Episode 2 of DMQ is up. So proud of myself–it only took me a few hours as opposed to a few days to get it ready. Even with breaks due to my refrigerator running.

I have injured myself. Somewhere, in my foot, is a sliver of glass. I went to the urgent care and they couldn’t find it. In the meantime, my foot is swollen like a balloon, and I can’t put any weight on it. They suggested I go to get it x-rayed to see if they can see the sliver and take it out. I have to go see my PCP tomorrow to get the x-ray because I’m sure not going to the ER for something as stupid as this. It hurts like hell.

Okay, so that was probably TMI, but that’s what’s bothering me the most today.

I’m supposed to set up the tent that we bought for my first appearance this season in Scituate on July 1. I’m also supposed to make tent weights out of old water jugs, bungee cords, and kitty litter. Yes, it’s a Yankee jury-rig, but it should work. In theory. But it’s raining. So no tent set-up today.

I don’t know how Grimaulkin is selling. I don’t want to know just yet. I want to be (hopefully) pleasantly surprised. One person I know read it and really liked it. The short, “Self Defense”, is going to be ready (hopefully) for July 1. If you’re interested in that, it’s a freebie on paperangelpress.com.

Water was edited, and I’ve been working on it for the past couple of days. After reading a few gay-themed short stories, I’ve noticed that I’ve put WAY too much sex in mine. The other short stories have usually one sex scene. In almost all of mine, I have at least three. So you get your money’s worth!

War Mage is still…I don’t know. I keep thinking about it, trying to turn it over and over in my head to try and get things going with it. Whenever I sit down to start writing it, I end up staring at a blank page and doing nothing. Or I write crap. Or I rewrite what I wrote before. Something’s just not in me to get this story out, and I don’t know why.

Well, I have one idea why–I don’t want to insult the people who were there in Afghanistan. I know, I just know, I’ll get the details wrong. Some Afghan vet is going to write “FOB Blessing wasn’t set up that way” and I’ll just hang up my pen and not write any more because I would have been seen as a hack, a fraud.

I have to get past that, saying to myself, “Your FOB Blessing didn’t look like that, but mine does.” Hell, if you’re suspending disbelief about there being magic in the military, can you get past the fact that Quonset huts were in rows and not a star-shape? (Though I’ve only seen a few pictures of FOB Blessing, I have no idea how the huts/containers were set up.)

I also have an outline. I hate outlines. I used to trace pictures before coloring them because I would allow myself to color outside the lines. I found outlines to be good for me when I’m stuck on a deadline, especially when I did it that one year for NaNoWriMo when I had two weeks to write the novel. I stuck to it, but I also dictated the novel, which made it, um, novel and interesting. Now, typing it, no fun. And dictating–no fun revising. Trust me. I have until August to get off my duff and get War Mage finished. It’s already the last week of June, and my appearances are ramping up.

I’m going to see if I can get a web page for my appearances only, so you don’t have to look back for the post with it.