Wed. Aug. 30, 2023: A Blue Moon, A Shock, A Frustration
image courtesy of Pexels via pixabay.comWednesday, August 30, 2023
Full Moon/Blue Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, Chiron, Mercury, Uranus Retrograde
Heavy rain
Blue Moon today! Got an ear worm of the song yet? You will!
Today’s Process Muse is about Fictional Food. You can read it here. Apologies that it went out about a half hour late this morning. For some reason, Substack’s scheduling glitched, and I had to manually send it. Mercury Retrograde in action.
We have two serial episodes going live today.
Angel Hunt serial episode:
Episode 63: When Teenaged Boys Don’t Do Their Homework
A pair of teenaged boys found a spell that calls for poison. Only they don’t know they’ve been given multiple names for the same poison. What could go wrong?
Deadly Dramatics serial episode:
Episode 13: Nina Resents Charlie’s Digging
Nina equates his investigation into her bank account with rummaging in her lingerie drawer.
In other circumstances. . .
I was dragging yesterday. It was difficult to get going. And the fucking beeping heavy machinery interfered every time I started to find a rhythm.
I got out a flash fiction submission first thing in the morning. So it felt like maybe I got a little bit done.
I tried to write, but the unfinished paperwork from the previous day weighed on me. I changed gears and did it, then wrote some notes that were sadly late. I had to order more notes from Peter Pauper Press (where I get my stationery and most journal books), because I’m almost out of notecards.
It took three hours to get the paperwork done. But it’s done, and I walked down to the Post Office to send the paperwork via certified mail (the notes just went out with cute stamps). I still have a few more notes to write, but they are not as urgent. I can spread them out over this week.
On the walk back, I meandered down Church Street so I could photograph some of the wonderful architecture. Of course, the batteries ran down partway through, so I was changing batteries on the street, but at least I’d brought an extra set!
It was sunny and hot, but it was nice to be outside for a bit, and taking photos that I will then use for a variety of projects.
After lunch, I revised/polished/uploaded/scheduled the next four episodes of ANGEL HUNT and did all the paperwork that surrounds that. After that, I jumped in to two of the Kindle Vella groups and participated in group promotions. I did my bit (and a little more) on both. Let’s hope others choose one of my serials in return. I need to get my numbers back up. Had a conversation with a radio producer, too, so that was all good.
I had a series of small epiphanies over the day, which made sense with all the retrogrades and the gathering full moon/blue moon in Pisces energy. I have to sit with them for a few days to figure out how to put what I learned into practice.
Scampered off to yoga, where we had a shock. One of our regulars went in for surgery that morning, and did not survive. It was a blow – we’d all been laughing and talking together just last week. As our instructor put it, we had a good “stretch and cry” together. At least we could hold each other in our grief and shock, and not try to navigate it alone, or pretend it wasn’t a part of the day’s experience.
When I got home, I found a play a friend asked for some feedback on, and I had to tell her that I’d look at it today; I was in no shape to give any worthwhile feedback, and telling her made more sense than either trying to push through, or not responding to the email. I will look at it this morning, because I know she needs to get the script out the door.
I had to just sit with the sadness last night.
Managed to sleep through the night (first time for a long time). However, I was awakened at 5:15 by a terrible crash. One of the cats knocked over the altar table in my room. It was either Charlotte or Willa; Tessa grew up with the altar and knows how to deal with it. Willa is nosy, and Charlotte rummages in that part of the room. Charlotte looked guilty and hid, but she often does that when Willa is the culprit, because Charlotte is more likely to be caught/blamed.
Only one item broke – a seashell shaped dish out of glass. I cleaned it up, and all the shards. If that’s not a demand by the universe to get over the disappointment of my Cape Cod life and get on with things, right?
I located almost everything else – crystals and other bits and bobs scattered all over the place. The stopper for the small water decanter hasn’t been found yet, but it’s got to be in there somewhere. It’s a finite space.
The top priority was to make sure there was no glass left on the ground to get stuck in little cat paws (or my bare feet). So I was thorough.
I’ll be pulling crystals out of the radiator for weeks.
Okay, universe, did you HAVE to be so loud to get my attention to rearrange the altar for tonight’s blue moon?
Eye roll.
Fed those cats. Tessa made it clear that her breakfast shouldn’t be late because the other cats are clumsy. But she had to deal.
Because of the weather and the crash, I didn’t go to the laundromat this morning. I will go tomorrow.
I realized the Process Muse post hadn’t gone out, so I went back into the dashboard and sent it manually. Don’t know what that was all about. Because I’d confirmed the scheduling of the post when I tested it. No matter; it’s out now.
I will read my friend’s script first thing, then get back to my own writing. I have to work on Legerdemain. I have to work on the Llewellyn articles. I want to get more of ANGEL HUNT up. I have to polish the pages for tomorrow’s Nightwood session. I have to do today’s serial promotions. I also have three client projects that I need to turn around. It won’t add up to much this pay period, but at least it will be something.
One of the things I need to sit and contemplate is what kind of clients I’m looking to add to my roster for fall and winter. I want to do yet another pivot in the freelance work. And a pivot, rather than an expansion or contraction. In order to do that well, I need to clarify it for myself. Good topic for the upcoming Ink-Dipped Advice posts! That blog will start up again next week.
I finished reading a book by an author whose work I’ve read for years. Possibly decades at this point. I absolutely adored the first book of hers I read years ago, and that whole series. She wrote another series about a topic that didn’t particularly interest me; I read the first book, and while it was well-written, it still didn’t pull me into the topic. She’s been writing a long running series for a few years now, that’s doing well, that I mostly enjoy. This book was a stand-alone, in a different genre, which I applaud. However, I struggled with the book. I had trouble respecting the protagonist at times; the growth was slow for most of the book, and then suddenly, everything was fixed and wrapped up in the last ten pages, which didn’t quite work for me. But the big thing was that the characters who were supposed to be sympathetic and relatable constantly demeaned other women by using “witch” as a derogatory.
Again, this is something that I’ve watched the traditional publishers do, particularly Kensington and Berkeley, as their cozy mysteries become more performative about diversity and inclusion, while actually moving harder and harder to the right. This was not a cozy, nor was it published by either of those publishers; it was published by a firm who should know better.
I am deeply disappointed in both the author and the publisher.
At the same time, as the character gained some insights into necessary life changes, it got me thinking about some changes in progress, and some that are still necessary. Which is always a good thing. But I cannot recommend the book, due its pejorative use of “witch.”
Which makes me sad, because I have often recommended this particular author’s books, both publicly and privately, over the years.
I have a lot to do today. A lot to think about.
And a lot to clean up – I have to put my altar back together in time for tonight’s ritual!
Have a good one, my friends. Hug your loved ones tight, because you just never know.
