Well, I hope that everyone has enjoyed their holidays. I know that I have because on Christmas day I got to see some immediate family who I hadn’t seen in a year. It was such a joy and a blessing to be able to get together with them.
Now, onto the past year. Starting in January 2023 I was still focused on writing a lot and I appreciate all of you who do support my work. But I was also trying to get a steady paying job because the household finances were going out the door quicker than it came in. I’m sure that many of you encounter that in todays economy too. But ever since I moved to where I am right now, it had been hard to get a job. I applied to many places and heard from some but not from others. That’s one of the reasons why I started writing full time.
And speaking of writing… In February I wrote a story called “Fairy Attack”. Some of you may have read it. It was probably one of the last serials I wrote before I started my job. Here’s the link to the first chapter if you didn’t have a chance to read it. Fairy Attack chapter one You can also find it in my archive. The story is about a community of fairies who live in the woods and is in fear of losing their home. Twenty-two chapters later after various attempts to frighten off the humans, the fairy community did eventually move to a better forest.
That serial is like many of what I wrote back in 2022. But back to 2023. I continued to write the stories with Dukee and Mia, which I hope that you enjoy. Some of what the cats do is real but a lot of it is fiction just like them speaking. No, they don’t speak a human language but it is fun to imagine what would come out of their mouths if they did. Along with those, in March I started a new page called “Happy Thoughts” and write a post at least once a week. Most of us could use some encouraging words from time to time, so that’s what that page is about.
In April I heard back from a job that I applied for and understood that it was only a temporary job remodeling a department store. I was at the point where I was happy for anything and started working there in April. After not doing physical labor in about five years it was pretty tough at first. My body reminded me of some muscles I forgot I had. I went from sitting idle at a computer to bending, lifting, stooping, moving, and being on my feet for 38-40 hours a week. It exhausted me but It also felt good to be moving again.
So, within that time, I tried to keep writing some on both Substack and Wordpress. And I also still had the plan to finish my first book and publish it in October. When the temporary five week remodeling job was coming to an end, the hiring manager asked me if I would be interested in becoming a Flex employee in their company. A Flex employee only gets hours to work when they have spare hours like for holidays. Well, something was better than nothing, so I accepted the offer.
Within the place that I work, there are four mangers as well as the main boss. All of them noticed what a focused and hard worker I was. Even though my body was still trying to get used to being on my feet for six hours straight, I made an impression. I told the hiring manager though that I will probably have to get another job because this one wasn’t giving me the hours that I needed, so she talked to the main boss. Even though I was happy to have the time to sit down and write more, we needed money.
It wasn’t long before my boss confronted me and asked me if becoming a part time employee would be good for me. I was so happy to accept because so far I enjoyed what I was doing. Becoming part time gives me more hours and partial benefits if I want them. Yes, I don’t write as long of stories as I was in the previous two years but I do still write. I try to write at least three short stories a week, that includes, “The Day With Dukee And Mia”. Plus, “Happy Thoughts” and maybe some poetry.
Now, with working more hours and October getting closer, I had to get my book tweaked and finished. I didn’t have any money to pay an editor so I had to rely on my smarts and my sister’s feedback on writing corrections. I never published a book before and even doing it through Amazon was something new. When it comes to making a print copy, you need to have so many pages for the cover to fit properly so I had to figure out ways to have more pages. As it was, I put in a bonus story already to take up space. It was a learning experience and I achieved it.
As many of you know, I enjoy scary or spooky stories so that is why my first book would be of that genre’. While preparing for my book launch October first, I was also preparing for the new spook season. I know that I didn’t write as many spook season stories on Substack this year as I would have liked. So when the time comes for those to be entered into a book, there will probably be a couple more unpublished stories in there for you to enjoy.
When October first came, my book launch was successful and my book is now available on Amazon. Spook Season Stories Volume One is right now free for Kindle unlimited and $11.99 for a paperback copy. I have family and friends who purchased it right away but other than that the sales are slow. But to me, just the idea that I have a book published is exciting. However, I wish that I would get more feedback on what I write on Substack. It is a little saddening not seeing the little heart clicked for my work. I question myself a lot lately if my writing is good or not. Please, if you enjoy my stories, let me know. A simple click of the heart says a lot to me.
Well, let’s finish up this year. With the holidays coming, I started working a few more hours a week which kept me busy. For the month of November, I tried to keep some short stories or useful information flowing. One story that I think that I did good with was Thanksgiving Present. It is about a special friendship that was created while riding a city bus. I know that I also had fun writing the Dukee and Mia stories. For Thanksgiving, I made a turkey dinner for my sister, dad and myself. And my sister made some tasty pumpkin pies.
Now into December, there has already been talk about inventory in January at my job. So, along with dealing with holiday shoppers, we had to get our store in order for inventory. Thankfully, since I am such a talented person in many areas (yes, a pat on the back for myself lol) I got to do some challenging projects that made the days go by fast. I hate days that are boring and drag. But I also wanted to write at least two Christmas driven stories. I did manage to succeed with that, as well as a couple of poems for Christmas.
One story that my sister enjoyed and gave me an idea about was The Driver. This story is about a gentleman that was hired around Christmas time to be the driver of a famous teenage television star. Their personalities hit it off and became friends as well as employer and employee. The teenage stars parents are out of the country making a movie so she needs to rely on her staff this time. What surprised her was that her staff came through for her in a couple different ways.
At the beginning of December, my sister and I weren’t sure if our whole family would be spending Christmas together this year. Our father is up there in years and we don’t leave him home alone anymore. Back in November we tried to take a trip to see the rest of the family and got a flat tire. Since then our father told us that he didn’t want to travel anymore because it was too hard on his body. I had already planned in my head to stay home with him while my sister went over to the families.
But, one doctor visit my sister put some extra pillows on the seat for our dad and he found it to be more comfortable. So, later that day I asked him if he wanted to go see the family on Christmas day. He thankfully said sure. I worked until Christmas day and then like I said at the beginning of this letter, it was great to spend the day with the family. The day after Christmas I worked and it was just like the day after Thanksgiving, we were busier than normal which was good for business. And as of right now, we got the store in better order so inventory should be successful. I hope anyways.
As for New years Eve, I’m working during the day and will probably stay home that evening because I have to work the next day. I am looking forward to the new year though because there is always a chance that new good things will happen. Who knows, I might have a considerate jump in book sales. And I have a lot of work to do before my second book comes out. So my subscribers, I ask that you please be patient with me. I will continue to write when I can. I do actually have a winter break coming up before inventory so my plan is to write a short serial. I’m not sure yet what it will be but stay tuned to find out.
Thank you again for a wonderful year, and many blessings to you and yours for the new one.