The Many Ramblings of K. A. Webb

Due to other commitments June, sadly, became a month when I got very little writing done. I did complete a ghostwriting job of 30,000 words, which I completed at the beginning of the month, and it reminded me once again how much I actually like ghostwriting, so if you have any ghostwriting you might like done please let me know. As I'm sure is obvious my speciality is speculative fiction, but for this job I was writing erotica and it was great fun, so I am open to pretty much anything. If you send me an email or use one of the contact forms I have at the site I'll send you a no obligation quote and then if you do decide to use me I'm also willing to work out payment schedules, because I know that paying for something like having a story written isn't always easy to afford. I also offer commissions in my own worlds, so literally what you could do is say you want a 30,000 word novella set on Gaelom involved a character called John and I'll write that for you. Basically I will write anything for anyone, because I love to write and the more of it I can do the happier I am.

So, with this in mind, I have some plans for both July and the rest of the year, which are me attempting to be sensible, although I think I'm failing. As I posted so little in June I want to post the word count for both months, so that's 80,000 words, with half of that being purely continuations and the rest being for the World Walkers and Fae World collections, so that may include new stuff as well as continuations, as well as posting 20,000 words exclusively to Patreon. I'm not sure which collections the stories will be for, but I'm aiming to post at least 5,000 words a week there, which may be split or it may not. That depends on how the stories work best. I also want to make a start on at least one of my planned novellas and I have a story bundle to work on, which is a gift for a friend. The novellas are older stories that I've wanted to work on for a while that don't work with any of my other collections and I don't really want to add any more right now, but I do want to write the stories, so novellas it is. Actually, thinking about it, I might switch to writing novellas for the Inquisition as well, rather than not really working on it at all, because there is very little interest in that collection. For now though I'll be working on three series of novellas, with the aim being to have three 30,000 word novellas completed for each of them by the end of the year: my demon assassins series, my sleeping world series, and my 'ships series. Then I want to have written five 6 story story bundles, three 12 story story bundles, two 18 story story bundles, 5 bonus stories for Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments, and five introductory ebooks. Honestly it looks more than it is for someone like me, because I do write a lot, but the issue for me is feedback. Writing is easier for me if I know I have people interested in what I do, so comments are always appreciated and the more I get the more I'll write. Income also helps, because if someone is willing to put some money into the tip jar I know they're enjoying what they're reading.

So that's the plan. I have no idea if it will work out, but it's really what I want to do and I know it's something I'm capable of, as long as I focus.

Fiction posted:
The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments: part 9, 100th continuation; part 9, 101st continuation; part 9, 102nd continuation; part 9, 103rd continuation; part 9, 104th continuation; part 9, 105th continuation; part 9, 106th continuation; part 9, 107th continuation; and part 9, 108th continuation.

Other posts: June 2014 Raffle.

Now that I’ve come to write this round-up I’m not entirely sure what to say. May happened. It just seemed to be one of those months that was busy, but I, for some reason, don’t have much to say about. That happens occasionally and I think it’s partly because I can’t quite believe May has been and gone already, even though it feels like the beginning of the month was more than 31 days ago. I did post 40,000 words, plus every Case update; I had a Facebook giveaway that didn’t go too well, but I didn’t really expect it to, as one of the main entry requirements was comments and they’re a rare occurrence sadly; and I’ve started thinking about next year, because it is June now, we’re in the sixth month of 2014 and 2015 is getting closer by the day. I’m the sort of person who does like to have things planned on well in advance, so I like to know what I’m going to be doing with the website as early as possible, especially as I’m also working on other things.

Until the website starts earning more I’m doing some work via Elance. I have one job, I’ve sent proposals for some others, and I check the listings at least twice a week to see if there’s anything interesting. They’re ghostwriting jobs, so I’m signing away everything that I write, but having the extra income will give me the freedom to write more as me as well, which is the good thing about being as prolific as I am. I’m also writing some more Torn World stories and I’m hoping that my first canon work will be posted soon.

I’m hoping things will start to pick up now that I’ve published the first ebooks, which can be found here and here.

June is continuations month, so if there is anything you want to see more of let me know, and it’s a raffle month, which I think will be at the end of the month.

Fiction posted:
The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments: part 9, 91st continuation; part 9, 92nd continuation; part 9, 93rd continuation; part 9, 94th continuation; part 9, 95th continuation; part 9, 96th continuation; part 9, 97th continuation; part 9, 98th continuation; and part 9, 99th continuation.
Free: Max: Being a Thief; Shayla: The Arrival of the Fae; Ebony: Shapeshifter Daycare; Otis: The Money Tree; Kaylyn: Finding the School; Colton: Finding the School; Vaughn: Finding the School; Iantha: Entering the School; Fairuza: Entering the School; Niobe: Entering the School; Quentin: Watching Tamara; Jackson: The Thieves’ School; Theo: Travelling to Earth; Tybalt: Travelling to Earth; Alena: Travelling to Earth; Sabina: Returning to Earth; Ianto: Talking to Mab; Maria: Returning to Earth; Alison: Saving a Life; Hayley: Reality TV; Fintan: Bonding; Madison: Loss; Enitan: The Ship; Arden: Travelling to Taithmarin; Carys: Stepping onto Taithmarin; Nerys: Arriving in Little Hill; Einar: Stepping onto Taithmarin; Jarl: Stepping onto Taithmarin; Arian: Stepping onto Taithmarin; Joel: Stepping onto Taithmarin; Siobhan: Stepping onto Taithmarin; Betony: Changes; Aurelia: Training; Finula: Arranged…; Luke: The First Arrival; Whittaker: Magical Changes; Kerry: Searching for Someone; Megan: Lighting a Candle; Jarek: Storytelling; Daedalus: The Aardvark Private Detective; Hestia: Goddess of Hearth and Home; and Apollo: Meeting Hestia.
Other posts: Ebooks Now Available

