Every time I sit down in front of the computer, it’s like I’ve forgotten how to write. The words desert me and my screen remains blank. The beginning of any book is always hard. It usually takes me a couple of days of circling the first scene to get it going. Although most times, I at least have some idea of what the first scene will entail. A place to start thinking about. Not this time though. That’s probably why I’m having trouble.

Writer’s block for me is usually a sign I haven’t done my due diligence in the planning stage. At heart I’m a pantser but doing a preliminary plot outline definitely makes things way easier. I also think it makes the story stronger in the end. More cohesive. At least in my case. Dragon Ridden was a pants moment. Pathfinder, at least the first two thirds, was planned. Most of the books since then with the exception of The Storm’s Whisper have had some outline attached to them. Let’s not talk about whether I actually follow the entire outline or go off into the weeds, necessitating an entirely new outline on the back half of every book.

Usually, I wait until I have a first chapter or at least a first scene to work from before I start a new series. It’s kind of how I know something is ready to go down on paper. The reason Dragon Ridden is my first book and not Pathfinder, despite the latter being in my brain longer, is because I couldn’t figure out where to begin when I sat down to write Pathfinder. Although Dragon Ridden was entirely thrown together with no planning whatsoever, I didn’t feel like I was ready to write Pathfinder back then. I’m kind of getting the same feeling with the book I’ve chosen this time as well. The idea is really cool, the world relatively well fleshed out, but it’s missing that one piece that would allow me to get going.

I think part of the problem is that I’m also rushing. I struck a deal with myself last week. I’d take the remaining time until Firebird 5’s edits returned to work on something new. I figured since I had to reread Aileen’s books anyway I could get a little writing done between reading sessions. Then when I transitioned to Aileen, I could use one day a week or part of the weekend to write in the new series. That’s actually how I wrote the first half of Rules of Redemption too.

Except that’s not going to work if I don’t actually do some writing. It figures that I’d pick the one series that doesn’t have a clear starting point. Not either of the two others that already had a planned beginning. I always make things as hard as possible on myself.

In other news, the cover for Trials of Conviction is in the process of being finalized. I’m hoping to have that book up for preorder by the end of this week. Everything is in place. I just need the cover now.

I’m eyeing December 26 for the release date. Usually I try not to publish around Christmas because of the holidays. Sales can sometimes be kind of sluggish around then. People tend to spend a lot of time with their families. Not everyone has time to read books. The Firebird series has a pretty devoted following though. Those who don’t pick it up the day of will still read it in the new year. From that perspective it doesn’t hurt me to publish around Christmas. And this way, those who do have time will get to read it a little earlier.

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It wasn’t until the husband told me Odin was shaking his head a lot before asking if we still had the medicated ear drops from the last time he got an ear infection that we discovered it wasn’t dirt. While applying the ear drops, we noticed black specks in his fur. At that point, suspicion dawned. A quick search on the internet led me to our culprit. Fleas. And that black “dirt” was flea dust. AKA flea poop.

We commenced de-fleaing procedures immediately. I ran to a store to buy flea shampoo and other things including a flea comb which confirmed our fears. The husband helped me bathe the cats and put on what we realized later was flea medication that expired two years ago. While this won’t hurt the cats, it does affect the efficacy of the ingredients. But neither the vet nor the maker can tell me by how much. So now we don’t even know if the medication is working.

As a result of the flea incident, I got nothing of what I’d hoped to accomplish done this weekend. Instead, I did all of the laundry. Sooo many loads. And vacuumed. The entire house. Twice.

I bought a flea trap and caught a couple fleas. That led to us to vacuuming and re-spraying the flea killing stuff on our furniture and carpet yet again.

We also started combing the cats for fleas. Of course, Loki turned into a hell cat because of the bath. The sounds she made were the type of thing that would make me quail in terror if heard out in the wild. This despite the fact that she normally loves being brushed. Odin just sat there and took it, making distressed sounds every so often.

Poor Odin had it worse because he also had to go to the vet because it had been over a year since his last visit and the vet couldn’t prescribe new flea medication until she saw him. It was quite traumatizing for him. He peed in his crate at one point which got on his fur. To top things off, I got a call yesterday saying his blood test was mislabeled and I needed to bring him in again on Friday.

Things are finally getting better though. Loki is enjoying her brush time. I’m no longer pulling off live fleas. Both cats have stopped scratching. However, this is a protracted battle that will last two to three months as the fleas move through their lifecycle.

