Richard Raley's Blog, page 18

RAIN!!!!!!!!

 GLORIOUS RAIN!!!!!!

Late Night Writing

 And I'm cold...

And the air isn't trying to strangle me...

Fresno...are you feeling okay?

This isn't like you!

Tease: Guess the Speaker Edition #2

“A man with an action-figure collection should be careful with his jests.”

Yearly Endoscopy Down

I probably shouldn't be typing this today since I'm legally a danger to myself and to society and in no way responsible for my actions (hell yes sedatives!), but...

As if all the bariatric surgery stuff wasn't enough, I'm still wrapping up treatment for the massive EOE flare I went through during lockdown (not recommended unless rolling around in agony on your bed trying not to scream because that will just make it hurt more is one of your personal kinks).  Last September (post surgery since all my pipes got reworked) I finally showed proper eosinophil count from biopsies and if it's still good this go around I get to start tapering off the meds over the next year, so...here's hoping!

Yeah, once a year doctors get to stick a probe down my throat and cut pieces of me out...cuz science!

Better than the other end, right?

But...bit of a sore throat and upset stomach (what's left of it) and...very tired since there is something very very very wrong with society that we think waking up before...let's go with 2pm...is ever acceptable.  Vampire hours are best hours!  Especially this 5am shit, drive to the hospital at 7am and there's already hundreds of high school kids milling all around, no wonder they're all asleep in class!  Bitch, I stayed up to watch Conan and Stone Cold raise some hell on WWF Raw and Beavis and Butthead and South Park back when it was still paper stop motion, how am I waking up at 5am to go school?  Oh, wait, that was over 20 years ago, you  old cranky bastard...

Anyway...writer is tired.

Fresno...might cool down end of next week.

So...progress should increase then.

Although, I have been working quite an acceptable amount just not on anything up on the status update page quite yet...

Hmmm....

Secrets!

Not Cool, Fresno!

I grudgingly accept that you're a shithole from May to August, but 105 for three days in a row during September is fucking uncalled for!

Also, more interestingly, Saturday marks the 10 year anniversary of THE FOUL MOUTH AND THE FANGED LADY being published.  Been a rough few years, as we've hashed over again and again, but things are looking better.  Still not on track, but I'd say the track is in sight and I can hear the train over the horizon.  Which is a big improvement on where we were.

Granted, even at six main novels and 4 side novels, quite a nice bit of effort all told.  Will definitely be looking at beating that mark in the next decade for sure!

Also granted, the books have gotten bigger and the tales have gotten wilder 😉

Oh for the days when King Henry thought teapots were his greatest nemesis!

Tease: Guess the Speaker Edition

 “Can I just stand in the corner and be all cool and broody while you do it?”

Not Much to Say Update

Still hot.

Still smoky.

Still working when I can but really looking forward to autumn and winter.

Crossed below 230 pounds last week.  Ton of it is hanging skin at this point.  Don't quite have the Lady Knockers I can throw over my shoulder, but if I do a sumo pose its pretty fucking skin monster hilarious.

Still sick of doctors.  Have an endoscopy in a couple weeks I'm really not looking forward to.  Might not even happen cuz the Rona keeps killing everyone...AGAIN...so there's that.

Still working...which I guess I already said.  Very much the marathon-not-sprint part of the job.  Slogging through TWO middles at the moment.  Humps abound and not the grunting variety!  Also putting some pages into another project which you guys might hear about if it doesn't suck...

Nothing exciting, but consider this my Author Is Still Kicking Update for the next month!

Stay safe, stay cool!

So HOT August Update

So hot...

Not as ON FIRE as last week, but...so hot...just, I generally hate living in Fresno, but I REALLY hate Fresno at the moment, like...am about done with Fresno at this point in my life kind of hate Fresno...just...so hot!

*glances at Canada, sees its also on fire*

*glances at Alaska, sees bear eating a moose*

Anyway, 27 pages left to type in.  Session 94 is in the can.  7ish left to go from what I figure.  Been averaging about 12k a chapter at this rate, so makes it 84k left to write, which is probably what I've written so far once these pages are in the word file, so...

Halfway there?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Everything has ballooned with this novel so far, so I'm leery, but...maybe we are?

I do have to remind myself that as the last School Story, this novel is wrapping up a whole timeline and has quite a bit more to do.  Also there's the whole Class 2015 aspect, which...them's a lot of new characters, Raley.  Granted they had their moment and should be more background now, but...pffft.

Story-wise...we're not even to the Winter War that represents the title of the book, so...

I'm fucking scared, guys!

What have I created?

It's gonna eat me!!!

Just like that poor moose...

War to End All Wars Mini Tease #4

“There’s three testing periods?” Tatiana wasn’t the only one horrified, she’s just the one spoke up.

Wagged my finger. “Testing never stops, that’s just when they let it get mundane with the exams.”

“We don’t have homework, right?” Max Lamont worried.

“It’s a school,” Cicero Yates scoffed, “of course we have homework.”

“But…we don’t have a home!”

“If it’s anything like at the Academy,” Juliette Maes-Welf mollified, “then think of it less as busy work and more like weekly essays.”

“That’s worse!” Tat growled.
“Down with the system!” I agreed, fist in the air.

FYI

 Text Widget is acting weird and I couldn't update it without messing around in the blog layout with html so I've changed the Status Updates at the top to its own page so it's easier on me, just click the link if you want to see them now.

Outside of that...I'm typing all those hand-written pages into the laptop at the moment editing as I go.

60 left at this point.

Also, I finally admitted to myself that WAR TO END ALL WARS will need 16 sessions, not the usual 8 a school story gets, and things look more manageable now.