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

April was a strange month and I'm not entirely sure why. I got a lot of writing done, but it felt like the month flew by. One minute it was the beginning of the month and now, somehow, it's May. I just wish I knew how it happened. The beginning of the month I spent travelling to and from a dog sitting job, which was something I enjoyed and hated all at the same time, because I really liked the dog I was looking after but staying in someone else's house was something I wasn't comfortable with. Unless I happen to know the person well I don't think it's something I'll be doing again, although I might do it for the same dog, as he was lovely and friendly. Just after Easter I came down with another cold, which is something I'm still dealing with now, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was before. For a couple of days writing was pretty much impossible, so I didn't get as much done towards the end of the month as I hoped to. As the beginning of the month worked out well it was something that didn't bother me too much and for the first time I actually kept track of my posted word count using the progress meters I have. I also set up one for the yearly word posted count. This doesn't include words that I've written and haven't posted, so I'm well above 40,000 for April.

I took part in the Torn World Muse Fusion Bingo and I really enjoyed it. Sharing a world with other people is great fun, which is why I want to do that with my own worlds, so I'll be checking over the stories I wrote for that, maybe adding to some of them a bit, and then submitting them for the canon board there to look over. When that happens I'll post links, so you can see what I've written for that world, especially as I am planning on writing more. As there were prizes I gave away some of my work, in the hope that it will get some of the writers I was working alongside interested. I really do enjoy writing for other people so I'm really happy about that and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed writing for prompts. Once I've finished off the prompts I already have I'll have another prompts session, although I think I'll cut down the work I created for myself a little by only promising to write to one prompt from every person. The aim will be to write more than that, but right now I'd rather it not be something I feel I have to do, especially as I'm working on a number of other things.

One of those things is Torn World fiction, because it's fun; I've been working on getting the ebooks ready as I have the covers thanks to a friend who helped me out with something much better than I could make - I'm just waiting on the name they want to us in the book, so I can put them down as the designer as then I'll be able to get the first couple out; and I'm planning on writing some story bundles to sell, to show what they are and what you can get for the money you pay. Right now I'm doing okay with money, although a little extra is always nice, but the thing I'm focusing on it getting some money together for James.

James is planning on studying something new, so he can change his career. At the moment he works in retail, which was never meant to be permanent, but he didn't know what he wanted to do. Now we seem to have found a course that he would be interested in and would make him want to work, rather than just endure it, so my aim for May is to earn enough for the registration fee, at the very least £159.00, although I would love to be able to give him the money for the first module as well, which is £487.50. I'll be setting up a page for this, with progress bars, because it's important to me - being able to pay for one of those modules will cost James a quarter of his salary two months in a row and, even though he can do it, being able to help him make a start would make things a lot simpler for him, especially as we have the car tax due at the end of the month. By the end of the year, as the plan is for him to do a module every couple of months if possible, I would love to have earned enough to pay for half of the course and the registration fee, which will be £1950.00. This will leave him the other half to pay for, unless I happen to earn more than that, although once that happens I'll begin to split the money between his studies and my savings account, to make certain that I have some just in case something happens (which in our lives has happened annoyingly regularly).

I managed to split the word count relatively evenly between the two collections I was focusing on in April and learnt some interesting things about both of them. May is new characters months, so leaving me names would be really helpful. These names may be using in any collection, although if you'd like me to use them in a specific collection let me know.

