The More Things Change

Given I don’t trust my ‘puter to do diddly in Photoshop these days, my focus has chosen to do the Time Walk today.

It’s just a jump to the left
And then a step to the right

I finished writing a flash-read short story for Amazon yesterday, hovering around 12K words. It’s still with beta readers. Anybody want to volunteer? Any feedback – praise or criticism – is welcome. It’s based on a narrow-focus history of a friend’s family; a little moody, some low-key romantic undertones. A couple of expletives. Because it’s set in mid-century Newfoundland, the dialogue and phrasing is geared to the area and the era. I did my best to capture the cadence of the language as it is and would have been when all this happened.

A lot has already been modified due to feedback. Among other things, after I finished my first draft, the friend where it originated let me know the area isn’t actually part of the Maritimes. When we originally discussed this, she told me it was. Oops. I’ve already edited the few references in the text, but the original cover below is gonna need an overhaul. The revised working title is Memory Island. No idea if it will stick.

The original plan was to write a novel – then a novella. I probably could flesh it out a little more. However, the proviso was that I make no major changes, precisely because this was someone’s family. I changed names and a couple of minor details. The dialogue is fiction, of course. The rest is a faithful retelling of what she’d learned.

No replacement beast is currently on order for this computer. This time of year is already crazy, and while I’m still getting the occasional crash to the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), it’s not back-to-back and nonstop like it was before the last bout of fixes-that-weren’t. So I’m going to try to stick it out a little longer and see how it goes. The idea of dropping a couple of grand on a computer right now gives me hives.

The scheduled tooth extraction today also didn’t happen because my BP was through the roof. They sent me home. Thankfully I wasn’t in pain – not from the tooth, anyway. My BP was high enough I’m going to bite the bullet and go back to my GP for a new scrip. While there are days I’m tired and hurting enough to say “whatever” if the reaper comes knocking, this isn’t my preferred time or way to go.

The younger daughter is still having major health issues, so after my unsuccessful trek to the dentist I had to do a flying and unplanned trip to pick up my granddaughter, to take her from her dad’s to her mom’s house. (Her dad was at work – she was staying with her other grandma.) She’s a little doll – but it was pushing my absolute limits to drive an 80-mile round-trip today. I’d already spent entirely too much time on my feet this morning – which undoubtedly contributed to the extreme BP spike at the dentist. My mouth was about the only part of me not in pain.

The uber-stylized guitars at the top of the page are some of the latest results I got through the AI-art program. The prompt I entered for all three (along with some rules like what kind of lighting, etc.) was “silver dragon guitar.” All three variations turned out amazing, didn’t they?? It allows me to pretend I’m doing something constructive, instead of just playing the most customized video game ever invented.

If this post sounds depressing, it’s not intended that way. This too shall pass.