Creating a quiet escape
Aug 09, 2026 6:16 pm
My Spring/Fall Retreat is DONE!
I have this HUGE deck, like 20'x40' and it's great for outside meals in the fall, but the rest of the year, I step out side, see the clutter, and go back inside. Well I was tired of that. I actually like being outside, if I can avoid the bugs and not baking. So I've spent the last month getting my deck set up to be something I love and that I want to sit on. And I think I'm mostly done. Check it out here!
I'm still struggling with writing. Is this burn out? Or just panic? I have one book done, another 1/3 but I've stalled out. I'm thinking I need to go write some fanfiction or something. It might be a nice change of pace. But really I'm still stuck with properties that are more than 20 years old at this point, because I watch very little TV. Glares my brain. I really want to write these stories and share them with you. Hmm, maybe I should post a chapter a week on my Discord and invite you to come read them? Thoughts?
Dragoncon approaches and I finally have all the books. Now to finish packing them. My office looks like it exploded into boxes and tubs. See??? I need to start packing!!!
Book Recommendations!
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One minute Andy and Zoey are normal teenagers in 2018, the next they are in a world they don't recognize and the Greek gods are real. Their task? Save humanity. Lead a war on the gods. Check out the free book - The Helm of Darkness.
Weekly Micro Story
Watchmaker
I stared up at the gears with teeth bigger than my head. "What exactly am I supposed to do here?"
[Fix it.] The voice was everywhere and no where. It was worse than having someone talk to you via speakers as I could hear it inside my head. The only voices inside my head should be mine. Though this one said less negative stuff.
"I'm a watch repair person, not a world gears person." Though my eyes were already tracing the connections, the rotations, getting lost in the puzzle of directional flows and movement.
[Semantics. Gears are gears.]
I wanted to scoff, but I had found redundancies and conflicts that made no sense. Still, they were bigger than I was, how would I fix it.
"Fine, I can see a multitude of issues, at least four broken teeth, and two cracked gears. And I suspect there are more. But they are bigger than I am. How do you expect me to fix them?" Exasperation filled my voice, as well as longing. My hands itched to start unraveling the puzzle to make what was broken and efficient run the way they should.
There was silence from the voice, then it grumbled. [Valid. Upgrade incoming.]
"Upgrade?" the words had barely left my mouth when a wave of lava ripped through me, burning, searing, destroying me. The pain broke my ability to scream or think and I sobbed as I fell to the floor.
[Completed. You can now repair everything with a thought.]
Between one pulse and the next the pain vanished and I lay on the floor panting. But even the memory of the pain faded. I lifted my head to gaze at the gear above me, one tooth missing, leaving a gaping hole. That would be one of the first things to fix.
Even as I looked at it, the base of the gap bulged and a tooth grew up.
[Upgrade verified. Fix them.]
I blinked and slow smile chased away the echoes of pain. This would be fun.
~*~
I'd rather think they are hunting something I can't see than just being crazy.
Dragoncon - Atlanta, GA Sept 3-7
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