Fiction posted:
The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments: part 9, 83rd continuation; part 9, 84th continuation; part 9, 85th continuation; part 9, 86th continuation; part 9, 87th continuation; part 9, 88th continuation; part 9, 89th continuation; and part 9, 90th continuation.
Free: Clay: Making an Informed Decision (part 4); Jillian: Hunted (part 3); Mirica: A Thief in the House (part 6); Xavia: Making a Decision (part 4); Opal: Talking to Margery (part 6); Aurora: A Death in the Family; Aurora: A Night with Harrison; Jasper: The Arrival of Kestrel (part 2); Falcon: Kestrel's Kidnap; Kestrel: Kidnapped (part 2); Kestrel: Kidnapped (part 3); Falcon: Kestrel's Kidnap (part 2); Calix: Felicia Blooming; Mirica: A Thief in the House (part 7); Mackenzie: The Thieves Hideout (part 3); Jasper: The Arrival of Kestrel (part 3); Calix: Felicia Blooming; Kestrel: Kidnapped (part 4); Dale: Taking Charge (part 2); Quartz: Dreaming of Family; Benedict: Studying; Kestrel: Kidnapped (part 5); Ginevra: Taking Over; Mackenzie: The Thieves Hideout (part 4); Opal: Talking to Margery (part 7); Xavia: Making a Decision (part 5); Mirica: A Thief in the House (part 8); Jillian: Hunted (part 4); Amelia: Going Underground (part 2); Calix: Felicia Blooming (part 3); Jillian: Hunted (part 5); Mirica: A Thief in the House (part 9); Mackenzie: The Thieves Hideout (part 5); Kestrel: Kidnapped (part 6); Benedict: Studying (part 2); Quartz: Dreaming of Family (part 2); Jasper: The Arrival of Kestrel (part 4); Falcon: Kestrel's Kidnap (part 3); Calix: Leaving in the Night; Kestrel: Kidnapped (part 7); Mirica: A Thief in the House (part 10); Xavia: Making a Decision (part 6); and Falcon: Kestrel's Kidnap (part 4).

Other posts: April 2014 Raffle and February 2014 Raffle Winner.

March started off slowly, as I was still getting back to my old self after being ill in February, but mid-month everything seemed to get easier. The stories were flowing in a way they hadn’t done since January, so I managed to get a lot of work done. Some of my posts were longer than normal, as I was working on some 10,000 and 8,000 word long fiction and it made sense to post around 2,000 words at a time. It means it doesn’t seem as though I’ve posted as much, when really those two pieces of fiction came to almost half my goal amount for the month. Any input on how well this works would be really appreciated. Does having the longer parts work? Should I cut them down to make them easier to read? Do you prefer it when I post the shorter parts (500 – 1000 words), when I post mid-length parts (1000 – 2000), or when I post the longer parts (2000 and over)? Is there a top limit for word counts when you’re reading online in this way?

I would have liked to have written more for the Deities’ World, but what I did write was illuminating. What I’ve realised I need, desperately, is maps, so if anyone can help me out, in return for fiction, or knows someone who can and might be interested in what I do, please get in contact. The more I write the harder it gets when I don’t have maps and all I need is something basic, because I’ll be updating them as I learn more about the worlds that I’m writing about. (My characters don’t make it easy for me.) Papa Legba especially was very interesting and I think now is a good time to once again remind people that what I write may not be the Papa Legba that is traditional – I write what he tells me to (as my characters are all very stubborn if I try to do something with them that they don’t like). For those of you who don’t have this issue with your characters I wish it was that simple for me. Their insistence on doing their own thing is why I don’t plot. Instead I let things happen as they will, because that is much easier, otherwise I end up arguing with them and that just wastes time. So if you wonder why certain stories are much longer than others then normally the reason is the characters. They want me to show what’s happening at every moment, they want me to continue conversations even though I’m trying to get them all to shut up, they insist that everything that happened was important… honestly, sometimes all I want is to be able to write a nice simple story.

The lack of Deities’ World work was filled by the work I did with the Afterlife, which was just as illuminating as I’ve learnt much more about the angels than I had before. Angels that I wasn’t even planning on having in the Afterlife in the first place… and then they told me that they were there and they wanted me to write about them, as they were rather than how people believe them to be. I’ve also learnt more about the Death from the time when Samael chose to walk away and I think I want to meet him, so if anyone would be interested to know more I’ve updated my permanent prompts page to make it much easier to use. However I know very little about their world still and I think this might be because I haven’t written that much about it yet. Mostly I’ve focused on Death and Caitlyn’s training, so that’s something I want to be doing as well.

My focus this month is Heliopath’s World and Aurora’s World. I’ve got some ideas about what I want to write for them, because they’re both worlds I don’t know as much about as I’d like, so I think it’s going to be a very interesting month. Prompts are always appreciated, so if there’s anything you want to know about either of them let me know. The plan with both of them is to go back in time to find out why things happened, as that’s always helps, and I want to write more about Heliopath himself, as he has a very interesting story that I’ve only just touched the surface of. So does Falcon, actually, but he irritates me, and that makes me less likely to write him. Actually that’s one of the reasons I like prompts and people to adopt characters – then it makes me write them, even when I don’t necessarily want to, and that always helps me to understand them better.

It’s also raffle month: from April the 14th to the 28th. I’m hoping this one goes better than the last one did and I think one of the things that might help is the advance warning as well as a reminder the week before. My aim is to have at least five people enter, to hit at least 10,000 words from the entries, and, hopefully, reach a high enough number of entrants to give away free adoptions and rentals.

