I had a nice, leisurely start to the day on Tuesday. The poet was up and away early and I was able to go back to bed…until the dogs decided they not only wanted out but they also wanted feeding. We went back to bed and managed almost an hour before we were up again. But it was a nice start to the day.
I had my dirty cup of tea and caught up on social media and a couple of games. Then it was time to play with the dogs in the garden. It was still raining, but only fine rain. They got muddy, I managed to stay relatively dry. The puppy started to roll in something, though. A lot. And when I got them in, the pup went straight in the bath. He still likes a bath, but he’s not yet fond of the shower fixture.
At my desk, the first job of the day was to share yesterday’s blog post to both Medium and to Instagram. I’ve found it’s simpler to just import an existing blog post to Medium than it is to post it direct, and I can’t get the Instagram graphic until the Patreon post had published. Blog posts are free on Patreon but behind a paywall on Medium. Since going back to Medium 2 weeks ago, I’ve earned a whopping 29 pennies. And some people wonder why I left…
A Kickstarter I backed was just one stretch reward away from maximum and less than $500. I’m not at all affiliated to the organisation, but as I’d already backed it, if it did hit maximum stretch rewards, then I’d get them all too. I was happy with my haul so far and it didn’t really matter a great deal. But I thought I’d share it everywhere anyway, give them a boost. Almost immediately, the number of backers rose from 176 to 179, and then again to 182, and I did wonder if my little boost had done something to nudge it along a bit. Probably not, but it was nice to think it might’ve done.
My next job was to plan the next submission for 12 stories in 12 months. I thought I’d already brainstormed this last week, but when I opened the file, there were just the basic requirements, for this submission and for an open submission that’s due in October. So I did a brainstorm, transferred it to the outline book and filled in the gaps. Story outline done.
This one’s for Marcie Craig, and it will be Number 5 for her. That means there’s a collection of five on the way for Marcie Craig in the not too distant future.
The next job was another short story, this time for an open submission due at the end of the month. Again, I brainstormed the idea against the initial prompt, transferred it all to the outline book, and filled in the gaps again. Another story outline done.
This one’s for Mavis Braithwaite, but it’s only Number 4 for her.
Outlining this second story meant I was a job ahead for later in the week too, so feeling very smug with myself, and setting them both off to percolate for a few days, I broke for my midday brunch/breakfast. I even had time for another play in the garden with the dogs. In the rain.
Back at work, and still feeling quite pleased that not only had I done 2 of today’s jobs I’d already done one I should have done last week and another that isn’t due until later in the week, I embarked on the final week of the depth in research workshop. And I was delighted after that to get back to the dates work I’d kept to just 1 pomodoro the day before.
The dates work did creep over this time, thanks to the puppy deciding he was bored and he wanted to be entertained constantly. But when the poet got home from work I was able to palm the dogs off on him while I got on with some paid work, a client edit.
Today it’s my last session at hospital. Please keep everything crossed that they don’t recommend I carry on. I’m so bored with it all now, and it’s just far too disruptive.
This post appears on Words Worth Writing, Medium and Patreon.