Please wish me luck. This is quite honestly my worst nightmare. Only I thought it would be bedbugs that would get us. Not fleas on my indoor only cats.

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Then I came inside. This is where things took a drastic turn. Throw up. The foamy, clear kind. It was everywhere. Next to my kitchen table, in the entryway, throughout the kitchen, in front of the stairs. Everywhere. My husband and I tracked it to the basement stairs where we found Odin guarding the steps, leading us to assume he was the culprit. Only, it turns out he wasn’t. No, that was Loki who we found seconds later in the basement next to a huge pile of real throw up and flecks of foam and other stuff on her face.

While I cleaned Loki up, my husband dealt with the throw up. Thinking the excitement was over, I returned to my office to concentrate on the scene I was working on. I’d only just sat down when I looked up to find Loki had followed me and had large ribbons of foamy drool hanging out of her mouth like a rabid animal. Queue my panic. I’ve had this cat for over eight years. The only time she drooled like that was when she licked the spot where I’d put the flea medicine I used on her the first year I had her. I didn’t use it after that.

At this point, I called my vet and asked if I should be concerned. They said yes and to bring her in. Thirty minutes later, after fighting through rush hour adjacent traffic, I reached the vet with the non sedated Loki. This is important because a long time ago, it was decided that Loki couldn’t go to the vet unless she was sedated because of how aggressive she was. She is small but she is mighty. And very vocal. As a result, the vet couldn’t draw her blood. So I had to make an appointment for first thing the next day when she was on her chill pill. A sleepless night and an expensive vet bill later, we established that Loki wasn’t in organ failure, which is the biggest fear for a cat that likes to eat plants. No matter if they are toxic or not.

In the end, it appears she was just being a cat.

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Perhaps some of my disorientation is because this last month has been particularly fast due to working on a first draft, having my wisdom teeth taken out, and preparing for the holidays. As a result, I didn’t put as many words in the manuscript as I am used to. Maybe that’s part of the reason I’m feeling a tad disoriented as we embark on a new year.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s was particularly rough. I worked, but I don’t think I could have told you what day it was at any given time. The word count day by day veered from horrendous at 600 words to amazing at 3400. Overall, I’m happing with the trajectory of the plot. There’s something really cool I want to do in the ending, but I’m still trying to figure out logistics—and how to get from where I am to where I want to go.

Christmas for us was pretty good this year. My sister came in from out of town—though she arrived two days later than planned because of the winter storm. While she was here, we went on a hike in Hocking Hills which was beautiful.

For gifts, my husband and I did something different this year. Mostly because he couldn’t think of anything he wanted and I forgot that he’d asked if I wanted a toaster oven/air fryer. So, when I asked for a second thing, not remembering the first, he decided he would just say he wanted that for Christmas and that our gifts would be to us as a family rather than a personal gift.

The second gift was a Theragun elite. According to their website description, it is a smart percussive therapy device. I have to tell you—it is amazing. I worked out on Saturday at Orange Theory and a couple hours later my legs and lower back were aching because it had been a week since the last time I worked out and we’d done some all outs. Fifteen minutes with the Theragun and the majority of my aches and pains were gone. It’s also helped a lot with the tightness in my neck from so many hours in an office chair and the tightness in my hips for the same reason. All in all, I’m so glad he decided he wanted this. Though I do feel a wee bit guilty because he hasn’t used it once.

In years past, I’ve always done a post forecasting the next year in regards to the books and I thought I’d keep the tradition alive. So, here goes. The plan as of now—though as always I make no promises of actually sticking to this plan.

First up—Facets of Revolution’s audio book will be published March 28.

Aileen 6 will be available in Spring. I’m about 60-70 percent through her story. A few more scenes and I’ll get to head in to the lead up to the climax. I also have a deleted scene from Twilight’s Herald I’m hoping to publish via the blog in the next few weeks.

Firebird 5 will be next. I’m sure many of you will be happy about that. I will say I’m glad I took a break to work on Aileen before jumping straight into this book because Kira and company have started speaking in my head and their adventures are going to be spectacular.

Truthfully Firebird 5 will probably be the last book of the year, but if by some miracle I have time, I’ll work on Firebird 6 next or finally start the new secret series. I haven’t decided which.

That’s the plan anyway. Hope everyone’s year is off to a good start.

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