Fiction posted:
The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments: part 9, 74th continuation; part 9, 75th continuation; part 9, 76th continuation; part 9, 77th continuation; part 9, 78th continuation; part 9, 79th continuation; part 9, 80th continuation; part 9, 81st continuation; and part 9, 82nd continuation.
Free: Hephaestus: Returning Home (part 3); Lucifer: Halloween (part 3); Papa Legba: Choosing to Connect; Persephone: Talking to Callidora; Persephone: Talking to Callidora (part 2); Papa Legba: Choosing to Connect (part 2); Papa Legba: Choosing to Connect (part 3); Callidora: Learning from Lakshmi (part 2); Anubis: An Evening with Hades (part 2); Nathan: Letting Go (part 2); Nathan: Letting Go (part 3); Caitlyn: Sacred Calling (part 2); Caitlyn: Sacred Calling (part 3); Caitlyn: Sacred Calling (part 4); Caitlyn: Sacred Calling (part 5); Joe: A Dog’s Death; Caitlyn: Visiting Family; Richard: The Apocalypse is Coming (part 3); Kara: Talking to Richard; Papa Legba: Choosing to Connect (part 4); Caitlyn: Sacred Calling (part 6); Mallory: Making a Decision; Richard: Reading Charis’ Journal; Richard: Reading Charis’ Journal (part 2); Richard: Reading Charis’ Journal (part 3); and Richard: Reading Charis’ Journal (part 4).
Sponsored: Takara: The Missionary (part 2); and Takara: The Missionary (part 3).

Meta-fiction: A Conversation with Alice

Other posts: Update: 10th March; and Update: 12th March

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

February is, and always has been, my least favourite month of the year. I’m not entirely sure why, but nothing ever seems to go right. James’ birthday and our anniversary were bright points, even though we didn’t do anything particularly special for either of them due to work, while the low points were the car not passing the MOT, which we did expect, for reasons that have been more difficult to fix that we were anticipating and almost getting a ghostwriting job which I don’t think is happening now as I haven’t heard from the client in nearly two weeks. At the beginning of the month I also ended up picking up a cold that lost me some time, as well as suffering from inexplicable for a week that, thankfully, seems to have faded away now. Hopefully March will be better.

I did manage to make one of my more useful plugins work, which means that reading my collections is going to be much easier. This month I want to update the landing pages once more to show which stories I’m working on and which are complete, as well as the sponsorable stories page, because that’s really out of date at the moment. Really I should add the new fiction to it when I write it, rather than leaving it, but, like I’ve said before, the admin side of this is something I’m still not very good at. However having the plugin sorted will make things much simpler, so my aim is to keep everything up to date – or hire someone to do it for me (remember I pay in words and it makes working for me the easiest way to get more fiction, if that’s something you’re interested in).

The raffle didn’t go as well as I wanted it to, but as I’m experimenting to see when is the best time to run them this may be a sign that I shouldn’t run them at the beginning of the month. I did have a prompt session, at the end of the month instead of the middle, and it went much better than the raffle did, so that’s good. Everyone left interesting prompts that I might start working on tomorrow, depending on what happens. As it went so well I might have another at the end of March, although that depends on how many of the stories I write, especially as I do have others left from previous prompt sessions.

My focus this month will be the Afterlife and Deities’ World collections, so let me know if there are any stories you’d like to see. Last month I didn’t write as much for either collection as I was hoping to, but as they aren’t favourites sometimes it can be hard to find inspiration – and I did kind of feel like I was wasting time. If you would like to see any more of Kim’s World or the Inquisition please let me know, because if I know someone is reading then it gives me a reason to write.

The plan is also to go back to the bingo cards that I created. I want to try to post at least one bingo in March and I might make some new cards, because I like them, even though, compared to some of the other cards I’ve seen, there are quite simple. For those who are interested I’m also going to start posting some examples of adoption and rental stories – which I’ll be doing over the next six months. I need six characters and five settings for this, so if anyone has any preferences then let me know. I’ve got a couple of other ideas I might try to work with too.

Fiction posted:
The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments: part 9, 66th continuation; part 9, 67th continuation; part 9, 68th continuation; part 9, 69th continuation; part 9, 70th continuation; part 9, 71st continuation; part 9, 72nd continuation; and part 9, 73rd continuation.
Free: Tamara: The Green Man (part 2); Lena: Saving Jake (part 2); Erin: Rescuing the Dragons (part 2); Iole: An Unexpected Journey; Orla: Running to North Square (part 6); Conall: Talking with Sophia (part 6); Estelle: Talking to Oria (part 2); Kate: Heading Home (part 2); Poppy: Waking Up (part 3); Chloe: Waking Up (part 5); Bethany: Waking Up (part 3); Skye: Stealing Shoes (part 3); Lauren: A Change of Ownership (part 3); Joel: Meeting Anna (part 3); Richard: The Apocalypse is Coming; Willow: Planning with George; Kate: Heading Home (part 3); Poppy: Waking Up (part 4); Bethany: Waking Up (part 4); Finn: Helping; Skye: Stealing Shoes (part 4); Finn: Helping (part 2); Lauren: A Change of Ownership (part 4); Richard: The Apocalypse is Coming (part 2); Willow: Planning with George (part 2); Piper: Wrong Place, Wrong Time; Dale: Taking Charge; Ciar: Saving a Life; Saraid: Living with the Floods; Andrew: Not Being Charlie; Sini: Meeting Riordan; Kim: Home Alone; John: Being A Two Spirit; Kate: Heading Home (part 4); Poppy: Waking Up (part 5); Bethany: Waking Up (part 5); and Finn: Helping (part 3).

