I quit this blog because it seems like no one reads blogs anymore. Or at least blogs that aren't provocative or promoted in some way, and I'm not going to do that. For me, this is just a space to share some of my thoughts and concerns. Usually, I keep an offline journal--just on my desktop in a plain txt file. It helps me center and focus my thoughts before I get writing. That way I don't end up with this:

Fred walked down the corridor. His feet moved. His hands swayed. His head turned as if on a swivel. Walking and walking, Fred had always loved walking. Placing one foot in front of the other. One might call it perambulating. Or even sauntering. Perhaps--

You get the idea. Ain't nobody got time for that. So yeah, a quick little blah blah blah in the mornings helps me stay focused.

Quick little side note: we got a kitten a while ago. I named him Pudding for some reason. Since no one reads this blog, it's probably safe to post a photo at some point. Lol. Anyway, he's really affectionate but also feisty. I was trying to let him hang out in here with me while I proverbially beat my head against the keyboard, but he started knocking things off my desk. And then he wedged himself into the little space above my laser printer, and I believe he was going to start chewing on the cords. He's fond of that.

So I started pulling him out of there and WHAMMO! The little fucker sliced me open like a goddamn tuna fillet at a sushi restaurant. The cut's on my palm and it's almost two inches long. I washed it out and threw a bandaid on it, but he earned himself some alone time in the other room while I work.

My life schedule has been a bit erratic lately. I'm basically living in two different states for alternating two week periods. And the houses are two hundred and fifty miles apart. Don't get excited--I don't own either of them. It's...it's something else. Anyway, I'm taking some time off from work while I do this and I'm studying health care classes in the meantime. This journal is rambly. If anyone read this, I'd clean it up. Ha.

On the weekends, I'm taking time to write again. For lots of reasons, but mostly because it's the only creative outlet I can have right now. My other hobbies, like painting tabletop figurines and running Dungeons and Dragons games, aren't available to me. And I really don't know if they ever will be again. So now I have some time to write, but no idea what to write or what to do with it when it's written.

While I figure it out, I'm writing a fanfiction (yeah, I'm not joking) set in the world of Dungeon Crawler Carl. I just need something that's dumb and fun. I'm actually happy with how it's coming along. I'm going to shoot for about 50,000 words when it's complete and then I'll post it on Royal Road for anyone interested in reading. I might also AI narrate it and throw little chunks on YouTube for no other reason than to let someone listen to it.

I have a deep need to create. But I rarely have time or the energy or the focus to do it. I look forward to one day being able to put more effort into this part of my life, but for now, this is what it looks like.

Oh yeah, I didn't forget about that LitRPG project that I did the cover for. I still think an 8-bit litRPG would be fucking funny. I think my target there will also be about 50,000 words. But it's on the back burner at the moment. And then there's my space opera project that I'll get to at some point. It's always in my brain, which generally means I'm never going to get it down. Or when I do, it'll sound like the ramblings of a crazy person, or worse, your drunk uncle.

Almost forgot. I'm thinking about publishing under a pen name. Nope nope, not just for vanity's sake. So that I can be Richard D. Longfellow or Hue G Cack or Gigantic Wang. Okay, those are porn names. But because there is already a very successful mystery author WITH MY EXACT NAME. Not even kidding about that. Same spelling too.