bro has purchased a house and is in the process of moving, so soon we will be in the process of moving my aunts into his current house so they can empty out my local aunt's house.