Other posts: February 2014 Raffle (ended); Update: 4th February 2014; Series Options; The Ideas Post; Update: 12th February 2014; Update: 12th February 2014 (again); and February 2014 Prompt Session (closed).

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

Well, that’s the first month of the year gone and it was, mostly, a good month. For me things seem to be working out well, although things are still difficult due to James’ medical issues and the problems he was having at work. He’s working on applying for some apprenticeships and some other jobs, but at the moment there isn’t a lot available, especially as he wants to leave retail behind. The plan always was for it to be a job for a time, while he worked things out, until life happened and we found ourselves renting a room due to him losing his home through no fault of his own. Now things are more difficult, but I really want him to be doing something that he loves rather than a job just to pay the bills, which, sadly, is made more difficult by said medical issues. Hopefully they will be something that we learn to manage as time passes, but for now they make things harder than they would have been this time last year.

February brings with it James’ 26th birthday, which isn’t going to help his depression, even though we aren’t in that bad a position. We have a roof over our head, even if we are only renting it, food to eat, and he does have money he can spend on things that he needs to wants, although he is awful at buying anything he doesn’t need unless I nag him. He is lucky enough, at this time, to have some savings and some disposable income, so while he has that I think he should occasionally buy himself something just because he wants to. Especially as most of his money goes towards keeping the car running and that’s also where a lot of his spare time goes, when he’s feeling up to it, so taking some time out to play games is something I think it’s important he should do, as it helps him to relax. Me, I read a book or write something (I am going to be working on doing some more fun writing, to relax myself, even though I don’t find any writing particularly stressful), and I try to make sure that I have time to do those things, because I enjoy them, so I want James to have the same time to be able to do the same. Unfortunately we both view time differently – I see an hour as a time when I’m likely to be able to write 2000 words and he sees it as too little time to do anything, which always makes him feel like he doesn’t have any time. I wish there was something I could do to change that, but right now it seems impossible.

January became a writing month rather than an admin month. This isn’t a surprise. I put off doing all the admin work, because I find it the most difficult part of having my own website, but putting it off just means it piles up. Some of my time today has been spent trying to find some plug-ins that will make things easier, but so far I haven’t had any luck, and I’m beginning to wonder if I will. As much as I like WordPress there are some things that aren’t as easy to change as I’d like them to be, especially as I don’t have much experience with coding. If anyone does that’s something I would happily trade for at the moment – I pay in word count per hour, so, depending on how difficult things are, I usually offer between 2000 and 5000 words per hour of work done to help me out.

The raffle starts today, so the post for that will be going up after I’ve finished the round-up, and will end on the 15th. I’m thinking of having a prompts session towards the middle of the month, because I have an idea that I’m hoping might spark some interesting stories, and something else I believe might be of interest to some of my readers is an story idea post, where I’ll post up some of the more recent ideas I’ve had for fiction and see if anyone is interested in them at all. Writing something is much easier if I know someone is likely to read it when it’s done, which is why I’m always after feedback. It lets me know what I should be focusing on.

My focus this month will be on two collections that I haven’t written as much for as I’d like – Kim’s Earth and the Inquisition. Both ideas are ones I’ve been fascinated with for years, but as most readers seem interested in my fantasy collections and the Donor House they’ve been neglected. So if you have any questions you want to ask about either collection or any stories you would like to see then let me know.

Fiction posted:
The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments: part 9, 57th continuation; part 9, 58th continuation; part 9, 59th continuation; part 9, 60th continuation; part 9, 61st continuation; part 9, 62nd continuation; part 9, 63rd continuation; part 9, 64th continuation; and part 9, 65th continuation
Bonus Story: Aulus: Looking Back
DVD Commentary: The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments
Sponsored: Nick: Nick’s Village; Nick: Nick’s Village (part 2); Blake: A Human Auction; Nimue: First Visit to the Donor House; Nick: First Night at the Donor House; Alice: First Night at the Donor House; Dominic: Arriving at the Donor House; Lacey: First Night at the Donor House; Lacey: First Night at the Donor House (part 2); and Morgan: Meeting Lacey (all from the general fund)
Free: Uriel: Talking to Mikhael; Uriel: Talking to Mikhael (part 2); Uriel: Talking to Mikhael (part 3); Uriel: Talking to Mikhael (part 4); Opal: Talking to Margery (part 5); Xavia: Making a Decision (part 3); Mirica: A Thief in the House (part 5); Jillian: Hunted (part 2); Clay: Making an Informed Decision (part 3); Rachel: Becoming Human (part 2); Bethany: Waking Up (part 2); Lauren: A Change of Ownership (part 2); Chloe: Waking Up (part 4); Skye: Stealing Shoes (part 2); Astrid: Arriving in Little Hill (part 5); Luna: The Book Portal (part 4); Matt: Arriving (part 5); Anna: Stepping Onto Another World (part 6); Rachel: Becoming Human (part 3); Clio: Running (part 2); Daniel: Turning Back Time (part 5); Kara: A Conversation with Lucas (part 2); Kara: Meeting Daniel (part 2); Becoming Human (part 2); Rynne: The Portal Freezing (part 2); Tatiana: Arriving (part 2); and Kieran: Ice Magic (part 2)

Other posts:
2013 Fiction Posted; Update: 2nd January 2014; Word Count January 2014; Update: 8th January 2014; Update: 20th January 2014; 2013 Raffle Winners; and Update 28th January

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

We were hoping that James was better. He went back to work in September and things seemed to be going well. Then the pain started returning, so he’s been back on the antibiotics for about three weeks now, but they don’t seem to be doing a lot of good. Unfortunately we still don’t know what really helped before, as he was on a mix of three different pills at the time he started feeling more normal – antibiotics, alpha-blockers, and an anti-inflammatory. At one point before he was on the same alpha-blockers, which makes me think it might have been them that were helping, but not knowing for certain means we’re probably going to end up experimenting to see what works best, along with trying some other possibilities that I’ve found while searching online. I’m sure I mentioned that he was told this might be a permanent issue and, even though I’m beginning to worry more that it might be, I really am hoping that is isn’t.

Unsurprisingly the longer this goes on for the worse James feels mentally. He’s feeling as though he’ll never be able to do the things he wants to do, because he wanted to get into some form of mechanics and being in pain all the time isn’t going to make it easy. Plus he’s worried that if he mentions it to a prospective employer they’ll automatically overlook him for someone who doesn’t have medical issues – even though he may well be better qualified. At one point we were even thinking of him starting his own business doing up cars, obviously when we’re at a better place financially, but now that seems impossible to him and feeling so low isn’t helping him in any way. I do understand why he’s feeling the way he is. I just wish there was more I could do to help him.

I’ve been having a better time. Doggy day care is getting busier and it’s been great fun, so as long as I can keep doing that, along with the writing, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to keep paying my half of the rent (although I didn’t quite manage that this month) and the groceries. James is still worried that if something happens to mean he has to take more time off work, or loses his job (which I can’t see happening as they need him more than he needs them), then we’ll have a major problem. We do both have a bit in savings and I’m sure Teresa and Russel will be understanding, but that doesn’t stop his mind from going to places that make him feel even worse. He’s much more of a pessimist than I am, so I’m the one who keeps trying to make him feel better about everything, even though it doesn’t seem like anything I say actually helps.

Christmas is one of my least favourite times of year. I have no idea what we’re going to be doing this year or if we’re even going to be celebrating – it’s not as though we have much to celebrate, really. It seems doubtful that next year will be any better, with how things are going, so my focus is going to be on my writing, getting the website as sorted as possible for the new year, and working out what my plan is going to be for 2o14. To be honest I can’t believe we’re a month away from the new year. We were so hopeful that 2013 was going to be a good year for us and it’s turned out to be another awful year. Maybe next year will be better, maybe it won’t, all we can do is keep living life one step at a time and keep hoping that his medical issues will fade away.

Fiction posted: The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments: part 9, 21st continuation; part 9, 22nd continuation; part 9, 23rd continuation; part 9, 24th continuation; part 9, 25th continuation; part 9, 26th continuation; part 9, 27th continuation; part 9, 28th continuation; part 9, 29th continuation; part 9, 30th continuation; part 9, 31st continuation; part 9, 32nd continuation; part 9, 33rd continuation; part 9, 34th continuation; part 9, 35th continuation; part 9, 36th continuation; part 9, 37th continuation; part 9, 38th continuation; part 9, 39th continuation; part 9, 40th continuation; part 9, 41st continuation; part 9, 42nd continuation; part 9, 43rd continuation; part 9, 44th continuation; part 9, 45th continuation; and part 9, 46th continuation.
Sponsored: Nick and Alice’s First Visit to Echoes of Alexandria (part 5) for Elizabeth Barrette; Sullivan: Arriving at the House; Darian: Rescuing a Vampire; Elise: Talking to Lewis; Sarah: Entering the House; Dawn: Meeting Alice; Jack: Talking to Georgina; Nick: Talking to a New Vampire; Leon: Meeting Morgan; Magda: Making a Decision; Nick: Finding Out About Sam; and Midna: First Visit to the House, all from the general fund.
Free: Sophie: Listening to An Argument; Saskia: Becoming a Vampire; Jasmine: Followed; Bethany: Waking Up; Morgan: Wearing White (part 2); John: Making A Decision; Matt: Arriving (part 4); Ivy: Kidnapped (part 2); Melody: Becoming a Vampire (part 2); Linnea: Living with a Vampire? (part 2); Caleb: Making a Decision; Jasmine: Followed (part 2); Saskia: Becoming a Vampire (part 2); Sophie: Listening to an Argument (part 2); Adara: Raining Mushrooms (part 3); Thalia: Meeting the King (part 4); Rayner: The Seventh Son of a Seventh Daughter (part 2); and Mirica: A Thief in the House (part 4).

Other: August 2013 Round-Up; Update: 28th September 2013; Update: 23rd October 2013; October Prompt Session; October/November Raffle 2013; Update: November 1st 2013; Advent Story Poll 2013 (closed); Wednesday Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments Update; Advance Warning: Change of Domain; Update: 11th November 2013; Setting Rental Sale (ongoing: one Donor House and one World Walkers sold); 2013 Advent Story; Input Wanted; Conversation Post: K. A. Webb; Answer 1; Answer 2; Answer 3; Results of the Advent Story Poll; Rent Update; Answer 4; Answer 5; Answer 6; Winter Holiday Fiction (ongoing); Input Wanted Again; and New Page.

December, as always, is the month of the Advent Story – this one, as I’ve said before, is going to be a little different, with every update being 2000 words and, if I get enough interest, I will be extending it. As an example, if I get more than 10 write mores on the story I’ll extend it by a day. If I get more than 10 write mores on any one part I’ll extend it by a week. Comments and links (any link, as long as you tell me about it, including Facebook shares, Tumblr reblogs, and Twitter retweets, count) will also extend the story. Fortunately this year I’ll be writing in the Donor House collection, which has a large cast of characters, so it should be an easy job.

I’ll also be continuing to post the Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments twice a week. I know what bonus story I’ll be writing, so I should have that done some time this month too. Remember bonus stories cost £5; extensions on the side story (Kaito: Running) are £1.50 per 1000 words; or any other donations will lead to a Wednesday Update (£10) and an extension to a Monday and/or Friday episode (£5 each). With the sale of two setting rentals I should have posted all three last week, so I’ll do that this week. If I get another £20 before the second week in December you’ll get three updates then too.

Winners for last month’s extended raffle will be announced this week sometime.

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

James was home throughout July, as the pills he’s on aren’t working in the way we were hoping they would, and he’s still on them now. He had an ultrasound yesterday, but that didn’t show anything, so he’s going back to the specialist on Tuesday, when we’re hoping for some idea of what the next step in going to be. Unfortunately I decided, after the ultrasound proved to be utterly useless, to look up what the problem is, which wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had, as it appears the infection he has may not be an infection and if it is the antibiotics may not kill it. That’s not exactly what I was hoping for, especially as James really wants to go back to work.

As he’s been off for so long he’s beginning to worry about how safe his job is. Legally they can’t fire him for being ill, but that doesn’t really make him feel any better. It took him a long time to find a job in the first place, he lost the first job he found at the end of the trial period, and if he does lose that job we’re going to be left in a very difficult place. Personally I don’t think it will happen. That isn’t going to stop me from planning for it though, so I’ve been working on getting the ebooks ready for publication. Some are closer to being ready than others and I’m going to be starting with the taster ebooks, which will be being sold for £1 each. Anyone who’d like to create a taster ebook can. I should also have the first Case ebook ready soon, then I’ll start working on the collection ebooks.

Right now any donations will really help, because the more I have in reserve the more I can help with the rent and the groceries. We do spend around about £500 a month on both food and rent, which puts us in a better place that we would be if we were renting a whole property, but at the same time it’s not as though we don’t have any outgoings. Keeping this place is important to me. I don’t want to go back to where we were, as neither of us were in a good place mentally, and I honestly don’t think James would be able to cope with living with his dad again.

I did manage to complete the credit count last month. The plan is to do it every month, because I want more people to collect credits, but I know that to have that happen I need to keep on top of it. It wasn’t even as though it took that long. Instead of posting 500 words a day I posted some older stories for some of the collections I feel had less stories available and some of my favourites, even if they were from collections I regularly post stories for, which was great fun for me. I hope you enjoyed seeing some longer fiction during July.

Fiction
The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments: part 9, 3rd continuation; part 9, 4th continuation; part 9, 5th continuation; part 9, 6th continuation; part 9, 7th continuation; part 9, 8th continuation; part 9, 9th continuation; part 9, 10th continuation; and part 9, 11th continuation.
The World Walkers: Mothar: Tanith: The Breeding Program; The World Walkers: Mothar: Takara: The Missionary; The World Walkers: Mothar: Kenichi: Converting; The World Walkers: Yasmina: The Jaguar Moonjumper; The World Walkers: Frode: The Strangest Group; The World Walkers: Tanis: Escaping (part 3); The World Walkers: Athare: Frane: An Uncomfortable Landing (part 2); The World Walkers: Athare: Jacinth: Meeting Kester; The World Walkers: Emrys: Travelling Through Time; The Magi: Silvana: Freeing the Magi; Heliopath’s World: Ildieu: Ixia: Leaving Town; The World Walkers: Raenarin: Leo: Following in the Footsteps; The World Walkers: Taithmarin: Matt: Arriving (part 3); Aurora’s World: Opal: Talking to Margery (part 4); The Brotherhood: Daniel: Turning Back Time (part 4); The Fae World: Jaromir: Creating the Dragons; The World Walkers: AU Taithmarin: Anna: Stepping Onto Another World (part 5); The World Walkers: Unknown World: Thalia: Meeting the King (part 3); Thear: Bree: Travelling (part 1); Thear: Bree: Travelling (part 2); AU Thear: Aisling: The Beginning of North Square; AU Thear: Sophia: Meeting Kieron; The Donor House: Alice: Finding Sam; The Donor House: Sam: Waking Up A Vampire; The Donor House: Ziva: Running to the House; The Donor House: Alice: A Death at the Donor House; The Donor House: Alice: A Death at the Donor House (part 2); The Donor House: Alice: A Death at the Donor House (part 3); The Donor House: Alice: A Death at the Donor House (part 4); The Donor House: Alice: A Death at the Donor House (part 5); The Donor House: Alice: A Death at the Donor House (part 6); The Donor House: Alice: A Death at the Donor House (part 7); The Donor House: Morgan: Wearing White; The Brotherhood: Kara: Introducing Kara; The Brotherhood: Kara: Introducing Kara (part 2); The Brotherhood: Kara: Introducing Kara (part 3); The Brotherhood: Kara: Introducing Kara (part 4); and Aurora’s World: Calix: Knowledge, Unchangeable Knowledge.

Other Posts: Word Count July 2013; Update: 8th July; Update: 10th July; July 2013 Raffle; Update: 22nd July; Update: 27th July; and July Prompt Session.

Plans: ebooks, credit count, and more writing.

Aims: income of at least £50.

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

At the beginning of April I got my new netbook, which is working pretty well now, because I’m used to the little differences between the new and the old, although the o and e buttons are still annoying me. While I was going through some bits at home I picked up my mouse and that’s working well for me. To be honest this month has passed in a bit of a blur, but sometimes that happens.

New character month went well and was great fun, so I am likely to do it again some time this year, although I will be focusing for the next couple of months on finishing story lines, updating my landing pages and attempting to keep them up to date, as well as working out how I can best post my work. At the moment I’m posting in parts, which works well for the stories at they’re being posted, but I don’t know if it works that well when it comes to going back and rereading or for keeping my landing pages tidy.

I didn’t miss one day this month of the 365 stories, but I have no idea how well I’m doing with yearly total, so that’s something I need to work out. I have a progress bar in the sidebar at my website that I’ll update sometime in the next couple of days.

Fiction posted: The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments: part 8, eleventh continuation; part 8, twelfth continuation; part 8, thirteenth continuation; part 8, fourteenth continuation; part 8, fifteenth continuation; part 8, sixteenth continuation; part 8, seventeenth continuation; part 8, eighteenth continuation; and part 8, nineteenth continuation.No updates for Kaito’s story this month.
The Fae World: Arkal: Enid: An Early Morning Surprise; The World Walkers: Athare: Frane: An Uncomfortable Landing; The World Walkers: Unknown World: Kalena: Returning; Thear: Maeve: Moving; The Donor House: Lox: First Visit to the Donor House; The World Walkers: Lorelei: Travelling Through Time; The World Walkers: Taithmarin: Marley: Third Generation, Born on Taithmarin; The Fae World: Holly: Returning Home?; The World Walkers: Athare: Riordan: The First World Walker (part 2); The ‘Astral’ World: Rae: No Escape; Aurora’s World: Clay: Making an Informed Decision; The Deities’ World: Hephaestus: Returning Home; The World Walkers: Athare: Eithne: Creating the First Weaver; The World Walkers: Unknown World: Guinevere: Walking Into A Trap; Kim’s Earth: Chloe: Waking Up; The World Walkers: Unknown World: Petra: A Key Given In A Will; The World Walkers: Kankirin: Yuki: Trapped on Kankirin; The World Walkers: Earth: Amy: Losing Someone; The World Walkers: Aerith: Theron: Trapped on Aerith; The Fae World: Jessie: Fae Families and Being A Spy; The World Walkers: Taithmarin: Morwen: Trapped on Taithmarin; The Fae World: Unknown World: Lyn: Talking to Jane; The World Walkers: Pendragon: Grania: An Accident; The World Walkers: Gaelom/Avaera: Kiara: Multiplicity; The Fae World: Earth: Rosalind: Spellbound; The World Walkers: Unknown World: Jetta: Saved By Cough Medicine; The Fae World: Earth: Nova: The Mountain; Pagan: Juliet: Meeting Anna; The World Walkers: Pendragon: Clara: Declining an Inheritance; The World Walkers: Taithmarin: Matt: Arriving; The Fae World: Penny: Asking for Help; and Kim’s Earth: Lauren: A Change of Ownership.

Last month I did find I was posting a lot more in first person. What do you prefer?

Other posts: Check out Elizabeth’s Poetry Fishbowl; Update: 2nd April; Update: 4th April; Update: 5th April; New icons; New Characters 1st – 7th April; The World Walkers: What I Need To Know; Polls – Please Vote; Update: 9th April; April 2013 Raffle; New Characters: 8th – 14th April; New Characters: 15th – 21st April; Update: 28th April; April Prompts Session; New Characters: 22nd – 28th April; and Update: 29th April.

Plans for May: story bundles will be available from the first; more work on the wiki, this time actually focusing on character profiles; do the things I didn’t do last month, because it seems like I forgot half of the plans I made; continue posting the Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments; and do the credit count (the longer I put it off because I’m dreading doing it the worse it’s going to get, so I have to do it once a month at least).

Aims for May: make money so I can buy groceries and finish at least one storyline by the end of the month.

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.